I heard that California medical cannabis is going to be regulated by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Is this true? - -Teetotaler Terry It could happen. Assembly Bill 473, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, would indeed place medical marijuana under the purview of the ABC. The bill has gained traction, passing through the Committee on Public Safety, and could soon become law. In some ways, this move makes sense. ABC has vast experience in regulating and licensing the distribution of mind-altering substances. I think the general idea is that once statewide regulations are in place, it would be relatively simple to implement a system for recreational cannabis use as well. [continues 410 words]
Californians support legalizing pot in greater numbers than ever -- and they want the federal government to cool it with the crackdowns on medical marijuana dispensaries. In a Field Poll released Wednesday, California voters, by a margin of 54 percent to 43 percent, supported allowing legal sales of marijuana, as long as restrictions are in place on age, driving under the influence of the drug and licensing those who sell it. That represents the highest level of support since the Field Poll began asking the question 44 years ago, when most California believed pot was the gateway drug to more hurtful substances. [continues 960 words]
California voters favor legalizing pot for recreational use, strongly support the existence of medical marijuana dispensaries and want the feds to butt out of the California cannabis business. In a California Field Poll released today, voters - by a 54 to 43 percent margin - say they want California to legalize marijuana beyond medical use with regulations similar to alcohol. In the state with America's largest medical marijuana industry, the poll found that 67 percent of voters oppose an ongoing crackdown by the state's four U.S. attorneys on businesses selling pot for medicinal use. [continues 568 words]
A firm majority of California voters now favors legalizing marijuana for recreational use, signaling a significant change in attitude from ambivalence in recent years and outright hostility three decades ago, according to a Field Poll released Wednesday. Mike Kepka / The Chronicle 2011 A new poll found that 66 percent of Bay Area registered voters favor legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Fifty-four percent of registered voters who responded to the Field survey supported legalizing the drug and subjecting it to the same sort of restrictions that exist for alcohol. Forty-three percent opposed the idea and 3 percent had no opinion. [continues 794 words]
Inspired by victorious measures to legalize marijuana in Colorado and Washington, California activists are readying a new ballot push to expand legalization in the Golden State but not until 2016. Drug policy groups, pro-legalization lawmakers and other marijuana advocates say they don't favor holding a California vote on legalizing recreational pot use in 2014, when there will be a smaller electorate than in a presidential year and likely less money and enthusiasm for a pot measure. "We need to take a breath because we're California, and we're super complicated," said Amanda Reiman, California policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance. [continues 338 words]
in November Colorado and Washington Became the First States to Legalize Marijuana. Is California Next? When news broke on election night that Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana, patrons at the trendy Casselman's Bar & Venue in Denver erupted in cheers, then hugged each other and cried. Organizers and friends of the state's Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol thanked everyone-elderly black women, young hipsters, business execs-and there were far more people in suits than in tie-dye that night. And nary a hint of ganja smoke inside the hip establishment. [continues 2944 words]
Colorado and Washington residents pushed marijuana out of the closet in 2012. Will California be the next state to legalize marijuana? When news broke on election night that Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana, patrons at the trendy Casselman's Bar & Venue in Denver erupted in cheers, then hugged each other and cried. Organizers and friends of the state's Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol thanked everyone-elderly black ladies, young hipsters, business execs-and there were far more people in suits than in tie-dye that night. And nary a hint of ganja smoke inside the hip establishment. [continues 2934 words]
California Inspired Efforts Elsewhere and Is Now Inspired by Their Success Many marijuana activists always thought California would be the first state to legalize the drug for recreational use, but their dreams faded in 2010 when the state's voters rejected Proposition 19. Yet the legalization measure's poor timing, lackluster funding and vague regulatory plan offered vital lessons that allowed activists in Colorado and Washington state to succeed last month where California had failed. Now activists in the Golden State are, in turn, scrutinizing those states' successful campaigns to prepare themselves for another California measure down the road. [continues 790 words]
