Medicinal cannabis has been a controversial topic for some time. Though in the state of Washington, it's been gaining more and more momentum towards legalization and social responsibility. Most wa-voters have made it clear that they want to see safe access for patients who need it, and they don't want to see patients lose their jobs for their choice of a safer alternative to the poisons we know as pharmaceuticals.
This is part of what makes Roe Vs. TeleTech, such a special case. The ruling of the Washington Supreme court will set a precedent for future career disputes in our state. At least until new laws are written.
If the court declares that a legal patients at home use of medicinal cannabis, does not violate "drug-free" work place standards and that Wa state patients are allowed protections from such prejudices, then it will protect the jobs of hundreds of patients in our state, who can't afford to lose their jobs.
However.... if the court rules that there are no state protections for patients, and that it is perfectly fine for a company to fire a medicinal patient, then there could be job losses seen all over the state. It would set the stage for extreme prejudices from employers, worse then what we are already seeing.
On top of this, it could also show many of the state dispensaries and providers that the state is not willing to state up for it's constituents, and bring much upheaval in the states battle to collect retail taxes from them. One of the main concerns I hear from these places, is that they are willing to pay the taxes, but that they want state protection if they are going to pay so much more.
So far, both the ACLU and the Cannabis Defense Coalition (CDC), have joined together with Roe, to try and prove that there is no justification in firing an employee who legally attained their patient status under our current medicinal cannabis laws. Their position, is that a patients private and doctor approved usage of medicinal cannabis, is not the concern of employers. So long as an employee is not working a job that includes public safety, and the use of medicinal cannabis does not effect work performance, then it should be no different then being prescribed pain killers or psychological pharma for medical ailments.
I personally feel that TeleTech has set themselves up to be an example for the rest of the state. They originally hired Jane Roe with the full and complete awareness that she is a medicinal cannabis patient, and hired her anyways. It was not until she was asked to submit to a drug-screening, that they terminated her employment as a customer service phone representative. When the test came back positive for THC, they said, "I'm sorry, we've changed our minds! No THC allowed!"
They might have been free and clear if they had turned her away for employment in the first place, making a clear statement that they did not condone the use of cannabis, medical or otherwise, in their work place. However, since they hired her anyways, does this not suggest that they didn't have a problem with her medicinal use that was authorized by her doctor?
TeleTech has got themselves into quiet a mess. Thankfully, Jane Roe and her team are not just going to sit back and take it, and will push the issue as far as it will go. From here, we will see precedents set. The court date is set for today, Jan 18th 2011. I am hoping for good news to come out of those court rooms soon.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Should Inmates Have Access to Their Medical Cannabis Medication?
It appears that Washington state has found itself in a bind. Not only has it been caught with it's pants down trying to charge a retail sales tax on medical dispensaries, but now they are trying to figure out how to ignore our states medicinal cannabis laws.
Folks like Kathy Parkins and Doug Hyatt have put Washington state Department of Corrections (DOC) in such a situation, that if it were a painting, it would be of our legislature and DOC all doing the sit and spin on each others thumbs. The reason they have been able to do this, is because many patients in the midst of trying to do nothing other than safely obtain their meds, have been locked up. Now... here's the tricky part. Washington state laws say that an inmate, regardless of their crime, is entitled to receive their medication while they serve their time.
Since Washington state also allows for medicinal marijuana for qualified patients, it's found itself in a precarious situation when arresting mmj patients. For the most part, those that have been arrested (usually for marijuana related crimes) have been denied their right to their medicine. Though with the help of the media, cannabis advocates and Seattle's own cannabis advocating lawyer; Doug Hyatt, many patients are hoping they will get equal treatment like any other inmate.
I agree, personally (who could've guess that?). If inmates are allowed their narcotic pain killers, psychotropic sedatives and psychological pharmaceuticals, then they should also be allowed to follow their choice of a safer alternative.
The DOC doesn't agree though, suggesting that they fear what would happen if an mmj patient inmate where to use their meds and then become violent.
WAIT-A-MINUTE!
They are worried about mmj patients becoming violent after using cannabis? REALLY?
I have a few questions for the DOC.... Such as...:
Does the DOC require any of their staff to have an I.Q. over 10? How about reading or being social with real people in the world? Are all DOC staff and workers so cut off from the world that they have neither read about, nor talked to any friends or family about the scientific findings on cannabis? For that matter, has anyone who works for the DOC, ever been a teenager? Or did they just skip that life stage?
I would be willing to bet that most of those who control and whom work for the DOC, have no true fears about cannabis causing violent inmates, mostly because I would bet my value that they have all tried cannabis. Or at very least, living in Washington state, that they know several people whom use or have used cannabis.
