Oregon has made great progress on its marijuana laws, ending most felonies, allowing expungement of old offenses and implementing regulated cannabis commerce. However, the state is experiencing some growing pains in meshing the medical and recreational systems, hurting many medical marijuana patients and their providers. It seems that one bill, Senate […]

Elizabeth Warren’s call for the study of marijuana as a possible solution to alleviating our nation’s opioid epidemic garnered quite a bit of press as the respected progressive generates headlines for just about every policy position she takes, she even makes news when she doesn’t take a position. It caught […]

The Oregon House overwhelmingly passed House Bill 4094 that protects Oregon banks who provide financial services to state-regulated marijuana businesses. The bill initially passed the House on February 16, but it was amended in the Senate when it passed there 18-6 on February 26th, so today the House voted 55-4 to […]

Oregon legislators are working on a bill (SB 1511) during this short legislative session that will allow medical marijuana patients to show their Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) card at a future recreational marijuana retail shop to make tax-free purchases of marijuana and cannabis products. Meanwhile, the bill also extends […]

Colorado appears to be one of the upcoming Super Tuesday states that  Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders can win over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and marijuana legalization may just help swing the state for Sanders. Cannabis law reformers have praised Sen. Sanders’ more progressive marijuana policy, particularly his call to end […]

The patient-focused medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has released their 2016 report, grading the fifty states for their medical marijuana programs or lack thereof. To little surprise, ASA gave California a grade of B+ for its overall average score of 88, based on the categories of […]

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is a patient-focused group that works to legalize access to medical cannabis from coast to coast. The group has over 50,000 members that works to advocate for patient access at all levels of government. farmacie-romania.com At the federal level, ASA is working hard to pass […]

The Oregon House of Representatives passed a landmark marijuana banking bill, exempting banks and credit unions from any state liability for conducting financial services with state-regulated marijuana businesses. Ultimately, the cannabis industry needs a federal fix to the banking issue, but the state of Oregon is showing real leadership by […]

Oregon may soon be home to a world-class Oregon Cannabis Research Institute! This spectacularly good idea today emerged from a study commissioned by the Oregon senate.  Noelle Crombie of The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the study by Oregon physicians and researchers recommends strongly that the state fund (from adult-use marijuana sales) […]

Alice Ivany is livid to say the least. Oregonians may remember Alice from her activism when she teamed up with the medical cannabis community in 2008-2010 as Co-Chief Petitioner of Measure 74, the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Initiative. Alice was left with only one arm following a horrific industrial accident many […]

When House Bill (HB) 3400 was signed in to law by Oregon’s new Governor, Kate Brown, on June 30th, 2015, which regulated and restricted the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP), patients expected to be able to study the 111 page document and plan for how to operate legally. Typically bills […]

Many Oregon medical cannabis patients can’t afford dispensary prices. Over 40% of all patients qualify for a low-income discount on their state application. I know that roughly half of the 230 patients I have helped connect with a grower qualify for one of the low-income discounts. A large fraction of […]

I’ve only been superficially engaged in the story happening in West Idaho – er, Eastern Oregon – with Ammon Bundy and the armed Oregon militants holed up in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Mostly, I’m following the #YallQaeda and #VanillaISIS hashtags on Twitter, which aren’t really fair comparisons to the […]

Congressman Blumenauer has been undoubtedly one of our nation’s greatest leaders on cannabis law reform. Not only has Blumenauer been an outspoken champion for sensible marijuana laws, but also an effective policy maker. The progressive Oregon Democrat has reached across the aisle to work with the libertarian-leaning Republican Dana Rohrabacher […]

On December 17th, members young and old of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs reservation voted overwhelmingly to proceed with a new commercial venture in recreational cannabis. Nearly 9 out of 10 tribal members said yes. But, in what might be described fairly as a travesty, while the tribe’s business office […]