The Los Angeles City Council voted to rescind a newly enacted ban on storefront medical marijuana shops on Tuesday, allowing the city to avoid a referendum next year that some officials said would likely succeed in reversing the prohibition.
The council, in a blow to an industry that operates in violation of federal law, voted in July to ban pot dispensaries and replace them with a system that would allow up to three patients to collectively grow marijuana.
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 »
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The Los Angeles City Council voted to rescind a newly enacted ban on storefront medical marijuana shops on Tuesday, allowing the city to avoid a referendum next year that some officials said would likely succeed in reversing the prohibition.
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
