Lawsuit challenges marijuana nuisance ordinance

A civil lawsuit filed September 11 in Ukiah against the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Tom Allman challenges the nuisance ordinance limiting parcels to no more than 25 marijuana plants.
The suit contends the 25 plant per parcel rule contradicts state law, which places no limit on the number of [...]

The Marijuana Ads That ABC, FOX, and CBS Refused to Show You

A look inside a medical cannabis dispensary

Medical Marijuana Patient

Mitzelfelt to reject pot dispensaries

SAN BERNARDINO • County supervisors Tuesday extended the moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries for up to 10 months while county staff evaluates possible permitting options.

No matter the staff recommendation, 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said he will reject all proposed dispensaries in unincorporated areas.
“County staff are right now studying [...]

Medical marijuana plans in motion

Next month, San Bernardino County will begin accepting applications from residents seeking medical marijuana cards.
On Tuesday, county supervisors formally adopted an ordinance to distribute cards, which is expected to begin Aug. 14. The county plans to charge patients a $166 annual fee to cover the costs of running the program. [...]

Medical marijuana celebrated

DEVORE – Ron Downey says that because he has cysts in his back and knees that are “bone on bone,” he was on so many pills he would never have gotten out of bed.
“That’s why I became a medical marijuana advocate 10 years ago,” says the Riverside resident, a 60-year-old disabled [...]

Anti-drug groups push for county ban on pot dispensaries

Anti-drug advocacy groups have launched a campaign admonishing San Bernardino County supervisors for considering permitting medical marijuana dispensaries.
San Bernardino County, which will begin issuing medical marijuana cards in mid-August, has issued a temporary moratorium on marijuana dispensaries while a county committee studies approaches for regulating and zoning the facilities.
“The focus is [...]

Oakland finds peace with its pot clubs

It is a warm weekday afternoon in uptown Oakland, and all’s quiet on 17th Street, save for the steady revolution of customers in and out of the Coffeeshop Blue Sky.
“Just imagine,” said Richard Lee, nodding at the familiar scene, “if you had four liquor outlets in all of Oakland. It’s [...]

California Edges Closer to Legalizing and Taxing Marijuana

See the article here.

Medical Pot Users, Growers Can Sue Over Raids

Medical marijuana patients and growers can sue police for illegally raiding their property and destroying their plants, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The 2-1 decision by the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento was the first in the state to allow a patient or grower to sue claiming that [...]

A Call for “A Conversation About the War on Drugs” From Solano County

Solano County Supervisor Barbara Kondylis is quoted today as follows in an article about Solano County’s plans to begin issuing medical marijuana ID cards:
“This is too long in coming. (Marijuana) does nothing compared to the harm alcohol causes. It’s time in this country we start having a conversation about the war [...]

Comment: Get real, drug czars

ELEVEN years ago, the United Nations pledged to win the war on drugs within a decade. It has failed.
At this year’s meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, held in Vienna in March, there was a two-day session to evaluate the progress since 1998. In his opening remarks, the head [...]

Supervisors to discuss next step in medical marijuana law controversy in CLOSED session

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will meet in closed session June 2 to discuss its next plan of action following the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear its joint lawsuit challenging California’s medical marijuana law.”I assume the board, in its judicious manner, will issue a decision forthwith,” [...]

Josie Gonzales, county supervisor, says she supports medical marijuana program

A day after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state’s medical marijuana law, a San Bernardino County supervisor indicated Tuesday that she is ready to support the policy.
The Board of Supervisors is not scheduled to discuss its next step until June 2, but Supervisor Josie Gonzales told about [...]

Michigan Medical Marihuana Program ID Card Applications Now Accepted

New Web Site To Find Medical Marijuana Near You Launched

A new Web site has been launched, which helps people locate medical marijuana.WeedMaps.com maps out where you can find marijuana and marijuana groups near you, reports The New York Daily News.
Although it may sound illegal but the site purports to only track medical marijuana.WeedMaps.com is a Web site “where medical [...]

(CA) Medical Marijuana No Longer Grounds for License Suspension

The use of medical marijuana can no longer be the sole grounds for losing driving privileges.
In a policy revision — or clarification, depending upon who you speak with — the state Department of Motor Vehicles has determined, in writing, that the use of medical marijuana prescribed by a physician is [...]

Medical marijuana case dismissed

JOSHUA TREE — Charges of marijuana cultivation and sales pending against Rich McCabe and his wife, JoAnn Cates, since August 2007 were dismissed Monday by Judge Rodney Cortez before a preliminary hearing began at the San Bernardino County Superior Court here.
The Johnson Valley seniors faced three felony drug counts each and [...]

Marijuana Milestone: No More Raids on Pot Dispensaries, Says Attorney General

In response to a question at a Wednesday news conference, US Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department will no longer raid medical marijuana dispensaries in states where they are legal under state law. The announcement marks the fulfillment of a President Obama campaign promise, and it marks the [...]

Justice Department will stop medical marijuana raids, Attorney General says

In a little-noticed remark Wednesday, Obama Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Justice Department will no longer raid medical marijuana dispensaries established under state laws but technically prohibited by the federal government.
The decision marks a shift from the Bush Administration, which was more draconian in its approach to hunting [...]

DMV sued over medical marijuana

Matt Vaughn, who operates a medical marijuana collective, eventually got his driver’s license and marijuana back after a CHP officer found the drug — for which he had a doctor’s recommendation — in his car.
The lawsuit says patients are unfairly targeted for license suspensions.
The California Highway Patrol officer smelled the weed, [...]

