STEELE SMITH CASE UPDATE AND MORE POT NEWS

Temecula, CA – Sooner or later, Christians as well as other folks are going to realize that they have to wrest control of their cities away from the Barney Gumbles and Aunt Beas if they want any type of progressive control over the code enforcers and then advance on the country level to get their country back one city at a time, or become twenty-first century Christians and go global, realizing that the politically correct are put in charge by dark powers. Join the #Occupy movement. Forget the guns, for the Lord sayth, “he who lives by the sword will die by the sword.” Meanwhile, for all the Andy Gump city councils

who say that having a medical marijuana dispensary tends to increase crime, well, you can put that superstitious rumor next to ‘being taught to be gay’. But hey, don’t take my word on it, I’m only the messenger. And the message is from the Rand Corporation think tank, ahem..

The RAND Corporation issued a report today dispelling the myth that there are inherent links between medical marijuana distribution centers and crime. The study on which the RAND report is based on (hick) claims that crime was as much as 60 percent greater around medical marijuana dispensaries that had been shut down by the City of Los Angeles compared to those areas with open dispensaries.

"[W]e found no evidence that medical marijuana dispensaries in general cause crime to rise," said Mireille Jacobson, the study's lead author and a senior economist at RAND.

RAND's study, which challenges the common wisdom that medical marijuana dispensaries promote criminal activity, affirms the findings of patient advocates. "We have reached the same conclusions as RAND using a qualitative study of public officials with firsthand experience of how dispensaries reduce crime in their neighborhoods," said Steph Sherer,

Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's leading medical marijuana advocacy group. "Unfortunately, law enforcement has largely ignored or refuted (as in lied about) these findings."

According to a statement from RAND, the study "examined crime reports for the 10 days prior to and the 10 days following June 7, 2010, when the city of Los Angeles ordered more than 70 percent of the city's 638 medical marijuana dispensaries to close." Researchers analyzed crime reports within a few blocks around dispensaries that closed and compared that to crime reports for neighborhoods where dispensaries remained open. In total, RAND said that "researchers examined 21 days of crime reports for 600 dispensaries in Los Angeles County -- 170 dispensaries remained open while 430 were ordered to close."

RAND calls its study "the first systematic analysis of the link between medical marijuana dispensaries and crime," however Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck conducted his own study in 2010 comparing the levels of crime at the city's banks with its medical marijuana dispensaries. Chief Beck found that 71 robberies had occurred at the more than 350 banks in the city, compared to 47 robberies at the more than 500 medical marijuana facilities.

At the time, Beck observed that, "banks are more likely to get robbed than medical marijuana dispensaries," and the claim that dispensaries attract crime "doesn't really bear out."

There are at least 60 localities in California and many more around the country that regulate the distribution of medical marijuana. "Dispensary regulations bring greater oversight and less crime to local communities," continued Sherer. "We're hopeful that an objective study like RAND's will help dispel the fear that our opposition is spreading across California and compel more local governments to adopt sensible regulations."

*Further information:*

RAND Study on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Crime:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/RAND_Study.pdf

ASA Report on Dispensary Regulations:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/dispensaries.pdf

On the cusp about my story theme with the Fromm Christian story, the Orwellian clampdown continues to sift down like a dark mist as we see further evidence in this Joe Grumbine (see archives) update.

Judge Charles D Sheldon denied any kind of affirmative, read medical, defense today in the Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron (medical marijuana dispensary/grower) case at Long Beach Superior Court. That's right, this is a STATE case and no medical defense allowed. (The medical marijuana gag order is a federal tactic and not allowable, it would seem, since the voters and state have approved marijuana use for medical purposes). Why make laws when our so called leaders refuse to follow them? These men will be presented to the jury as ordinary drug dealers. This is what passes for justice in America. I feel sick. (Join the Fromms)

They are looking for a lawyer to help ASAP. They need someone specializing in appellate cases to file a writ within 10 days to appeal this ruling or they have no chance and will be going to jail. If you know anyone who might be able to help, please get in touch immediately. (You can contact this writer at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

In other news if not for Gov. Brown's VETO of SB-847 it would have restricted collectives from being with 600 feet of a residential zone or use. This could easily have resulted in the closure of half of the store-front collectives in California. In his veto message, Gov. Brown wrote:

“I have already signed AB 1300 that gave cities and counties authority to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries – an authority I believe they already had. This bill goes in the opposite direction by preempting local control and prescribing the precise locations where dispensaries may not be located. Decisions of this kind are best made in cities and counties, not the State Capitol.”

