Category Archives: Drug Companies

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Blog, Business Law, Criminal, Drug Companies, Organized Crime

Atlanta pharmacy shut down amid ‘pill mill’ investigation

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

6:06 p.m Monday, May 1, 2017 Neighborhoods

A south Atlanta pharmacy that generated more than $5.1 million dollars from unlawful prescriptions was shut down Friday morning, according to the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency.

Special agents served emergency suspensions that stripped Rosemary E. Ofume of her pharmacist license and put the pharmacy she owned, the Medicine Center, out of business.

Ofume was found guilty on March 24 of several charges including aiding and abetting in the distribution of hydrocodone and oxycodone, controlled substance conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy regarding customers of the “pill mill” pain clinic across the street. Her husband, Donatus Iriele, was convicted of concealment of money laundering and laundering more than $10,000 of criminally derived property.

The Georgia Board of Pharmacy ordered the suspensions April 12 after it found that Ofume and Medicine Center’s continued ability to operate posed a threat to others. It is not clear whether Iriele co-owned the pharmacy, located at 1634 Jonesboro Road SE, when it was shut down last week.

Full Read – http://www.ajc.com/news/local/atlanta-pharmacy-shut-down-amid-pill-mill-investigation/DRKSK4NL4nL6d8Y82lUYEP/

Blog, Business Law, Criminal, Drug Companies, Legal News, Supreme Court

Legal medical marijuana passes Iowa Senate on 45-5 vote


A wide-ranging bill authorizing the use of medical marijuana for ailments from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder was passed Monday night by the Iowa Senate, although it’s unlikely to win approval in the Iowa House.…

DES MOINES — The Senate voted 45-5 Monday to approve an expanded medical marijuana law that would allow making and dispensing cannabis products in Iowa for adults to legally possess and use under a doctor’s care to treat an array of medical conditions, but under tight regulation.

“I think this is the right thing to do,” said Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, who said many of the ill people who advocated for Senate File 506 have died waiting for the Legislature to act.

Senators passed “The Compassionate Use of Cannabis Act,” a new law that would replace Iowa’s existing but limited cannabis oil statute.

It lays out an expanded approach to reclassify marijuana and open it as a limited medical alternative under tight regulation and supervision. The bill now goes to the House, where its prospects are uncertain.

“Let’s do the right thing for the people out there who are suffering,” said Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale. The bill was supported by 25 Republicans 19 Democrats and one independent, while four Republicans and one Democrat opposed it.

Under provisions of SF 506, Iowa would license up to four manufacturers to “possess, cultivate, transport or supply medical cannabis” by July 2, 2018, so up to 12 licensed dispensaries could begin distribution to qualified adult Iowans by July 16, 2018. Interested makers and dispensers would pay a non-refundable $15,000 state fee.

 

Full Read – http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-senate-advances-medical-cannabis-expansion-20170417

Blog, Business Law, Criminal, Drug Companies, Legal News, Supreme Court

Is Legal Weed Hurting the Restaurant Industry?

Colorado’s restaurants are feeling the pinch

by Whitney Filloon

Numerous major cities across the U.S. have suffered from a shortage of cooks in recent years: From Austin to Madison, San Francisco to Denver, the boom of new restaurant openings has outpaced the number of qualified applicants available to staff them.

The primary contributing factor fueling all this seems to be the industry’s notoriously low wages. In big cities like Seattle and SF, it can be tough to afford rent on a cook’s salary, leading many to look to other industries — including the burgeoning legal marijuana industry, Bloomberg reports.

In Denver, where weed has been legal for recreational use since 2012, chefs say their workforce is being lured away to higher-paying, lower-demand jobs in the cannabis industry. Bobby Stuckey of the acclaimed Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder tells Bloomberg that “Colorado’s restaurant labor market is in Defcon 5 right now, because of weed facilities.”

Colorado’s legal pot industry is currently valued at around $1 billion, and it takes a lot of labor to fuel that, from “budtenders” (the weed gurus who serve on the front lines at dispensaries) to trimmers and even pastry chefs, who help produce edibles like brownies and candy. While starting pay for budtenders hovers around $10 to $12, growers and trimmers can make around $20, sometimes with full benefits — and restaurants simply can’t match that.

Full Read – http://www.eater.com/2017/3/30/15121934/restaurant-labor-shortage-legal-marijuana-industry

Blog, Civil Rights, Criminal, Drug Companies, Legal News, Supreme Court

Houston area decriminalizes possession of small amounts of weed

Effective March 1, the nation’s fourth-largest city will no longer make arrests of those carrying four ounces or less of marijuana

By The Associated Press

HOUSTON — The district attorney in the most populous Texas county has announced a new program in which law enforcement agencies will not arrest individuals caught with four ounces or less of marijuana.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced in Houston on Thursday that her office will offer those possessing misdemeanor amounts of marijuana an opportunity to participate in the program starting March 1.

Individuals won’t be jailed or have to appear in court, but they will have 90 days to complete a four-hour decision-making class. Those completing the program won’t face charges.

Read Full – http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/02/17/houston-marijuana-possession-misdemeanor/73835/

Blog, Criminal, Drug Companies, Immigration, Legal News, Organized Crime

How a Federal Crackdown on Marijuana Could Affect Mexican Cartels

President Donald Trump campaigned on making the United States “great again,” but if his administration follows through on a threat to crack down on legal marijuana, it’s Mexican drug cartels that could be restored to their former glory.

TOM ANGELL – MARIJUANA.COM

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that states with legal recreational marijuana will likely “see greater enforcement” of federal laws, which prohibit all use of cannabis. Spicer’s statements echo what Attorney General Jeff Sessions said during his confirmation hearings: “It is not so much the attorney general’s job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we are able.”

The Department of Justice declined to comment.

Eight states and the District of Columbia currently allow the retail sale of marijuana for recreational use, all thanks to voter referendums.

In Colorado, where in 2012 voters were the first in the nation to back retail sales, the marijuana industry generated over $1.3 billion in revenue last year, adding about $200 million in taxes to the state’s coffers. In California, the first state to legalize the medical use of cannabis, marijuana has become the state’s leading agricultural commodity, according to the Orange County Register, which estimated its value at $23.3 billion — even before voters legalized recreational sales last November.

Most people think that’s a good thing. A poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University found a majority of the U.S. public now supports marijuana legalization, and 71 percent oppose a federal crack down on states that have legalized it already.

The rise of the homegrown weed industry has come at a cost, though: In 2016, U.S. Border Patrol reported that “marijuana seizures along the southwest border tumbled to their lowest level in at least a decade,” The Washington Post reported. Between 2011 and 2015, seizures dropped 39 percent, according to Fortune.

Read Full – http://www.attn.com/stories/15170/how-president-trump-could-affect-mexican-drug-cartel