Cannabis News

"They absolutely came to us. I wouldn't have even thought about it," Christie said, adding that he was disappointed when he heard university leaders say the plan was unworkable. Read More... Will California Legalize Pot? Posted by on July 30, 2010 at 05:52:43 PT By Daniela Perdomo Source: AlterNet California -- Today, at least a third of Americans say they've tried smoking weed. Is it possible that after half a century of increasingly mainstreamed pot use the public is ready for marijuana to be legal? We may soon find out.

California has long been on the front lines of marijuana policy. In 1996, it became the first state to legalize medical cannabis. This year, the Tax Cannabis initiative -- now officially baptized Proposition 19 -- may very well be the best chance any state has ever had at legalizing the consumption, possession and cultivation of marijuana for anyone over 21. Read More... VA Right To OK Pot Use in States Where It's Legal Posted by on July 30, 2010 at 04:13:42 PT Denver Post Editorial Source: Denver Post Colorado -- The decision by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to allow patients to use medical marijuana in the 14 states where it is legal, including Colorado, is a humane and just call.

As it stood, VA patients who followed state guidelines and legally used marijuana were at risk of being denied pain medications. That's because the VA has rules barring illegal drug use by patients who are taking pain medicine, and marijuana is still illegal under federal law. Read More... Colo. Pot Shops Face Closure Under Tough New Rules Posted by CN Staff on July 29, 2010 at 16:36:01 PT By The Associated Press Source: Associated Press Colorado -- Nearly a fifth of Colorado's medical marijuana dispensary operators could be forced out of business in coming weeks because of new state rules barring some convicted felons from the pot business, federal drug authorities say.

The Drug Enforcement Administration reviewed requirements under a new state law to see how many felons could be forced out of business. The DEA estimates that up to 18 percent of current dispensaries may be shuttered by the no-felon rule. Read More... House Votes To Eliminate Cocaine Disparity Posted by on July 29, 2010 at 11:41:34 PT By William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers Source: Miami Herald Washington, D.C. -- The House of Representatives passed a historic bill Wednesday that narrows sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine convictions, which civil rights and civil liberties experts say contributed to the disproportionate imprisonment of African-Americans in recent decades.

The Senate passed its version of the bill in March. President Barack Obama, who during the 2008 presidential campaign said the current legal disparity "cannot be justified and should be eliminated," is expected to sign the legislation. Read More... House Eases Crack-Cocaine Sentences Posted by on July 29, 2010 at 04:08:39 PT By Gary Fields Source: Wall Street Journal Washington, D.C. -- The House approved a bill Wednesday that lightens federal sentences for crack-cocaine defendants, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

After years of false starts and dashed hopes for sentencing advocates, lawmakers approved the legislation on a voice vote. The Senate had passed the bill this spring, and Mr. Obama is expected to sign it soon. Read More... Federal-State Law Inconsistency Shouldn't Stop CA Posted by on July 28, 2010 at 06:10:06 PT By Hanna Liebman Dershowitz Source: Los Angeles Times California -- The law is the law. If we unquestioningly accepted that maxim, imagine where we would be today. Jim Crow would be alive and well, rivers and skies would be polluted, and women wouldn't be allowed to vote.

Yet such is the mindset of many of those who criticize Proposition 19, the marijuana regulation and taxation initiative on the November ballot. In his July 18 Times Op-Ed article, UCLA public policy professor Mark A.R. Kleiman declares that state legalization "can't be done." Read More... Expect Legal Sale of Marijuana In Early 2011 Posted by on July 27, 2010 at 19:08:20 PT By Tim Craig, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Washington, D.C. -- District leaders say it will be months before the city begins allowing the sale of medical marijuana, even though the law authorizing up to eight dispensaries took effect Tuesday after the Democrat-controlled Congress declined to intervene.

