A Voice from the Eastern Door

News from our Neighbors

COLUMBIA CARE OPENS PLATTSBURGH MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Care LLC’s second dispensary in New York state, located at 345 Cornelia Street in Plattsburgh, opened to qualifying patients on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. The opening is a major milestone in the implementation of the State’s Compassionate Care Act, which was enacted to provide access to medical marijuana products to patients who are suffering from a number of debilitating and, in many cases, terminal qualifying conditions.

As one of five companies licensed as a Registered Organization by the New York State Department of Health, Columbia Care will open two additional dispensaries in Rochester and Riverhead later this week. The Company also opened New York City’s first medical marijuana dispensary located in Union Square earlier this month.

The Plattsburgh facility will be accessible to qualifying patients in the Upstate New York area and will operate utilizing industry-leading security measures implemented by professionals with law enforcement backgrounds. To access the facilities, patients must first be certified as eligible by a state-approved physician and then register with New York State. Registered patients may schedule appointments at any of Columbia Care’s facilities in New York by either logging on to our website at http://www.col-careny.com or calling us at 1-800-764-8162.

Columbia Care’s New York dispensaries will provide patients with a variety of formulations. Initially offering tinctures to be taken under the tongue, additional product offerings will include concentrate for vaporization and orally ingested capsules. Smoking and infused edible products are prohibited under New York’s Compassionate Care Act and will not be available. All products offered to patients in Columbia Care’s New York dispensaries are cultivated in Rochester at the Eastman Kodak Business Park in highly controlled micro-climates. To meet the Company’s industry-leading quality standards, once the organic cultivation process is completed, targeted compounds are scientifically separated and formulated into a Columbia Care final product. All offerings undergo independent batch testing to assure the highest levels of consistency in every dose.

For more information on the New York State Medical Marijuana Program, including information on how to register, please visit https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/.

AMMON BUNDY AND 7 OTHER MILITANTS ARRESTED; 1 KILLED NEAR OREGON REFUGE

Ammon Bundy, leader of the group of militants that has occupied a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon for weeks, has been arrested along with seven other members of the group, including his brother, Ryan, according to federal and local law enforcement agencies.

In the wake of the arrests, police have been seen sharply boosting their presence around the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore. At least 10 people are still believed to be occupying federal property.

Seven of the arrests took place in Oregon; one man was arrested in Arizona.

The FBI and Oregon State Police initially arrested Bundy and four other leaders of his group in an operation that began on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 4:25 p.m. local time. In that operation, a member of Bundy’s group — who has now been identified by multiple news outlets as Robert “LaVoy” Finicum — was shot and killed. Another suspect was wounded and was arrested after being taken to a hospital for treatment.

Those five arrests came as the militants were traveling to a planned meeting with community members, a drive of more than an hour and a half. Many community meetings in and around the town of Burns, Oregon has taken place since the takeover, The militants encountered a traffic stop at which Bundy and others were taken into custody. Hours later, authorities made three more arrests: two in Oregon and another in Peoria, Ariz.

The FBI says all of the people who were arrested face “a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats.”

All of them are also from states other than Oregon. Here’s the list of those arrested, from the FBI: Ammon Edward Bundy, age 40, of Emmett, Idaho, Ryan C. Bundy, age 43, of Bunkerville, Nev., Brian Cavalier, age 44, of Bunkerville, Nev., Shawna Cox, age 59, Kanab, Utah, Ryan Waylen Payne, age 32, of Anaconda, Mont., Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, age 45, of Cottonwood, Ariz., Jon Eric Ritzheimer, age 32, and Peter Santilli, age 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Bundy’s group has been occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore., since early this month as part of an ongoing dispute between ranchers and the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Finicum was reportedly killed during an officer involved shooting with Oregon State Police while traveling with Ammon and Ryan Bundy to meet with ranchers and others in Grant County. According to police, the shooting took place around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 26, 2016, along Highway 395.

The main issue is land management and since seizing the wildlife refuge, militants have removed fences dividing federal property from bordering ranchland, plowed new roads, and re-branded the refuge as the “Harney County Resource Center.”

Nearly half of the land in the American West is owned by the federal government, and the occupiers think it should not be so. Ammon Bundy and other occupiers have repeatedly said they won’t leave until the refuge land is turned over to Harney County.

The militants have also repeatedly said ranchers in Harney County have been mistreated by federal agencies in the past when it comes to leasing the land for activities like cattle grazing.

The Burns Paiute Tribe have repeatedly denounced the occupation. The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is within the Paiute tribes’ ancestral territory in southeastern Oregon. Tribal Chair Charlotte Rodrique said they see the federal employees maintaining the refuge as partners and “a protector of our cultural sites.”

Ammon Bundy later responded to the tribes’ comments, saying he wants them to be “free from the federal government as well.”

Activities at the refuge by the militants have possibly damaged tribal artifacts. Rodrique describes the militants as “ramrodding their way through things and possibly being destructive.”

 

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