Their other excuse for denying mmj patients the same rights as their fellow inmates, is that the DOC upholds that it is a "drug free" zone that enforces it's inmates to be clean. Of course, that logic is fouled up when they allow any inmate to receive vicodin, oxycotin, prozac or lithium. They allow in some of the most dangerous drugs in prescription form, and yet they are "drug free"?
I think my favorite excuse by far though, is this line that I found in a Seattle Times report:
"It is a very difficult position the department is in," he said. "The public expects us to help these folks return to the community, and to protect the public. It is just incongruent for us to allow some to use marijuana when it led to the criminality in the first place."
Most of those people involved in "criminality" that was caused by cannabis in the first place, were either trying to get their meds, or to help others get their meds. They were not gang lord criminals trying push pot on highschoolers. They were not pharma pushers trying to entice people into new synthetic addictions. For that matter, even if they were found to having sold another adult some recreational cannabis, was there really any victim involved in that?
In that same article, the DOC suggests that it has not heard enough from taxpayers about changing the way they are handling things, and until then, they are going to keep denying most patients from receiving their mmj unless they have an extremely urgent need, and sometimes not even then.
You might want to read that again, because it appears that the DOC is daring the cannabis community in our state to shout out to them and make it clear that mmj patient inmates should have the same rights as other inmates, to access their meds.
Check out more info about the story at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013810004_marijuana03m.html
This will definitely be an interesting story to follow as demand for relegalization increases.
Folks like Kathy Parkins and Doug Hyatt have put Washington state Department of Corrections (DOC) in such a situation, that if it were a painting, it would be of our legislature and DOC all doing the sit and spin on each others thumbs. The reason they have been able to do this, is because many patients in the midst of trying to do nothing other than safely obtain their meds, have been locked up. Now... here's the tricky part. Washington state laws say that an inmate, regardless of their crime, is entitled to receive their medication while they serve their time.
Since Washington state also allows for medicinal marijuana for qualified patients, it's found itself in a precarious situation when arresting mmj patients. For the most part, those that have been arrested (usually for marijuana related crimes) have been denied their right to their medicine. Though with the help of the media, cannabis advocates and Seattle's own cannabis advocating lawyer; Doug Hyatt, many patients are hoping they will get equal treatment like any other inmate.
I agree, personally (who could've guess that?). If inmates are allowed their narcotic pain killers, psychotropic sedatives and psychological pharmaceuticals, then they should also be allowed to follow their choice of a safer alternative.
The DOC doesn't agree though, suggesting that they fear what would happen if an mmj patient inmate where to use their meds and then become violent.
WAIT-A-MINUTE!
They are worried about mmj patients becoming violent after using cannabis? REALLY?
I have a few questions for the DOC.... Such as...:
Does the DOC require any of their staff to have an I.Q. over 10? How about reading or being social with real people in the world? Are all DOC staff and workers so cut off from the world that they have neither read about, nor talked to any friends or family about the scientific findings on cannabis? For that matter, has anyone who works for the DOC, ever been a teenager? Or did they just skip that life stage?
I would be willing to bet that most of those who control and whom work for the DOC, have no true fears about cannabis causing violent inmates, mostly because I would bet my value that they have all tried cannabis. Or at very least, living in Washington state, that they know several people whom use or have used cannabis.
Their other excuse for denying mmj patients the same rights as their fellow inmates, is that the DOC upholds that it is a "drug free" zone that enforces it's inmates to be clean. Of course, that logic is fouled up when they allow any inmate to receive vicodin, oxycotin, prozac or lithium. They allow in some of the most dangerous drugs in prescription form, and yet they are "drug free"?
I think my favorite excuse by far though, is this line that I found in a Seattle Times report:
"It is a very difficult position the department is in," he said. "The public expects us to help these folks return to the community, and to protect the public. It is just incongruent for us to allow some to use marijuana when it led to the criminality in the first place."
Most of those people involved in "criminality" that was caused by cannabis in the first place, were either trying to get their meds, or to help others get their meds. They were not gang lord criminals trying push pot on highschoolers. They were not pharma pushers trying to entice people into new synthetic addictions. For that matter, even if they were found to having sold another adult some recreational cannabis, was there really any victim involved in that?
In that same article, the DOC suggests that it has not heard enough from taxpayers about changing the way they are handling things, and until then, they are going to keep denying most patients from receiving their mmj unless they have an extremely urgent need, and sometimes not even then.
You might want to read that again, because it appears that the DOC is daring the cannabis community in our state to shout out to them and make it clear that mmj patient inmates should have the same rights as other inmates, to access their meds.
Check out more info about the story at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013810004_marijuana03m.html
This will definitely be an interesting story to follow as demand for relegalization increases.
Naughty or Nice? The Truth About Spice...
Okay, this is a subject that has hit home several times already, and it's one of my hot buttons. As a cannabis advocate and studier of shamanic and spiritual ways, I find so many things offensive about these products being dubbed "fake pot".
