Take Action To Support Safe And Legal Cannabis Access In San Francisco

TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT SAFE AND LEGAL ACCESS IN SAN FRANCISCO

DEMAND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO RESTORE THE MCD-PROGRAM ASAP!

Last fall, several city departments postponed further consideration of the SF Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program to provide the City Attorney’s Office time to determine the potential impact of the Pack v. Long Beach and to get a sense about whether the Supreme Court would review or de-publish the Pack decision.
Last week, the Supreme Court announced their decision to review Pack effectively making the Pack decision null until a decision is announced years from now.  As a result, the SF City Attorney’s office announced that city departments could resume the MCD-Program.
However, a recent article in the SF Weekly noted that despite the advice/opinions of the City Attorney’s Office, SF-DPH has elected to suspend the program indefinitely!  As a result nearly a dozen pending applications were put on hold!

Humboldt supervisors extend marijuana dispensary moratorium. discuss future outdoor medical marijuana growing ordinance

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend a temporary moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries for an additional 10 months and 15 days. The supervisors also added language to the ordinance that is meant to protect existing dispensaries from closure.
Assistant County Counsel Carolyn Ruth said there are currently three medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the county. The Humboldt County Collective has a conditional use permit with no time limit, Redwood Legacy LLC has a two-year permit and the Hummingbird Healing Center has a one-year permit. Ruth said the moratorium's extension will affect the Hummingbird Healing Center.

Mendocino County May Freeze Growing Permits

Mendocino County's one-of-a-kind, income-generating medical marijuana cultivation permit process has been suspended pending the outcome of a Southern California court case that challenges the legality of issuing permits for activities that are illegal under federal law.

“We're waiting to hear something,” said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

The popular permits allowed medical marijuana collectives to as many as 99 plants under a fee structure that includes inspections and zip-tie identification markers for each plant. 

Pack Ruling Threatens Mendocino Cultivation Law

The one-of-a-kind cooperation between medical marijuana growers and the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department — which legitimized cannabis cultivation in the eyes of the law and saved the jobs of deputies facing layoffs — is at risk, pending the outcome of a court case.

Since 2010, Mendocino County marijuana growers with a doctor’s recommendation have been permitted to license plants with Sheriff Tom Allman’s department, Chris Roberts reports in S.F. Weekly. Growers wishing to cultivate up to 99 plants must pay the Sheriff’s Department an inspection fee and a $50 per-plant permit fee under chapter 9.31 of the Mendocino County Code. In return, growers receive zip-ties that mark each of their 99 plants as certified legal, and the promise that the inspected medical marijuana crop won’t be raided by local law enforcement.

Arcata Council Passes Ban On New Dispensaries

Confusion took center stage Wednesday night at the Arcata City Council meeting with the council ultimately voting to move forward with a medical marijuana dispensary moratorium that would not affect any existing dispensaries.

The meeting ended with new clarity over the city’s proposed temporary hold on processing applications for new medical marijuana cooperatives and collectives, not personal use grows. Staff will return to the council with a draft moratorium, Donna Tam reports in the Eureka Times-Standard.

L.A. Times: Too late for city to close dispensaries

City Councilman Jose Huizar is asking his colleagues to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles. It’s a great idea. Or rather, it would have been a great idea three or four years ago — before the city purported to regulate the storefront cannabis-selling shops. The idea would not be to ban dispensaries forever but to track court rulings, determine what regulations are and are not allowable, and then construct a smart and enforceable ordinance.

But it’s too late for that now, this Los Angeles Times editorial concludes. L.A. city government took its seat on a legal roller coaster when it first signaled that it couldn’t or wouldn’t block dispensaries from opening, then stayed for a second ride when it adopted and tried to enforce ordinances regulating where and when purveyors could operate. There’s no getting off now. This city is in the front car for the duration.

California’s ‘Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act’ Offers New Ways To Fight Federal Discrimination

An urgent message for all dispensaries regarding hostile audits by the IRS

Bill McPike, Chief Counsel for Regulate Marijuana Like Wine(RMLW), deliberately included language in RMLW to protect dispensaries from IRS attacks. Bill has won over 150 medical marijuana cases and was Jack Herer’s personal attorney. McPike pioneered new defenses for patients and is Bar Certified to teach other attorneys how to defend medical marijuana cases. Bill was also featured in a cover story in the National Law Review. When McPike crafted the tactical aspects of RMLW, he carefully inserted language that provides ample tools for driving the IRS away.

