Cannabis Law Group's Medical Marijuana Legal Blog
Florida Citizens Pushing for Medical Marijuana Ballot Initiative
Every year, we see additional states legalizing medical marijuana. In some states and the District of Columbia, we have actually had votes for full legalization of marijuana, even for recreational purposes. This definitely seems the way things are going. However, for the most part, the states along the eastern seaboard have been more reluctant to legalize medical marijuana than western states like California. Even in NY, which has recently allowed for the first dispensary to be opened, it is very difficult to get a medical marijuana license to purchase medical cannabis unless you have a terminal illness or severe neurological disease.
However, the residents of Florida to a large extent are trying to buck this trend and get medical marijuana legalization on the ballot for the upcoming election. According to a recent report from the Sun Times, advocates for legal medical marijuana have just obtained more than 500,000 signatures on the petition for the ballot initiative.
Under local law, in order for the initiative to legalize medical marijuana to get on the ballot for the upcoming election, the group needs to have at least 683,168 signatures no later than the first of February 2016. With the People United for Medical Marijuana organization having turned over approximately 523,000 signatures this week, there are still over a hundred thousand signatures left to get, but the group believes they are on track to get the medical marijuana initiative on the ballot.
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The latest state to legalize medical marijuana was New York, where medical cannabis became legal on January 10, 2016. However, unlike in Los Angeles, where medical marijuana is easy to get and readily accepted by society, the governor of New York is only doing just enough to comply with the law, according to a recent news feature from 
The deadline set by the state for these cities in Orange County and across the state to ban medical marijuana in their communities is March 1, 2016. The proposed bans will include cultivation of medical marijuana, brick and mortar dispensaries, and mobile delivery services. Much like so-called dry counties that exist in some parts of the nation that do not allow for the sale of alcohol by the drink or in stores, it does not mean that it is illegal for private citizens to purchase the banned substance elsewhere and bring it home.
According to the USCSA, marijuana is a Schedule One controlled substance. This means that Congress considered marijuana to be highly dangerous, highly addictive, and a drug that has absolutely no valid medical use. Despite the fact that we now know that none of those attributes are true, marijuana has remained a Schedule One controlled dangerous substance for more than 40 decades. This is as a result of lobbying, issues with taxation, and utter nonsense like “Reefer Madness” which was an anti-marijuana propaganda film made in 1936. This movie shows how marijuana leads to murder.
As it turned out, we did not see a rise in crime or an increase in the number of kids dropping out of school. However, the predictions about all of the money that would be made from legalized recreational marijuana were all proven correct. According to a recent news article from the 
While debtor’s prison still existed in the United States for some time after the ratification of the Constitution, by the 1830s, the states that had debtor’s prisons were drafting legislation to minimize their presence. One of the reasons this was important was because, when people are willing to take economic risk and start a business, both the economy and the strength of the nation grows, and these were very important goals during the industrial revolution. If you didn’t have to go jail if your new business failed, you were more likely to take risks, and that is what many people did.
The affidavit in support of the warrant states that officers had probable to cause to believe defendant had illegal narcotics on the premises. The warrant also asserted that defendant was a member of a criminal street gang and had multiple felony convictions on his record.
One new regulation issued by the Water Quality Control Board for the Central Valley Region of California came in the form of an Order that is requiring all medical marijuana growers obtain permits before diverting or storing any water. It is a typical process for those running illegal grow operations to divert the flow of streams and create artificial dams to store water to irrigate their marijuana crops, which generally require a considerably larger amount of water than many other crops.
In an effort to help these wildfire victims, owners of two large medical cannabis dispensaries have decided to give each victim up to $200 worth of medical marijuana next week free of charge. Between the companies, there will be five separate dispensaries giving away free cannabis oil, cannabis spray, and vaporizing cartridges. A spokesperson speaking on behalf of the two separate companies that have decided to work together on this charitable initiative say that anyone seeking free medical cannabis will need to have a valid prescription and legal residence with the counties affected by the large Valley wildfire. Authorities have estimated that nearly 120 square miles have been consumed by the large wildfire and, as result, around 2,000 homes were destroyed and at least four people are dead.
The study determined that 12 year olds who had negative views about using marijuana were much less likely to later drive under the influence of the drug than 12-year-old children who had positive feelings about marijuana use and thought it could be a way to help them relax and enjoy themselves. Study makers also concluded that these children who had positive feelings about using marijuana were also more likely to ride in a car with someone who was high or drunk. This study was published in professional journal for pediatricians.