The Daily Render

A Digital Scrapbook for the Past, Present, and Future

Washington, D.C., Approves Medical Use of Marijuana By Ashley Southall – The New York Times, May 5, 2010
|| 5/5/2010 || 8:07 am || + Render A Comment || ||

Screen grab of Washington, D.C., Approves Medical Use of Marijuana By Ashley Southall - The New York Times, May 5, 2010

Today my names appears for the first time in the New York Times:

Nikolas Schiller, the secretary of the D.C. Patients’ Cooperative, a nonprofit group that advocates legal medical marijuana, said the amendments would have clarified ambiguities in the bill. He pointed to an example of a Wal-Mart worker in Michigan, where medical marijuana is legal, who was fired in March after he tested positive for the drug, which he used to cope with sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.

“We asked the Council to introduce the protection for that and they refused to,” Mr. Schiller said. “And it was very infuriating to sit and watch the best practices from other states, other jurisdictions be ignored.”

Although Ashley recorded a much longer interview with me after the District Council’s final vote, I am happy (read: not infuriated) with how this article is written. I wish she could have highlighted some of the more important issues I spoke to her about. Regardless, I am still disappointed the Councilmembers voted to create one of the most restrictive medical cannabis programs in the country. The reality is that Congress already approved a more liberal version earlier this year and these amendments are far away from the original intent of District residents. The next Congress can take the program away, so why not legislate to create the very best program in the country modeled off of what works? I am sad to say that without home cultivation and limiting growers to 95 plants, the program is going to have some problems, but I hope, in time, we can fix them.

Anyways, yesterday’s vote was an important start, but there is a long way to go…

Read the entire article:

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Drug War Chronicle Issue #629 – Feature: Mixed Reactions to DC City Council’s Medical Marijuana Regulations
|| 4/23/2010 || 10:01 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

I am interviewed in today’s edition of the Drug War Chronicle:

While many medical marijuana supporters are happy with the measure, others fear it is so restrictive it will defeat its purpose. “We’re happy that they passed it — some cities have yet to enact any legislation — but we have some concerns with the language that is currently in there,” said Nikolas Schiller, secretary for the DC Patients’ Co-op and member of Americans for Safe Access DC chapter. “There is no home cultivation for patients. In 1998, District residents voted legal cultivation at home, but this measure removes that language,” he said.

Continue reading:

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D.C. Medical Marijuana Law Enacted then Temporarily Suspended by District Council
|| 3/2/2010 || 2:07 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

I am quoted in this press release from Americans For Safe Access.
+ Click here to join the Washington, DC Facebook Group

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My Testimony Given Before The District Council Concerning The Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative Amendment Act of 2010
|| 2/23/2010 || 11:50 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

Earlier today I testified at the hearing concerning the amendments to Initiative 59. In order to fit in the 3 minutes that I was allotted, I gave a shortened version of the text below:

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Earlier this month I, along with 10 other District residents, founded the Washington, DC Chapter of Americans For Safe Access, which is America’s largest patient advocacy organization with over 50,000 members. Since Congress had prevented Initiative 59 from becoming law for so long, there has never been the opportunity for the local chapter to form. Over the last couple weeks we’ve met a few times and have deconstructed the amendments to Initiative 59. Below is the official position of the Washington, DC ASA Chapter concerning the amendments:

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Draft Text of the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative Amendment Act of 2010
|| 2/20/2010 || 1:47 pm || Comments Off on Draft Text of the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative Amendment Act of 2010 || ||

The draft text of the legislation printed below was amended before it was ultimately passed by the District Council and sent to Congress for review.

Please click here to view the final enrolled version of the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative Amendment Act of 2010.

I am having to cut my West Coast research trip short to fly back to Washington, DC in order testify at the hearing related to amendments to Initiative 59. Since Initiative 59 was written over a decade ago, the District Council feels that it should be amended before becoming law.

+ click here to download the amendments as a PDF
+ click here to read the original text of Initiative 59
+ click here to read suggested amendments to the language below

Below is the text of the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative Amendment Act of 2010 as of January 19, 2010:

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Harborside Quilt #3
|| 2/19/2010 || 1:45 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

: rendered at 18,000 X 12,000 :
Harborside Quilt #3 by Nikolas Schiller

This final edition is derived from sampled imagery from the previous two renderings. I chose the layout for this version based on the beautiful geometric design that is created at the center of the map. These two recursive samplings have created an almost crystalline map of the area.

View the Google Map of Oakland Habour.

Here’s another YouTube video that shows Harborside Health Center on KTVU:

: detail :

View the rest of the details:

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Harborside Quilt #2
|| 2/18/2010 || 1:45 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

: rendered at 18,000 X 12,000 :
Harborside Quilt #2 by Nikolas Schiller

This version of the map is derived from sampled imagery from the previous map to create this Octagon Quilt Projection map of Oakland. The recursive sampling employed in this map creates a more geometric geography.

View the Google Map of Oakland Habour.

Here’s another YouTube video that shows Harborside Health Center on CNN:

: detail :

View the rest of the details:

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Harborside Quilt
|| 2/17/2010 || 1:45 pm || 2 Comments Rendered || ||

: rendered at 18,000 X 12,000 :
Harborside Quilt by Nikolas Schiller

This week I am traveling to the West Coast to do research on the medical cannabis industry. One of the places I hope to tour is Harborside Health Center, which is considered the best dispensary in the United States.

I was curious to find out where the facility was located in Oakland and upon downloading the imagery, I realized that it’s location has all the ingredients for an interesting map: a highway, a harbor, and the aerial photography is crisp and unpixilated.

View the Google Map of Oakland Habour. This map uses the same imagery that Google is currently using.

Here’s a YouTube video that shows Harborside Health Center on CNN:

: detail :

View the rest of the details:

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Tonight! Town Hall Meeting on Medical Marijuana in the District of Columbia
|| 1/14/2010 || 11:01 am || + Render A Comment || ||

Flyer for the District of Columbia Patients Advocacy Coalition's Town Hall Meeting on Medical Marijuana in the District of Columbia

For the last few weeks I have been working with the District of Columbia Patients Advocacy Coalition helping to organize and promote tonight’s Town Hall Meeting on Medical Marijuana in the District of Columbia. I am very excited about this event and I hope it goes well. From the DCPAC website:

January 14th, from 7pm to 9pm at All Souls Unitarian Church (2835 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC) On hand will be current medical marijuana patients, doctors, concerned citizens, and hopefully, you.

This meeting is open to the public and we encourage all who are interested to attend. For the privacy of the patients, we ask the members of the media that there will be no recordings or photographs allowed until after the meeting is over.

Scheduled to speak is Wayne Turner, the author of Initiative 59 and Steve DeAngelo, founder of Harborside Health Center. After their remarks we will have a moderated Question & Answer discussion.

#UPDATE – The event was very well attended with an estimated 200+ people filling up the entire seating area. I’m looking forward to the next DCPAC meeting on February 18th!

#UPDATE #2 – Shortly after this meeting, the non-profit organization DC Patients’ Cooperative formed out of members of the DC Patients Advocacy Coalition.

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Nikolas Schiller is a second-class American citizen living in America's last colony, Washington, DC. This blog is my on-line repository of what I have created or found on-line since May of 2004. If you have any questions or comments, please contact: