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On Wednesday, the LA Times reported that a California Senate Committee approved a proposed restriction that if passed would ban all medical marijuana collectives in the state from operating within 600 feet of a residential area (SB 847).  The bill is not law yet, but could become law soon.  “If you are considering opening a medical marijuana collective, you should consider this bill and try to position yourself at least 600 feet from a residence, if possible,” said medical marijuana lawyer Damian Nassiri.  “If you are a collective that is within 600 feet of a residence now, there are still legal arguments that can be made on your behalf, which could result in you being able to stay, although there is no guarantee of this.  We will have to wait and see if this law does pass and whether the law applies retroactively.”

Marijuana hypersensitivity might be more common than previously thought, according to the results of a case series.

Though there are only a few case reports in the literature, “Marijuana allergy, I think, is fairly common,” said lead investigator Dr. Gordon Sussman, acting division director of clinical allergy and immunology at the University of Toronto. Even so, “It’s something physicians don’t really generally ask about. People should consider it in the diagnosis of rhinitis [and other allergic symptoms], and even in people that have asthma and anaphylaxis.”

The 17 patients who were included in the series reported that marijuana gave them runny noses or other problems; all ended up having positive marijuana skin prick test results, he reported. One patient in the series had an anaphylactic reaction after drinking marijuana tea.

That was the first patient in whom Dr. Sussman diagnosed a marijuana allergy. “I asked him in a detailed history what it could have been, and he actually had drunk marijuana tea. We knew at that point he had an IgE-mediated reaction to marijuana,” he said.

Curiosity piqued, and Dr. Sussman began asking allergy patients about marijuana use and reactions. A significant percentage reported symptoms from both contact and inhalation.

To confirm the diagnosis, he and his colleagues did skin-prick tests on the 17 patients between 21 and 58 years old, mostly men. They extracted buds or flowers in 5 mL of water for 15 minutes and pricked beneath drops placed on patients’ skin.

After 15 minutes, the 17 patients had wheals of 4-19 mm and surrounding flares. Fifteen presented with inhalation symptoms, including rhinitis and conjunctivitis, periorbital angioedema, wheezing, sinusitis, and throat swelling. Thirteen also reported hives from contact.

The anaphylaxis patient presented with anxiety, chest tightness, wheezing, GI cramping, and vomiting after drinking the tea.

“I don’t think it’s a contaminant; I’m pretty sure it’s an allergen in the marijuana they are reacting to,” Dr. Sussman said, adding that such reactions shouldn’t be a surprise because “marijuana is a weed, and weeds are generally known to be allergenic.”

Asking about marijuana use and past reactions should be a routine part of allergy work-ups, especially with expanding medical marijuana use. “People could actually be sensitized to marijuana and have a serious reaction. It’s important for people to recognize this,” Dr. Sussman said.

The researchers’ next step is to identify the actual allergens responsible for the reactions using a marijuana extract from a U.S. federal laboratory, serum from positive patients, and Western blot assays.

There was no outside funding for the study. Dr. Sussman said he had no disclosures.

http://medicalmarijuana411.com/mmj411_v3/?p=8594

By: Steve Elliott

Ever since I started writing about marijuana, every time I look for related images online I keep running across a pot leaf photo that just doesn’t make sense.

This photo — which Discovery Health says it sourced from Marijuana.com — seems to show what looks like a female cannabis flower coming out the base of a marijuana leaf, where the leaf blades meet the leaf stem.

If the bud were down at the base of the leaf stem, rather than at the base of the leaf blades where they meet the stem, I would be more inclined to accept it as genuine. But since I’ve never seen a bud grow at this particular spot on a leaf, I’m skeptical.

There’s only the one photo, seemingly everywhere, showing this phenomenon. I’ve never been able to uncover another one like it.

Who took — or faked — this photo? Why does it depict a bud growing out the base of the topside of a leaf? And why is this inaccurate photo — or, at least, very atypical photo — the most popular marijuana photo on the Web?

Photo: Retro Tee Shirts

An actual marijuana leaf doesn’t have flowers at the base of the leaf blades, where they meet the stem.