I'm sure you are no stranger to the new industry of "synthetic cannabis" and "fake pot". The people who produce such things as Spice, K2, Salvia, smoke-able incense and synthetic cannabinoid sprays. The people who sell these products will usually tell you that these products are just as safe as cannabis, and just like the same high, but that their legal so that makes them better.
These attempts to get around the illegality of the true cannabis sativa plant, have been around since just after the prohibition started in 1936. Though they have not really ever hit the market with such a boom as they have recently. Mostly because they were never really marketed with such vigor, nor did prior marketers have such useful tools as the internet and social media's. In the past decade, these psychotropic herbs have found their way into the mainstream.
This would not be such a bad thing, except that they haven't been marketing these herbs for what they truly are: Psychotropic or Psychadelic herbs. Instead, they have been calling them "synthetic cannabis" and "fake pot". Not because these mixtures are truly like cannabis, but because people trust the cannabis name. People understand that cannabis is safe and healthy to use, so when they see another herb or mixture of herbs that are labeled as another form of cannabis, they jump to it. This is criminal in my mind. It gives cannabis a bad name.
Some of the plants, such as Zornia latifolia, have been used by some cultures as a substitute for cannabis. Though none of them have claimed the herbs to 'cannabis-like'. In fact, most of the herbs that are now being marketed as synthetic cannabis, have been herbs that have been used by shamans and other ancient practitioners, to reach altered states of reality. These are powerful herbs that can turn a person into a nut-house if they aren't careful. Altered states are not something to mess with when you don't even have an inkling as to what you are doing. They may not be "poisonous", but they certainly are potent in their own ways.
Yet none of the pushers of fake pot will tell you that, and for that matter, half of them don't even know it themselves. Some of them push it because they feel they are doing some service to those that would like access to a safer alternative then alcohol, while others are just doing it because these herbs are not yet regulated by the gov, and they see a way to make profits. Either way, it's a stupid idea in my mind.
It would probably bother me less, if they were at least honest about what they are selling, and what the effects of their herbs and mixtures really can do to the people who use them. Especially because many people have attempted to use these herbs as if they really were cannabis, and ended up having nervous brake-downs, car accidents or committing suicide. Now, it's not to say that everyone will have that reaction, but with true cannabis, no such thing has happened. Paranoia? Yes. Nervous break downs? No way. Cannabis is a unique and genuine plant that cannot be synthesized, copied or faked. I don't care what anyone tells you. Simply because they have found a few plants that can interact with some of our endocannabinoid receptors, does not make them safe, helpful or good to use.
On top of that, most pushers of spice, herbal incense and herbal smoking mixtures, don't really have any idea what reacts with people in their mixtures. Several cannabinoids have been named from scientists who discovered them as mimicing THC, though none of them have actually been found in most of the spice mixtures. Instead, it is mostly a compound of synthetic vitamin E and other synthetic sources, that gives spice it's kick. How is that for honest? Most spice dealers don't even understand the way their mixtures work. Fancy lingo about what they think makes it work, doesn't hide the ignorance involved in what they are doing. Especially when tests on the substances don't match up with what the sellers are suggesting.
One of the largest problems that has arisen from this, is that spice and other "fake pot" mixtures, are not regulated by any agencies out there to protect unsuspecting people. The other problem is that many people are too ignorant to research what they are using, before they use it. I mean, if someone tried to sell me an incense that said "not for human consumption", but said that I could smoke it, that would be red alert number one. It's all good to slight to FDA and their corrupt organization, but by going around saying it's something that it's not, is crazy. Especially when it comes to calling anything similar to cannabis.
Calling anything "fake" or "synthetic" cannabis, gives cannabis a bad name. Cannabis is a special, and unlike any other herbs out there. Even some of the spices claimed to be milder then other herbs, can have much harsher effects then cannabis, even in it's dirtiest strains.
Seattle hasn't been a stranger to spice, and it seems to be showing up in the news more often, that mishaps are happening with people using and abusing spice and similar products. This is a clear show that cannabis should be legalized sooner rather than later. If it were legal, then there would be few, if any, reasons for people to seek legal alternatives or substitutes to cannabis. There would still be a few, but their numbers would be low.
On top of that, those people who still use these herbs for traditional spiritual practices, would not have to suffer the consequences of more herbs being prohibited. So far, it is only the spice and incense itself that has been placed on a temporary schedule I list for a year, but once they are done analyzing all the mixtures, who is to say that they would not ban each herb individually? They have done it in the past, and anyone who sells or buys spice and other "fake pot" products, will be contributing to that prohibition.
Come on people, let's be smarter than that. Don't search for legal alternatives. Instead, put that energy into relegalization and reform of the drug war. It will be safer and healthier for everyone in the long run.
