It's Obvious: CA Medical Assoc. Says Pot Prohibition Is 'Failed Public Health Policy'

Drug War protester in Huntington Beach, Calif. (Photo by The November Coalition)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

In a laudable nod to the obvious, members of the California Medical Association's (CMA) House of Delegates have endorsed a resolution stating that the criminal prohibition of marijuana is a "failed public health policy."

As enacted, Resolution 704a-09, the "Criminalization of Marijuana" states: "[The] CMA considers the criminalization of marijuana to be a failed public health policy, ... and encourage[s] ... debate and education regarding the health aspects of changing current policy regarding cannabis use." [PDF] The CMA has more than 35,000 members statewide.

A report just published in the British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal highlights another good reason to question marijuana prohibition: Health-related "social costs" per user are eight times higher for alcohol users than for those who use marijuana, and more than 40 times higher for tobacco smokers.

The report gauges related costs per user at more than $800 yearly for tobacco; $165 for alcohol; and only $20 for cannabis.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: It's Obvious -- State Medical Association Says Pot Prohibition Is 'Failed Public Health Policy' | Digg story

L.A. District Attorney Says City Councils Have 'No Authority' Over Medical Pot

D.A. Steve Cooley (left) and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich: They'll keep busting dispensaries no matter what the City Council says!
​
By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

It was a petulant fit of pique, certainly entertaining, and potentially hilarious -- if safe access for so many medical marijuana patients weren't hanging in the balance.

After things didn't go his way at Monday's Los Angeles City Council joint committee meeting, District Attorney Steve Cooley pronounced Tuesday that he'd keep prosecuting medical marijuana dispensaries, even if the council adopts an ordinance that doesn't ban sales. Cooley said his office was already prosecuting some dispensaries, and he promised to step up such efforts in December.

The D.A.'s public meltdown was a result of his frustration that the council ignored the advice of L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and changed a provision in L.A.'s proposed medical marijuana ordinance, allowing cash transactions as long as they complied with state law.

"The City Council has no authority to amend state law or Prop. 215. Such authority is solely possessed by California voters," Cooley said. "What the City Council is doing is beyond meaningless and irrelevant."

It was a richly ironic little hissy fit, given that drama king Cooley just handed pot advocates one of their best arguments in the unfolding culture war between those who insist on the lawful implementation of Proposition 215, California's medical marijuana law, and those asserting, damn it, all weed sales are illegal, medical or not.

"Undermining these laws via their ordinance powers is counterproductive, and quite frankly, we're ignoring them," sputtered a tantrum-prone Cooley. "They are absolutely so irrelevant it's not funny."

The revelation that city councils are "irrelevant" and can't "undermine" the state's medical marijuana law will certainly come as encouraging news to dispensary operators in Gilroy and at least 130 other cities statewide which have banned dispensaries outright. Eight counties (Amador, Contra Costa [ban leaves one dispensary open], El Dorado, Madera, Merced, Riverside, Stanislaus, and Sutter) have dispensary bans in place. In addition, at least 64 more cities and six counties (Madera, Nevada, Tulare, San Bernardino, Placer, and San Diego) have dispensary moratoriums in place, by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's count (ONDCP numbers and "facts" are always suspect).

At this point, L.A. City Council Members are probably wondering why they've spent four years and a ton of taxpayer money wrestling with this issue, given Cooley's new position that the city council has "no authority" to amend Prop. 215.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: L.A. District Attorney Says City Councils Have 'No Authority' Over Medical Pot

Big Brother Watching? Pot Dispensaries Appeal Court Order To Turn Over Client Names

Watching you? (Photo by LiveBloid, Wikimedia Commons)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City
​
Five medical marijuana dispensaries in Dana Point, Calif., are appealing an Orange County Superior Court ruling ordering them to turn over records -- including client lists -- to the city as part of an investigation into dispensary operations.

"I think everyone kind of had the same idea about appealing the order for the reason of protecting third-party names and some of the privileged items that we believe shouldn't be disclosed," attorney Lee Petros, representing the Point Alternative Care dispensary, told the Orange County Register.