Why Oregon, California And More Are Likely To Follow Colorado And Washington Toward Legalization The Berlin Wall of pot prohibition seems to be crumbling before our eyes. By fully legalizing marijuana through direct democracy, Colorado and Washington have fundamentally changed the national conversation about cannabis. As many as 58 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be legal. And our political establishment is catching on. Former president Jimmy Carter came out this month and endorsed taxed-and-regulated weed. "I'm in favor of it," Carter said. "I think it's OK." In a December 5th letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) suggested it might be possible "to amend the Federal Controlled Substances Act to allow possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, at least in jurisdictions where it is legal under state law." Even President Obama hinted at a more flexible approach to prohibition, telling 20/20's Barbara Walters that the federal government was unlikely to crack down on recreational users in states where pot is legal, adding, "We've got bigger fish to fry." [continues 1214 words]
Laws Are a Hit With Tokers, Gay Activists - and Entrepreneurs SEATTLE - Vivian McPeak was among the 100 pot enthusiasts who gathered beneath the city's Space Needle to toke up the minute a new state law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana took effect. McPeak, the dreadlocked executive director of Hempfest - the nonprofit organizer of a huge annual pot festival that has grown into a source of civic pride - said the taste of victory early Thursday was even more sublime because Washington state voters had approved same-sex marriage along with pot possession. [continues 1330 words]
Last week's news reports that Humboldt State University had developed an institute devoted to marijuana research instantly drew plenty of jokes. "We already have a college research institute devoted to marijuana," cracked late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. "It's called college." Even wags at The Reporter got into it, suggesting a name for the center that would accommodate an appropriate acronym: Humboldt Institute for Ganja Hypotheses (HIGH). If nothing else, the idea of putting a marijuana research center in Humboldt County -- a Northern California coastal community that is to marijuana what the Appalachian Mountains were to moonshine during Prohibition -- seems absurdly appropriate. [continues 334 words]
Marijuana legalization advocates and members of community groups attend a rally against marijuana arrests in front of One Police Plaza on June 13, 2012 in New York City. The recent passage in Colorado and Washington of propositions declaring marijuana legal for personal use has changed the U.S. War on Drugs. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Marijuana legalization advocates and members of community groups attend a rally against marijuana arrests in front of One Police Plaza on June 13, 2012 in New York City. The recent passage in Colorado and Washington of propositions declaring marijuana legal for personal use has changed the U.S. War on Drugs. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) [continues 1915 words]
A first-of-its-kind academic institute focused strictly on marijuana issues is taking shape at Humboldt State University this fall semester. The interdisciplinary institute, made up primarily of HSU faculty, is hosting a series of lectures that are open to the public and digging into marijuana-centric research in several academic fields. "They finally tapped into something that's a big local concern and part of the identity here," said politics professor Jason Plume, who hosts a talk on marijuana regulatory reform Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. in HSU's Native Forum. [continues 1039 words]
Though it may seem the dust has barely settled from California's failed effort in 2010 to legalize marijuana under Proposition 19, the winds of change may be blowing here again, this time from the north. Washington state voters, along with those in Colorado, have voted to legalize marijuana for adult use and to regulate within state borders production, transportation and sales. We plan to capture much-needed revenue while moving from a law enforcement model to a public health approach, emphasizing treatment and education over handcuffs and jail. [continues 473 words]
In October 2010, with a quixotic marijuana initiative leading in California polls, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder answered an urgent letter from retired heads of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. "Let me state clearly that the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19," Holder wrote, declaring he would "vigorously enforce" federal law if California voters passed the measure, which would have legalized recreational marijuana use for adults over 21 and allowed retail sales of pot. This year, Holder notably declined to respond as the retired DEA administrators sent him another anxious letter expressing opposition to marijuana legalization efforts. This time, voters in two states, Washington and Colorado, voted 55 percent to 45 percent to legalize marijuana beyond medical use, upping the stakes in America's marijuana debate. [continues 801 words]
North Coast marijuana advocates are buzzing about the historic elections in Colorado and Washington where voters legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. They say they're hopeful Californians will be persuaded to take a similar step when they see how the two western states benefit over the next few years. Call it a contact high of sorts. "Legalization of cannabis has been essentially green-lighted to go forward in California," said Santa Rosa attorney Joe Rogoway, who is part of a grassroots effort to make pot legal. "It's no longer a question of 'if' but of 'when'." [continues 536 words]
