3 Easy Steps to Get a Medical Cannabis Card in Florida

    Florida passed a  constitutional amendment for full plant medical marijuana on their second attempt in 2016, making it the first state in the Deep South to do so. This is great news for patients who choose to replace other medications with medical marijuana, but getting registered is not always easy. There are some hoops to jump through, so here are three easy steps to help you register for medical marijuana in Florida.

Step 1 - Do you Qualify

     These conditions will qualify you for medical marijuana in Florida:  cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, Crohn’s disease, PTSD, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, or other debilitating conditions such as anorexia or Hepatitis C. Only pain related to one of these conditions qualify a patient for medical marijuana in Florida.

Step 2 - Find a Doctor

     A simple internet search is all you need to do to find a doctor near you in Florida who will recommend medical marijuana. You will need to bring an ID to prove you are a Florida citizen, medical documentation of your condition, and minors under 18 will need to bring a parent or guardian along. If you don't have documentation for your condition, you can sign a release and the medical marijuana doctor will contact your regular doctor.

Step 3 - Register with the State

      Sometimes it seems states make it as hard as possible to get medical marijuana, but there's just one more step!  Your doctor will enter you into the Medical Marijuana Use Registry (MMUR). Once entered, apply for a MMUR identification card. If your information matches up with your driver's license information, the state will use your DMV photo on your MMUR ID.

When the ID comes in the mail, you can then purchase medical marijuana at dispensaries around the state. No smoking though, Florida does not allow the sale of flower/buds at dispensaries.  

Update:
      Patients can now buy smokable cannabis in Florida. However, they must return to their doctor and ask for a new certification. 

Action Needed to Remove the Tax on Medical Cannabis in Washington State

     SB 5234 reduces the tax on medical cannabis in Washington State from 37% to 0%. Yes, Washington is the only state that taxes medical cannabis. If you can help follow the instructions below and send an email to the Ways and Means committee to hold a hearing for SB 5234.

1.      send an email to the Senate Ways and Means members.  Send it to leadership first.  I am attaching the emails of the member-senators and their assistants below.

2.      Ask for what you want in no more than a couple of sentences.  The point is to get it on their radars.  Basically that and not much more.

If you are a residential or business constituent, please let them know.

3.      State what you want in the subject line:  give 5234 a hearing in Ways and Means

4.      Have it in their email boxes by first thing Monday morning.

Christine Rolfes, chair  

Christine.Rolfes@leg.wa.gov. 

Linda.Owens@leg.wa.gov    assistant

David.Frockt@leg.wa.gov  vice chair

Crystal.Chindavongsa@Leg.Wa.Gov  assistant

mark.mullet@leg.wa.gov   majority whip, Capital Budget Cabinet

Adam.Day@leg.wa.gov    assistant

John Braun , ranking member

john.braun@leg.wa.gov

Sharon Brown,  Assistant Ranking Member, Operating

sharon.brown@leg.wa.gov

Barbara.Bailey@leg.wa.gov

Randi.Becker@leg.wa.gov

andy.billig@leg.wa.gov

noelle.connolly@leg.wa.gov  assistant

Reuven.Carlyle@leg.wa.gov

jeannie.darneille@leg.wa.gov

lisa.fisch@leg.wa.gov   assistant

bob.hasegawa@leg.wa.gov

sam.cho@leg.wa.gov     assistant

Sam.Hunt@leg.wa.gov

Marko.Liias@leg.wa.gov

karen.keiser@leg.wa.gov

Jennifer.Minich@leg.wa.gov    assistant

Guy.Palumbo@leg.wa.gov

Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov

steve.conway@leg.wa.gov

steven.ellis@leg.wa.gov

Ann.Rivers@leg.wa.gov

mark.schoesler@leg.wa.gov

Tacoma Community College Launches Cannabis Continuing Education Class

     Tacoma Community College is hosting a three session continuing education course on the topic of cannabis at its Tacoma and Gig Harbor campuses. The Tacoma course will be focused on the cannabis industry and the Gig Harbor class will introduce medical cannabis. The course will also touch on the history and the plant itself. These Tacoma Community College continuing education  courses will be taught by Lukas Barfield, a local teacher, Director of Advocates for Medical Cannabis and a local cannabis writer/reporter.

