Supporters of a November ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio have suspended their efforts after the state senate approved legislation last Wednesday that accomplishes much the same thing. The Marijuana Policy Project and Ohioans for Medical Marijuana had proposed a ballot measure that would have amended the state’s constitution and were gathering signatures to include put the measure to a vote.

In essence, the Ohio senate saw the writing on the wall and chose to pass a bill that gives the legislature and the governor control rather than allow the state’s constitution to be amended and give control to the voters.

Ohioans for Medical Marijuana said in a statement that the campaign for a ballot initiative is now over, and gave lukewarm praise to the legislation:

[A]ll in all, [the new measure] is a moderately good piece of legislation passed by lawmakers who were pushed hard by the patient community.

The law does not allow marijuana to be smoked and restricts grow operations to state-licensed growers. The initiative would have allowed patients both to smoke marijuana and to grow their own supply.

The legislation still requires the signature of Governor John Kasich.

Here are excerpts from other recent cannabis-related news stories.

Medical Marijuana Advocates Cheer Gov. Bruce Rauner’s About-Face
Medical marijuana advocates are applauding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s about-face on expanding Illinois’ pilot program in length and qualifying conditions, saying it will allow time to show the program is worthwhile and will help more patients — including many veterans — who are suffering.

Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang announced late Friday that he, the Republican governor and the Republican House leader have agreed to extend Illinois’ four-year pilot program until July 2020.

It had been set to end by 2018, but supporters argued more time was needed because medical cannabis sales only started in November 2015 after years of trying to get the project off the ground.

The agreement, which needs to be and is likely to be approved by the Legislature, also adds post-traumatic stress syndrome and terminal illnesses with a diagnosis of six months or less to the list of 39 other qualifying diseases and conditions for which patients may use medical cannabis.

The Illinois House could take up the legislation as early as Sunday, when lawmakers return to Springfield for the final days of the legislative session that ends Tuesday. The bill still must also be approved by the Senate before being sent to Rauner for his signature.

Read more at the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Keurig of Marijuana? CannaKorp Banks on Pods Filled with Pot
When Michael Bourque, an engineer, was prescribed medical marijuana, he found the whole endeavor of taking it a bit daunting. How much should he buy and how strong was it? How should he prepare it?

Like many marijuana patients, Bourque wanted consistent dosage, standardized packaging, easy administration and no mess. As an engineer he decided he could invent his way out of the problem.

Bourque teamed up with Dave Manly a former vice president at Keurig Green Mountain GMCR +% Inc., maker of the pod coffee machine and James Winokur, a technology executive and now the company’s CEO. The trio dreamed up a machine similar to the Keurig coffee maker, but for marijuana vaporization.  Users would insert a single-use pod of cannabis into the device, which would heat it and releases the vapor to be inhaled.

Read more at Forbes.

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North Coast Marijuana Growers Fear a Takeover by ‘Big Alcohol’
For the Humboldt farmers, Sonoma County’s subterranean tasting rooms and Tuscan affectations offered a glimpse into a rarefied realm of legal intoxicants.

The marijuana growers had driven south from redwood country to the oak and grass hills to take part in an event called “The Women of Wine & Cannabis,” a chance to visit boutique wineries and learn about appellations and branding in the $200-billion retail alcohol market.

But as they sipped wine on a vine-covered terrace of the Mayacama Golf Club that evening, some of them began to see an insidious subtext to the affair.

The moneyed establishment was shouldering into the marijuana game, legislating the system to its favor, and the small growers who had built the industry had better accept the new model or get bulldozed by it.

Ted Simpkins — a retired executive from the nation’s biggest alcohol distributor, Southern Wine & Spirits — stood up to welcome the growers and proceeded to give what they characterized as a gruff lecture about who were going to be the “winners and losers” when new medical marijuana regulations take effect in the next two years.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.

As More States Legalize Marijuana, Adolescents’ Problems with Pot Decline
A survey of more than 216,000 adolescents from all 50 states indicates the number of teens with marijuana-related problems is declining. Similarly, the rates of marijuana use by young people are falling despite the fact more U.S. states are legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana use and the number of adults using the drug has increased.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis examined data on drug use collected from young people, ages 12 to 17, over a 12-year span. They found that the number of adolescents who had problems related to marijuana — such as becoming dependent on the drug or having trouble in school and in relationships — declined by 24 percent from 2002 to 2013.

Over the same period, kids, when asked whether they had used pot in the previous 12 months, reported fewer instances of marijuana use in 2013 than their peers had reported in 2002. In all, the rate fell by 10 percent.

Those drops were accompanied by reductions in behavioral problems, including fighting, property crimes and selling drugs. The researchers found that the two trends are connected. As kids became less likely to engage in problem behaviors, they also became less likely to have problems with marijuana.

Read more at Science Daily.

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