Campaigns to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Colorado and Washington were well financed and gave states regulatory and taxing power over it, both changes from a failed attempt in California two years earlier. The first successful U.S. measures grew out of California's Proposition 19 in 2010, which attracted donations of $4 million, according to campaign finance records. By contrast, the two states, which combined have one third California's population, raised at least $7.7 million. "I'm sure they learned from the California experience," said Beau Kilmer, co-director of the Rand Drug Policy Research Center in Santa Monica, Calif. "There was serious money behind the Washington and Colorado initiatives." [continues 536 words]
Brian Vicente, co-director of the Yes on 64 campaign, waits to start a news conference about the legalization of marijuana at Civic Center Park in Denver. Photo: Ed Andrieski, Associated Press / SF Brian Vicente, co-director of the Yes on 64 campaign, waits to start a news conference about the legalization of marijuana at Civic Center Park in Denver. Photo: Ed Andrieski, Associated Press / SF Historic votes in Colorado and Washington to legalize recreational use of marijuana have fired up California advocates to go before the state's voters again sometime in the next four years - but nobody's breaking out the party bongs just yet. [continues 664 words]
Should California Follow Colorado and Washington and Legalize Recreational Use? In adopting laws Tuesday that legalize recreational marijuana use, Colorado and Washington voters foolishly - or perhaps forthrightly - rushed in where California feared to tread. Should we follow, or simply watch and wait? The assertion of California's Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, when it was passed in 1996 was that growing, possessing, sharing or using marijuana was to be permitted in this state solely for patients who needed the drug for its medicinal value. [continues 325 words]
As of 1 p.m. Monday, the day before yesterday's U.S. election, the Tea Party was working hard to secure a win for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock. News junkies -and regular watchers of The Colbert Report - will know Mourdock for his rigid stance on abortion. ". even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Isn't it rather presumptuous of anyone to talk so knowingly of God's will? To quote Susan B. Anthony: "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, be-cause I notice it always coincides with their own desires." [continues 631 words]
TACOMA, Wash. - If you believe the polls, and many people here are wary even when they're favorable, then Washington voters are poised to legalize two things Californians haven't: same-sex marriage and marijuana. With ballot measures on both issues before Washington voters Tuesday, the lessons learned from California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in 2008, and Proposition 19, which would have made marijuana legal but was shot down in 2010, have been echoing across Washington for months. [continues 848 words]
People Will Give You a Lot of Reasons to Vote to Legalize Pot on November 6, but You're Not Going to Hear Much About the One That Matters Most I grew up near the edge of the Central District, and our house was at the top of a ridge, which served as a sort of racial dividing line. Houses on the eastern slope had spectacular views of the mountains and Lake Washington. They were expensive and their residents were all white. I can't recall a single black person who lived on that side of the hill. On the other side of the ridge, the houses' territorial views looked back into the gulch. With only scattered exceptions, those were all African American households. [continues 4294 words]
Federal authorities closed a number of medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Downtown Los Angeles in September as part of an effort to cut down on the sale and use of the drug, which is legal in California for medical purposes but still considered illegal by the federal government. This month, the Drug Enforcement Administration followed up by sending warning letters and revisiting several dispensaries. This series of shutdowns was not only unnecessary, but it was also a violation of state rights and an indication of broken promises on the part of President Barack Obama. As marijuana regulation is becoming a hot button issue in the presidential race, such an infringement on an individual state's rights is unacceptable. [continues 1195 words]
Voters Consider Legalization for Recreational Use Now that medical marijuana is permitted in about one-third of the nation, advocates hope to move beyond therapeutic uses with ballot questions in three states that could legalize pot for recreational use. Voters in Colorado, Washington state and Oregon face proposals to change state laws to permit possession and regulate the sale of marijuana - though the plant with psychoactive properties remains an illegal substance under federal law. Approval in even one state would be a dramatic step that most likely would face legal challenges but could also bring pressure on the federal government to consider modifying the national prohibition that has been in place since 1937, backers say. [continues 648 words]
