Pets on Pot: The Newest Customer Base for Medical Marijuana

When Lisa Mastramico needed relief for her ailing tabby, Little Kitty, she turned to an unlikely source: marijuana.

At 12 years old, the cat had arthritis. For a long while she spent her days hiding in a closet, where Ms. Mastramico had built her a bed of plush blankets. After trying various supplements that proved ineffectual, she went to a meeting for Women Grow, an industry group for cannabis entrepreneurs.

She was not sold on the idea right away. “My concern was that it’s not my place to get my cat high,” said Ms. Mastramico, the director of a public access television network in Long Beach, Calif.

But with Little Kitty becoming increasingly isolated, it was time to give it a try. She got a medical marijuana card and purchased two edible oils made for pets and derived from cannabis that she squirts into her pet’s mouth.

Read more at The New York Times.

Potential Pot-Growing Industry More Subdued Ahead of November Vote That Could Legalize Medical Marijuana

Florida voters will take another crack at legalizing medicinal marijuana with a referendum nearly identical to the one that failed two years ago.

But this year’s run-up to the vote is much more subdued for would-be purveyors of the weed.

One of the cottage businesses in 2014 before the vote on the measure that would create legal marijuana growing operations in Florida was the proliferation of seminars and how-to advisory classes that cost hundreds of dollars for those who were considering getting into the commercial sale of marijuana.

Those are almost nonexistent this year.

In Jacksonville alone, a seminar at a hotel near the Jacksonville International Airport was sold out with dozens of participants two months ahead of the vote in 2014 that would ultimately be narrowly rejected by the voters.

Richard Blau, an attorney for the Regulated Products Group for the law firm GrayRobinson, said the hype over the possible legalization of medicinal marijuana two years ago was a huge mistake.

Read more at The Florida Times-Union.

Congress Fails to Pass VA Medical Marijuana Provision

Veterans pressing Congress to let VA doctors recommend medical marijuana for their patients in states where the drug is considered legal had their hopes dashed last month when Congress passed a pared version of the Veterans Affairs funding bill without the marijuana provision.

The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill originally included the Veterans Equal Access amendment, which would have let Veterans Affairs physicians discuss medical marijuana with their patients and complete the paperwork required by some states to purchase it.

The amendment passed the House in May, 295-129, and the Senate, 89-8. But in June, the provision was removed from the final version of the larger appropriations bill by the conference committee established to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions.

Supporters such as Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., lobbied congressional leaders to reinstate the amendment but they were unsuccessful.

Read more at Military Times.

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