WE ARE NEXT

Canada - Government Threatens To Share Medicinal Marijuana Patient Information
Health Canada has warned it will share with law enforcement the private information of citizens in lawful possession of medicinal marijuana unless they comply with a new order within six weeks' time. Today (March 14), the federal government posted a notice online stating that medicinal-marijuana licence holders are required to destroy all marijuana they have and provide written notice stating that they “no longer possess marijuana (dried marijuana, plants or seeds) obtained under the old program”.
 
“If participants do not comply with the requirement to notify Health Canada, the Department will notify law enforcement,” the release states. Licence holders have until April 30, 2014, to meet the terms of the order. Another Health Canada website provides vague details on the consequences of not complying with the new directive. "The Department will take compliance and enforcement action," it states. "This includes informing law enforcement of your failure to notify Health Canada as required under section 259.3 of the MMPR. In addition, the Department will continue to cooperate with police, and provide information needed to protect public safety, as appropriate." A “notification form” is available for download on the Health Canada website. There are more than 16,500 British Columbians licensed to possess medicinal marijuana. When the Conservatives' new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulation takes effect on April 1, licence holders will only be allowed to purchase dried cannabis via mail order.
 
The Health Canada directive issued today-on a Friday afternoon when government officials know media outlets are least likely to report it-contradicts information included in a September 2013 briefing note prepared for B.C. Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton. “Health Canada, citing privacy concerns, does not intend to disclose the addresses of former licensed grow operations once they are no longer permitted to legally grow marijuana,” that memo states. It's unclear what has changed that has led Health Canada to believe it can turn over the information of citizens licensed to possess medicinal marijuana without violating individuals' privacy.
 
For months, Health Canada has refused the Georgia Straight's repeated requests for an interview on the topic of the new rules governing medicinal marijuana. A message left today requesting clarification on the March 14 notice was not returned. In a media release, Sensible B.C. campaign director Dana Larsen called for demonstrations against the Health Canada order. “Patients across Canada registered with Health Canada in good faith, to protect themselves against arrest for cultivating their own medicine,” Larsen said in the release. “Now they are being threatened with police action if they don't destroy their perfectly good medication.”
 
Sensible B.C. has scheduled a “day of action” in protest of Health Canada's threat to share patients' information. Events are planned for April 1. “We are going to flood [Health Minister] Rona Ambrose's office with thousands of phone calls and emails from our supporters, to let her know that the Canadian public won't stand for these changes,” Larsen said. “With these unnecessary new rules, Health Canada is causing great harm to medical cannabis patients all across the country.”

 

So, why exactly does Health Canada endorse Big Pot? It's because the industry has committed to spending tens of millions of dollars on a science-driven approach to growing contamination-free cannabis to pharmaceutical-grade standards.
You'd be crazy to buy your medical marijuana from dispensaries. Who knows where these little guys are getting their strains from? Well, actually, it's probably mostly from organized crime. And it's likely laced with excessive pesticide residues, which can even include illegal ones.

This isn't the best way to manage your cancer pain. Instead, you need pharmaceutical-grade marijuana, which is what our industry specializes in. And that's why we have the support of the federal government, unlike those dispensaries.

OrganiGram sells contaminated cannabis to medical patients...WTF!
Here's what happened: it recently came to light that two federal government-approved 'licensed producers (LPs) of medical marijuana have been caught by authorities selling tainted cannabis to medical patients. It also undermines the argument that Canada's many small medical pot dispensaries should be legislated out of business -- all because their products aren't grown under the watchful eye of Health Canada or even with its approval.
Contamination Scandals Send Big Pot's Moral Argument Up In Smoke

 

3 years later, nothing has changed in Calif. MMJ laws.
Better look again!
Marijuana Regulators Target Home Cultivation
Since its founding, NORML has advocated that statewide legalization efforts – whether through a ballot initiative or using the legislative process – should ideally include provisions that permit and protect the act of home cultivation by marijuana consumers. This advocacy has resulted in more than 16 states now allowing home cultivation, including in six of the eight voter-initiated measures passed in 2016.

But although there has been a tremendous amount of progress on this issue, it appears that home cultivation is now at risk in several municipalities across Colorado and California. Local and state lawmakers in both jurisdictions are revisiting the issue and are moving toward unnecessarily limiting adult’s home cultivation rights.

Most recently, representatives with Denver’s Office of Marijuana Policy revealed a plan to, “limit unlicensed recreational and medical grows in private residences,” throughout the city of Denver. This decision came after months of closed-door meetings between regulators and leading marijuana industry interests such as the Marijuana Industry Group (MIG); which together, form what’s being called the, “Non-Licensed Marijuana Grows Inspection Team.”

Although there has been little to no mention of specific details regarding this proposed program, many are anticipating the new regulations to resemble those that have come under fire in Indian Wells, California. In that city, lawmakers are pushing for regulations mandating that anyone who wishes to cultivate marijuana in their home must purchase an annual permit and must also allow inspectors into their residence. This amounts to an absolutely unnecessary burden for responsible, law-abiding citizens.

In recent days, Denver NORML became inundated with emails, messages and comments on social media demanding a response to what many believe is a blatant overreach by city government officials. In response, members of Denver NORML, led by Executive Director, Jordan Person, began mobilizing volunteers to contact members of the Denver City Council with the goal of defending the rights and privacy of marijuana consumers in the city of Denver.

“With all of the uncertainty we are expecting in 2017 at both the local and state level our goal at Denver NORML is to help maintain our rights as residents of Colorado to grow in our homes,” said Person. “We will keep our members and supporters informed and part of the conversation as it happens.”

While it’s obvious that there’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into regulating Colorado’s legal marijuana industry, most marijuana consumers would never support any effort that would attempt to bring similar regulations into the privacy of their homes. Not to mention the fact that the creation of a task force or any other bureaucratic process to approve and/or oversee the cultivation of marijuana in a private residence amounts to a severe misuse of tax dollars and violation of privacy when those limited resources could be dedicated to combating actual problems in our communities.

Without providing any data points related to the correlation between home cultivation and out-of-state diversion, those advocating for tighter regulations deserve to fail in their attempt to convince marijuana consumers that allowing regular visits from government officials in their homes is a good idea. Adults who brew their own beer are not subject to inspections by the state and neither should those who choose to grow personal use quantities of marijuana. Furthermore, criminalizing the personal cultivation of marijuana is an arbitrary prohibition that has absolutely no basis in public safety. Therefore NORML will continue to support the right of individuals to grow their own marijuana as an alternative to purchasing it from licensed commercial producers.

To join the fight to protect home cultivation, check out NORML’s action page by visiting Take Action or for more information, please email Chapters@NORML.org.

 

Thank you for sharing grasscoty's guide to growing top shelf cannabis.
Well, I guess TROLLS are to be expected.