LAYTONVILLE, Mendocino County - In the mountains of Mendocino County, a middleaged couple stroll into the cool morning air to plant the year's crop. Andrew grabs a shovel and begins to dig up rich black garden beds while Anna waters the seedlings, beginning a hallowed annual ritual here in marijuana's Emerald Triangle. In the past, planting day was a time of great expectations, maybe for a vacation in Hawaii or Mexico during the rainy months or a new motor home to make deliveries around the country. [continues 1336 words]
Big-Time Operators Cratering Prices Old Outdoor Growers Feel Loss of Community LAYTONVILLE, Mendocino County - In the mountains of Mendocino County, a middleaged couple stroll into the cool morning air to plant the year's crop. Andrew grabs a shovel and begins to dig up rich black garden beds while Anna waters the seedlings, beginning a hallowed annual ritual here in marijuana's Emerald Triangle. In the past, planting day was a time of great expectations, maybe for a vacation in Hawaii or Mexico during the rainy months or a new motor home to make deliveries around the country. [continues 1097 words]
It's not surprising that Jim Johnston is passionate about this year's campaign for Initiative 502, the proposal to legalize marijuana. Johnston has used and appreciated marijuana since he was a teenager in the 1960s, and for the past several years he's been smoking it daily to control pain from head injuries. He has long believed that criminalizing cannabis is misguided and counterproductive social policy. "I definitely want legalization," Johnston said from his home in Puyallup. "As a society, we're dumb for not doing it." [continues 1956 words]
By the time the 21st Amendment ended national alcohol prohibition in December 1933, more than a dozen states had already opted out. Maryland never passed its own version of the Volstead Act, while New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law in 1923. Eleven other states eliminated their statutes by referendum in November 1932. We could see the beginning of a similar rebellion against marijuana prohibition this year as voters in three states - Washington, Colorado and Oregon - decide whether to legalize the drug's production and sale for recreational use. If any of these ballot initiatives pass, it might be the most consequential election result this fall, forcing both major parties to confront an unjust, irrational policy that Americans increasingly oppose. [continues 557 words]
By the time the 21st Amendment ended national alcohol prohibition in December 1933, more than a dozen states had already opted out. Maryland never passed its own version of the Volstead Act, while New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law in 1923. Eleven other states eliminated their statutes by referendum in November 1932. We could see the beginning of a similar rebellion against marijuana prohibition this year as voters in three states - Washington, Colorado and Oregon - decide whether to legalize the drug's production and sale for recreational use. If any of these ballot initiatives pass, it might be the most consequential election result this fall, forcing both major parties to confront an unjust, irrational policy that Americans increasingly oppose. [continues 556 words]
According to Recent Polls, Washington's Marijuana Measure, Which Would Allow Adults to Possess As Much As an Ounce of Pot, Has a Good Chance of Passing. but the I-502 Campaign Is Threatened by Ideological Dissension in the Pro-Marijuana Ranks. It's not surprising that Jim Johnston is passionate about this year's campaign for Initiative 502, the proposal to legalize marijuana. Johnston has used and appreciated marijuana since he was a teenager back in the 1960s, and for the past several years he's been smoking it daily to control pain from head injuries. [continues 1991 words]
SEATTLE - In the waning days of a campaign to legalize marijuana in California two years ago, all nine ex-directors of the Drug Enforcement Administration simultaneously urged Obama officials to come out in strong opposition. The pressure worked: Attorney General Eric Holder declared his office would "vigorously enforce" the federal ban on marijuana "even if such activities are permitted under state law." Whether that was a real threat or just posturing is unclear: California voters rejected Proposition 19. The test case instead could be Washington, where voters on Nov. 6 will decide whether to directly confront the federal ban on marijuana and embrace a sprawling plan to legalize, regulate and tax sales at state-licensed pot stores. [continues 238 words]
Pioneering Marijuana Cultivators in the Emerald Triangle Are Being Pushed to the Margins by the Legalization They Long Espoused LAYTONVILLE, Calif. - In the mountains of Mendocino County, a middle-aged couple stroll into the cool morning air to plant the year's crop. Andrew grabs a shovel and begins to dig up rich black garden beds while Anna waters the seedlings, beginning a hallowed annual ritual here in marijuana's Emerald Triangle. In the past, planting day was a time of great expectations, maybe for a vacation in Hawaii or Mexico during the rainy months or a new motor home to make deliveries around the country. [continues 1587 words]
