S.B.420 or Yes Virginia California has a sense of humor...

by: JonnyBBad

Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 18:02:46 PM EDT

Remember how you freaked when Gov.Lynch decided after the General Court and the State Senate had sent it to him, to actually take a look at the bill passed on to his desk on Marriage Equality? I heard on nhpr this evening @5pm that House Speaker Terry Norelli has signed the necessary paperwork to move Medical Marijuana to his desk, and Sylvia Larsen is about to sign also. The Secretary of State's office will soon send it to the Governor for action. Their story was about whether or not the provision for two ounces every 10 days for a patient to whom it is prescribed, was going to be the final number. There is no real indication if he will veto, sign it, or let it become law without his signature. The devil lays my loyal readers, in the details. I decided to research what the other states do and since it's easy I am throwing it down. I did a double take on CA Senate Bill 420. But of course I have eye issues. You know how poorly I type.

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Gro...
hyperlink to norml.org

below the break I have copied of a few state policy summaries from the Norml site.

New Hampshire...from the Nashua Telegraph Editorial Wed. JUly 1...

Since the bill originally passed the House of Representatives on a vote of 234-138 in March and the state Senate by a 14-10 margin in April, lawmakers have done everything the governor has asked to ease his reservations.

So now that both the House ( 232-108 ) and the Senate ( 14-10 ) gave their stamp of approval to the amended 21-page measure one week ago today, there is only one thing left for the governor to do when the bill finally reaches his desk.Sign it.

California
SUMMARY: Fifty-six percent of voters approved Proposition 215 on November 5, 1996. The law took effect the following day. It removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess a "written or oral recommendation" from their physician that he or she "would benefit from medical marijuana." Patients diagnosed with any debilitating illness where the medical use of marijuana has been "deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician" are afforded legal protection under this act. Conditions typically covered by the law include but are not limited to: arthritis; cachexia; cancer; chronic pain; HIV or AIDS; epilepsy; migraine; and multiple sclerosis. No set limits regarding the amount of marijuana patients may possess and/or cultivate were provided by this act, though the California Legislature adopted guidelines in 2003.
AMENDMENTS: Yes. Senate Bill 420, which was signed into law in October 2003 and took effect on January 1, 2004, imposes statewide guidelines outlining how much medicinal marijuana patients may grow and possess. Under the guidelines, qualified patients and/or their primary caregivers may possess no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana and/or six mature (or 12 immature) marijuana plants. However, S.B. 420 allows patients to possess larger amounts of marijuana when such quantities are recommended by a physician. The legislation also allows counties and municipalities to approve and/or maintain local ordinances permitting patients to possess larger quantities of medicinal pot than allowed under the new state guidelines.

Senate Bill 420 also mandates the California Department of State Health Services to establish a voluntary medicinal marijuana patient registry, and issue identification cards to qualified patients. To date, however, no such registry has been established.
Senate Bill 420 also grants implied legal protection to the state's medicinal marijuana dispensaries, stating, "Qualified patients, persons with valid identification cards, and the designated primary caregivers of qualified patients ... who associate within the state of California in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes, shall not solely on the basis of that fact be subject to state criminal sanctions."
MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATUTES: California Compassionate Use Act 1996, (Act; Health & Saf. Code, § 11362.5, added by voter initiative, Prop. 215, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 5, 1996)).  

Closer to home...

Maine
SUMMARY: Sixty-one percent of voters approved Question 2 on November 2, 1999. The law took effect on December 22, 1999. It removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess an oral or written "professional opinion" from their physician that he or she "might benefit from the medical use of marijuana." Patients diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under this act: epilepsy and other disorders characterized by seizures; glaucoma; multiple sclerosis and other disorders characterized by muscle spasticity; and nausea or vomiting as a result of AIDS or cancer chemotherapy. Patients (or their primary caregivers) may legally possess no more than one and one-quarter ounces of usable marijuana, and may cultivate no more than six marijuana plants, of which no more than three may be mature. Those patients who possess greater amounts of marijuana than allowed by law are afforded a "simple defense" to a charge of marijuana possession. The law does not establish a state-run patient registry.
AMENDMENTS: Yes.  Senate Bill 611, which was signed into law on April 2, 2002, increases the amount of useable marijuana a person may possess from one and one-quarter ounces to two and one-half ounces.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATUTES: Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 22, § 2383-B(5),(6) (1999) (amended 2001), Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 22, § 2383-B(3)(e) (amended 2001)(increasing amount of marijuana a patient may posses to two and one-half ounces)

Bill Richardson's State has a detailed list of ailments treatable by MedMar.

New Mexico
SUMMARY: Governor Bill Richardson signed Senate Bill 523, "Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act," into law on April 2, 2007. The new law took effect on July 1, 2007. The law mandates the state Department of Health by October 1, 2007, to promulgate rules governing the use and distribution of medical cannabis to state-authorized patients. These rules shall address the creation of state-licensed "cannabis production facilities," the development of a confidential patient registry and a state-authorized marijuana distribution system, and "define the amount of cannabis that is necessary to constitute an adequate supply" for qualified patients.
AMENDMENTS: Yes. In January 2009, the New Mexico Department of Health finalized rules governing the production, distribution, and use of medicinal cannabis under state law. Patients registered with the state Department of Health and who are diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under these rules:
• Severe chronic pain
• Painful peripheral neuropathy
• Intractable nausea/vomiting
• Severe anorexia/cachexia
• Hepatitis C infection currently receiving antiviral treatment
• Crohn's disease
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease)
• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• Multiple sclerosis
• Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity
• Epilepsy
• HIV/AIDS
• Hospice patients
Other conditions are subject to approval by the Department of Health. Patients may legally possess six ounces of medical cannabis (or more if authorized by their physician) and/or 16 plants (four mature, 12 immature) under this act.
State regulations also authorize non-profit facilities to apply with the state to produce and dispense medical cannabis. State licensed producers may grow up to 95 mature plants at one time.
Patient applicant information is available here [PDF].
Applications for nonprofit providers are available here [PDF].
MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATUTES: Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, N.M. Stat. Ann. §30-31C-1 (2007).