All five pot dispensaries in Dana Point must hand over their records to the city by Dec. 7, according to a ruling by Judge Glenda Sanders. Sanders also ordered the disclosure of member names to be limited to city attorneys, a financial consultant retained for advice in the investigation, and the assistant city manager, "who will oversee and assist the consultant in his analysis," according to the Register.

Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project hopes the appeal succeeds. "For city officials to be allowed to receive confidential medical information for what appears to be a fishing expedition would be an extremely dangerous precedent," Mirken told me. "It would be nice if patients could have complete trust in their local officials, but they don't, and for good reason."

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: Pot Dispensaries Appeal Order To Turn Over Client Names

American Medical Association Reverses Position, Calls For Review Of Medical Marijuana

Coming to a dispensary near you (Photo by Coaster 420, Wikimedia Commons)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

For years, one of the main arrows in the quiver of anti-pot zealots in arguing against medical marijuana (along with the federal pot prohibition, recently blunted by the Obama Administration) has been "But the American Medical Association says pot has no medical value." As of today, that's no longer true.

In a move considered historic by supporters of medical marijuana, the AMA voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana should continue to be classified under federal law as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The organization, which is the largest physician-based group in the United States, adopted a report, "Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes," drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH), which affirms the therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana and calls for further research.

The CSAPH report concludes that "short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis."

And in a move that could eventually have enormous public policy repercussions, the physicians' group urges that "the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods."

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: American Medical Association Reverses Position, Calls For Review of Medical Pot

Marijuana Arrests Have No Impact On Usage; Washington State Wastes $170 Million A Year

The most extensive study yet undertaken on U.S. marijuana arrests and penalties, released today, finds no relationship between marijuana arrest and use rates. The report further finds that current penalty structures act as a price support mechanism that boosts the illegal market.

Assembled by Jon Gettman, adjunct assistant professor in criminal justice at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., the new report says:

• Marijuana arrests have almost doubled since 1991 -- but levels of marijuana use have remained fundamentally unchanged

• Penalties that increase for larger amounts of marijuana encourage consumers to make multiple small purchases, acting as a de facto price support for the illicit market

• Florida has the nation's harshest marijuana penalties, while the District of Columbia has the highest arrest rate for marijuana offenses

• Although African Americans use marijuana at a rate only about 25 percent higher than whites, blacks are almost three times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as whites

Washington state: Harsh penalties, $170 million per year wasted on marijuana enforcement

• There were 16,473 arrests for marijuana offenses in Washington in 2007, representing an arrest rate of 255 per 100,000, which ranks Washington at number 26 in the nation

• There were an estimated 630,000 past year marijuana users in Washington during 2007. Reconciling this estimate with the
number of arrests for marijuana offenses provides an arrest rate of 2,615 per 100,000 users, which ranks Washington at number 34 in the nation

• In terms of overall severity of maximum sentences for marijuana possession, Washington's penalties are rather stiff, ranking number 8 in the nation (based on penalties for a first offense). When it comes to penalties for just under 1 ounce of marijuana, Washington is ranked at number 8 (because of similarities between states there are only 12 rankings in this category).

• Marijuana possession arrests accounted for 90% of all marijuana arrests in Washington during 2007. (Nationally, marijuana possession arrests account for 89% of all marijuana arrests.)

• There were 14,766 arrests for marijuana possession in Washington in 2007, and 1,707 arrests for marijuana sales.

• The arrest rate for marijuana possession in Washington was 228 per 100,000 for 2007, while the arrest rate for marijuana sales was 26.

• Marijuana arrests accounted for 48% of all drug arrests in Washington during 2007.

• Marijuana arrests in Washington increased from 14,726 in 2003 to 16,473 in 2007. The arrest rate in 2003 was 240 per 100,000 while in 2007 it was 255.

• Marijuana arrests cost $169.39 million in Washington for 2006.

• There were 630,000 annual marijuana users in Washington during 2007, of which 397,000 reported marijuana use in the past month.

For more details, see the Washington state report [PDF]).

Populous King County leads the state in number of marijuana arrests. But statistically, Garfield County is by far the worst place in the state to live if you're a pothead. Marijuana arrest rates there are almost double anywhere else in Washington...

