Global Ganja Report

In the Nov. 4 elections, voters in Washington DC approved Initiative 71, a legalization measure allowing residents to grow up to six plants at home and possess up to two ounces. The victory portends a showdown with Congress, as the Republicans will now control both houses. Oregon approved Measure 91, a legalization measure giving regulatory control to the state liquor control agency and allowing Oregon citizens to grow up to four plants. We continue to await word on a legalization measure in Alaska. A medical marijuana measure in Florida was defeated. Guam became the first US territory to pass a medical marijuana measure. (Reuters, NPR, Smell The Truth)

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) released its long-awaited medical marijuana manufacturing guidelines July 22, completing its compendium of industry standards which include regulatory recommendations for cannabis from seed to sale. The AHPA manufacturing guidelines come as licensed Colorado business At Home Baked sees the country's first medical marijuana product recall. A new nationwide program called Patient Focused Certification (PFC), a project of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), aims to bring greater standardization to the medical marijuana industry. The PFC program uses the recently completed AHPA guidelines in combination with standards set by American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) for the plant's identity, purity, quality and botanical properties. Together, these standards have the means to bring greater accountability to the industry and increased safety for patients.

The country’s leading medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) was awarded a permit by the District of Columbia Department of Health last week to implement its compulsory training for cultivators and distributors licensed by the District. ASA Foundation was selected to be the Medical Marijuana Certification Provider based on its longstanding experience providing such trainings across the country. The four-hour long training course, a requirement under the District's Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Amendment Act of 2010, will cover the basics of medical marijuana, including an overview of its clinical applications, safety and operational protocols, as well as participants’ rights and responsibilities under local and federal laws.

In a rebuke to the New Hampshire state legislature, Gov. John Lynch on June 21 vetoed medical marijuana legislation for the second time since 2009, despite strong legislative and popular support. SB 409 passed the New Hampshire House by an overwhelming vote of 236-96—more than the two-thirds needed to override the governor's veto. However, because of a narrower margin in the senate, an override is less certain. SB 409 would protect the right of qualifying patients to cultivate their own medical marijuana or designate a caregiver to cultivate it for them, and would limit possession to six plants and six ounces of dried cannabis.

On March 30, the District of Columbia granted licenses to six cannabis cultivators, finally moving toward implementing the medical marijuana program that was approved by the District's voters in 1998 vote but blocked by Congress—which controls the district's budget—for over a decade. But advocates now warn that burdensome regulation by the District's own government threatens the program. In the last three months, the DC Council has passed several restrictions on the locations of the 10 cultivation centers it originally authorized in a 2010 law.

Washington DC police arrested Orly Azoulay, veteran correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Achronoth on charges of intention to distribute marijuana Oct. 2. Also arrested was Azoulay's husband, Howard Arenstein, a correspondent for CBS radio news. Police reportedly found 11 plants and six two-ounce marijuana bags in the home in northwest Washington, acting on a neighbor's tip.

The District of Columbia published more than 300 regulations Aug. 6 implementing a medical marijuana law that passed earlier this year and took effect last month. Unlike the laws in the 14 states that have passed medical marijuana measures, the DC law includes a provision requiring cannabis to be provided at a discount to low-income residents.