It's not surprising that Jim Johnston is passionate about this year's campaign for Initiative 502, the proposal to legalize marijuana. Johnston has used and appreciated marijuana since he was a teenager back in the 1960s, and for the past several years he's been smoking it daily to control pain from head injuries. He's long believed that criminalizing cannabis is misguided and counterproductive social policy. "I definitely want legalization," Johnston said recently from his home in Puyallup. "As a society, we're dumb for not doing it." [continues 1955 words]
As California's outdoor marijuana growing season nears its end for 2012, drug officials are reporting a sharp decline in crop seizures for the second year in a row. The latest figures show that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are on track to eradicate an estimated 1.5 million plants from outdoor gardens - mostly on public land - down from a decade high of about 7.3 million plants in 2009. This year's seizure total would be the lowest since 2004, when a little more than 1.1 million plants were eradicated, according to federal Drug Enforcement Administration statistics. [continues 722 words]
By the time the 21st Amendment ended national alcohol prohibition in December 1933, more than a dozen states had already opted out. Maryland never passed its own version of the Volstead Act, while New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law in 1923. Eleven other states eliminated their statutes by referendum in November 1932. We could see the beginning of a similar rebellion against marijuana prohibition this year as voters in three states - Washington, Colorado and Oregon - decide whether to legalize the drug's production and sale for recreational use. If any of these ballot initiatives pass, it might be the most consequential election result this fall, forcing both major parties to confront an unjust, irrational policy that Americans increasingly oppose. [continues 521 words]
In Del Mar, Proposition H stands for Headache. In Solana Beach, Proposition W stands for Weary. Taken together, they're an exhausting migraine. The identical measures ask voters in November to give their blessing to medical marijuana dispensaries, a fugitive group seeking sanctuary in culturally tolerant cities. As a sweetener, 2.5 percent sales tax would be exhaled into the cities' general funds, a form of bribery that begs for legal challenge. No question, a healthy percentage, maybe a majority, of the liberal-leaning citizens of Del Mar and Solana Beach initially will look kindly on the pair of propositions, qualified for the ballot by Citizens for Patient Rights, a statewide pro-dispensary advocacy group that has its champions. [continues 568 words]
Even if Initiative 502 passes, marijuana use would still be prohibited by federal law. Passage would thrust the issue of legalization into the national spotlight. In the 1990s the people of Washington wanted marijuana for use as medicine. Federal law forbade it, and politicians in Olympia would not push back. The people turned to the initiative power. In 1998 they passed Initiative 692, making Washington one of the early medical-marijuana states along with Alaska, Oregon and California. Now 18 states and the District of Columbia allow cannabis for medicinal use, and a push begins in the early states to allow it for general use. [continues 471 words]
One evening last October, I met with Anna Hamilton in the Northern California town of Garberville. A singer-songwriter with a barbwire voice, Hamilton is known locally for her radio show, Rant and Rave, Lock and Load and Shoot Your Mouth Off -- which, it turns out, is a pretty good description of her approach to life. "I'm a little gutterballer from the beach," she said. "And I get nervous around too much normalcy." [continues 5347 words]
New Book and Three State Ballot Measures Tackle Pot Prohibition This fall, three states-Colorado, Washington and Oregon-will vote on different flavors of marijuana legalization, and the results could potentially deliver a massive blow to the 75-year-old prohibition on the drug in the United States. And just in time for this national debate comes Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know, co-authored by researcher Beau Kilmer, who is the co-director of the Drug Policy Research Center at the nonpartisan think tank RAND Corporation. [continues 355 words]
A U.S. attorney's office opinion on a medical marijuana measure in Del Mar has led to a robust debate over whether the opinion was more of a threat than an impartial perspective. At issue is a November ballot measure that would force Del Mar to allow medical marijuana dispensaries. Voters will be deciding similar measures in Solana Beach and the East County city of Lemon Grove. U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, in a July 17 letter addressed to Del Mar City Attorney Leslie Devaney, said city employees "who conduct activities mandated by the ordinance are not immune from liability under the (Controlled Substances Act.) [continues 703 words]
"These people were not criminals. They were our fellow citizens." - Prime Minister Stephen Harper The federal Conservatives have set a dangerous precedent this week, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper pardoned western Canadian farmers convicted of selling grain into the United States in the 1990s. Harper made the announcement on a farm near Kindersley, Sask., where he and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz marked what the government called marketing freedom day -- the federal legislation kicked in to end the Canadian Wheat Board's decades-long monopoly on western wheat and barley sales. [continues 579 words]
