The message was made clear in Pittsburgh last week when some of the nation's top medical doctors and a former narcotics officer testified in favor of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana bill, HB 1393.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon and Dr. Cyril Wecht offered the most powerful expert medical testimony on the subject heard thus far by the PA House Health and Human Services C...

8/12/2010 - The Pennsylvania House Health and Human Services Committee will hold a satellite hearing on medical marijuana in Pittsburgh, PA on August 19, 2010.

HHS Committee Chair Rep. Frank Oliver issued a memo yesterday:

Please be advised that on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health at 130 Desoto Street, Room G-23, Pittsburgh, PA 15320, there will be a public hearing on House Bill 1393.

By DAN FROSCH
DENVER - The Department of Veterans Affairs will formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal, a policy clarification that veterans have sought for several years.

A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in veterans facilities between federal law, which outlaws marijuana, and the 14 states that allow medicinal use of the drug, effectively deferring to ...

PhillyNORML would like to extend a happy 4th of July to you and your friends and loved ones.

We hope you all remember why we're celebrating this! It's not the fireworks, the food, or the music being belted out at the Parkway... it's our Inalienable Rights to Life, Liberty, and Happiness which some fool who thought he had "divine right" believed could take away from human beings. Guess what? While not nearly as messed up as what King George did (to people they'...

by Derek Rosenzweig, Secretary of PhillyNORML

On April 5th, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced that Philadelphia county would be easing marijuana possession penalties. Those in possession of 30g (just over one ounce, or about a month's worth of cannabis for a daily smoker) or less will no longer face a criminal record or jail time for a first time offense. This poli...

On May 4th after the introduction of SB1350, I had the opportunity to chat with Rep. Cutler during lunch. He expressed interest in learning more, and then sent this email to me after he returned to his office:

On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 12:45 PM, Bryan Cutler wrote:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me today. I have cut and pasted my list of concerns below

I will not be supporting the bill for a variety of reasons.

First, there are just as many studies that show that m...

Philadelphia NORML Examiner

Medical cannabis legislation is active in PA and residents continue to show strong support. New polling conducted by Franklin & Marshall College saw a full 80% of respondents 'Strongly Favor' (53%) and 'Somewhat Favor' (27%) legal medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. That's 80% total in support - more than any candidate for office entertains!

The poll was conducted fro...

Philadelphia NORML Examiner



On Tuesday May 4, 2010 Senator Daylin Leach introduced The Pennsylvania Compassionate Use Act. A companion bill in the House that saw committee hearing in December is still active. The Senator stood at a Capitol press conference surrounded by patients, doctors and advocates...

Published By: Ariel Nelson, CNBC Director of Market Data & Content Services

Put arguments for and against legalization aside for a moment. If people could use marijuana - without fear of legal consequence - just how much would get used? More to the point, how much money is at stake?

A variety of businesses and tax-deprived governments would love to know the answer. Unfortunately, there isn't a simple one. By its taboo nature, marijuana consumption and demand is n...

By Anne Saker, The Oregonian
April 15, 2010, 6:18PM


_{Jack Herer (left) with Dennis Peron (right), founder of the Cannabis Buyers Club, in San Francisco in 1996.}

Writer and activist Jack Herer, whose 1985 book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" ignited the modern marijuana legalization movement, died Thursday from complications from a Septem...

Philadelphia is moving toward changing how minor marijuana possession offenses will be treated. Joining Marty to discuss the changes and what prompted them are Philadelphia District Attorney SETH WILLIAMS and CHRIS GOLDSTEIN of Philly NORML, an advocacy group opposing marijuana prohibition. Then, we'll talk to Carroll Doherty of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, about a...

By Craig R. McCoy, Nancy Phillips, and Dylan Purcell - Inquirer Staff Writers

The city's new district attorney and the state Supreme Court are moving to all but decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use in an effort to unclog Philadelphia's crowded court dockets.

Under a policy to take effect later this month, prosecutors will charge such cases as summary offenses rather than as misdemeanors. People arrested with up to 30 gra...

In Philadelphia and other urban environments white women are the group least arrested for marijuana. Mainstream media has given significant attention recently to American women's appreciation for cannabis. From Tyra Banks to The View and Marie Claire to the New York Times we can see businesswomen, celebrities and soccer moms smoking pot for medication and recreation.

But a look at the data for Philadelphia in August 2008 reveals that just 9 white women were arrested for marijuana poss...

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WZZM) - Now that medical marijuana is legal in Michigan, can an employer fire a worker who tests positive for the drug?

WalMart says it can, so it did.

"I was terminated because I failed a drug screening," says former WalMart employee Joseph Casias.

In 2008, Casias was the Associate Of The Year at the WalMart store in Battle Creek, despite suffering from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.

At his doctor'...

Written by Cliff Kincaid Sunday, 07 March 2010 20:03
   
The left says he was a right-winger; the conservatives say that he was a leftist. What is abundantly clear, from reading his Internet commentaries, is that Pentagon shooter John Patrick Bedell was a psychotic pothead. He hated a government that he believed was standing in the way of his desire to use, grow and glorify marijuana. He virtually worshipped the drug. "I'm a cannabis enthusiast," he proclaimed.
...

By Peter Mucha -Inquirer Staff Writer

Federal agents are cracking down on imports of a synthetic marijuana that has started appearing in the Philadelphia area.

It is not illegal in any state to possess the substance, but Food and Drug Administration regulations bar its import and sale because it is not a tested and approved drug.

Eighty-five parcels arriving from Amsterdam at a UPS facility at Philadelphia International Airport were detained and then seize...

By MOLLY HOTTLE

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy on Wednesday unanimously recommended that the Legislature legalize marijuana for medical uses.
In a 6-0 vote, the board also called for lawmakers to change the classification of marijuana to a Schedule II drug. Such drugs have the potential for abuse but also have accepted medical uses.

The board's action makes it the first state pharmacy panel to take such a stance before either legislators or voters took steps to ...

PITTSTON, PA (wvia) - Should marijuana be available to Pennsylvanians who suffer from cancer, AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses? We will discuss this issue on the next State of Pennsylvania Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. on WVIA-TV.

Recent testimony before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (www.youtube.com/pa4mmj) supports the practice of using marijuana as a safe and effective means to manage the pain of grave disease as well as subsequent treatments. Our l...

By Joel Warner in Follow That Story, MarijuanaFri., Feb. 12 2010 @ 2:29PM



Michael Lee's lab, Genovations, was raided yesterday by the DEA.
We recently wrote about how a DEA raid at Full Spectrum Laboratories, a Denver medical marijuana testing facility, was triggered by the lab applying for an analytical lab licensure through the DEA. Now DEA agents have hit anot...

By PETER JACKSON Associated Press Writer
Updated: 01/29/2010 10:09:18 PM EST

HARRISBURG, Pa. - In the first debate of Pennsylvania's gubernatorial campaign, the four Democratic candidates for governor jousted Friday night over some of the hottest issues at a gathering sponsored by labor unions and citizen activist groups.

Questions posed by some of the roughly 300 people at the first Pennsylvania Progressive Summit illuminated differences among the candidate...