The delay is driven by a lack of detail about how the city will operate the program, which includes a first-in-the-nation provision requiring dispensaries to price the marijuana on a sliding scale so the city's poorest patients can obtain medicinal pot for free. Read More... Medical Marijuana Now Legal Posted by on July 27, 2010 at 08:30:20 PT By Erica Johnston Source: Washington Post Washington, D.C. -- Medical marijuana is now legal in the District after the Democrat-controlled Congress declined to overrule a D.C Council bill that allows the city to set up as many as eight dispensaries where chronically ill patients can purchase the drug.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said in a statement the bill become law after Congress finished its business Monday night because neither the House nor Senate opted to intervene. Read More... S.C. City Council Asked To Lift Ban for WAMMFest Posted by on July 27, 2010 at 04:04:22 PT By J.M. Brown, Santa Cruz Sentinel Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel Santa Cruz -- After the last several WAMMFests encountered challenges, organizers of Santa Cruz's annual medical marijuana awareness event appear to be in for an easier time getting the city's nod of approval.

Today, the City Council will consider lifting a smoking ban at San Lorenzo Park for five hours Sept. 25 to allow authorized pot users to medicate inside open-air tents designed to create privacy. The item is on the council's consent agenda, indicating that it may not be as controversial as in years past. Read More... Dopey Logic on Medical Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on July 26, 2010 at 15:51:15 PT Opinion Source: Kennebec Journal Maine -- It's easy to grasp the economics of the situation. It's the logic behind it that sets the mind spinning. The stories about the cost of medicinal marijuana, which soon can be sold to people with prescriptions at eight dispensaries across the state, contain more turns than a lighthouse staircase.

It's bizarre to think the cost for a legal substance -- medicinal marijuana -- must be made the same price (or more) as its illegal version -- street marijuana -- to keep those who buy it legally from profiting by selling it illegally. Read More... Another Dance Around Marijuana Posted by on July 25, 2010 at 16:53:13 PT The Oregonian Editorial Board Source: Oregonian Oregon -- Let the charades begin: Another "medical marijuana" measure is coming to the fall ballot.

Of course, the advocates insist that the sprawling legalized network of marijuana dispensaries envisioned by Initiative 28 is all about providing compassionate and convenient "medicine" to Oregonians who suffer from such things as glaucoma, nausea from cancer treatment and the wasting associated with HIV/AIDs. Read More... Colorado Official Works To Legitimize MMJ Industry Posted by on July 25, 2010 at 06:25:05 PT By Michael W. Savage, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Denver -- When Matt Cook was coaxed out of early retirement to become Colorado's chief revenue enforcer three years ago, he assumed his time would be spent overseeing the casinos, liquor stores and car dealerships he had been keeping an eye on for much of his career.

If he had hoped for a quiet few years before heading for the golf course, his timing could not have been worse. Read More... State Pharmacy Board Changes its Classification Posted by on July 25, 2010 at 06:11:42 PT By Jessica Van Berkel Source: Oregon Live Oregon -- With one hand, Lindsey Bradshaw hoisted his food bag onto his back, arranging the tube that has helped feed him since cancer ravaged his stomach seven years ago. In his other hand, he clutched a small gold bowl of marijuana and a pipe. He depends on both devices to get through the day.

One of 36,380 patients registered with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, Bradshaw is a gardener who grows most of his own medical marijuana -- one of two options that program participants have. Read More... Medical Marijuana To Be OK in Some VA Clinics Posted by CN Staff on July 24, 2010 at 11:58:46 PT By Hope Yen, Associated Press Source: Associated Press Washington, D.C. -- Patients treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics will be able to use medical marijuana in the 14 states where it's legal, according to new federal guidelines.

The directive from the Veterans Affairs Department in the coming week is intended to clarify current policy that says veterans can be denied pain medication if they use illegal drugs. Veterans groups have complained for years that this could bar veterans from VA benefits if they were caught using medical marijuana. Read More... V.A. Easing Rules for Users of Medical Marijuana Posted by on July 23, 2010 at 17:46:13 PT By Dan Frosch Source: New York Times Denver -- The Department of Veterans Affairs will formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal, a policy clarification that veterans have sought for several years.