“It’s not over yet as SB 847 passed with overwhelming votes in both the Senate and Assembly, so there is a real possibility that Brown’s veto can be overridden. Hopefully, Gov. Brown’s veto will provide enough cover to one third of the members of the state legislature that they will have the courage to vote against overriding the Governor’s veto.

I am sure there will be much discussion as to why this happened and what it means, but as I see it, the state will not dictate where dispensaries can be located, cities and counties will. And there are far too few cities and counties willing to let collectives locate anywhere, let alone restrict them to being not closer than 600 feet of a residential zone or use. Unless these municipalities have an epiphany on the issue of medical marijuana, the victory is more symbolic than meaningful.

With AB 1300 enshrining the rights of cities to pass ordinances regulating and licensing collectives and with the 4th District Court poised to rule that the right to regulate includes the right to ban, medical marijuana patients will see access to medical marijuana significantly diminish. If you cannot grow your own or join a small backyard collective, you will either have to drive long distances to the few cities that allow collectives or get your marijuana the old-fashioned way by obtaining it from criminals.

I will send out more information on the ramifications of the veto of SB 847 and the rapidly changing environment surrounding access to medicinal marijuana as soon as it becomes available.” – Lanny Swerdlow, RN, MMJ advocate

If this ruling stands, medical marijuana as we know it in California is OVER. Nobody has a defense.

But just as the light grows dim for medical marijuana patients, can an unexpected savior be counted on?

Those who believe they're on the cutting edge of the medical marijuana bubble are passionate, and in some cases, quite controversial. One such figure is Steele Smith, who started the first medical marijuana collective in Orange County in 2005. He and his wife, Theresa, face federal charges of cultivation of at least 1,000 marijuana plants in a November 2007 case. They are slated to go to trial Oct. 4 in Santa Ana and could face up to 10 years in prison, officials say.

(A number of back stories have appeared here in the Calendar concerning Smith who illustrates a different facet of the MMJ fight. Being still a grass roots initiative since many pot smokers get their weed from the underground, the people involved are as varied in egos and purpose as there are strains available to smoke. For this reason, every story is unique and so too are the individuals involved. It is remarkable and to their credit that the #OccupyWallStreet rebellion protest lists the ‘end of the drug war’ as one of their demands of the people who take our money in fees and taxes. See the story Demands of Freedom, coming soon.

(However) even with the serious legal troubles, Smith's filed for a U.S. patent for the extraction process for an oral THC pill he says will give doctors a new "tool box of drugs" for the sick and dying. The 43-year-old Anaheim native hopes to have the patent approved and his drug, Idrasil, on the market by the end of 2012.

Smith explained that the problem with delivering medical marijuana is dosage. THC levels vary depending on plants and process. He says that by taking a "mother plant" and cloning it, he can standardize and control dosage. There's already a drug called Marinol on the market, but it's made from synthetic THC, not from the marijuana plant.

Though Smith has no background as a chemist, he says he has "20 years of experience with orchids. The cloning process is standardized for all plants. I can clone anything. My goal is to get a standardized THC pill to the sick and dying. For anyone who has taken opiates, side effects can range from constipation, rashes, severe loss of lucidity as well as addiction. Since Idrasil is cannabis, it increases appetite and controls nausea from other medications a patient may be taking.”

Idrasil is considered a nutraceutical, a food, or parts of food, that provides medical or health benefits, so it doesn't need FDA approval, Smith said. But he still wants to get approval so it can be re-categorized as a pharmaceutical. This process could take five years or longer. Smith says he sees Idrasil as an alternative to opiates for treating pain.

His drug is now under FDA pre-trials, and if he gets approvals there, Idrasil would move to FDA clinical trials, which could result in re-categorizing it as a drug, he said. But he's not waiting for FDA re-categorization. Smith's already assembled a sales staff of drug reps as part of his marketing plan to put Idrasil on the market for $18-$20, the same price as oxycodone.

His motivation to help those facing serious illness and pain stems partly from his own health experience. Diagnosed in 1998 with Zollinger-Ellison, a rare disorder characterized by tumors and ulcers in the stomach and digestive organs, he became addicted to prescription painkillers before discovering the solution to debilitating prescription meds, Mother Nature way of saying ‘hi’

At present the Feds keep postponing the trial since the judge in the case read Steele’s medical records and doctors’ testimony then allowed the words ‘pot’ and ‘as medicine’ in the same sentence, and even more important, in the same defense, a right so far not granted Joe Grumbine in his state case. This is a continuing front burner story.

(Other story sources - Lanny Swerdlow, Barbara Venezia; all emphasis - Editor)