Medical marijuana

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Residents now must register with the Pullman Police Department to engage in the production, distribution or cultivation of medical marijuana in the city.

But the steps necessary to obtain registration could be impossible, for the time being.

 

HELENA, Mont. -- Federal agents seized a 2006 Big Sky Conference championship ring belonging to a former University of Montana quarterback in a series of raids on medical marijuana providers earlier this month.

Federal agents executed 12 search warrants Nov. 16 on businesses, homes and warehouses related to at least three medical marijuana operations in towns in western Montana. The warrants called for the seizure of drugs, firearms, records and proceeds from drug sales, including cash and jewelry.

Among those targeted but not arrested was former Grizzlies quarterback Jason Washington, 28, who owns a medical marijuana business called Big Sky Health and an automotive customizing shop called 406 Motoring Automotive Specialists.

PULLMAN, Wash. -- The Pullman City Council will discuss medical marijuana and the possible regulation of newly approved "community gardens" at its regular meeting Tuesday.

The discussion is prompted by recent changes in state law, which took effect July 22. The law now allows up to 10 patients to join together and raise "community gardens" for the purpose of supplying themselves with medical marijuana.

OGDEN -- A resident at Mckay-Dee Hospital believes prescribing marijuana for certain types of patients makes far more sense than prescribing narcotic painkillers.

Dr. Courtney LaDika said the use of medical marijuana has been proven to help significantly when it comes to neuropathic pain, nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients; people who suffer from AIDS-related pain; and those with multiple sclerosis or glaucoma.

SEATTLE -- When Elliott Cain lived in California, staff at a marijuana dispensary there recommended a mild brand of marijuana that they said was effective at treating anxiety.

Cain, who had a doctor's authorization to use marijuana as medicine, found it did just that, tamping down his anxiety without zonking him out.

But when he moved to Washington, medical marijuana was no longer an option. The only legal drugs he could access were prescription medicines that interfered with his sleep.

Cain wanted to know why it is legal to use medical marijuana to treat anxiety in California, but not OK in Washington where patients with other conditions such as cancer and HIV have had legal access to pot for more than a decade.

Cain posed his question to a special state panel that evaluates requests to add medical conditions to the list of those that can be treated with marijuana. The panel's answer: There is no rigorous scientific evidence that marijuana is effective in treating anxiety.