Help Remove the Excise Tax on Medical Cannabis in WA

         SB 5234, a bill to remove the 37% excise tax from medical cannabis for registered medical patients, still has some life in the Washington State Senate. However, we need to contact Senators one more time to urge them to do the right thing and pass SB 5234. Here are the Senators to contact, remember individual emails are the best, not CC's or BCC's and a short letter you can send.

Who to Contact: 

Palumbo (co-sponsor): Guy.Palumbo@leg.wa.gov, Matthew.Kuehn@leg.wa.gov (LA)

Mullet: Mark.Mullet@leg.wa.gov, Adam.Day@leg.wa.gov (LA)

Darnielle: J.Darneille@leg.wa.gov, Lisa.Fisch@leg.wa.gov (LA)

Billing: Andy.Billig@leg.wa.gov, Noelle.Connolly@leg.wa.gov (LA), Kate.Dinnison@leg.wa.gov (LA)

Liias: Marko.Liias@leg.wa.gov, Curt.Kohlwes@leg.wa.gov (LA), Nicholas.Juno@leg.wa.gov (LA)

Rolfes (Chair): Christine.Rolfes@leg.wa.gov, Linda.Owens@leg.wa.gov (LA), Peter.Steelquist@leg.wa.gov (L)

What to Say:

Dear senator,

       I am writing today to ask you to please pass SB 5234, a bill to modify the excise tax on medical cannabis. Passing this bill is a matter of fairness. Other medicines are not taxed. Medical cannabis patients are often some of the most disabled among us and can rarely afford the high prices on medical cannabis. Many patients are turning to cannabis over more harmful drugs like opiates. The high prices sometimes prevent patients from making this transition.

Please pass SB 5234. Thank you for your time today.

Best,

Note: 
      This bill only removes the excise tax for registered patients and only on DOH approved cannabis. Sadly, more work is needed to remove the excise tax completely.

Marijuana Shaping up to be Key Issue in 2020 Election

     It's beginning to look like marijuana may be a key issue in the 2020 election. As more and more states around the country pass recreational marijuana and many more embrace medical marijuana, voters are waking up to the cannabis movement. With this awakening, some unexpected allies have emerged in the political arena. At the same time, some new adversaries have stepped up to challenge marijuana's seemingly unstoppable move across the country. These two factions are on a collision course in the upcoming Presidential election, setting up marijuana to be a key issue in the 2020 election.

     Over the past two years there has been a series of bi-partisan pro-marijuana bills in the United States Congress. Leading the charge for marijuana reform is Presidential hopeful, Democratic Senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker. Senator Booker, with a host of bi-partisan support, including Rand Paul, a Republican Presidential candidate in 2016, has introduced two major cannabis laws in the US Senate. First he introduced the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act (CARERS Act). This bill will expand medical cannabis access around the country and promote more cannabis research. Second, the Marijuana Justice Act looks at cannabis legalization as well as mending the damage done by the war on marijuana. The bill even provides incentives for states to fully legalize it. Another Presidential hopeful, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, whose home state of Massachusetts recently passed recreational marijuana, has introduced a marijuana banking bill, while other Democratic presidential contenders scramble to position themselves as pro-marijuana.

     Up the street from Congress at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and on the other side of the political isle from Senators Booker and Warren, there have been mixed messages sent from the President.  A recent article by BuzzFeed News reports that a secret Presidential panel on marijuana has launched an attack against legalization.  This has activists worried that President Trump may go back on his 2016 Presidential election endorsement of medical marijuana. The Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee has been tasked with looking into the most significant negative effects of legal marijuana. Fourteen agencies and the DEA are tasked with digging up the dirt on legal weed. "Oh, that's so original. Demonizing weed has never been tried before." This follows Jeff Sessions resending the Kohl Memo earlier this year, leaving many Republicans, who support pro-marijuana legislation, scratching their heads about where the White House really stands on marijuana.     

     On the state level, some Presidential campaign battle ground states recently came close to passing adult use marijuana through their legislatures. Both New Hampshire and Illinois came close to passing adult use cannabis this year. Two other East Coast states, Delaware and Connecticut, nearly passed recreational cannabis bills in their legislatures this year. All four of these states are expected to pass legal marijuana by 2020, making marijuana a possible key issue in the lead up to the 2020 election in the Midwest and East Coast.

Medical Cannabis, an Effective Treatment for Cancer

     Studies show medical cannabis can not only be a useful tool in managing the side effects associated with cancer treatment, but also medical cannabis can be an effective treatment for battling cancer itself. For years patients and care givers have enlisted cannabis as an essential tool used to negate the terrible side effects associated with cancer therapy like nausea, lack of appetite, depression and anxiety. As laws loosened around the country and more and more patients began using medical cannabis, reports began to emerge that medical cannabis was an effective treatment for cancer. Now the evidence is beginning to move beyond anecdotal, and emerging research suggests that the terrible “devil weed” may actually be a powerful cancer fighting drug.   

Cannabinoids  

     There are two major cannabinoids found on the cannabis plant that help fight cancer. They are Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD). Both were discovered in Israel in the 1960’s and have been shown to have a wide variety of medicinal effects. THC is the famous cannabinoid that gives weed its high, while CBD is a bit lesser known and doesn’t produce a high. Numerous studies have shown both CBD and THC are effective in treating cancer by attacking the disease and by acting with traditional cancer treatments.  

Studies

      Due to its more lenient cannabis laws, researchers in Spain have been at the forefront of cannabis research. Dr. Christina Sanchez of Compultense University and her team of researchers discovered that THC kills cancer by inducing apoptosis. Probably one of the funniest words in medicine, apoptosis is the process by which a cell dies, essentially committing suicide. When cells do not go through apoptosis they divide out of control, and voila a tumor is born. Dr. Sanchez told Cannabis Planet in 2014, “Cells can die in different ways, and after cannabanoid treatment, (cancer cells) were dying in the clean way. They were committing suicide which is something that you really want.” She goes on to say. “One of the advantages of cannabanoid based medicines would be that they target specific tumor cells. They don’t have any toxic effect on normal non-tumoral cells. This is an advantage with respect to standard chemotherapy which targets basically everything.”

      In an Israeli study, CBD also has been shown to increase apoptosis by reducing inflammation in cancerous cells. An Italian study also proved that CBD promoted apoptosis by increasing the presence of a special category of molecules called reactive oxygen species. Other studies show cannabinoids aid pharmaceutical cancer fighting drugs in brain and prostate cancers to reduce the size of tumors. CBD and THC therapy, coupled with chemotherapy drugs, is a promising new avenue in cancer research, but researchers agree more studies are needed before we can say for sure medical cannabis is a treatment for cancer.  

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.