cannabisnews.com: San Diego Surrenders Its War on Medical Marijuana function share_this(num) { tit=encodeURIComponent('San Diego Surrenders Its War on Medical Marijuana'); url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/27/thread27282.shtml'); site = new Array(5); site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit; site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit; window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500'); return false; } San Diego Surrenders Its War on Medical Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on January 11, 2013 at 06:45:06 PT By Marty Graham, Reuters Source: Christian Science Monitor California -- San Diego Mayor Bob Filner declared an end on Thursday to the city's legal war on medical pot with a letter to city authorities ordering civil prosecutors to "stop the crackdown on marijuana dispensaries."Filner, a Democrat who was sworn in Dec. 1, said in the letter sent to the police chief, city attorney and the city's Neighborhood Code Compliance Department that such shops could still be scrutinized for other code violations like any other business. "Until we have a new set of regulations for medical marijuana distribution, I have asked the Neighborhood Code Compliance Department and the Police Department to temporarily halt all prosecutions of city zoning code violations when it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries," Filner said in a statement.He added that he plans to bring a proposed ordinance on the matter to the city council soon to regulate marijuana dispensaries to close a regulatory gap that had allowed the shops to be prosecuted on zoning violations.The announcement signals a sea change in dispensary prosecutions in California's second largest city, with a population of 1.3 million. In 2011, the city attorney launched code enforcement action lawsuits against more than 100 medical marijuana dispensaries and shut most of them down.City Attorney Jan Goldsmith responded to Filner's call for an end to the prosecutions in a letter that said, "We will, of course, comply with that direction."The move comes amid a growing federal-state battle over marijuana that intensified when states in the U.S. West and Northeast liberalized medical pot laws in recent years, setting the stage for voters in Colorado and Washington in November to approve legalizing recreational use of the drug as well.The federal government holds that marijuana is an illegal drug liable to be abused and has cracked down on medical marijuana operations in California and other states where it is legal.San Diego U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy sent a letter in August to the city of Del Mar warning that even city employees who "conduct activities mandated" by a proposed Del Mar medical marijuana ordinance were not immune from prosecution.Duffy was traveling out of the district on Thursday and was unable to respond to media inquiries, her staff said.Other cities, including Oakland and San Francisco, have sought to add zoning rules that allows such shops. In October, the city of Oakland sued the federal government to block U.S. authorities from closing down a prominent medical marijuana dispensary that is featured on a reality television show.Eugene Davidovich, the spokesman for the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access, applauded the mayor's move to end targeted prosecutions."I'm so hopeful that this is the end to these lawsuits and it will create a path to regulation of shops for the thousands of people who rely on this medicine," Davidovich said.Editing By Cynthia Johnston and Eric WalshSource: Christian Science Monitor (US)Author: Marty Graham, ReutersPublished: January 10, 2013Copyright: 2013 The Christian Science Publishing SocietyContact: letters csmonitor.comWebsite: http://www.csmonitor.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/puZ2fhcACannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by fight_4_freedom on January 12, 2013 at 15:07:44 PT Hmmmm Maybe I will move out to San Diego to live with my sis. Business opportunities galore as long as the feds stay away. Still fightin away here in MI. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on January 11, 2013 at 15:01:51 PT historical Q Relfving, when did cannabis first show up in the Americas? Do we know? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Relfving on January 11, 2013 at 14:40:39 PT: Healing Oil Used in the Bible "In the Old Testament, chrismation involves pouring the anointing oil over the head, which functions to purify (obviously in a spiritual sense, not to cleanse physically) and to confer power, strength, or majesty. Its most common occurrence is the coronation of kings, which sometimes is accomplished by Yahweh, himself; but priest and prophet-shsamans are also anointed, as also are objects to set them aside from profane use. In Exodus 30:23, Yahweh specifies the ingredients for the chrism, making clear that such unguents contained herbal additives too the oil: Cannabis sativa (kaneh bosom, usually translated 'aromatic cane') is combined with perfuming spices (cinnamon cassia, and myrrh) in oil. The psychoactivity of the 'spices' in the anointing oil, in addition to the Cannabis, deserves attention. Cinnamon and cassia are mild to moderate stimulants. Myrrh is reputed too have medical properties. to elaborate on Old testament references to cannabis, the root phrase that represents cannabis, kaneh bosmm, is often translated as 'calamus.' this mis-translation starts as early as the septuagint. ..."As noted, the term Christ itself is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew Messiah, and this means the 'anointed one,'' making reference back to the original anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:23. Indeed, even in the Christian Scriptures, Jesus does not baptize any of his own disciples, but rather, in the oldest of the synoptic Gospels, Jesus sends out his followers to heal with the anointing oil: 'They cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them' (Mark 6:13). Likewise, after Jesus's passing, James says, 'Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord' (James 5:14)." Pot book pgs. 22-24There are many other references to the use of cannabis in the Bible as a healing agent. Also in many other places in the ancient world such as China, the middle east, and Europe and ancient America. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on January 11, 2013 at 07:51:06 PT the CSM finally starting to realize that Christ is the world's most famous medical cannabis provider? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 11, 2013 at 07:42:43 PT Another win Seldom does the cannabis movement go backward. This is another move forward. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment