Why is the federal government under President Obama arguably tougher on medical marijuana operations than it was under George W. Bush? That's the question that antidrug-war groups have been asking themselves for months. In 2008, antiprohibitionists thought an Obama administration would not tread on medical-marijuana dispensaries in states where they are legal. Obama 2008 campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told me Obama "believes that states and local governments are best positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure that doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief." [continues 676 words]
Richard Lee plans to transfer Oaksterdam University and a pot dispensary to others but vows to remain an advocate for legalization. Richard Lee says: "I've been doing this for a long time. Over 20 years.... I kind of feel like I've done my time. It's time for others to take over." Richard Lee, whose bid to legalize marijuana in California brought him international attention, plans to give up ownership of his Oakland-based marijuana businesses after a federal raid this week seized many of their assets, including plants, bank accounts, records and computers. [continues 657 words]
SAN FRANCISCO - Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at City Hall here Tuesday to demand federal respect for state and local marijuana laws, a day after federal agents raided the state's first pot trade school and a related dispensary across the bay in Oakland. The San Francisco rally and march to a nearby federal building was planned before Monday's raid. But the sweep on businesses owned by prominent marijuana activist Richard Lee emboldened protesters and brought denunciations from local officials and lawmakers in five states with medical cannabis laws. [continues 714 words]
OAKLAND Multiple federal agencies unleashed raids Monday on the home and businesses of one of California's most famous marijuana advocates, Richard Lee, founder of the renowned cannabis industry trade school known as Oaksterdam University. Lee, who spent $1.6 million to bankroll Proposition 19, an unsuccessful 2010 measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use, was neither arrested nor charged. But federal authorities from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Marshals Service swooped in early Monday, targeting five locations, including the school on this city's Broadway that has trained 15,000 people in marijuana cultivation and careers since opening in 2007. [continues 678 words]
US Agents Seize Files From Oakland Trade School and Dispensary Run by Proposition 19 Backer Richard Lee. OAKLAND - Federal agents struck at the heart of California's medical marijuana movement, raiding the nation's first pot trade school and a popular dispensary, both run by one of the state's most prominent and provocative activists, Richard Lee. The raids in Oakland by the Internal Revenue Service and Drug Enforcement Administration sent a shudder through the medical cannabis trade and angered the plant's devotees, who believe the federal government is trampling on California law and the wishes of voters who approved medical marijuana use nearly 16 years ago. [continues 1378 words]
Dozens of federal agents on Monday raided the Oakland businesses and apartment of Richard Lee, the state's most prominent advocate for the legalization and regulation of marijuana, carting away loads of pot and belongings but not revealing the purpose of their investigation. The agents targeted Oaksterdam University, the internationally famous school that Lee established to train people in the marijuana industry, a medical cannabis dispensary called Coffeeshop Blue Sky, and three properties being rented by Lee, including his apartment near Lake Merritt. [continues 745 words]
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has called for legal marijuana, saying the US incarceration rate is taking a social toll. Advocates call it an important moment, but critics dismiss it. Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has become the lightning rod for a fresh, national dialogue over legal marijuana. He says the government's war on drugs has failed and so marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol. "Folks, we've gotta do something about this. We've just got to change the laws. We cannot allow this to continue. It is sapping our vitality. Think of this great land of freedom," he said last week as host of "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network based in Virginia Beach, Va. [continues 715 words]
Marijuana Legalization Activists Vowed to Craft a Strong Initiative for 2012, Now Four Camps Vie for Funding. March 10, 2012 - Just weeks before the deadline for state ballot initiatives, the effort to put a marijuana legalization measure before voters in the general election is in disarray as the federal government cracks down on medical cannabis and activists are divided on their goals. After Proposition 19 received 46% of the vote in 2010, proponents took heart at the near-miss. They held meetings in Berkeley and Los Angeles and vowed to put a well-funded measure to fully legalize marijuana on the 2012 ballot, when the presidential election would presumably draw more young voters. [continues 1186 words]
