Healthcare Marijuana: Two Measures Forward, 1 Step Back?

What is it about healthcare marijuana that tends to make it such a volatile topic? Why are the same states that initially decriminalized the sale of cannabis to physician authorized individuals now attempting to impose so many restrictions? For supporters of complete-scale legalization and the companies which sell the product, there seems to be a continual dance amongst what is allowed and what isn’t.

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Soon after California decriminalized the sale of health-related marijuana nearly 800 storefronts opened under the guise of becoming dispensaries. In Could of 2010 the owners of 439 of them had been told to close by June 7 in order to comply with ordinances. Distance from areas in which kids congregate, such as schools and parks as properly as registration deadlines that have been exceeded have been cited as causes for the closures.

The subsequent step involved a citywide lottery for the remaining dispensaries. Only collectives and dispensaries which had been in operation from Sept. 14, 2007 and have retained at least one particular original owner certified for the lottery. LA has considering that informed the owners of 140 other retailers they ought to close their doors as properly, leaving the city one hundred dispensaries.

How did items alter so dramatically, even as California debates collecting sales tax from medical marijuana dispensaries and increasing cooperatives?

New Mexico: No Measure But

Governor Susana Martinez – R, produced an concern of repealing the healthcare marijuana legislation in New Mexico, and has tried to bring a measure to the voters this year to do so. This position follows party lines. Nonetheless, Rep. James Smith – R, the bill’s sponsor pulled the bill, replacing it with Home Memorial 53 for a Division of Overall health impact study of health-related marijuana acts. For now residents of New Mexico will nevertheless be in a position to acquire healthcare marijuana legally.

Organization Restrictions

Even although medical marijuana dispensaries have been decriminalized, it hasn’t brought them any closer to a remedy regarding their business transactions. Unless the dispensary is prepared to function on a “cash only” basis, it may possibly have difficulty acquiring necessary industrial accounts, merchant accounts and insurance coverage. Creatively worded applications citing the sale of “supplements” and “overall health care accessories” are getting red flagged.

Banks and other financial institutions are in a quandary as nicely. This is a potentially substantial market place, but with fears about federal prosecution more than drug connected crimes, acquiring required accounts can be especially difficult.

A single clear factor is emerging from this small waltz: requirements want to be set not only relating to who has legal jurisdiction over the sale of marijuana for health-related purposes, but no matter whether or not corporations doing small business with the actual purveyors will be protected from unjust reprisals.