Medical marijuana doctor's license suspended for selling state certificates

A Macomb County physician’s medical license has been suspended for allegedly conspiring to sell medical marijuana certificates from a clinic in the back of a Warren appliance store.

Lois Butler-Jackson, 50, of Detroit, is the subject of an investigation by Clinton Township police for allegedly issuing hundreds of pre-signed medical marijuana physician’s certificates. Those certificates were then sold for cash by medical marijuana business partner Brian Deloose out of his Warren appliance store, also advertised as a “safe clinic access” location.

The city of Holland and Park Township are working on regulations that would strictly regulate medical marijuana. Holland Township last week passed an ordinance that would effectively ban medical marijuana dispensaries.

Deloose, a licensed medical marijuana caregiver, allegedly sold hundreds of medical marijuana registration packets, complete with the physician certificates pre-signed by Butler-Jackson, to prospective patients for $250 each.

Butler-Jackson allegedly received a $100 payment for each new registration packet and $50 for each renewal packet sold at the Warren appliance store, giving her between $20,000 and $30,000 in profits.

Tax deduction for marijuana supplies

Bongs and rolling paper a tax-deductible business expense? A Colorado congressman has introduced legislation allowing marijuana-related businesses to claim deductions. Congressman Jared Polis says medical marijuana dispensaries should be allowed the same sort of federal tax deductions as other small businesses. Medical marijuana is legal in Colorado. But the IRS doesn't allow pot-related deductions because the weed still violates federal law.

Health Experts Alarmed By 'Candy Like' Tobacco Products

Health experts are sounding the alarm about some new tobacco products that are being test-marketed in Denver.
They’re called dissolvables.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco began selling Camel Orbs, Camel Sticks and Camel Strips earlier this year.
“The Orbs look like Tic Tacs, the Sticks look like toothpicks and the Strips look like breath strips,” said Susan Westof, tobacco prevention specialist, with the Jefferson County Public Health Department.
Westof said these new products, combined with existing snus and colorfully wrapped, fruit-flavored mini-cigars, are very enticing to young people.
“The products are packaged in a way that makes them indistinguishable from candy,” said Donna Viverette, the department’s tobacco prevention coordinator. “That’s an issue if they end up in the hands of children.”
Viverette added, “We’re talking about a developing young brain. We’re talking about a serious impact on the neuro-chemistry and maybe even function of the brain because of the changes caused by nicotine dependence.”
But R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard disputes the allegations.
He told 7NEWS that the dissolvable products are not candy flavored and are not being marketed toward kids.
Howard said the products are made with a finely milled tobacco and may contain a mint flavor that has been used by the company for decades.
But recent Golden High School graduates Hussam Hasoon, 18, and Chris Langworthy, 18, said the dissolvables smelled like chocolate mint.
Hasoon and Langworthy were members of Golden High Schools “Breathe Easy” team, which is raising awareness about the problems of youth access to tobacco.
“They look more like kid tobacco products than adult tobacco products,” Langworthy said.
Westof noted that the dissolvables come in packages with the same color scheme as a popular chewing gum.
When asked if the tobacco company might consider changing the packaging, Howard said, “We already have.”
He said R.J. Reynolds changed the size and shape of the packaging after getting feedback during market tests in Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis and Portland, Oregon.
“The packages are now about the same size as a pack of cigarettes,” Howard said.
He added that they are clearly labeled tobacco and carry a warning to keep out of the reach of children.
But Viverette worries that because the products look like candy, teachers and even parents might not know that kids are using them.
“An undiscerning eye wouldn’t know that it was a nicotine filled product that equals the amount of three cigarettes smoked,” Viverette said.
“We need to warn people that these products are out there,” she said.
Howard said the dissolvables are only marketed to adults and that they provide a way for consumers to enjoy tobacco without bothering others.
“There’s no second-hand smoke,” he said. “There’s no spitting and there’s no litter or cigarette butts.”
But Viverette countered by saying, “There is no safe level of tobacco or tobacco smoke.”

Smokeless tobacco is not a viable way to skirt smoking laws

Leave it to a tobacco company to try to maintain a deadly grip on its customer base.

Reynolds American Inc. recently launched an advertising campaign for Camel Snus, a smokeless brand of chewing tobacco. The premise behind the campaign apparently is an effort to skirt antismoking laws that are becoming more prevalent in the country, and especially in New York City.

A report in the Wall Street Journal notes a wider effort by Reynolds to counteract declines in cigarette consumption in the United States. The Journal also reported that U.S. cigarette consumption has been declining at a rate of almost 4 percent nationally in terms of volume while smokeless tobacco use has been increasing almost 7 percent annually.

A Reynolds American executive has said potential for long-term growth for the product is good and said many users are in their 20s.

Young people, be warned. According to reports posted on the website of the Mayo Clinic, the long-term use of chewing tobacco and other smokeless tobacco products can cause serious health problems.

The Mayo Clinic stresses that those who use smokeless tobacco are very likely to become addicted. Too, there is a real risk of cancer of the esophagus, mouth, throat, cheek, gums, lips and tongue. These types of cancer can be life-threatening, and surgery to remove cancer from these areas can leave patients disfigured.

Anti-smoking laws have many health-related merits. We know of people who have simply quit smoking in the months since South Dakota enacted its sweeping law late last year.

Hopefully, more people will consider dropping the habit altogether, rather than simply switching to an equally risky form of tobacco.

Smokeless tobacco isn’t the answer.