Marijuana Vs. Anti-Depressants for PTSD Marijuana Wins Hands Down

Dr. Phillip Leveque spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Pharmacologist, Forensic Toxicologist and Physician.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) – I was asked by a healthcare professional at the Portland VA Hospital if I would help PTSD Veteran Victims to get permits to use legalized medical marijuana. I already had some [...]

Judge Orders Sheriff to Return Marijuana

BARSTOW • M.J. Somers said he wanted to live by the law — and that’s why he got his medical marijuana permit.
“I know it sounds weird, but I went for the weed license because I try to be a law-abiding citizen,” said the 27-year-old Helendale resident. “I’m not a fiend for [...]

San Bernardino County accused of violating Brown Act

San Bernardino County is being accused of violating the Brown Act, California’s open-meeting law, as it challenges the state’s medical marijuana user program.
San Bernardino County joined San Diego County three years ago in challenging the program, which requires it to issue medical-marijuana identification cards to patients.
The counties petitioned the [...]

Temecula Clinic Offers Consultations on Medical Marijuana

A clinic specializing in medical marijuana treatment has opened in Temecula. This is the first time such a clinic has opened in the Temecula Valley.On Oct. 11, Alternative Care Clinics ( ACC ), a San Diego-based medical group, opened an office on Enterprise Circle.

County Asks U.S. Supreme Court To Erase State’s Medical Marijuana Law

San Diego County filed papers this week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to erase California’s medical marijuana law, arguing that federal prohibitions outlawing the substance supersede California’s law allowing sick people to use it.
The county is asking the nation’s highest court to overturn a state appellate court’s July decision upholding [...]

Five Essential Things We Must Do to Stop America’s Idiotic War on Drugs

The United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars waging its 40-year “war on drugs,” responsible for the imprisonment of 500,000 of our fellow American citizens. Despite this enormous waste of money and lives, drugs are as easily available and cheap as ever. The drug-warmongers say it is all for [...]

DA panel to decide if charges are to be filed against Temecula medical pot co-op owner

Almost four months have passed since Temecula police arrested medical marijuana activist Martin J. Victor and seized dozens of plants from his home. No charges have been filed.
Zenia Gilg, Victor’s lawyer, has filed a motion in Riverside County Superior Court seeking to have all of Victor’s property returned to him. [...]

Palm Springs to legalize medical marijuana dispensaries

PALM SPRINGS–Medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives will be allowed in certain industrial zones of the city.
The City Council called for a limit of no more than two dispensaries in the desert resort as well as additional security provisions. A final vote on the new ordinance is likely no later than mid-February.
Meantime, [...]

Solano County Sued Over Pot ID Cards

FAIRFIELD — A medical-marijuana advocacy group sued Solano County on Monday for its failure to issue identification cards to users of medicinal cannabis as required by state law.
The lawsuit, filed in Solano County Superior Court, said the county is among several in California that have failed to give out the cards, [...]

Lawsuit filed over refusal to issue medical marijuana card

[ San Bernardino County has so whored itself to the military- and prison-industrial complexes that the will of its people is of no concern to its government. ]
SAN BERNARDINO – About 20 people from all points of San Bernardino County met in front of a San Bernardino courthouse Monday [...]

Round One of Obama’s “Open for Questions” Reveals Clamor for Drug Policy Reform

President-elect Obama – fulfilling multiple campaign promises to more deeply involve the public in setting priorities for his administration – opened up his Change.Gov website to questions from citizens, and asked the people to then rate the questions up or down.
The first round of questions closed at midnight last night, [...]

Attacking Alzheimer’s with Red Wine and Marijuana

Two new studies suggest that substances usually associated with dulling the mind — marijuana and red wine — may help ward off Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of age-related memory loss. Their addition comes as another study dethrones folk remedy ginkgo biloba as proof against the disease.

2,700-year-old marijuana stash found

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.
The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive [...]

Scientific American: Pot joins the fight against Alzheimer’s, memory loss

A large-scale study released this week showed that the herb gingko biloba has no effect in preventing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. But alternative medicine aficionados may find hope in a new research touting the bennies of another “herb” in preserving memory.

Arcata approves medical marijuana guidelines

The Arcata City Council adopted the long-awaited medical marijuana guidelines regulating cultivation and dispensing Wednesday night, despite opposition from medical marijuana patients and caregivers.
The council unanimously adopted the guidelines, which aim to regulate how dispensaries operate in hopes of curbing Proposition 215 abuse, with a clarification included regarding the amount of space cultivation can take [...]

Marijuana hotspots vs. Starbucks — who wins?

Good news for all you caffeine-adverse medical marijuana users out there, courtesy of the federal drug czar (We know. How often does that happen?)
There are more medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco than Starbucks Coffee shops. Or at least, so says the Office of National Drug Control Policy in a posting on its official blog, [...]

Big Day for Pot — Decrim Wins in MA, MedPot in MI, All Local Initiatives Win, Too

Barack Obama wasn’t the only big winner in Tuesday elections; marijuana polled just as well, if not better. A medical marijuana initiative in Michigan — the first in the Midwest — and a decriminalization initiative in Massachusetts both won by convincing margins, and scattered local initiatives on various aspects of marijuana policy reform all won, [...]