There are at this time 14 states that have made the use of marijuana for medical purposes legal – but Missouri is not one of them. There are, however, patients who reside in Missouri who believe that they could benefit from legalizing medical marijuana – and one of them is heading up efforts to lobby for the legalization of medical marijuana in her state, according to a feature on KY3.com.

Sherry Cooper of Mountain View, Missouri shares what her life is like at this time. She has been diagnosed fibromyalgia and has been living with the pain associated with the disease over the past two to three years. Her day is filled with pills – and more pills – from the time she wakes up. There are days when there is a need for her to down as much as 13 prescription painkillers and deal with their side effects.

Cooper shares: “They could cause you to have thoughts of suicide and all. Nausea — that medication is one of the most nauseating meds I’ve ever taken.”

Medical marijuana can change that. Cooper believes that using pot can significantly reduce pain symptoms within a short period of time – cutting pain by almost half of its original intensity in as short as half an hour. And these quick results do not have side effects to accompany them, she shares.

At this time, Cooper is trying to rally other supporters behind her cause, doing her searching online. According to the KY3 feature, a bill has already been introduced in the House but has not been assigned to a legislative committee.

A news feature on the Los Angeles Times shares how proponents of the legalization of marijuana in California may be a step closer towards achieving their goal. As of end of week last week, almost 700,000 signatures in support of the initiative have been collected; this is viewed as a number that may be enough to ensure that the measure will be included in the November ballot.

The media followed marijuana advocates as they dropped off petitions with elections officials in the state’s largest counties. This included Los Angeles, where, according to organizers, advocates were able to gather 143,105 signatures.

The signature drive was steered by a marijuana entrepreneur from Oakland, Richard Lee. A petition was circulated in practically every county in an effort to gather signatures.

The measure includes stipulations that will allow anyone aged 21 years and older to possess an ounce of marijuana as well as grow their own marijuana plants for personal use in an area that is no more than 25 square feet. In addition, California cities and counties are given the option to allow marijuana to be grown and sold, as well as to impose taxes on it.

In order to make the ballot, an initiative needs to have at least 433,971 signatures. Each of the 693,800 signatures that Richard Lee’s initiative has gathered will need to be validated by election officials. The process will take at least six weeks.

Thus far, there are four marijuana legalization initiatives that have been proposed, but only Richard Lee’s measure has a good chance of making it to the ballot.

The city council of St. Helena, near Calistoga, California voted Tuesday in favor of having staff draft regulations regarding marijuana dispensaries. Once regulations are finalized and adopted, it will become legal to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the town. Until then, though, potential applicants will need to sit tight and wait.

Perhaps it was of help that a city council member, Eric Sklar, had a personal experience regarding the potential benefits that the use of medical marijuana can bring. His father lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, but he said that medical marijuana somehow made his father’s last few months bearable.

According to a feature on the Weekly Calistogan, Sklar said that St. Helena could adopt an ordinance in a period of six to eight weeks. This ordinance will include, among other things, how and where pot dispensaries could operate and how leftover products should be handled.

Thus far, a marijuana-related business license has been issued by the city, but the business did not include actually dispensing marijuana itself. Napa Valley Marijuana Growers, which was granted a license in 2009, sold marijuana-themed shirts and t-shirts. It is owned by Crane Carter, a resident of St. Helena; he is an advocate for marijuana legalization, and will “consider opening a (pot) dispensary” but does not mind having to wait until regulations are adopted by the city council.

The California Legislature takes one step closer towards legalizing the use of pot in the state outside of medical purposes by voting to push a bill that will ultimately legalize and place a tax on the recreational use of marijuana, according to a report on the San Francisco Chronicle.

The move will essentially open the need to debate and discuss the legalization of marijuana use in the state. The vote was made by the Assembly Public Safety Committee, with Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Assemblyman Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) voting in favor. Ammiano is a co-sponsor of bill AB390.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman declared that he does not use or support marijuana and does not advocate its use by his kids or anyone else’s kids, but he voted in favor of pushing the bill in the interest of arriving at “a more rationale approach to… a failed criminalization policy.”

Marijuana advocates have been saying for quite some time that the current practice of prohibition is not effective.

San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer disagrees, however. According to the acting President of the California Police Chiefs Association, the current approach of the state towards the handling of marijuana has been effective thus far in preventing young people from using the substance. Manheimer is reportedly “disappointed” by the action of the committee.

Committee vice-chairman Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills) said that while the issue of pot indeed merits more discussion, “this bill is not the vehicle to do that”. Hagman voted against the proposal, along with Assemblyman Danny Gilmore (R-Hanford) and Furutani,

AB390 will make it legal for citizens over the age of 21 to possess, cultivate and sell marijuana. A sales tax of $0.50/ounce will be imposed, and regulation will fall under the control of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

One of the much-talked about topics in 2009 was the push to legalize marijuana. Some of our readers shared their views and opinions on the issue last year, and there were quite a number who expressed their support of the legislation.

Now, here are some famous people who, in one way or another, expressed support to the legalization of marijuana.

Jack Black. The star admitted to drug use, and recounted trying acid and cocaine in the ninth grade. He is said to still smoke pot occasionally, and is on the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) Advisory Board.

Jack Nicholson. Jack Nicholson is another celebrity who supports pot. He was quoted with the following statement: “My point of view, while extremely cogent, is unpopular… That the repressive nature of the legalities vis-a-vis drugs are destroying the legal system and corrupting the police system.”

Jennifer Aniston. Ask people who their favorite Friend is, and quite a number of them will probably say Rachel Green, the character made popular by Jennifer Aniston. She was said to have admitted to sharing a smoke with former husband Brad Pitt and that she still enjoy it “once in a while – there is nothing wrong with that”.

Brad Pitt. The hunky actor is known to support marijuana publicly, and was said to have smoked on the set of several of his movies – although he seems to have stopped already.

Jesse Ventura. The former Governor of Minnesota is part of the MPP Advisory Board. His support for the use of medical marijuana is reportedly surpassed by his support of the complete legalization of marijuana.

Johnny Depp. The talented actor expressed quite interesting opinions about drugs and their use, and has received criticism for his views. He is not known to be the type who will care much about what other people think, though, and he supports the legalization of marijuana.

Washington is said to be one of four states where there are measures that have been introduced towards the legalization and regulation of marijuana. There are also around two dozen other states that are looking into marijuana-related legislation, from medical marijuana to not considering the possession of small amounts of marijuana as a crime.

According to Ethan Nadelmann, the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance based in New York, this year is considered as “the most active” in as far as state legislatures regarding marijuana is concerned. The Drug Policy Alliance supports the reformation of marijuana laws.

Bills towards the legalization of marijuana were introduced early in 2009 in the states of California and Massachusetts. This month, bills were pre-filed in advance of legislative sessions to be held in January in the states of Washington and New Hampshire.

The marijuana legalization bill in Washington State is sponsored by Seattle Democrat Mary Lou Dickerson. Based on the details provided regarding the provisions of the bill, it will seem like marijuana will be treated in the same way as liquor currently is: marijuana may be sold in state-run liquor stores and consumers who will purchase it will pay a tax of 15% per gram, and have to be aged 21 years or older. The money that will be raised from the regulated selling of marijuana will be channeled into programs for substance abuse prevention and treatment. According to Rep. Dickerson, the bill can bring in as much as $300 million a year, roughly the same amount that is brought in by alcohol.

The Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Allen St Pierre, mentioned that tough economic times have driven lawmakers to take a closer look at the potential tax value that legalizing marijuana may bring.

Portland, Oregon is now the home of the first Marijuana bar in the United States. The Cannabis Café is a bar where those with medical marijuana clearance can go to get and use marijuana as long as it’s out of the public eye. The café intended to offer not only food and marijuana but also seminars about marijuana use, classes, and a Cannabis Community College to educate those who attend how to grow and use the drug for several things. The café is a club for members of NORML an Oregon marijuana legalization group who are cleared for medical use of marijuana.

Membership will cost $25 a month for use of the 100 person capacity café. The marijuana is given to members at no charge when they enter the club and go to the bar. The hours are between 10 am and 10 pm with food available but no alcoholic beverages. Roughly 21,000 are registered for medical marijuana use in the state of Oregon for illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette’s syndrome. Reporters were allowed to enter the café but were barred from seeing the members.

The opening of the club comes about a month after Obama announced that federal agencies could no longer prosecute those who followed state regulations on the drug’s use. Growing, possessing, distributing and smoking marijuana remain illegal under federal law, which makes no distinction between medical and recreational use.

The drug has long been illegal in the state but recent changes in federal policy have citizens wondering if a change could happen soon. Until recently federal laws had banned the sale of the drug as well but with the new laws allowing states to dictate regulation of medical marijuana and the success of advocacy groups legalizing it’s sue on 13 states that may change very quickly. Before now even in states where medical use was legalized federal agencies could supersede these laws and prosecute those who possessed or bought the drug. The changes came after it was decided that federal opposition to state regulations was a waste of federal resources.

In states like Florida changes like these raise the interest in seeking legalization. For many organizations it’s as if the largest obstacle has been removed emboldening the interest in getting medical use passed in the state. According to such organizations the legalization of medical marijuana has benefited through tax dollars, reduced youth drug abuse and decreased alcohol abuse but for the opposition there is still the concern of potential crime increases and recreational use rather than medical purposes. Citing the difficulty the state already faces because of lax prescription laws and a subsequently high rate of their abuse those against legalization feel that it could only make such problems worse as physicians in the state are already viewed as far too lax in their prescription of existing drugs.

Such groups also feel that legalization of marijuana for medical purposes is merely meant as an avenue for recreational use rather than a help for those with chronic pain. For the moment there are no considerations being made by government offices for these sort of legal changes only time will tell if this will change.

Yes, you are reading that right — there is no marijuana restriction in place in this school, because the curriculum is marijuana. One of the more recent additions to the educational institutions operating in the State of Michigan is Med Grow Cannabis College.

The school is reportedly the brain child of a 24 year-old entrepreneur, Nick Tennant. The “college” is more of a trade school for medical marijuana, and operates out of a few rooms in a suburb of Detroit. Tennant hopes to contribute towards improving the state’s employment rates by equipping interested people with the skills needed to become a player in the new medical marijuana industry.

When compared to the state of California, medical marijuana is still in its infancy in the state of Michigan. Hence, there is definitely still a lot to be learned in as far as managing the “industry” that will undoubtedly emerge as a result of the legalization of marijuana for medical use. Even among the students, there is an air of anxiety and nervousness over setting up a business that revolves around medical marijuana.

Michigan’s medical marijuana law allows patients or their designated caregivers to grow up to 12 cannabis plants. Patients will need to have a doctor’s certification to support their medical need for marijuana. Caregivers need to be over the age of 21 and have no felony drug convictions; those who fit the bill can be a caregiver to up to five patients. At this time, the Michigan Department of Community Health reportedly has an estimated 5,800 patients and 2,400 caregivers registered in its roster.

Nick Tennant, the school’s founder, is registered both as a patient and as a caregiver. Med Grow serves as his latest business venture after his auto detailing business – which he started straight out of high school – took the brunt of the uncertain economic times. The school started offering courses in September and continues to offer new classes each month.

Among the courses in the curriculum are various cannabis recipes with such names as crockpot cannabutter, chocolate canna-ganche and greenies (brownies with a marijuana twist, and no, there were no taste tests). There was also a class that discussed the cannabis growing cycle and harvest and curing techniques that may increase the potency of marijuana.

Over the past few months, marijuana has found itself in the middle of the spotlight, with debates ringing far and wide calling for its legalization or otherwise. While this is going on, however, the illicit use of marijuana continues to thrive, and with it are side effects that could certainly have been avoided.

Marijuana debates have undoubtedly included arguments that relate to the substance’s “deadly” factor. We have posted features before that presented a comparison between how deadly marijuana use is to the community as opposed to excessive alcohol consumption, and we definitely see where advocates are coming from.

Still, as in anything, not all substances are for everybody. The recreational use of marijuana may have adverse effects on a certain rather delicate group of people — pregnant women.

The effect that marijuana use may have on pregnancy is discussed in a feature on drugfreehomes.org. While the mother herself may not find any noticeable differences to her physical state while using marijuana, or other drugs, studies would show that it is the one we do not see – the unborn child – that takes the brunt of adverse effects. The child, after all, is more sensitive than his or her mother, and it is the child who will suffer highly from the effects of marijuana use.

The active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, reportedly hinders neuron development. This can lead to the development of problems pertaining to basic cognitive skills such as memory retention in the child. Basically, marijuana use during pregnancy may have effects to the unborn child’s mental development, which will manifest themselves during the child’s formative years.