#i need $90 or $120 to purchase more medical marijuana

[arlo-venn]

Greetings dearest ones, This month is going to be a lot harder to swing financially. The biggest concern at the moment is that I am about to run out of medical marijuana (today) during the worst gastrointestinal illness of my life, which is kind of an emergency given it is the only thing that actually relieves the symptoms.

Tyrell just bought me $120′s worth three weeks ago, and today she paid my $80 primary care doctor bill, so I don’t think she can buy me more. I will also need to figure out how to acquire funds for my phone bill, prescription, and dog food this month 😬🥴 So any little bit will help so much.

Venmo: @remywolfe CashApp: $remywolfe PayPal: wolfstephollow@gmail.com or paypal.me/wolfstephollow ApplePay: 4805199559 kofi: ko-fi.com/remywolfe

[dvjfinecannabis]

FAQ: What you need to know about medical marijuana in Maryland

Medical marijuana is now available in Maryland. Here’s what you need to know about it.

Visit Cannavations near Towson College - location here --> https://goo.gl/PpqQHY

Medical marijuana is now available in Maryland, more than four years after the General Assembly passed a law legalizing it.

Standing up the industry — with growers, processors, dispensaries and doctors — took longer than expected. The law needed to be tweaked, rules needed to be written and legal battles needed to be fought over who won licenses.

Here’s what prospective users need to know about medical marijuana.

Who is eligible to get a recommendation for medical marijuana in Maryland?

State law says the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission “is encouraged to approve” medical marijuana recommendations for:

Patients with chronic or debilitating diseases or medical conditions who have been admitted to hospice or are receiving palliative care;

Patients with a chronic or debilitating disease whose symptoms include (or for which the treatment produces side effects that include) cachexia, anorexia, or wasting syndrome; severe or chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures; or severe or persistent muscle spasms; and

Patients who are diagnosed with any condition that is severe, for which other medical treatments have been ineffective, and for which the symptoms “reasonably can be expected to be relieved” by the medical use of marijuana.

The commission specifically lists glaucoma and post-traumatic stress disorder as qualifying conditions.

What’s the process to get a written certification for medical marijuana?

Consumers first must register online as a patient with the commission. In addition to Maryland residents, non-Maryland residents who are in the state receiving medical treatment are eligible to register.

Patients must submit an electronic copy of a government-issued photo identification (driver’s license, passport or military ID), proof of address, a clear recent photo and the last four numbers of their Social Security number. More information about the process is available on the commission’s website.

For patients under age 18, a parent or legal guardian age 21 or older must register with the commission as a caregiver before registering the patient.

After registering, patients must obtain a written certification (recommendation) from a provider registered with the commission. The provider will need the patient’s commission-issued Patient ID number to issue the certification through the commission’s secure online application. If a certification is not used to purchase medical cannabis within 120 days, it becomes null and void.

Patients also can purchase ID cards for $50 from the commission after receiving a written certification. ID cards are not required to buy medical marijuana.

More than 17,000 consumers in Maryland have registered for medical marijuana.

Do I need to go to a special doctor to get one?

Like patients seeking medical marijuana, doctors and other medical providers recommending medical cannabis to patients must be registered with the commission.

More than 500 providers — including doctors, nurses, and dentists — have signed on to the program, according to recent data from the commission.

MedChi compiled a list of member doctors by region who are licensed by the Board of Physicians, licensed by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission and who asked to be listed. MarijuanaDoctors.com also provides a list of verified medical marijuana doctors in the state.

Can doctors prescribe medical marijuana?

No, prescribing medical cannabis is illegal under federal law. Doctors and other healthcare providers can only recommend or issue written certifications for medical marijuana.

Where can I get it?

Thirty-four of the state’s 102 approved dispensaries are currently open. Here’s a map.

Others are expected to open in the coming weeks, and 12 more were recently approved.

And more are in planning and development, but by law, there can be no more than two dispensaries in each of the state’s 47 legislative districts (not including licensed growers, who may also hold dispensary licenses).

Are different strains or products available at different dispensaries?

Yes. Many dispensaries offer different strains of dried marijuana with different properties designed to help treat various ailments. In addition to the dried plant, some dispensaries offer liquids that can be vaporized, oils, concentrates, topical ointments, wax, pills, and accessories. Some extracts can be added to foods at home, but edible marijuana products are not available from Maryland dispensaries.

How much does it cost?

The price varies. At Kannavis, a dispensary in Ijamsville, dried product sells for about $50 to $60 per eighth-ounce or $100 to $112 per quarter-ounce. A half-gram vape cartridge of extract from the shop costs $90. Some locations have chosen to go cashless.