Justice Department Moves to Shut Down Harborside Health Sites in the Bay Area. The federal government is moving to shut down the nation's largest and highestprofile medical marijuana dispensary operation, filing papers to seize properties in Oakland and San Jose where Harborside Health Center does business. Copies of the federal Complaint for Forfeiture were taped to the front doors of the two dispensaries Tuesday, alleging that they were "operating in violation of federal law." Medical marijuana advocates, as well as some state and local officials, denounced the action, saying it hurts patients in legitimate need of the drug and breaks repeated promises by President Obama's Justice Department that it was targeting only operations that were near schools and parks or otherwise in violation of the state's laws. [continues 877 words]
Voters Backed It 16 Years Ago, but Status Remains Uncertain Two years ago, marijuana was on the upswing in California. Medical marijuana proliferated from Crescent City to Imperial Beach. And voters appeared on the cusp of approving the nation's most sweeping proposal ever to legalize pot for casual use. Now, nine months after federal prosecutors began a massive crackdown on storefronts and growers, the prospects have dimmed considerably for advocates pressing for legitimate use of the drug either for medical comfort or as a business - and as a tax generator. [continues 1261 words]
California's Best Weed Converges on Northern California This Weekend Amid a tumultuous summer for California weed, there will be a number of positive developments at this weekend's third-annual High Times Medical Cannabis Cup. Thousands of California patients and supporters are snatching up tickets. The 38-year-old weed-culture publication is bringing its 25-year-old contest from Amsterdam to the Bay Area for the third time in as many years, part of its new, medical-cannabis cup circuit, which now includes annual events in Los Angeles, Denver and Detroit. [continues 371 words]
A Colorado committee formed to defeat a marijuana issue on the November ballot has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to weigh in with his opposition. Amendment 64 would allow adults statewide to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use. The measure is opposed by a citizens group called Smart Colorado, which is represented by the Denver law firm of Holland & Hart. In a letter to Holder, Smart Colorado attorney Jon Anderson noted that Colorado's ballot measure "parallels" a California measure, Proposition 19, that voters there defeated in 2010. [continues 252 words]
Andy Caffrey, the congressional candidate from Humboldt County who wears a black cowboy hat over the gray hair cascading down his back, has twice lit a marijuana cigarette in public to punctuate his support for legalizing pot. Caffrey, who says he is a medical marijuana patient suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, said he would, if elected, smoke a joint on the Capitol steps and get arrested to underscore his point. "I'll do whatever it takes," said Caffrey, a former Green Party and Earth First! activist. [continues 815 words]
The future of Oaksterdam University, a school offering classes in the cannabis industry, appears shaky in the wake of a federal raid two weeks ago. Money is tight, Oaksterdam cannot afford to pay the $30,000-a-month rent on its leased building, 45 employees have lost their jobs, and the school's computers, records and even the curriculum are now in the hands of federal agents. On April 2, agents from the Internal Revenue Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service raided Oaksterdam and various affiliated businesses and at least one home, all of which were controlled by marijuana legalization advocate Richard Lee. The reasons for the raid remain unclear. [continues 497 words]
More than a year ago, Proposition 19 failed at the polls. If passed, it would have decriminalized marijuana and allowed the government to regulate and penalize marijuana use and distribution in an effort to generate additional revenue for the state government. With a general election period approaching this November, it seems reasonable that California lobbyists will look to the federal government for support in order to decriminalize marijuana nationwide and raise internal revenue. Small groups have also sprung up throughout the United States, primarily in California, advocating for marijuana legalization. One of the most prominent groups and the state's largest medical group, the California Medical Association, has also endorsed the legalization of marijuana. [continues 344 words]
California voters chose to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 with Proposition 15, but controversy surrounding the medical uses of the drug continues to this day. Although the use and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes is legal in the state with a permit, the federal government often displays its authority over the state by shutting down marijuana dispensaries. On Monday, April 1, federal agents raised the controversy to a new level when they raided Oaksterdam University, the nation's first marijuana trade school, which teaches cultivation, edible production and dispensary business. The institution is owned by one of the most prominent proponents of legalized medical marijuana, activist Richard Lee, whose own home, dispensary and marijuana museum were also raided. [continues 658 words]