Photo: Weed Farmer

Cannabis flowers typically grow out of stalks and stems, not out of leaves.

The deadline for entering in this contest has arrived, and we’ll now begin taking votes from the public in order to select who will be crowned the first ever Miss Medical Marijuana ambassador, in this Spring 2011 contest. There are some very beautiful women that have participated and we’d like to thank everyone in advance for their support.

This is the first contest we’ve held at PENCIL METHOD since our inception. We are very eager to provide the winners with prizes and see how this contest will help us bring our cause to those who wouldn’t have necessarily been informed about the importance of our cause had it not been for the beautiful women that have taken the chance in submitting their contest entries.

Now that we have all of our contestants, we’ll need you to vote for who you think should be crowned Miss Medical Marijuana, a good will ambassador for our cause. In order to vote, you’ll need to be a registered user on our web site (registration is free and takes less than 10 seconds to complete – CLICK HERE TO BECOME A REGISTERED USER). All you need to do is choose your favorite lady from the voting poll below. Only one vote will be allowed per member, and cheating attempts will not be counted in the end. Voting begins April 1st, 2011 at 1:00 AM and will end April 20th, 2011 at 1:00 AM as well.

The winners will be expected to promote our cause in a wholesome and responsible way. This contest is about promoting the marijuana legalization movement and spreading valuable knowledge to the general public. Please do your part and tell all your friends and loved ones about this contest and our web site. Winners will be officially announced during the afternoon of April 20th, 2011.

http://www.pencilmethod.com/2011/03/31/miss-medical-marijuana-spring-2011-finalists-voting-open/

Less than two months after the competition was initially announced, online interest for the Miss Medical Marijuana competition has surpassed what anyone at the popular Marijuana news magazine even thought was possible. The contest is taking place as part of ongoing efforts by the Marijuana Legalization movement to gain mainstream support for the cause.

http://www.thcfinder.com/marijuana-blog/culture/2011/04/smoking-hot-women-featured-in-medical-marijuana-benefit-competition#axzz1IJejIY1S

(Forbes.com 3/30/11) Could the IRS use the tax code to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries?

In 1931, mobster Al Capone was finally put behind bars because he was convicted of multiple tax-evasion charges, and the IRS is taking a similar approach with medical marijuana today. Many dispensaries in California now face audits that could result in their owing millions of dollars in back taxes.

According to Forbes columnist Robert W. Wood, the agency is relying on Internal Revenue Code Section 280E, which “precludes deductions for any business trafficking in controlled substances.” While dispensaries are legal in some states, including California, marijuana trafficking remains illegal on a federal level. The IRS is arguing that normal business expenses that most companies can deduct on their taxes are not applicable to dispensaries.

The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, Calif., was the first dispensary to be hit with this ruling earlier this month. Founder Lynette Shaw told the Marin Independent Journal of California that the IRS audited the company’s returns for 2008 and 2009 and disallowed all of the alliance’s business deductions such as buying marijuana, hiring employees, and renting office space. Shaw did not disclose the amount the IRS told her she owes, but she described it as “a staggering sum” totaling several million dollars.

“Every dispensary in the nation, past, present and future is dead if this is upheld,” Shaw said. An IRS spokesperson declined to discuss the case. Shaw is currently planning an appeal.

According to a report from The American Independent, at least 12 dispensaries in California are currently being audited by the IRS.

As columnist Wood points out, the law isn’t completely clear. A previous tax court ruling allowed dispensaries to deduct expenses for activities not directly related to dispensing marijuana, such as caregiving, counseling, education and advocacy.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told The American Independent that the immaturity of the medical marijuana industry could have opened the door for these audits, since dispensaries are trying to take normal business deductions while also asking for special treatment for their product’s medicinal value.

“Not many people show up in the newspapers screaming that they make millions of dollars and don’t want to pay taxes,” said St. Pierre.

(http://blogs.forbes.com/eco-nomics/2011/03/28/could-medical-marijuana-get-the-al-capone-treatment/)

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