I'm sure you are no stranger to the new industry of "synthetic cannabis" and "fake pot". The people who produce such things as Spice, K2, Salvia, smoke-able incense and synthetic cannabinoid sprays. The people who sell these products will usually tell you that these products are just as safe as cannabis, and just like the same high, but that their legal so that makes them better.
These attempts to get around the illegality of the true cannabis sativa plant, have been around since just after the prohibition started in 1936. Though they have not really ever hit the market with such a boom as they have recently. Mostly because they were never really marketed with such vigor, nor did prior marketers have such useful tools as the internet and social media's. In the past decade, these psychotropic herbs have found their way into the mainstream.
This would not be such a bad thing, except that they haven't been marketing these herbs for what they truly are: Psychotropic or Psychadelic herbs. Instead, they have been calling them "synthetic cannabis" and "fake pot". Not because these mixtures are truly like cannabis, but because people trust the cannabis name. People understand that cannabis is safe and healthy to use, so when they see another herb or mixture of herbs that are labeled as another form of cannabis, they jump to it. This is criminal in my mind. It gives cannabis a bad name.
Some of the plants, such as Zornia latifolia, have been used by some cultures as a substitute for cannabis. Though none of them have claimed the herbs to 'cannabis-like'. In fact, most of the herbs that are now being marketed as synthetic cannabis, have been herbs that have been used by shamans and other ancient practitioners, to reach altered states of reality. These are powerful herbs that can turn a person into a nut-house if they aren't careful. Altered states are not something to mess with when you don't even have an inkling as to what you are doing. They may not be "poisonous", but they certainly are potent in their own ways.
Yet none of the pushers of fake pot will tell you that, and for that matter, half of them don't even know it themselves. Some of them push it because they feel they are doing some service to those that would like access to a safer alternative then alcohol, while others are just doing it because these herbs are not yet regulated by the gov, and they see a way to make profits. Either way, it's a stupid idea in my mind.
It would probably bother me less, if they were at least honest about what they are selling, and what the effects of their herbs and mixtures really can do to the people who use them. Especially because many people have attempted to use these herbs as if they really were cannabis, and ended up having nervous brake-downs, car accidents or committing suicide. Now, it's not to say that everyone will have that reaction, but with true cannabis, no such thing has happened. Paranoia? Yes. Nervous break downs? No way. Cannabis is a unique and genuine plant that cannot be synthesized, copied or faked. I don't care what anyone tells you. Simply because they have found a few plants that can interact with some of our endocannabinoid receptors, does not make them safe, helpful or good to use.
On top of that, most pushers of spice, herbal incense and herbal smoking mixtures, don't really have any idea what reacts with people in their mixtures. Several cannabinoids have been named from scientists who discovered them as mimicing THC, though none of them have actually been found in most of the spice mixtures. Instead, it is mostly a compound of synthetic vitamin E and other synthetic sources, that gives spice it's kick. How is that for honest? Most spice dealers don't even understand the way their mixtures work. Fancy lingo about what they think makes it work, doesn't hide the ignorance involved in what they are doing. Especially when tests on the substances don't match up with what the sellers are suggesting.
One of the largest problems that has arisen from this, is that spice and other "fake pot" mixtures, are not regulated by any agencies out there to protect unsuspecting people. The other problem is that many people are too ignorant to research what they are using, before they use it. I mean, if someone tried to sell me an incense that said "not for human consumption", but said that I could smoke it, that would be red alert number one. It's all good to slight to FDA and their corrupt organization, but by going around saying it's something that it's not, is crazy. Especially when it comes to calling anything similar to cannabis.
Calling anything "fake" or "synthetic" cannabis, gives cannabis a bad name. Cannabis is a special, and unlike any other herbs out there. Even some of the spices claimed to be milder then other herbs, can have much harsher effects then cannabis, even in it's dirtiest strains.
Seattle hasn't been a stranger to spice, and it seems to be showing up in the news more often, that mishaps are happening with people using and abusing spice and similar products. This is a clear show that cannabis should be legalized sooner rather than later. If it were legal, then there would be few, if any, reasons for people to seek legal alternatives or substitutes to cannabis. There would still be a few, but their numbers would be low.
On top of that, those people who still use these herbs for traditional spiritual practices, would not have to suffer the consequences of more herbs being prohibited. So far, it is only the spice and incense itself that has been placed on a temporary schedule I list for a year, but once they are done analyzing all the mixtures, who is to say that they would not ban each herb individually? They have done it in the past, and anyone who sells or buys spice and other "fake pot" products, will be contributing to that prohibition.
Come on people, let's be smarter than that. Don't search for legal alternatives. Instead, put that energy into relegalization and reform of the drug war. It will be safer and healthier for everyone in the long run.
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