Denver No Longer Will Have Tests Done More than a year after Denver started actively policing the marijuana industry's use of pesticides, the city's health department is changing its enforcement procedures. Starting April 15, the Denver Department of Environmental Health will no longer test marijuana and pot products in a privately owned cannabis testing facility, the city wrote in an industry bulletin e- mailed Friday. Instead it will place marijuana products suspected of being contaminated with banned pesticides on hold, notify the state agencies that have picked up the recall process initially started by DEH and possibly order the plants or products to be destroyed, the bulletin said. [continues 378 words]
"War on Drugs" Has Failed, Costing US Billions of Dollars If We Want Use to Be Healthy, Safe We Have to Regulate Weed This Is Not a Short-Term Process; Our Laws Will Evolve Over Years Increasingly, Californians understand the war on drugs has been an abject and expensive failure. Today, we incarcerate too many Americans for non-violent drug crimes, while too few resources are available for effective treatment and prevention. Since drug dealers don't card, youth are often more likely to have access to marijuana than they are alcohol or tobacco. [continues 539 words]
Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman emphasized "marijuana safety for loggers," during one of many informational classes available to the timber industry in and out of the county during the 78th annual Redwood Region Logging Conference in Ukiah this week. On Friday, Allman spoke on the dangers to loggers if they stumble upon illegal marijuana grows, which are frequently becoming trespass grows on private property, including timber lands. Allman said most commonly, trespass growers are planting small 100-plant gardens. But, he said, it's these illegal grows that are tapping resources of land owners and changing the environmental landscape, including water and soil. Allman said the biggest recommendation he could make to private land owners was to invest in a game, or wildlife camera, which is often attached to a tree and automatically takes photos when movements are detected. [continues 667 words]
The fight against drug addiction took a new direction this week when Massachusetts Environmental Police and New Bedford police boarded fishing vessels in New Bedford Harbor, searching for fishermen carrying illegal drugs for personal use. "Commercial fishing is a dangerous enough job as it is," said Environmental Police Major Patrick J. Moran. "Using drugs makes it even more dangerous. Our intention was to stop the drugs from getting out to sea aboard the fishing vessels." Over two days, four law enforcement vessels stopped 11 fishing boats heading out of the harbor, leading to arrests of at least six people on drug possession charges and of two people on outstanding warrants, officials said. [continues 355 words]
HONOLULU (AP) - Industry experts say there are a lot of chemicals that could contaminate Hawaii's medical marijuana. Dispensaries are set to open throughout the state in July, and lawmakers are pushing a broad bill to address many of the obstacles the industry is facing. One is how to regulate marijuana testing. The proposed state law would set requirements for testing medical marijuana's potency and also would test for contaminants such as heavy metals, bacteria and pesticides, which industry experts say is necessary to ensure patient safety. Under state rules, dispensaries must send all marijuana products to a certified laboratory for testing. [continues 286 words]
Industry experts say there are a lot of chemicals that could contaminate Hawaii's medical marijuana. Dispensaries are set to open in Hawaii in July, and state lawmakers are pushing a broad bill to address many of the obstacles the industry is facing. One is how to regulate marijuana testing. The proposed Hawaii law would set requirements for testing medical marijuana's potency and would also test for contaminants such as heavy metals, bacteria and pesticides, which industry experts say is necessary to ensure patient safety. Under state rules, dispensaries must send all marijuana products to a certified laboratory for testing. [continues 275 words]
There are increasing signs that 2016 might just be the year the largest state in the nation legalizes recreational marijuana. Polls have shown from 56 percent to 60 percent of California's likely voters in the November presidential contest support legal pot. And due in part to hefty financial backing from a Silicon Valley billionaire, the leading pro-marijuana measure - the Adult Use of Marijuana Act - has gotten off to one of the strongest starts among dozens of proposed initiatives on different topics being pitched for the Nov. 8 ballot. [continues 1501 words]
A Golden Bay woman who won a legal victory for medicinal cannabis says suffering patients are being treated like criminals, and it's time Parliament caught up. Rebecca Reider, 37, appeared in Nelson District Court on Monday facing a raft of criminal charges including importing medicinal cannabis products and another five charges relating to possession. The maximum sentence for importing is eight years imprisonment. The Californian-born Collingwood resident was cleared of all six charges and received a discharge without conviction, meaning she will have no criminal record. [continues 635 words]
A small crowd clustered at the top of the stairs of the Humboldt County Planning Department on the morning of Feb. 26, waiting for the doors to open. In their hands, they clutched land use permit applications for medical marijuana cultivation. "We've been gearing up all week for a big day," said interim Planning Director Rob Wall, adding that extra staff were on duty to help local farmers file. "You guys are taking cash, right?" asked someone in line, prompting a ripple of laughter. [continues 538 words]
Friday marks the first day Humboldt County medical marijuana growers can apply to become a certified commercial cultivator, but not all growers are happy about it. Earlier this week, the Humboldt-Mendocino Marijuana Advocacy Project (HUMMAP) filed a notice of intent to sue the county over its recently approved Commercial Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance, claiming that it did not properly address the environmental impacts of larger marijuana grows. The lawsuit seeks to prohibit the ordinance from taking effect until a full environmental review is conducted. [continues 614 words]
