Violent Crimes Associated With Medical Marijuana

The late Jimmy Wheeler, a medical marijuana patient in Washington, created this artwork. Now a proposed patient protection bill will be named in his honor..

There is an idea floating around that Marijuana is a harmless drug that escapes the violent world that is associated with other drugs. When people think of Marijuana, they hardly think of guns, murder, and robbery; sadly, those three things all play a part in the billion dollar marijuana industry. Washington's medical marijuana advocates and law officials are claiming that the violent crimes associated with medical marijuana in the last week are unprecedented. Marijuana is a valuable commodity that people will try and exploit if they see an opportunity to score. Marijuana lives in a gray area within state laws, people think that growers will not call the police if they get robbed even though they are producing an illegal substance. That being the case, growers will fight to the death to protect their crop as is seen in the case of a man in Orting, Wash., near Tacoma, who "died after he reportedly was beaten while confronting people trying to steal marijuana plants from his property", according to the New York Times. On Monday, a man was shot while trying to rob a prominent medical-marijuana activist near Seattle. People are starting to wonder if this kind of violence will only get worse.

Steve Sarich, who runs a group called CannaCare out of his house in the Seattle area, shot one of the five individuals who attempted to rob his home on Monday while also being peppered himself by shotgun fire himself. Police arrested the five the very next day on robbery charges in connection with the shooting. The New York Times reports that, "In both cases, the victims appear to have been chosen because they were known to have relatively large amounts of marijuana in their homes. They say the crimes underscore conflicts in state policy that have become evident since Washington legalized medical marijuana in 1998". Sarich has been demanding that law officials protect the legal growers of medical marijuana; however, many growers are not following the law and growing much more than the allotted amount. Sarich himself had 385 plants in his house after the shooting on Monday; they were authorized to have 50 plants.

Why would the police protect the rights of people who are breaking the law? Sure, there is no reason why people should be robbed, but, how can growers expect to be protected if they break the law - a law that is murky to say the least.

Charities Criticize Online Fund Raising Contest by Chase

JP Morgan Chase & Company have been scrutinized regarding their charity practices. Chase held an online contest to award millions of dollars to 100 different charities, the charities with the most online votes would be chosen to receive funding. At least three different charities believe that they were disqualified from the contest based on their mission and the views. The charities Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Marijuana Policy Project, and Justice for All hold that JP Morgan Chase & Company have acted unethically. What is interesting is that all three of these organizations were receiving a substantial amount of votes before Chase stonewalled them from the contest; according to the New York Times, "Three days before the contest ended, Chase stopped giving participants access to voting information, and it has not made public the vote tallies of the winners". Charities criticize online fund raising contest by Chase because they didn't support the charities cause.

Online contests are a relatively new phenomena; social marketing websites such as Twitter and Facebook have become very popular for companies and non-profits to hold fund raisers. "The Chase Community Giving contest is one of the largest ever mounted, open to more than a half-million charities. More than a million people signed onto Chase’s fan page, where they were awarded 20 votes to cast for the charities of their choice", reports the New York Times. Chase has been vague about why they made changes so late in the contest, what is clear is that Chase reminded everyone of their right to disqualify any participant. Chase set up no formal leader boards to show contestants where they stood; however, certain charities created their own and the results show that all the disqualified charities where doing very well in the contest.

Whatever the case may actually be, certain charities were cheated by Chase and discrimination is apparent. "Mr. Lee, a veteran of these types of contests, said the changes Chase made on Dec. 9 had made it much more difficult to continue attracting votes. After the changes, would-be supporters of Justice for All called and e-mailed to say they could not get their votes to go through", according to the New York Times. I am sure we have not heard the last of this; Chase's ethics will surely be put into question more as facts continue to surface. Online fund raising may come into question all together.

Medical Cannabis Wave Has Been Sweeping Across The Country

The medical cannabis wave has been sweeping across the country with increasing speed; there is not a day that goes by without buzz about it in the media. States that have legalized medical marijuana have essentially opened the door for everyday people to become pharmaceutical manufacturers; let's face it, classifying marijuana as a medicine means some one has to produce and distribute the drug. New grow ops are going up every night and people who don't even smoke marijuana are witnessing the profit margins in that business. In Michigan, you can now attend pot college in order to learn crucial skills for participating and succeeding in the marijuana industry. Med Grow Cannabis College, located in Southfield, offers a wide variety of classes covering everything from soil nutrients to cannabutter; upon graduation you should have the skills required to grow and sell marijuana legally. Med Grow offers new classes every month and on their website they ask you if "you're ready to begin your new career"; medical marijuana is truly becoming less about medicine and more about money.

Every year pharmaceutical companies profit from selling legal drugs, some of those drugs are narcotics and are legal. Marijuana is now considered a medicine in many states but federally it is illegal. This discrepancy in classification is probably leading a lot of people down a path that could wind them in jail. People should not be led to believe that the marijuana enterprise is a particularly safe path. If marijuana is going to be taken seriously as a pharmaceutical then it needs to be treated that way before people start running off to start their new career in the drug game. According to the New York Times, "the students are a diverse group: white and black, some in their 20s, some much older, some employed, some not. Some keep their class attendance, and their growing plans, close to the chest". It's not just pot heads and drug addicts going into the marijuana industry, have people forgot that when you make drugs you have to sell them. How many forty year old accountants have ever sold drugs, pot or not?

It appears that the progression with medical marijuana, almost naturally, has transitioned towards business; it's now more about making money than it is about treating illness. Marijuana has become legalized under the guise of medicine and well being; people are hopping on board not fully understanding what is actually taking place. Is marijuana a medicine, economic relief, or just a way to make a buck? It's becoming all those things, but it is also one more thing too - addictive.