question for those who live in medical marijuana states

[beeline]

So, I have been looking into states that allow medical marijuana. I would like to (eventually) live and work in one of those states. Unfortunately, NJ, closest to me geographically, has one of the most stringent MM laws around, you pretty much have to have MS to qualify. I have heard that California is the most liberal, in terrms of availability/procurement of a license.

So my question is, to those of you that live in a MM state, how easy is it to get a license? I have both cronic back pain (triple disk herniations) and on-again-off-again manic-depression. Would I be able to get a license with those maladies?

Thanks in advance for your help.

On edit:

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000881

[Maddy]

When I was living in Mendocino and Lake Counties, in California, everyone and their aunt and uncle were getting MM cards or grow cards for sneezing. Seriously. I was literally told, "Go to Dr. ___ and hand over $_____ [I think it was $250?] and you get a card." It was supposedly that simple. Almost everyone I knew had some form of card.

I don't smoke. Just sayin'.

[psynapz]

I have both cronic back pain

[brainpanhandler]

I thought this thread was going to be about states of mind.

[barracuda]

Hey, look, it's brainpanhandler! What's shakin', bacon?

[brainpanhandler]

Yo.

I'm not kidding. Well, I am, but I really did briefly wonder what could be the difference between medical marijuana states (of mind) and just a plain ol' marijuana state (of mind).

Does this qualify anywhere? -- state dependent learning

[beeline]

Thanks everyone.

BPH, I have heard the medical stuff is better. I don't see how that could be though, it's just weed, even smoking the best-bred, best-grown stuff, it's still just weed.

Then again I've never been to a Cannabis Cup.

[§ê¢rꆧ]

BPH, I have heard the medical stuff is better. I don't see how that could be though, it's just weed, even smoking the best-bred, best-grown stuff, it's still just weed.

Nothing could be further from the truth! They are all different. Sativa high is more of a mental high, Indica high is more of a body buzz. There are a host of cannabinoids that supply the effects of maryjane, and they appear in different concentrations in different strains. I've only tried a few... White Widow, Bubblegum, Blueberry, Silver Haze. Each has it's own charms.

Amsterdam Knowledge Base wrote:

10. "What is the difference between Indica & Sativa?"
Indica and Sativa are both cannabis strains. Indicas are notably squatter with more crystals while Sativa is more elongated with its crystals kept in the core. Indicas are much more heavier than sativas. The high is more of a body stoned effect versus a more cerebral high from sativa. Many feel that Indica is going to make them sleepier, while Sativa gets you UP... Indicas are easier to grow, Sativas are tougher, but well worth it.

[Nordic]

It's really easy to get a card in So Cal, and the dispensaries are now on, almost literally, every block. So many have sprung up that I now have four or five within a couple blocks walk from my home. I'm not joking. Venice Beach, I hear, it quite the scene now, right along the boardwalk there are quite a few, and they try to lure you in saying "Dr'.s on duty" and stuff like that.

I know people who get cards for I think $150.

Disclaimer: I don't smoke either. But I know a lot of people who do.

And I know people who seriously need it for medical conditions.

[Penguin]

BPH, I have heard the medical stuff is better. I don't see how that could be though, it's just weed, even smoking the best-bred, best-grown stuff, it's still just weed.

Nothing could be further from the truth! They are all different. Sativa high is more of a mental high, Indica high is more of a body buzz. There are a host of cannabinoids that supply the effects of maryjane, and they appear in different concentrations in different strains. I've only tried a few... White Widow, Bubblegum, Blueberry, Silver Haze. Each has it's own charms.

Amsterdam Knowledge Base wrote:

10. "What is the difference between Indica & Sativa?"
Indica and Sativa are both cannabis strains. Indicas are notably squatter with more crystals while Sativa is more elongated with its crystals kept in the core. Indicas are much more heavier than sativas. The high is more of a body stoned effect versus a more cerebral high from sativa. Many feel that Indica is going to make them sleepier, while Sativa gets you UP... Indicas are easier to grow, Sativas are tougher, but well worth it.

Yeah. And there are around 30 or so (off the top of my mind) different cannabinoids, some active, some not - but they sure do play their part overall, in addition to the two major constituents, cannabidiole CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol, THC. The ratio of CBD to THC is the largest difference between the strains. CBD alone is not directly psychoactive, but has plenty of therapeutic effects (see my Data Dump thread for more info on that), and many varieties that are called "medicinal" have high CBD as well as high THC content (like say, Black Domina from Sensi in Netherlands). CBD also lessens the psychological side-effects that THC causes for some poor people (ie. the paranoia etc.), and acts as an anti-convulsant, for example.

And if you need it for medicine, please do get yourself a good vaporizer, preferably the best which is made by Storz & Bickel - the Volcano. It will save your lungs a lot of strain and save you a lot of money in the long run, as it saves material compared to burning it and gets it in your system way cleaner than smoking would.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and- ... -pot/full/ (even though I really disliked the tone of that article, and the reference to "rich people" - its not even that expensive when you figure in the savings caused by saved material)

And I know people who seriously need it for medical conditions.