State Sen. Mike McGuire's proposal to levy a 15 percent tax on the sale of medical marijuana seems to be a reach for revenue at the expense of those who need prescribed pot. In 1996, California voters endorsed the "compassionate use" of marijuana prescribed for medical needs. There already is a sales tax on medical cannabis, but McGuire wants to increase it. Last year, McGuire, Marin's representative in the Senate, helped pass long-needed legislation that brought legal clarity to the enactment of Proposition 215. [continues 330 words]
Symposium to Educate Pot Growers About Water and Environmental Laws Marijuana cultivators flocking to Southern Oregon to grow pot know pot farms are now legal, but it doesn't mean they know how to farm pot legally. The Josephine County Soil and Water District is offering a crash-course in environmental laws and other aspects of marijuana farming to keep growers from running afoul of laws protecting streams, fish and wildlife. More than 100 people have signed up for the one-day seminar Thursday at the Josephine County Fairgrounds, where there is room for 1,000 people who want to bone up on water-quality, water-rights and diversion laws, fisheries protection and other rules that regulate agriculture, including cannabis cultivation. [continues 418 words]
SACRAMENTO - Devout cannabis advocates and social justice reformers believe this may finally be the year California voters legalize marijuana, and that optimism has led to a mashup of proposed statewide ballot measures - more than 20 filed so far. They vary from a one-sentence constitutional amendment that simply declares California adults are free to "grow, own (and) purchase" marijuana to a 62-page treatise on how to best regulate and tax legal pot. But just one has attracted the deep-pocketed donors and leading advocacy groups to emerge as the clear favorite to make the November ballot - the so-called Adult Use of Marijuana Act. The initiative would allow those age 21 and older to possess and use up to an ounce of marijuana, making California the fifth state in the nation to legalize recreational use. [continues 478 words]
The legalization of marijuana, even for strictly medicinal purposes, leads to consequences that create serious concerns regarding public safety and environmental damage. There's a strong case to be made for taxation of the product for the purpose of offsetting the costs ultimately borne by society. But proposing a sales tax that places the revenue into the state's general fund is foolish. Additional taxes levied against citizens of the state, especially those who are purchasing a product for expressly medical purposes, should be wholly set aside to target the negative effects from marijuana cultivation. The general fund is frequently raided by state government that rejects the fiscally sane notion of spending less than it collects. Don't replenish these poorly managed coffers. Todd Kerrin, Sacramento [end]
Up Against Billionaire-Funded Bid, Grass-Roots Groups Stand Down. SACRAMENTO - Devout cannabis advocates and social justice reformers believe this may finally be the year California voters legalize marijuana, and that optimism has led to a mashup of proposed statewide ballot measures - more than 20 filed so far. They vary from a one sentence constitutional amendment that simply declares California adults are free to "grow, own [ and] purchase" marijuana to a 62-page treatise on how to best regulate and tax legal pot. [continues 1272 words]
The Feb. 15 editorial "Success in Colombia" focused almost entirely on counterinsurgency success against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and thus was another sad example of willful amnesia about U.S. drug control policy impacts abroad. Ignored by the editorial were the equally important counternarcotics goals and impacts of Plan Colombia. After 15 years and almost $10 billion in U.S. aid, the question needs to be asked if U.S. taxpayers received their money's worth from this investment in the largest drug control program in the annals of the war on drugs in the Western Hemisphere. Today, Colombian cocaine production is increasing. Moreover, Colombia is a major source of heroin in the United States' national epidemic, with Maryland a sad case in point. [continues 88 words]
It wouldn't exactly be accurate to say Humboldt County marijuana growers are rushing into compliance. But Humboldtians put their neighbors to shame, out-enrolling other Northern California counties in the state Water Board's marijuana compliance program. As the Times-Standard reports, the deadline to enroll in the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board's Cannabis Cultivation Waste Discharge Regulatory Program (take a breath) was Feb. 15. The program is designed to bring grow sites into compliance with water regulations, enforcing rules about grading, water storage and acceptable runoff, among other issues. Low-impact growers are expected to pay enrollment fees, while more environmentally damaging growers will have to prepare and pay for remediation. [continues 444 words]
THE fight to stop police from spraying Eastern Cape dagga plantations with poisonous glysophate stepped up a gear when lawyers representing the affected rural communities demanded proof it complied with environmental legislation. Port Elizabeth attorney Rick Stone, of Boqwana Burns, yesterday confirmed a second letter had been sent to police asking for proof the herbicide was environmentally compliant. Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi yesterday said the product - Round-up - was approved for use in South Africa. [end]
Medical Group's Endorsement of Legalized Pot Guided by Patient Safety Regulation of Marijuana Will Allow Better Understanding of Clinical Uses The California Medical Association has long been at the forefront of controversial issues facing our state. We have proposed and helped implement forward-looking public policies around HIV/AIDS treatment and patient rights, blood donor laws, universal access to health care, physician aid-in-dying and vaccination rates. At the heart of our advocacy lies our fundamental concern for patient safety and the overall health care delivery system. [continues 355 words]