...That is, unless you're a black pothead. In which case, you rrrreally don't wanna live in Lincoln County -- where marijuana arrest rates of blacks are more than four times that of any other county in the state. Selective enforcement, anyone?

MPP's Rob Kampia: "a failed policy... doing nothing but harm" (Photo: Marijuana Policy Project)

"These figures paint a devastating portrait of a failed policy that burns through tax dollars while doing nothing but harm," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, D.C. "Most Americans agree that marijuana prohibition doesn't work, even if most politicians aren't yet ready to publicly agree with their constituents."

Gettman's summary report is available here: Marijuana Arrests in the United States (2007).

The full Marijuana Policy Almanac includes state rankings and individual reports for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Chronic City: Academic Study Shows Marijuana Arrests Have No Impact On Usage Rates

N. California's Top Federal Prosecutor: 'Really Not A Change At All' In Medical Pot Enforcement

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​Ah, "guidelines." They're a little more lax than "rules," which are a little looser than "laws." When it comes to guidelines, that's their strength -- and that's their weakness. Whereas laws and rules are "broken," guidelines can simply be "ignored."

That truism is abundantly illustrated by this week's statements from George W. Bush appointee Joseph Russoniello, federal prosecutor for the northern district of California. "I think it's unfortunate that people have for some reason picked up on this as a change in policy," Russoniello told Mission Local, "because it's really not a change at all."

When asked if federal officials will halt investigation, prosecution, and Drug Enforcement Agency raids of medical marijuana operations in California, Russoniello replied, "The short answer is no."

An Oct. 19 memo from Deputy Attorney General David Ogden told federal prosecutors in California and the other 13 states that have legalized medical marijuana that law enforcement should focus their efforts on major drug trafficking networks, rather than patients and providers "in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws."

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: N. California's Top Federal Prosecutor -- 'Really Not A Change At All' In Medical Pot Enforcement | Digg story

Poll Reveals San Diegans Want To Regulate Marijuana Dispensaries, Not Eliminate Them

Medical marijuana: Legal as long as you don't actually buy it anywhere?
Photo: Coaster420, Wikimedia Commons

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​It's a classic case of disconnect between public policy and public opinion. As District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis continues with her medical marijuana dispensary crackdown in San Diego, a new poll indicates that a hefty majority of city residents favor leaving the pot shops open and regulating them.

About 77 percent of San Diego's adult residents agree that the city has an obligation to ensure convenient access to medical marijuana and 69 percent say the drug should be treated like any other prescription drug.

Only 9 percent want to completely ban the dispensaries.

Dumanis received heavy publicity for saying there are "no such things" as legal marijuana dispensaries, despite state law. A voter initiative, Prop 215, legalized medical marijuana in California in 1996, and SB 420 clarified and expanded the law in 2003.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: Poll Reveals San Diegans Want To Regulate Marijuana Dispensaries, Not Eliminate Them | Digg story

'Truth In Trials' Bill Would Lift Ban On Medical Marijuana Evidence In Federal Court

Photo by digitalshay

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) and more than 20 bipartisan co-sponsors introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow defendants in medical marijuana cases the ability to use medical evidence at trial, a right they currently do not have.

Due to the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, the government has the discretion to enforce federal marijuana laws even in medical marijuana states. The Raich ruling also allows federal prosecutors to conveniently exclude evidence of medical use or state law compliance in federal trials, all but guaranteeing convictions of medical marijuana patients and providers.

Last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder formalized a departure from Bush Administration policy when he issued new guidelines to federal prosecutors discouraging them from prosecuting cases in which patients and providers are "in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws."

Unfortunately, the new DOJ guidelines neither direct U.S. Attorneys to abandon the more than two-dozen pending federal medical marijuana cases, nor allow defendants the ability to use medical evidence to exonerate themselves.

​"This is a common-sense bill that will help stop the waste of law enforcement and judicial resources that have been spent prosecuting individuals who are following state law," Farr said Tuesday. "We need strict drug laws, but we also need to apply a little common sense to how they're enforced. This legislation is about treating defendants in cases involving medical marijuana fairly, plain and simple."