For some people, not much else works, and sometimes it makes me really angry.

http://freekeene.com/2010/01/18/nh-cop- ... bis-users/

[beeline]

And if you need it for medicine, please do get yourself a good vaporizer, preferably the best which is made by Storz & Bickel - the Volcano. It will save your lungs a lot of strain and save you a lot of money in the long run, as it saves material compared to burning it and gets it in your system way cleaner than smoking would.

I didn't gedet the Volcano, but I did get a vaporizer, as per your advice It's taken me awhile to get used to vaporization, but I like it much better now than flame smoking, although bong hits are quickest, so I still do them if I don't have time to vape, which tends to take about a half hour.

Also, as far as my original question goes, a state representative from nearby Montgomery County floated a medical marijuana bill here Tuesday, hopefully it get traction in the State Senate. Don't know though, PA is still pretty conservative/rural outside the urban centers. However, like California, our state budget has a huge gap, so they are looking to tax just about anything these days....

[Nordic]

As I mentioned above, I'd heard about Venice Beach and the scene there, but hadn't experienced it first hand (which is weird because I live so close to it and often go to the beach probably half a mile above it).

But two days ago I was on a job there, right on Venice Beach.

There was a huge house, with signs all over it saying "Kush Club". And "The Dr. is in". But the best part is they had hawkers on the boardwalk, guys out there with signs, hawking to everybody (let me see if I can get this right): "If you're over 18, with a legal ID, in 20 minutes you can be smoking legally". (say this emphasizing the near-rhyme of it).

I was actually surprised how brazen it was. Turning medical marijuana into something akin to the strip clubs in San Francisco.

[annie aronburg]

They're just making hay while they can.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-potclosu ... ?track=rss

Los Angeles city prosecutors are sending letters to 439 medical marijuana dispensaries warning them that they must shut down by June 7, when an ordinance to control pot shops will finally take effect after years of debate and delay.

Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the city attorney's office, said the Police Department and city building inspectors compiled the list of illegal dispensaries. "We're not saying we have them all," he said. "This is the initial blanketing of locations that we are aware of at this time."

Under the ordinance, only those dispensaries that registered with the clerk in 2007, when the City Council adopted a moratorium on any new stores, can remain open. City officials estimate that between 130 and 140 of the original 186 registered dispensaries are still operating.

Hundreds of dispensaries opened in Los Angeles in the last couple of years as city officials failed to enforce the ban and the City Council struggled to write an ordinance to regulate them.


The letters, dated Tuesday, will be sent to both operators and the property owners. They warn that violations of the ordinance are a misdemeanor and could lead to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Any stores that stay open in violation of the ordinance could also face civil penalties of $2,500 a day.

Asha Greenberg, the assistant city attorney who signed the letter, said, "We're hopeful that the fact that we've given them more than 30 days to comply that a significant number of them will cease operating." She said dispensaries that do not shut down would face criminal or civil enforcement actions as soon as police verify they were still selling marijuana.

At least three lawsuits have been filed that challenge the city's ordinance and seek injunctions to prevent its enforcement. "They really don't affect our enforcement right now," Greenberg said.

Greenberg said that the prosecutor's office would send more letters if residents identify additional illegal dispensaries. "We're making our best efforts, and we're using information from really our eyes and ears out there, which is the community," she said.

[Nordic]

Yeah, you know what is so annoying about this? I have never, in my lifetime, seen such a perfect example of the "free market" system at work, as I have with the MM dispensaries. The "Invisible Hand" is clearly at work here. Not very often can you see this at work, because rarely are there such free markets.

Yes, there are dispensaries on every corner. But if they just let the system take care of itself, the lame ones would be "weeded out" (deliberate pun), and the ones that people actually wanted would stay.

But no, the government has to interfere and fuck everything up.

Now there are going to be these heavily regulated places that have the benefits of a monpoly -- higher prices, worse service, and, always an issue in LA, people will have to DRIVE MORE to get to them! Right now I could walk to four or five of them, from my house. I'm not kidding. (I can also walk to three different strip clubs, but that's a quirk of geography).

Anyway, finally we get a time when the free market can work its magic, and it's quashed, because they're selling weed.

Ridiculous.

[beeline]

Yeah, you know what is so annoying about this? I have never, in my lifetime, seen such a perfect example of the "free market" system at work, as I have with the MM dispensaries. The "Invisible Hand" is clearly at work here. Not very often can you see this at work, because rarely are there such free markets.

Yes, there are dispensaries on every corner. But if they just let the system take care of itself, the lame ones would be "weeded out" (deliberate pun), and the ones that people actually wanted would stay.

But no, the government has to interfere and fuck everything up.

Now there are going to be these heavily regulated places that have the benefits of a monpoly -- higher prices, worse service, and, always an issue in LA, people will have to DRIVE MORE to get to them! Right now I could walk to four or five of them, from my house. I'm not kidding. (I can also walk to three different strip clubs, but that's a quirk of geography).

Anyway, finally we get a time when the free market can work its magic, and it's quashed, because they're selling weed.

Ridiculous.

It's funny you say that. I was wondering why the supply-demand ratio hasn't affected prices yet. You would think that with basically everyone with an MM card that can buy weed could just grow it. At some point supply is going to way outstrip demand. But from what I hear this isn't happening--prices are still $400-$600 an ounce.