Between 400 and 500 people converged on San Francisco city hall yesterday for a unity rally in support of medical marijuana.
The event was planned before the raid of Oaksterdam University that brought protesters out to Oakland the previous day. Americans for Safe Access and affiliated groups lead the protesters on a march to the Federal Building, which houses the office of Melinda Haag, the Northern District US Attorney who has lead the recent actions against collectives in San Francisco. Read more »
It's going to be a lot tougher for L.A. politicians to wage their war on pot shops when dispensary workers belong to the same unions that City Hall is in bed with.
United Food and Commercial Workers -- and UFCW Local 770, in particular -- has decided to take medical-marijuana dispensary workers under its massive and powerful wing. Tomorrow morning, the union is set to announce that "health care and grocery workers will welcome the medical cannabis workers and their successful organizing campaign into their union."
Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770, totally legitimizes the pot industry in his press release: Read more »
A proposal to legalize medical marijuana dispensary-like operations appears to have died in Olympia.
Its demise ends yet another effort to clearly define the legal status of the storefront operations ubiquitous in Seattle and Tacoma.
Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, said she had enough votes in the state Senate to pass the proposal, but it did not survive the deadline for bills to advance because of time constraints in the short session and because of opposition from some Republican lawmakers and a handful of cities. Read more »
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has asked San Francisco's Department of Public Health to turn over records for 12 of the city's remaining 21 medical cannabis dispensaries, according to emails obtained by The San Francisco Examiner.
On Jan. 18 and again Jan. 27, Special Agent David White of the DEA's financial investigative team sent emails to the health department asking for business licenses, health permits, ownership information and yearly inspection forms for the 12 dispensaries. Read more »
The federal crackdown against medical marijuana in California is a saber-rattling, War on Drugs attack on many fronts. U.S. attorneys are raiding legitimate dispensaries and licensed growers.
The prosecutors have threatened to seize the property of landlords who permit legal dispensaries to operate. The government is threatening newspapers and other media that dare to advertise medical marijuana. The 15 other states with medical marijuana laws are watching and worrying. Read more »
Federal prosecutors target legal marijuana trade despite Obama's liberal stance on medical use of cannabis
Steve DeAngelo doesn't have the luxury of worrying about a threatened US government crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries like the one he runs in Oakland, California. For him, the crackdown is already in full swing. Read more »
In July, a group called Concerned Fort Collins Citizens petitioned the city to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries, and their effort was a success. Now, voters will be asked to approve a ban on November 1 -- and to help fight this effort, Citizens For Safer Neighborhoods is staging a fundraiser in Denver tonight with the goal of educating members of the industry and the public at large about the damage an electoral loss could do.
"Fort Collins is a battleground," says Steve Ackerman, president of the Fort Collins Medical Cannabis Association. "There are twenty medical marijuana centers that operate in Fort Collins, and if they're banned, it will encourage people in other cities to mount similar campaigns. So we really need to stop it here." Read more »
Medicinal (and, ahem, recreational) marijuana aims to soothe, ease, and relax users; take away said users' pot and be prepared to face the consequences.
A report released Tuesday by the RAND Corp., a Santa Monica-based think tank, revealed that after hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries were forced to close in Los Angeles last year, crime rates rose significantly in nearby neighborhoods.
Law enforcement agencies have long been after these dispensaries, arguing that the large amounts of cash are a magnet for thieves, who often go on to resell marijuana. Yet, after what investigators are calling “the most rigorous independent examination of its kind” of LA dispensaries, it appears that the city might need to rethink their position. Read more »
Maybe medical marijuana dispensaries aren't crime magnets after all. That's the conclusion the Rand Corp. came up with after completing a study that found that crime rates went up in neighborhoods after nearby dispensaries were ordered to shut down.
The Times editorial board argues, however, that the study is inconclusive:
Does this mean that dispensaries decrease neighborhood crime rather than increasing it? Unfortunately, despite Rand's analysis, we still don't know the answer. There are so many obvious problems with Rand's study that it's impossible to come to solid conclusions about crime either way.
After pointing out that the study is based on "unwarranted assumption" and poking holes in the analysis, the board concludes:
Whether or not these rogue dispensaries attract crime, they are a nuisance. A lack of oversight means they could be selling anything, including marijuana laced with dangerous drugs or chemicals. California voters intended them to operate as nonprofit collectives, yet it's not clear they're all doing so. Also unclear is the extent to which they're selling to minors or people with no legitimate medical need. L.A. is right to try to crack down; now its lawyers just need to figure out a way of doing so that passes court muster. Read more »
Opponents of a Kern County ordinance that would outlaw storefront medical marijuana cooperatives and the sale of edible pot products have blocked the law from taking effect.
The Kern County Elections Division on Wednesday verified that Kern Citizens for Patients' Rights had collected 17,350 valid signatures from registered Kern County voters. That's the number required to block the bans.
Elections workers reached the 17,350 number Wednesday and stopped counting. About 2,662 of the original 26,326 signatures submitted remained uncounted, a cushion of support Kern Citizens didn't need.
Kern Citizens President Heather Epps anticipated a jubilant group meeting Wednesday evening.
"I'm ecstatic. I'm excited to tell everyone the news," she said. "This is awesome."
She said the effort to block the county ordinance was successful because people who were formerly hesitant to be publically active were galvanized by supervisors' decision to outlaw cooperatives. Read more »
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Between 400 and 500 people converged on San Francisco city hall yesterday for a unity rally in support of medical marijuana.
It's going to be a lot tougher for L.A. politicians to wage their war on pot shops when dispensary workers belong to the same unions that City Hall is in bed with.
A proposal to legalize medical marijuana dispensary-like operations appears to have died in Olympia.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has asked San Francisco's Department of Public Health to turn over records for 12 of the city's remaining 21 medical cannabis dispensaries, according to emails obtained by The San Francisco Examiner.
The federal crackdown against medical marijuana in California is a saber-rattling, War on Drugs attack on many fronts. U.S. attorneys are raiding legitimate dispensaries and licensed growers.
By 
By Michael Roberts
By. Time Magazine
By. LA Times
BY JAMES BURGER