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: 'Truth In Trials' Bill Would Lift Ban On Medical Marijuana Evidence In Federal Court

L.A.'s Marijuana Dispensary Ban Could Cost The City Millions

Open for business on L.A.'s Ventura Boulevard... but for how long?
(Photo by lavocado, Wikimedia Commons)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

Los Angeles' proposed medical marijuana ordinance -- which would ban the sale of pot at dispensaries -- could cost the city $36 million to $74 million in lost sales tax, according to a marijuana advocacy group.

​Dale Gieringer, coordinator for the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said the proposed ordinance, supported by L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley, would "effectively shut down the city's marijuana distribution system by banning all sales of marijuana and sharply curtailing collectives' ability to grow and obtain medicine."

No other city or county in California has regulated collectives while banning sales, according to NORML.

Under the proposed ordinance, also prominently backed by L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, only nonprofit medical marijuana collectives -- groups of qualified patients with physicians' recommendations and their primary caregivers -- would be allowed to cultivate the herb to relieve the symptoms of serious illnesses.

​"Los Angeles would be foolish to pass this unworkable, ill-conceived ordinance," Gieringer said. "Not only would it cost $36 to $74 million in lost sales taxes and thousands of jobs, but the city can expect serious legal challenges in the courts. The city would be better advised to adopt a system of licensed regulation and taxes, which has proven successful elsewhere in the state."

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: L.A.'s Marijuana Dispensary Ban Could Cost The City Millions | Digg story

77 Percent Of L.A. Residents Favor Dispensaries; Majority of West Coasters Want To Legalize Pot

Dear Weed: We love you, and we don't want you to go away. Signed, California
(Photo by Coaster 420)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley may have believed he was safely playing to the grandstands when he promised to shut down all of L.A.'s estimated 800 to 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries, magnanimously declaring that "approximately zero" of the dispensaries were operating legally in exchanging weed for cash. But perhaps Cooley should check his numbers: In a new poll taken this week and released today, the reaction of Los Angelenos sounds more like a chorus of boos and hisses.

​More than three-quarters of the voters (77 percent ) in Los Angeles County want to see medical marijuana dispensaries regulated, rather than prosecuted and forced to close, according to the poll, funded by a pro-pot advocacy group and completed Monday and Tuesday. The poll also found that 74 percent support the California's medical marijuana law, while 54 percent want to see marijuana completely legalized, regulated and taxed.

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a national organization that supports marijuana legalization, commissioned the poll by independent firm Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, after Cooley threatened every dispensary operator in the county with arrest and prosecution. Cooley, along with newly elected L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, claim that the dispensaries are selling marijuana for profit in violation of state law.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: 77 Percent Of L.A. Residents Favor Dispensaries; Majority of West Coasters Want To Legalize Pot

Feds Lighten Up On Medical Marijuana Just As L.A. Tightens The Screws

Let my people grow.

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​In a stunning bit of role reversal, law enforcement officials in dispensary-heavy Los Angeles County are gearing up for a massive mobilization against hundreds of pot shops even while the Obama administration backs away from the federal government's traditional role as marijuana enforcer in the states where medical pot is legal.

Today, the administration sent new, more relaxed medical marijuana guidelines to federal prosecutors in the 14 states which have legalized weed for patients. Under the new policy, the federal government will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws.

While keeping a promise President Barack Obama made on the campaign trail in 2008 and since affirmed by Attorney General Eric Holder, the new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration line, which continued to enforce harsh, Nixon-era federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: Feds Lighten Up On Medical Marijuana Just As L.A. Tightens Screws | Digg story

Let Them Grow Pot! CA Supreme Court Lets Collective Marijuana Cultivation Continue

Leave that weed alone, officer! (Photo: dea.gov)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

Rural sheriff's departments in California may have to find a new pastime to replace bullying medical marijuana growers. In a major victory for pot advocates, the California Supreme Court -- right around harvest time! -- has refused to review a landmark appellate court ruling protecting the right of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers to collectively grow weed.

The 2-1 ruling by California's Third Appellate District Court also affirmed patients' ability to take civil action when their right to collectively cultivate marijuana is violated by law enforcement. The case, County of Butte v. Superior Court, involved a private seven-patient medical marijuana collective in Paradise, California (oh! the delicious irony -- props to God or whomever is responsible).

Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a nationwide medical marijuana advocacy group, filed a May 2006 lawsuit on behalf David Williams, 56, and half a dozen other collective members after the Butte County Sheriff's Department conducted a warrantless search of Williams' home in 2005. The officers forced Williams to uproot more than two dozen plants, threatening him with arrest and prosecution if he didn't comply.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: Let Them Grow Pot -- California Supreme Court Lets Collective Marijuana Cultivation Continue | Digg story

Darkness In San Diego: Attack On Medical Marijuana Moving Northward

San Diego medical marijuana patient Donna Lambert was arrested in Operation Green Rx as part of the "crackdown." (Photo courtesy of Donna Lambert)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

First, we heard from ambitious, headline-seeking San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis that there are "no such things" as legal medical marijuana dispensaries, despite state law. Now, even as a brutal crackdown on providers and patients is underway in San Diego County, officials from Los Angeles and other counties are being influenced by San Diego's anti-weed brigade to implement their hardline policies further north.

At a Long Beach City Council meeting yesterday, City Prosecutor Tom Reeves was still flushed with anti-ganja fervor as he told the council of attending a summit last week held by L.A. County DA Steve Cooley, where the message was that all dispensaries are illegal and will be prosecuted. What this means, he told the council, is that Long Beach can't or shouldn't try to regulate dispensaries.

​"Over-the-counter sales are illegal," Reeves flatly stated. "So you're not helping us any," Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga repied. "I'm helping you a great deal," Reeves snapped. "I just told you that you can't regulate illegal businesses."

So even as city governments in places like Long Beach honestly try to grapple with the real issues surrounding regulation and recognition of medical marijuana dispensaries -- including possibilities like taxation, on-site inspections and regulations similar to liquor stores or adult businesses -- their "legal experts" and law enforcement officials are giving them monumentally bad advice which seems to be in conflict with state law.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: Darkness In San Diego -- Attack On Medical Marijuana Moves Northward | Digg story

Marijuana Arrests Drop For First Time Since 2002

Drug War protester at Huntington Beach, Calif.
Photo: The November Coalition

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​Marijuana arrests in the United States declined in 2008 -- the first such drop since 2002 -- according to figures released by the FBI today.

According to the just-released Uniform Crime Reports, U.S. law enforcement made 847,863 arrests on marijuana charges, 89 percent of which were for simple possession, not sale or manufacture. More Americans were arrested for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined. During 2008, one American was arrested for marijuana every 37 seconds.

Marijuana arrests reached an all-time high at more than 872,000 in 2007. More than 12 million American citizens have been arrested on marijuana charges since 1965.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: Marijuana Arrests Drop For First Time Since 2002 | Digg story

Taking The High Road: Attorneys Say DUI Laws Shouldn't Apply To Pot

Hey, watch where you're going!
(Image courtesy of Students for Sensible Drug Policy)

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

Remember the first few times you drove high? You knew you were stoned, you knew it might be dangerous to operate a motor vehicle, and you drove like a little old lady.

This tendency of stoners to overcompensate for their impairment is one reason that marijuana-related car crashes aren't in the headlines every day. With estimates of current marijuana users in the United States varying between 20 and 40 million, you can bet that if weed really caused wrecks, it'd be a national tragedy on the level of drunk driving.

But you don't see those headlines, and you probably don't have anecdotes about "that time I was so high I couldn't even remember how my car got in the ditch." Seems all those stories have alcohol as a component instead. (That certainly goes for me, with 32 years of accident-free driving on pot. And, yes: There were a few alcohol-related crashes in my teens.)

Now, I'm not recommending you take a few bong rips and then hit the freeway. In fact, it'd probably be best for everyone if you'd stay your stoned ass home on the couch. There's a reason God invented pizza delivery.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch": Chronic City: Taking The High Road -- Attorneys Say DUI Laws Shouldn't Apply To Pot | Digg story

The Expensive Farce Of Marijuana 'Eradication' In California

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

Every year since 1983, the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) has engaged in a quixotic quest to "eradicate marijuana" in California. And every single year -- all 26 of them -- it has failed miserably as marijuana became more and more available.