Will insurance pay for it?

Health insurance companies are not required to cover medical cannabis costs, but private health insurers can develop policies that will cover medical cannabis.

Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States does not cover medical marijuana, according to a spokesman. Coverage information for UnitedHealthcare and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield was not immediately available.

The federal government still classifies pot as an illegal drug. What impact does that have here?

Customers cannot travel to other states with medical marijuana from Maryland. The Transportation Security Administration does not screen for marijuana, but it likely will be confiscated if found during a search.

Has the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved medical marijuana?

No, the FDA has not approved any product containing or derived from marijuana.

Can patients or doctors grow their own medical marijuana?

No.

How much medical marijuana can I possess at one time?

Patients can carry up to 120 grams (about four ounces) unless a physician determines a patient needs more. In extract forms, customers are allowed to obtain up to 36 grams of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) per month.

I have a certification for medical marijuana. Can I give my medical marijuana to someone else?

No.

What happens if I am stopped by law enforcement and carrying medical marijuana?

Patients do not have to consent to a search, nor do they have to disclose that they possess medical marijuana. If medical cannabis is found during a search, the patient should present their patient ID card or direct law enforcement officials to the marijuana commission’s database.

Driving under the influence of marijuana is still a crime.

What about workplace drug tests?

Maryland law does not prevent employers from testing for marijuana use, and it does not protect employees who test positive for any reason.

Is there a chance recreational marijuana use could be legalized in Maryland?

Several Democratic state lawmakers introduced a bill during the 2017 General Assembly session to hold a statewide referendum on whether to legalize recreational marijuana use in the state while regulating and taxing it. The bill didn’t get much traction, but the issue isn't going away. Several states that legalized its recreational use are seeing significant revenue from marijuana sales.

What’s next for medical marijuana?

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Barry Williams said a trial should determine whether state regulators acted outside the law when they chose which companies won lucrative licenses to grow the drug. A trial date has not yet been set.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are expected to address concerns about the lack of minority ownership among the companies that won licenses, which could mean an increase in the number of authorized growers and/or processors. From a consumer’s perspective, that eventually could lead to greater supply of the drug and potentially lower costs.

Regardless, the current medical marijuana law calls for the cannabis commission to evaluate whether there are enough growers in the state to meet demand and to issue however many licenses are necessary after June 1, 2018.

Helpful resources

Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission

Reference sheet for registering as an adult patient

Marijuana Doctors

Weedmaps

smeehan@baltsun.com

twitter.com/sarahvmeehan

Originally Published on the Baltimore Sun by Sarah Meehan

[oselatra]

Banker signs on for Rx accounts

Also, hemp and CBDs.

John Stacks, the chairman and CEO of a small Arkansas bank, last year voted against the amendment that allowed the sale of medical marijuana in Arkansas. But Stacks attributes his opposition to a "lack of knowledge" of the benefits of cannabis, and announced this week that his bank, HomeBank of Arkansas, will handle accounts from medical marijuana growers and sellers.

HomeBank, with branches in Little Rock, Portland (Ashley County), Greenbrier, Damascus and Marshall, will partner with third-party private banking company Safe Harbor, which Stacks said will provide compliance with complicated federal laws, such as the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering laws, by vetting growers and sellers and keeping a transparent accounting of cash transactions. "Safe Harbor has been doing this as long as we know of," Stacks said. By using Safe Harbor, the bank can "file the proper reports with the proper authorities and you take all that cash" away from the growers and sellers. "It hopefully prevents theft and crime."

Stacks said many people in the small communities where HomeBank operates "are very supportive and we're starting to see a lot more people" support the idea of medical marijuana. "In the past year, when I talked to several doctors, I realized the medical benefits. My dad passed away a year ago. If I'd known then what I know now I would have found him some to help with the pain and nausea" of cancer, he said.

Stacks said his motivation was also economic. "We felt like there was a strong need and we didn't see anyone else stepping up to the plate." Another Arkansas bank is said to be working with the industry, but has not gone public.

HomeBank had $78 million or $79 million in assets in its last quarter, Stacks said.

He purchased HomeBank, which is building headquarters in Greenbrier, in 2001. He took a leave of absence in 2014 after he was indicted on charges of submitting a false claim for federal disaster aid for his Mountain Pure water bottling company and wire fraud. He was convicted, but federal Judge Leon Holmes set aside two of the convictions, saying the prosecutor had insufficient evidence, and ordered a new trial. The U.S. attorney decided to dismiss the remaining charges rather than relitigate them.

Had Arkansas legislators attended this week's Ark-La-Tex Medical Cannabis Expo at the Statehouse Convention Center and seen the dozens of businesses that will be created as a result of the marijuana industry, they might have decided to expand, rather than limit, growing and dispensing in Arkansas.

There were booths for everything from fertilizer products to safety testing, hemp oil products, custom lighters and pipes and grinders, safe cash recycling and banking apps and grow lights. There was even a booth touting coconut coir as a growing medium.

One of the booths was hosted by the Arkansas Hemp Association, a nonprofit trade group founded to promote and expand non-intoxicating industrial hemp as an agricultural crop in the state. AHA Vice President Jeremy Fisher said the first licenses to grow experimental plots of hemp in the state should be issued by the Arkansas State Plant Board next spring.  Arkansas approved the issuance of licenses to grow experimental plots of hemp in March 2017 with the passage of House Bill 1778, which became Act 981. The bill empowers the Plant Board to license growers to participate in a 10-year industrial hemp research program. The Plant Board will administer the program, in cooperation with the University of Arkansas's Department of Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service. The board will set the location and acreage of the test plots. Yields and acreage will be small in early years, but should be steadily increased if the crop proves itself viable. An ancient crop that was historically grown for rope, sail canvas, fishing nets and clothing — George Washington grew the stuff at Mount Vernon — industrial hemp differs from cannabis in that it's low in THC, the active ingredient in cannabis that gets a user "high." Under the law, strains to be grown as industrial hemp in Arkansas must contain less than .3 percent THC.  Fisher was a volunteer with Arkansans for Compassionate Care in 2014. After Issue 7, the ballot initiative pushed by ACC, was disqualified from the ballot, Fisher said medical marijuana advocates Gary and Melissa Fults asked him to help write a bill to try and get an industrial hemp pilot program for the state. With Nicholas Dial, now the president of the Arkansas Hemp Association, Fisher drafted the bill, which ultimately led to hemp being legalized by the Arkansas General Assembly.  "Writing the bill, we put it under a research pilot program where farmers, processors and businesses can conduct agronomy research, water research and things like that and also market research," Fisher said. "It can help expand the business toward commercialization in the years down the road."  Fisher said that unlike medical cannabis, which is often grown indoors under very strict lighting, nutrient and watering conditions to maximize its THC content, industrial hemp is grown outdoors like any other agricultural crop. "Similar to a weed," Fisher said, hemp is naturally drought tolerant and pest resistant, and can grown in pretty much any soil type. The plants mature at between 90 to 120 days, and have over 25,000 uses, Fisher said. "The major markets right now have to do with food for the seed oil, the industrial oil for cosmetics and shampoos and lotions, things like that," he said. "You can use the fiber to make fabrics, and also building materials." Fisher said insulation, particle board and fiberboard can be manufactured from the sturdy hemp fibers, which can also be mixed with cement to form "hempcrete," a strong and lightweight building material. Hemp can also be formulated into biodiesel. One of the biggest potential markets for hemp — and one that could have a huge impact on the economy of Arkansas — is its use in making paper. Unlike trees, which can take 20 to 30 years to grow big enough to pulp for paper, a hemp crop can be grown over a summer. There are currently five industrial paper mills in Arkansas, and Fisher said they could likely be retrofitted to use or supplement with hemp fiber.  Fisher said that the support from the farming community for a new potential cash crop has been overwhelmingly positive. "Everyone we've talked to that's either a farmer or supports the agricultural community is 100 percent for it," he said. "They believe it's a great, green crop that can help give farmers something else to rotate in. Instead of poisoning or degrading the soils they have, it can jump start a new economy that can start new businesses and new processes for hemp. It's all support." 

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main active ingredient in cannabis — and the one whose effects science know the most about. But, marijuana has over 80 cannabinoids that bind to the receptors in your brain. Beyond THC, the most talked about one is cannabidiol, or CBD, which does not have the psychoactive effects of marijuana but is being tested as a drug.

It's still too early to say for sure what CBD does or if it works as a vitamin. But it's not illegal to purchase products labeled "CBD only" in Arkansas, and vendors are selling it, both online and in dispensaries, in the form of oils, creams and drops that supposedly give relief to such things as arthritis. At the Expo, one company showed a slew of these products, even offering gummy bears to folks to sample and dog treats for their pooches.

Still, the FDA frowns on companies that make health claims on their CBD oil product labels, and has written warning letters to companies to stop making such claims, including That's Natural!, Stanley Brothers, Natural Alchemist and Green Roads Health (find more information on the fda.gov website).

Warning: Leafly.com says there may not be CBD in your CBD products. The only states in which you can be sure products contain CBD are where the products are regulated and tested: Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. As Leafly says, "outside of those four states, consumers must put their trust in the manufacturer."

Banker signs on for Rx accounts