A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in veterans facilities between federal law, which outlaws marijuana, and the 14 states that allow medicinal use of the drug, effectively deferring to the states. Read More... Rutgers Takes a Pass on Pot-Farm Proposal Posted by on July 23, 2010 at 13:47:39 PT By UPI Source: United Press International Trenton, N.J. -- Officials at Rutgers University have said no thanks to establishing a medical-marijuana farm because it would jeopardize federal funding.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had proposed Rutgers be established as the sole supplier of medical pot in the Garden State with certain hospitals serving as the only place that the ailing could obtain their legal stashes. Read More... Sellers of MMJ See Value in Trademarking Pot Posted by on July 22, 2010 at 19:33:58 PT By Richard Halstead Source: Contra Costa Times California -- Marin County's doyen of medical marijuana, Lynette Shaw, said she was pleased when she read recently on the Web that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had created a new trademark category for medical marijuana.

But the patent office backpedaled last week and eliminated the category, which was established April 1, after an inquiry by the Wall Street Journal. Read More... Pot Plank: Will Dems' Shift on MMJ Pave The Way? Posted by on July 22, 2010 at 13:13:05 PT By Jason Whited Source: Las Vegas City Life Nevada -- For the first time in Nevada history, a major political party has endorsed the creation of a safe, legal medical marijuana industry -- a move that could ease the suffering of thousands of patients and finally legitimize the state's black market network of pot dispensaries.

In their official party platform, released just days after their late-June convention, delegates with the Nevada Democratic Party for the first time included clear, powerful language endorsing Nevada's emerging medical marijuana industry "as a contributing part of a compassionate, alternative health care in Nevada." Read More... Oakland Approves Giant Marijuana Farms Posted by on July 22, 2010 at 04:05:38 PT By Malia Wollan Source: New York Times Oakland, Calif. -- This city, which has been at the vanguard of medical marijuana legalization on everything from taxation to trade schools to the unionization of marijuana workers, voted Tuesday to permit industrial-size marijuana farms.

After hours of public testimony, the City Council voted 5 to 2 to permit large-scale indoor marijuana plantations. The struggling city, which faces a $31 million deficit and has a 17 percent unemployment rate, estimates that the marijuana factories could bring in as much as $38 million annually in fees and taxes. Read More... Oakland Council OKs Plan To Set Up Pot Factories Posted by on July 21, 2010 at 16:57:21 PT By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times Source: Los Angeles Times Reporting from Oakland -- Oakland's City Council on Tuesday approved an ordinance that could make it the first city in the state to permit industrial marijuana production, a path-breaking decision that could spur the commercialization of a crop largely grown in hidden gardens.

The plan would authorize four potentially enormous pot factories, but makes no provision for the hundreds of growers who now supply Oakland's four dispensaries, which sold $28 million in marijuana last year. Read More... California's New Pot Patch Posted by on July 21, 2010 at 06:14:41 PT By Tamara Audi Source: Wall Street Journal California -- Northern California's so-called Emerald Triangle, famous for marijuana farms that supply much of the U.S. with high-quality pot, is facing competition from hundreds of miles away—in Los Angeles County.

As this year's marijuana-harvest season gets under way, law-enforcement officials are focused on the Southern California county, which by some measures has bloomed into the nation's most productive pot garden. Read More... Oakland Approves Plan To License Marijuana Farms Posted by on July 21, 2010 at 04:52:03 PT By Cecily Burt, Oakland Tribune Source: Oakland Tribune California -- Oakland City Council voted Tuesday to license up to four large-scale marijuana farms in industrial areas to supply the city's four medical marijuana dispensaries, and promised to later review policies that could include smaller and medium-size farmers.

The city will not enforce the new ordinance until the cultivation permits are issued in January. The ordinance will get a second reading on Tuesday. Read More... A Smell of Pot and Privilege in the City Posted by on July 21, 2010 at 04:16:37 PT By Jim Dwyer Source: New York Times New York -- The Bloomberg administration has quietly been fixing up its sons and daughters with cool summer internships, as reported Tuesday in The New York Times. Which is probably fine: It is hard to see nepotism as much of a sin when it is really just another chapter of Darwinism, the drive possessed by all creatures to finagle a better future for their offspring.