WHO calls for strict enforcement of laws curbing 'tobacco epidemic'

Some 900 million people regularly exposed to tobacco smoke are at risk of developing tobacco-related diseases that kill nearly six million people each year globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a statement ahead of the global observance of “No Tobacco Day,” the WHO urged governments to pass and enforce strict national laws that will curb what it calls the “tobacco epidemic.”

The world observes the “No Tobacco Day” on May 31 and WHO called on different stakeholders to support legislation complying with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

In the Philippines, health advocates are still lobbying for the passage of the graphic health warnings bill that seeks to print pictures of diseases acquired from tobacco on cigarette packages.

“In our Region, it is estimated that close to half of all men smoke and half of all women and children are regularly exposed to the deadly toxins of second hand smoke at home and in public places. This means that about 900 million people are regularly exposed and at high risk for tobacco–related disease. This has a significant impact not only on health but also on the economy of countries," Dr. Shin Young–soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said.

The global health agency said heart disease, stroke, cancer and emphysema are some of the tobacco-related deaths that account for 63 percent of deaths from non-communicable diseases (non-infectious) in the world.

The WHO official said the socio-economic cost of tobacco use to countries is “a reason for alarm.”

In Australia, the annual social cost of tobacco use is estimated at $40.6 billion in 2004 and 2005.

83m kgs flue-cured tobacco goes under the hammer

A TOTAL 83,2 million kgs of flue-cured tobacco valued at US$ 223,1 million has gone under the hammer at the country’s three auction floors since the beginning of the selling season in February, figures released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) show.

According to TIMB, the deliveries were 38,95% more than the 59,9 million kgs valued at US$182,2 million sold in the same period last year from the two auction floors.

The average price at this year’s selling season is US$2,68, 11,84% less than last year’s average price of US$3,04.

Of the 83,2 million kgs sold, Tobacco Sales Floor handled 24,4 million kgs valued at US$60,2 million, while Boka Tobacco Floors (BTF) sold 10,1million kgs valued US$21,3 million. Millennium Tobacco Floor (MTF) handled 5,5 million kgs of tobacco valued at US$11,6 million.

Contract farmers accounted for 43,1million kg valued at US$130 million. BTF and MTF started auctioning a month and half after the selling season started.
Of the 1 104 964 bales laid, a total of 1 026 622 were sold while 78,34 were rejected.

Analysts said deliveries were expected to increase following the opening of BTF and MTF which has eased congestion at TSF.

According to TIMB, Zimbabwe is expecting 177 million kgs this year from 123 million kgs which earned the country US$347,8 million last year. Government is, however, expecting 200m kgs.

China was the main buyer.

Zimbabwe is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of the flue- cured Virginia tobacco. It lags behind Brazil, India, the United States, Argentina and Tanzania, according to the website of Universal Corp, the world’s biggest tobacco-leaf merchant.

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed TSL Ltd sees tobacco output reaching 150 million kg this year after a doubling in the last season to 123,5 million kgs.

“Tobacco production for 2011 is currently expected to be in excess of 150 million kilogrammes,” TSL said in its commentary accompanying results for the year to October 31 2010.

Fortunes in the tobacco sector have been particularly buoyed by adoption of hard currency regime in the country.

Previously, tobacco growers had suffered from delayed payments against the background of an accelerated erosion of value on the domestic currency which was under severe assault from runaway inflation.

Two-year-old moves running truck while father makes tobacco run

Police say a Muncie man watched from inside a tobacco store Tuesday as his 2-year-old son, left alone in the father's running pickup truck, shifted the vehicle into reverse toward a busy city road and then back into drive, headed for the store.

Fortunately, an off-duty police officer was able to gain control of the vehicle before the youngster was injured.

With a warrant out for his arrest, police said, the father walked outside, shoved the officer and took off running, once again leaving his toddler son behind in the parking lot.

David L. Ferguson, 29, 2938 S. Chippewa Lane, was found about 25 minutes later and jailed on preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent, a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year prison term, and resisting law enforcement, a misdemeanor.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Ferguson stopped at the Discount Tobacco store, 2117 W. Eighth St., around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, leaving his son inside the vehicle with its engine still running.

While Ferguson was inside, the boy was able to place the truck into reverse, sending it toward Batavia Avenue. The youngster then shifted the truck into drive, and it began rolling in the direction of the tobacco store.

That's when John Jett, an off-duty Daleville police officer who had observed what was happening, was reportedly able to get into the unlocked truck and stop it before any collisions occurred, leaving the toddler unharmed.

Ferguson -- the target of a Muncie City Court warrant for failing to pay a fine in a driving-while-suspended case -- then left the store and approached Jett, who identified himself as a police officer.

Ferguson responded by shoving Jett, court documents said, and then fled on foot down a nearby alley.

Muncie police officer Darrin Clark, who found Ferguson about 25 minutes later at an Eighth Street home, said Wednesday he was disappointed in Ferguson's apparent selfishness.

"(Ferguson) was more concerned about himself than his child," Clark said. "If he was a man, he would've came out there when he saw the truck had backed out and took his chances of going to jail."

Clark said Tuesday's incident provided a good lesson for parents who ever think of leaving their children alone in a vehicle.

"You shouldn't leave your child unattended like that any time, even if it's for a minute or two," Clark said. "Especially in an unlocked vehicle left running."

The warrant had been issued for Ferguson's arrest last month after he failed to pay a fine issued in January.

According to Delaware and Randolph county court records, he has also been convicted of burglary (in 2001), theft (2002), resisting law enforcement (2007) and receiving stolen property (2008).

Ferguson was being held Wednesday at the Delaware County jail under a $12,500 bond.