San Jose Mayor Seeks Comprise On Dispensaries

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said Tuesday he would consider softening the city’s recently approved medical marijuana ordinance after critics succeeded in qualifying a referendum to repeal the new rules.

The ordinance the City Council approved in September would shrink the number of medical marijuana collectives allowed in the city from more than 100 to just 10, in addition to requiring them to grow all of the marijuana they distribute on site.

Split Petaluma Council Retains City Dispensary Ban

Petaluma Mayor David Glass says that three months ago he might well have voted for lifting his city’s ban on marijuana dispensaries.

He has no doubt medical cannabis helps some and has the support of many more, Sam Scott reports in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

But times have changed. When the topic of lifting the ban arose at Monday’s City Council meeting, Glass told the audience his views had been tempered by the recent federal crackdown on the state’s medical marijuana industry.

Cannabis-Infused Soda Top Story in Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ — A soft drink laced with the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, a tsunami that swept through the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor and a woman arrested on suspicion of throwing a duck were just a few of the stories that captured online readers’ attention in 2011.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel website averages more than 400,000 unique visitors each month, and the top story of the year about Canna Cola was viewed more than 150,000 times since it appeared in January 2011, Stephen Baxter reports.

Canna Cola, a soft drink aimed at medical marijuana dispensaries, contains tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

Health Officials Endorse Cannabis Legalization Report

The Health Officers’ Council of BC endorsed a report Thursday from the Stop the Violence BC coalition – an organization that includes doctors and four former Vancouver mayors.

Allen St. Pierre of NORML Doesn't Support Medical Marijuana

Defending the "medical" cannabis industry is so yesterday. Why not acknowledge the political and legal farce it is and focus on the real problem at hand: ending cannabis prohibition?

The law and court precedents are fairly clear here. Self-preservation (yes), large-scale cultivation and sales (no). It's just this simple. The numerous actions by the Feds and state governments over the last few months make this abundantly clear:

Sheriff's Deputies in Sac Told To Give Weed Back To Dispensary

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Deputies returned seized marijuana to a Sacramento dispensary Friday after a court ordered that the plants had been improperly seized.

California Attorney General Calls For Medical Marijuana Regulation

SAN FRANCISCO —

Attorney General Kamala Harris urged California lawmakers Wednesday to get serious about clarifying the state's 15-year-old medical marijuana law, saying numerous holes in the notoriously liberal statute have left law enforcement and legitimate patients in a near-constant state of uncertainty.

California Advocates Looking For Regulation in Medical Marijuana Industry

San Francisco -- Medical marijuana advocates want to create a statewide system for licensing, regulating and taxing the industry as a way of persuading federal officials to ease up on their crackdown of California's pot clubs and growers.

'Clearing the Smoke': The Benefits, Limits of Medical Marijuana

'Clearing the Smoke': The Benefits, Limits of Medical Marijuana

This is one of the most convincing and powerful documentaries clearly showing the uses and benefits of cannabis as medicine. People in this video are real and provide proof marijuana can provide help to patients for various conditions in various ways.

Please take a moment and educate yourself whether pro or con marijuana as medicine. This is a very well made documentary thanks to PBS for doing such honest important work.

Watch 'Clearing the Smoke': The Benefits, Limits of Medical Marijuana on PBS. See more from PBS NEWSHOUR.

Medical Marijuana Trade Shaken by Crackdown

An intensifying federal crackdown on growers and sellers of state-authorized medical marijuana has badly shaken the billion-dollar industry, which has sprung up in California since voters approved medical use of the drug in 1996, and has highlighted the stark contradiction between federal and state policies.

L.A. Sues To Force Pot Dispensaries To Close

Los Angeles has sued nine medical marijuana dispensaries to force them to close immediately and permanently, even as more boldly open throughout the city, often in prominent locations.
With hundreds of dispensaries in L.A., City Atty. Carmen Trutanich decided to target those within 600 feet of a school, a violation of state law. The city is seeking civil penalties of up to $5,000 a day if the dispensaries defy the lawsuits and remain open.