No matter how much Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg preached about meritocracy, no one expected that the laws of nature would be repealed when he was elected. Read More... Oakland Could Go To Pot in a Big Way Posted by on July 20, 2010 at 04:56:19 PT By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times Source: Los Angeles Times Reporting from Oakland -- Oakland could approve a plan Tuesday to set up four marijuana factory farms, a step that could usher in the era of Big Pot.

The proposal is a testament to just how fast the marijuana counterculture is transforming into a corporate culture. And it has ignited a contentious debate in Oakland that could spread as cities face pressure to regulate marijuana cultivation and find ways to tax it. Read More... Patent Office Raises Hopes, Then Snuffs Them Out Posted by on July 19, 2010 at 17:38:31 PT By Justin Scheck Source: Wall Street Journal USA -- For three months until last week, marijuana dealers had something they could only dream of before: the apparent stamp of approval of a federal agency.

On April 1, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office created a new trademark category: "Processed plant matter for medicinal purposes, namely medical marijuana." The patent office, part of the Department of Commerce, posted the new category on its website. Read More... Democratic Party Decides Not To Endorse Marijuana Posted by on July 19, 2010 at 05:23:17 PT By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times Source: Los Angeles Times Reporting from San Jose -- The state Democratic Party decided Sunday not to endorse the marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot after a swift, passionate debate that left little doubt most Democrats in the hotel meeting room intend to vote yes at the polls.

The party decided to adopt a neutral position on Proposition 19, leaving the many local Democratic committees and organizations free to endorse the measure. Read More... Oakland Pot-Growing Plan Worries Small Bud Tenders Posted by CN Staff on July 18, 2010 at 10:15:10 PT By Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press Oakland, Calif. -- After weathering the fear of federal prosecution and competition from drug cartels, California's medical marijuana growers see a new threat to their tenuous existence: the "Wal-Marting" of weed.

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday will look at licensing four production plants where pot would be grown, packaged and processed into items ranging from baked goods to body oil. Winning applicants would have to pay $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million worth of liability insurance and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes. Read More... MJ Advocates Cheer DEA Agent's Exit From State Posted by on July 18, 2010 at 06:51:52 PT By Felisa Cardona, The Denver Post Source: Denver Post Colorado -- Marijuana-legalization advocates cheered the upcoming departure of federal agent Jeffrey D. Sweetin because, they said, they believe his views are not in line with the will of Colorado voters who legalized the drug for medicinal purposes.

The outspoken special agent in charge of Denver's Drug Enforcement Administration understands that he became the "face" of anti-legalization in Colorado, but says his exit doesn't mean the fight over marijuana is over. Read More... Proposal for Marijuana Factories Prompts a Battle Posted by on July 18, 2010 at 06:18:16 PT By Kate McLean Source: New York Times California -- A proposal to create four large-scale marijuana factories in Oakland has touched off a turf war in the lucrative market for medicinal marijuana. Established local merchants are trying to hold their ground against entrepreneurs who are seeking to gain a foothold in the rapidly evolving industry.

Under the proposal, which will be debated by the City Council on Tuesday, Oakland would issue four permits to operate the factories, which are currently not limited in size or scale. One would-be applicant is planning a 7.4-acre complex that could produce over 21,000 pounds of marijuana a year. Read More...