The waste, arrogance and abuse associated with the program -- which has unfortunately become the largest law enforcement task force in the United States, with more than 100 agencies participating -- have become legendary. Ordinary families have been terrorized by paramilitary units, peaceful homeowners have been buzzed by low-flying helicopters, and community relations between citizens and law enforcement have suffered almost everywhere CAMP has laid its heavy hand.

Of course all this is done at taxpayer expense, to the tune of millions upon millions of dollars. Good thing the state treasury's in good shape, flush with all that extra cash. Oh, wait...

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch":
Chronic City: The Expensive Farce Of Marijuana 'Eradication' In California | Digg story

Here's Progress: S.F. Firefighters Rescue Marijuana Grow-Op

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​Sometimes the biggest signs of epochal change in society are those that are casually mentioned, five paragraphs down in a story. Such was the case with Sunday's four-alarm warehouse fire in Bayview, where fire crews remained yesterday monitoring for flare-ups.

"Marijuana was found growing in one of the buildings," CBS 5 reported, "but police Sergeant Wilfred Williams said this morning that the narcotics unit investigation found that the marijuana is being grown legally, 'for medicinal purposes'."

Now, of course, that's a completely normal sentiment to youthful San Franciscans. But for a child of the 1960s, it is nonetheless a big, happy deal. Youngsters, I lived in a time when such an incident could could not have ended happily for the growers, who would have likely faced prison terms.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch":
Chronic City: Here's Progress -- S.F. Firefighters Rescue Marijuana Grow-Op | Digg story

Fresno's Freakin' -- But Marijuana Dispensary To Stay Open

Medmar Clinic is under legal attack from the City of Fresno.

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​You've gotta pity the poor, put-upon city officials of Fresno. After all, they've only had 13 years to suss out Proposition 215, this newfangled medical marijuana law that's being forced upon their fair city by more progressive Californians. And, heck, it's only been a little over half a decade since the legislature amplified and clarified the intent of the law with SB 420, opening the door for medical marijuana dispensaries statewide.

So what have they been doing all that time? It's hard to say, actually. But one thing seems pretty clear: They didn't find much time to study the law.

The city of Fresno is trying to shut down Medmar Clinic, the first medical marijuana dispensary in town -- along with seven other city dispensaries -- via the monumentally lame move of filing a suit through its city attorneys. But on Thursday, a judge said Medmar did not appear to post an immediate threat to public safety.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch":
Chronic City: Fresno's Freakin' -- But Marijuana Dispensary To Stay Open | Digg story

Aptly Named 'Joint Resolution' Succeeds; California Senate Urges Change in Federal Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​By a 23-15 vote, the California State Senate on Monday approved a "joint resolution" urging the federal government to stop Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raids on medical marijuana patients and providers. The Sen. Mark Leno-authored resolution additionally calls for the nation to "create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access to any patient that would benefit from it."

Marijuana advocates say recent enforcement activity, including DEA arrests following a raid in Upper Lake, Calif. last week, underscore the need for Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14, introduced by Leno in June. Although both President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have signaled willingness to change federal policy on medical marijuana, the Administration hasn't come forward with an actual implementation plan.

"Patients and providers in California remain at risk of arrest and prosecution by federal law enforcement and legally established medical marijuana cooperatives continue to be the subject of federal raids," Leno said.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the S.F. Weekly blog, "The Snitch":

Chronic City: Aptly Named 'Joint Resolution' Succeeds; California Senate Urges Change in Federal Medical Marijuana Rules

Marijuana Moratorium - How To Ignore The Voters And The Law

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

Dispensary moratorium: Latest political fad?

​

One by one, across California, the lights are winking out.

In city after city, town after town, patients who had dared hope they would at last have safe access to the medicine recommended by their physicians are having those hopes dashed by political cowardice, inertia, and the status quo.

In case you haven't noticed, medical marijuana is yet another front in the culture wars. Conservative hamlets which aren't yet ready for the 21st Century notion of patients being legally allowed to treat themselves with cannabis are turning off the light of hope for those who have already waited 13 years for the hope of Proposition 215 to become a reality.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the SF Weekly blog, "The Snitch":
Chronic City: Marijuana Moratorium - How To Ignore The Voters And The Law | Digg story