(NORML) Over the last five years there have been numerous media reports about the anecdotal use of cannabis to help autistic children. Two brave women, one on the east coast the other the west, have been at the forefront of this effort to help scientifically explain why cannabis appears to be so helpful. Marie Myung-Ok Lee wrote about her experience in Rhode Island, a state with medical cannabis laws, in 2009. Soon after, inspired by Marie’s writings, Mieko Perez Hester and her son had a similarly positive experience with treating his autism in California. Mieko, soon after going public about their experience, was invited onto ABC’s Good Morning America.

…

The NORML community has joined UF4A in this remarkable journey and fight, and has offered to help solicit feedback through the survey.

Target: Persons on the autism spectrum currently using or interested in using cannabis as a safe and effective medication to treat autism. 

Read more: www.uf4a.org

(NORML) The internet was ablaze yesterday with talk of President Obama’s youthful pot use. Which is odd, considering the only thing atypical about Obama’s high school years is how common and relatable they seem.

We encourage you to make your voice heard as an American voter and let the White House know this is an issue you consider to be of importance in this election. It is time those in Washington realize supporting rational reforms to our country’s marijuana laws can win them support at the ballot box.

RT!: @BarackObama: It’s time to have your “marijuana moment” #LegalizeIt2012 #DescheduleMJ – http://bit.ly/Kb3EAk
President Obama Twitter
White House Contact

(NBC) Californians seeking to use cannabis as their medicine need to get a recommendation from a doctor in order to enjoy legal protection. They don’t, however, have to actually grow the plants, a court ruled.

The California Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge from Attorney General Kamala Harris in the case of a Hollywood medical marijuana dispensary operator, according to SF Weekly.

Harris was appealing the dismissal of charges against a Hollywood-based dispensary operator, on the grounds that his customer base was “too big” for everyone to participate collectively in its operation, and therefore he didn’t enjoy legal protection under state medical marijuana law.

The dispensary operator, William Colvin, was denied a medical marijuana defense when he was arrested for transporting a pound of marijuana between two dispensaries, the newspaper reported. On appeal, his conviction was thrown out, but Harris sought to press the charges further.

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona is considering requests to expand its fledgling medical marijuana program to allow use of the drug for an array of conditions, including post-traumatic stress syndrome and migraines, beyond those allowed under the law approved by voters two years ago.

The Department of Health Services, which is required under the 2010 law to consider requests to expand coverage, holds a public hearing Friday on the first batch of requests.

Besides PTSD and migraines, the requests for covered conditions include depression and general anxiety disorder. The law already permits medical marijuana use for such medical reasons as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, chronic pain, muscle spasms and hepatitis C.

(420 Times) Los Angeles, CA – In a major victory for medical marijuana patients, the California Supreme Court denied review yesterday of an important dispensary case out of Los Angeles. Rejecting calls from State Attorney General Kamala Harris and law enforcement to review the Court of Appeal ruling in People v. Colvin, the California Supreme Court upheld certain protections for medical marijuana patients and providers. The Attorney General had argued that some undefined percentage of patients were legally required to participate in the operation of the medical marijuana dispensaries in order to obtain medication from them.

The landmark ruling in Colvin held that the Attorney General’s argument that member-patients must engage in unspecified “united action or participation” to qualify for protection under the state’s medical marijuana law would likely “limit drastically the size of medical marijuana establishments,” and provide “little direction or guidance to, among others, qualified patients, primary caregivers, law enforcement, and trial courts.” Furthermore, the Colvin Court held that the Attorney General’s requirement would “contravene the intent of [state law] by limiting patients’ access to medical marijuana.”

(420 Times) Medical marijuana advocates in Colorado are pushing for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to be added to the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. The advocacy groupSensible Colorado sent out an email alert today detailing a rally to support a petition to add PTSD to the list.

Join Sensible Colorado and supporters as we rally in support of veterans and file a petition to add Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to the list of conditions which qualify for medical marijuana in Colorado.

Nearly 20% of returning soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from PTSD and many of these brave soldiers use medical marijuana to cope.  This use is currently illegal under Colorado law.  Join us at the rally where we will file an official petition to change this policy!

What:    Rally to add PTSD as a medical marijuana condition
When:   Tuesday, May 29 at noon

Where:  CDPHE office, 4300 Cherry Creek South Dr
Denver, CO 80246

(SF Weekly) As the pleasant Sacramento spring turns into the furnace of the Central Valley summer, so too is the heat turned up in the corridors of the state Capitol: It’s budget season, and it’s also last call for certain bills stalled in the Legislature to get a hearing before a June 1 deadline sends them into limbo.

This means it’s also prime time for rallies on the Capitol steps. And Monday was a busy day at the podium for Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. The San Francisco Democrat was out front of the state dome twice, rallying for bills he’s authored reforming work rules for domestic workers and — what else? — revamping the state’s medical marijuana system.

Ammiano wasn’t alone — and neither were his colleagues in the Legislature. Some 300 cannabis advocates from across California shared the steps with Ammiano — and then shared the air with 120 of his fellow lawmakers, on whose Capitol office doors they spent the afternoon knocking to drum up support for AB 2312. You see, not only was it rally day, it was Lobby Day. Occupy kids, take note.

(NORML) Members of the state Assembly Judiciary Committee voted unanimously today in favor of Assembly Bill 1465, bi-partisan legislation which reduces criminal penalties for those who possess personal use quantities of marijuana.

Witnesses who testified at the hearing were almost uniformly in favor of the legislation, which is similar to the laws of 14 other states. You can read NORML’s written testimony to the Committee here.

(420 Times) The lobbying group Californians to Regulate Medical Marijuana is holding a press conference soon in Sacramento, CA in support of AB 2312 and SB 1182, bills that would regulate the medical marijuana industry in the state and clear up some of the legal confusion that now reigns. Americans for Safe Access put out a press release earlier detailing the press conference.

Sacramento, CA – Californians to Regulate Medical Marijuana, a Political Action Committee formed in the fall of 2011 to push for passage of statewide regulations of production and distribution, is holding a press conference and mass lobby day today starting at noon. Fresh from a two-day “Unity Conference” at the Sacramento Central Labor Council hall in Natomas, three hundred or more safe access, union, business and environmental advocates will gather today at the Capitol to lobby every State Assembly and Senate office.

What: Press conference to announce lobby day and push for passage of AB 2312 & SB1182
When: Monday, May 21st at 12 Noon
Where: State Capitol, 10th & L Streets, Sacramento (South Lawn)
Who: Senator Mark Leno (D-SF), Asm. Tom Ammiano, D-SF; Steph Sherer and Don Duncan, Americans for Safe Access; Dan Rush, UFCW Local 5; Alison Sterling Nichols, Emerald Growers Association; Dale Sky Jones, Californians for Cannabis Policy Reform; Dale Gieringer, CA NORML
Photos: Excellent photo opportunities with 300+ activists from across state, holding signs and banners