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Highlights
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Pot Legalization Pioneer? California Can't Legalize Marijuana California Can't Legalize Marijuana How Legal Pot Could Harm The Cartels Decrim MJ: It's Far Less Harmful Than Alcohol Looking for Medical Marijuana in NM? Get In Line The Latest Fiscal Buzz? Medical Marijuana Union Supports CA Measure To Legalize Marijuana Should Marijuana Be Legal For All? Oakland Pot Expansion a Step Closer Feinstein Supports Campaign To Defeat Legalization Medical-Marijuana Facility in Royal Oak? Pot Farms Branch Out in Los Angeles Teaching Hospitals Campaign To Be Sole Dispensers Is California Going to Pot? Could a $1.50 MJ Joint Doom Prop 19 in California? Medical Marijuana Not Limited To Residents Doctors Wary of Medical Marijuana Program At The Capitol: Just Say No To Medical Marijuana Measures on Pot Trail in Field Poll Time To Answer Concerns To Advance MJ Reform Pot Advocates Ask Colorado To Allow MMJ for PTSD C.A. NAACP Chief Criticized for Backing Pot Prop. Study: Legalized Pot Would Lower Prices, Raise Use L.A. County Moves To Ban Marijuana Dispensaries Legalize, Regulate Marijuana Injured Vets Want Battle Over Pot To End MMJ Law in Michigan Runs Into Workplace Rule Neighbors Fault Compassion Center Proposal Clearing Away The Pot Stores, One Raid at a Time Medical-Marijuana: Patients Clouded in Controversy Police Caught in Middle on Marijuana Deliveries Detroiters To Decide Legalizing Marijuana Organizers: Wash. Legal Pot Measure Won't Qualify Ban on Traveling Medical Marijuana Clinics Medical Marijuana Advocate Medical Pot User Sues Over Walmart Firing NAACP Backing of Legalization Outrages Minister Medical Marijuana Will Ease Suffering NAACP Signs Onto Pot Legalization Measure Out-of-Staters Seek Stake in Dispensaries MMJ Store in Providence Would Grow, Package & Sell When Capitalism Meets Cannabis 17 Groups Seek To Dispense Marijuana Colorado's Medical Marijuana Law Raising Issues Latest Debacle for Medical Pot Business Advised About Medical Marijuana How Towns Sort Out Medical Marijuana Facilities Marijuana Bill Sparking Debate in NY Legislature Implement Medical Marijuana Program Who's Making Money Off Medical Marijuana? Medicinal Marijuana Issue in Iowa Hits Roadblock State Pharmacy Board Changes MMJ Classification In The Weeds Weigh Costs and Benefits To Set Policy Make Medical Marijuana Legal, But Be Cautious Christie Considers Changes To Law Marijuana Dispensaries Resist L.A. Crackdown Proposed State MMJ Law is a Recipe for Disaster Guv Hopeful McInnis Wants To Put Brakes on MMJ Higher Learning Will Marijuana Be OK in Detroit? Marijuana Ordinance Up To Voters in Fall N.J. Holds Off On Medical Marijuana Law Detroit Council Won't Vote To Legalize Marijuana Colorado Approves Medical Marijuana School Medical Marijuana Study Called Off by Lawmakers Cities Eye Taxes on Marijuana Utahns Should Watch CA Marijuana Vote Carefully Gray Area on Delivery of Green Buds 'Prince of Pot' Is At a Low 15 Applicants Look To Establish MMJ Dispensaries Colo. Pot Advocates Plan 2012 Legalization Push Colo. Pot Shop Debate Heads To Cities CO Health Department Seeks MMJ Committee Members Cannabis Collective To Have First Time Blood Drive Voters Have Limits on Medical Marijuana Brief History: Medical Marijuana State Pharmacists Put Kibosh on Cannabis Sober Reflection is in Order Did Pot Initiative Come a Cycle Too Soon? Medical Marijuana Needs Regulations Michigan Supreme Court Limits Drug Charges Give Medical Marijuana Fees a Chance To Work Boulder Limits Where MMJ Centers Can Operate Time To End The Marijuana Charade? L.A. Cuts Back on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries New Medical-Marijuana Regs Now Law in Colorado MMJ Dispensaries Being Told: Move It, Bud Conference Addresses Medical Marijuana Use

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Resources
NIDA - Common Drugs of Abuse lists commonly abused psychotropics. U.S. National Library of Medicine is an execellent resource for medical information. For recreational use of psychotropics one will find Hyperreal informative. Drug Sense, Marijuana Policy Project, Drug Reform Coordination Network, and NORML are among the many organizations seeking to reform cannabis laws.

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