      Come have an experience with cannabis at TCC's Cannabis, Topics and Trends continuing education course. Maybe you are thinking of joining the growing cannabis industry, or wonder why did cannabis become illegal in the first place? Get helpful tips on safely storing cannabis and how to keep it out of the hands of kids, while getting an inside look at cannabis in Washington. Find answers to medical cannabis questions. If you're curious about cannabis, This is the class for you.

*Note-Cannabis products are not allowed on Tacoma Community College campuses. At no time will cannabis be present for this course.

Instructor

Lukas Barfield is a cannabis writer, reporter and activist who lives in Tacoma, WA. He holds a Master's Degree in Education and has experience teaching Math, Science and Technology. This experience, combined with lifelong experience with cannabis, allows him to bring the rigor of Math and Science to the subject of cannabis. He is the Director of Advocates for Medical Cannabis, a WA non-profit dedicated to bringing a medical cannabis system to Washington State based on compassion and science. Lukas writes for Ganjapreneurs, Cannabis Financial Network, Stoned Daily and has been published in Marijuana Ventures Magazine. He has taught in middle school, parochial school, and college settings and is looking forward to bringing his passion for teaching to Tacoma Community College.

High Five Farms - Green Star Review - Purple Mango and Ghost Train Haze Hash

     High Five Farms is a producer located in Benton County Washington. Found in shops all around the state, the farm produces some of the best sun grown cannabis I’ve tried in Washington. Using light depravation growing and traditional trimming processing and curing techniques, High Five Farms products are a cut above the rest. Here are two products the AMC believes deserve a Green Star.

Purple Mango Flower

I hadn't seen a
“mango” strain since the old medical days, so I was happy to find this on the shelves at Merry Mart in Tacoma. I knew from some writing I’ve done the “mango” strains contain high concentrations of myrcene, a terpene known for its sedative effects. The finish and cure on the flower was top notch. It wasn’t trimmed to close, so all those terpenoids on the sugar leaves hung around to give this flower a pungent fruity smell. The buds weren’t too dry and were very dense, so I could tell right away the smoke was going to be good on this One. It didn't disappoint.

     Because the terpenes were so strong on this flower, it definitely packed a punch. It offered a relaxing mellow effect that gave way to just the right amount of couch lock. This is a great strain for night time use, or for patients who need some more relaxation in their lives. Day time use is possible, but for those who need help with sleep this is a great strain for their medicine cabinets.

Ghost Train Haze hash

     High Five Farms has a Ghost Train Haze flower available, but their hand press 1 gram hash cubes for only $20 are a treat. Each gram is hand pressed from kief/resin collected while the flower is being trimmed. The hash color is a brownish blonde color with tiny darker specks throughout. It smokes good by itself, grated on a joint or in a bowl. The GTH is one of the stronger strains out there, so the hash comes in with high Cannabinoid concentrations.

     We'll be taking a look at HFF's 2018 harvest soon, so keep an eye out. In the meantime be sure to support producers in Washington doing it right.

Introducing the Green Star Review

      Introducing Advocates for Medical Cannabis’s “Green Star Review”. This is an opportunity to put the “medical” back in cannabis in Washington State. The Green Star Review will focus on attributes of cannabis products medical cannabis patients look for. The green Star Review will focus on

1. Pesticides – Pesticides are a big deal for patients. In our review we will be looking at what pesticides are used and are they labeled clearly. Preferably, the products we review have no pesticides, but we do recognize the need for pesticides in some cases when producing cannabis.   
2. Potency and Terpene Profiles – Terpenes determine the effects of each cannabis strain. Our reviews will look at what terpenes are present, are they labeled? And the general potency and medical effect of each product.
3. Finish – The finishing touches for cannabis really matter. The green Star Review will examine the flush, trim and cure of cannabis flower, as well as, the effectiveness of “gassing” for solvent based extracts.
4. Advocacy – This won’t be discussed in every review, but when possible we’d like to recognize good things businesses are doing for the medical cannabis community in general. “Do they support home grows?”, “What sort of environmentally friendly practices do they embrace, sustainable packaging, water management and light energy use?”

     Advocates for Medical Cannabis will be seeking out products to review ourselves, but cannabis consumers can nominate players in the I-502 market place they think deserve a “Green Star”. If you have a favorite cannabis product you think puts the “medical” in “medical cannabis”, send us an email to emailmmcws@gmail.com  and let Advocates for Medical Cannabis know about your favorite medical cannabis product.

 

Do Your Candidates Support Homegrows in WA?

     We sent out a letter today asking which candidates running for office in Pierce County support homegrows. You can find who is running for office at your county auditor’s website.

     Here’s a template letter to send the candidates running in your area. Tweek it, update it, change it whatever you need to do, but it may be a good idea to send this out to candidates in your county. Cannabis should be a campaign issue in WA.  

Dear Candidates,

      My name is “your name”. I am a “fill in your details”. At the moment, medical cannabis is severely broken in Washington. Patients lack access to safe and affordable medicine, low plant limits have hindered their ability to grow for themselves and even if they can grow it is nearly impossible to purchase legal seeds or small plants. Oklahoma just passed medical cannabis, and if implemented as written, even they would have a better medical cannabis system than Washington. Additionally, Washington is the only state with adult use cannabis, aka recreational cannabis, that does not allow adults over 21 to grow at home. Let me repeat, every state except Washington allows adults over 21 to grow at least four plants at their home. I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem right we are in last place when it comes to cannabis policy.

     The cannabis community is looking to partner with state and local candidates to work together to bring adult homegrows and an updated medical cannabis system to Washington. We’ve gotten close in the past in Olympia, but it is going to take just a little extra push. Please reply to this email if you support homegrows and would like to speak about how you can support us in upgrading cannabis policy in these important ways. 

Best Regards,

Tell Lakewood WA to Finally Take the Vote on Legal Cannabis

     After nearly six years since the voters of Washington passed adult use legal cannabis in WA, Lakewood, WA still hasn’t taken a stand on whether or not cannabis business is good business in the city. All of the districts and 54% of its citizens voted “Yes” on I-502, the historic initiative that legalized cannabis for adult use in Washington State. Curiously, despite these numbers, the City Council hasn’t even brought the issue up for a vote. They just aren’t issuing business licenses in the city. As a result, medical cannabis patients, including Veterans, who use cananbis to treat a wide variety of ailments, including PTSD, are left to their own devices finding cannabis in the city. Recent studies have shown states with legal cannabis have far less opiate deaths. Lakewood is turning its back on these studies, leaving the community vulnerable to the opiate health crisis. Additionally, Lakewood is losing out on valuable tax revenue that would help the city, and their job killing regulations are stifling entrepreneurs in the city. The Medical Marijuana Coalition of Washington State is asking the Lakewood City Council to take a vote to allow the voter approved initiative to be finally implemented. It is time for Lakewood to take a stand on this issue. Please call or email the members and ask them to take the vote.

Jason Whalen

jwhalen@cityoflakewood.us

Mike Brandstetter

mbrandstetter@cityoflakewood.us

Marie Barth

mbarth@cityoflakewood.us

Paul Bocchi

pbocchi@cityoflakewood.us

John Simpson

jsimpson@cityoflakewood.us

Don Anderson (Council Elected Mayor)

danderson@cityoflakewood.us,

     The City Council meets every Monday at 6000 Main St. Lakewood, WA 98499 at 7:00 PM. They allow public comment on the1st and 3^rd Monday of the month. It is important citizens of Lakewood who support legal adult use cannabis attend the meetings and give public comment.