Steamboat Springs -- A state ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana possession for recreational use is getting a lukewarm reaction from the owner of Steamboat Springs' largest medical marijuana dispensary. Although he supports adult recreational marijuana use, Rocky Mountain Remedies co-owner Kevin Fisher said legalizing pot for all Colorado adults could jeopardize the business model he and other state dispensary owners have worked hard to create. Specifically, Fisher said he's concerned approval of a system that permits recreational marijuana use would lead to increased federal intervention in Colorado. [continues 862 words]
Pro-Drug Legalization Forces Are Gaining Clout For the first time since the United States launched its "war on drugs" four decades ago, there are signs that the forces supporting legalization or decriminalization of illegal drugs are gaining momentum across the hemisphere. Granted, this is a debate that is just starting at government levels, and that will take years to produce concrete results. But there are several new factors, including a reduction of U.S. anti- narcotic aid to Latin America proposed by the Obama administration in its 2013 budget announced earlier this month, that are beginning to pose an increasingly serious challenge to the traditional interdiction-based U.S. anti-drug strategies. [continues 646 words]
For the first time since the United States launched its "war on drugs" four decades ago, there are signs that the forces supporting legalization or de-criminalization of illegal drugs are gaining momentum across the hemisphere. Granted, this is a debate that is just starting at government levels, and that will take years to produce concrete results. But there are several new factors, including a reduction of U.S. anti-narcotic aid to Latin America proposed by the Obama Administration in its 2013 budget announced last week, that are beginning to pose an increasingly serious challenge to the traditional interdiction-based U.S. anti-drug strategies. [continues 649 words]
For the first time since the United States launched its "war on drugs" four decades ago, there are signs that the forces supporting legalization or de-criminalization of illegal drugs are gaining momentum across the hemisphere. Granted, this is a debate that is just starting at government levels, and that will take years to produce concrete results. But there are several new factors, including a reduction of U.S. anti-narcotic aid to Latin America proposed by the Obama administration in its 2013 budget announced last week, that are beginning to pose an increasingly serious challenge to the traditional interdiction-based U.S. anti-drug strategies. [continues 650 words]
For the first time since the United States launched its "war on drugs" four decades ago, there are signs that the forces supporting legalization or de-criminalization of illegal drugs are gaining momentum across the hemisphere. Granted, this is a debate that is just starting at government levels, and that will take years to produce concrete results. But there are several new factors, including a reduction of U.S. anti-narcotic aid to Latin America proposed by the Obama Administration in its 2013 budget announced last week, that are beginning to pose an increasingly serious challenge to the traditional interdiction-based U.S. anti-drug strategies. [continues 647 words]
Grassroots Effort Aims to Legalize Pot Clubs Once Again Remember last summer? There were at least 80 medical-cannabis-dispensing collectives in Sacramento County-maybe more. The board of supervisors was working on a regulatory plan. People had jobs, patients had medicine-the overall industry seemed to be doing great. Then came the county's plan to shut down its clubs. And later, the federal crackdown on medical cannabis. And after that, the county's decision to finally pass a de facto ban on all cannabis collectives. [continues 676 words]
They heard about it at their bridge games, or from the corkboard at the senior center, or through their grandkids who use the Internet. Then they carpooled to Temple Shaarei Shalom in Boynton Beach this recent Sunday afternoon - trios of little old ladies with short white hair and thin sweaters, and wizened men reading the Sun-Sentinel while wearing clunky black shades indoors. Now the 200-plus attendees - most of them seniors - are snacking on mushroom quiche and iced tea while discussing the myriad health benefits of getting high. "I've had a cookie," confesses Natalie, a gregarious, bird-boned 84-year-old woman with a Bronx accent. [continues 1290 words]
A proposed ballot initiative aimed for the November elections begs a key question looming over California's medical marijuana industry: Can stricter state regulation keep the federal government from shutting it down? Dispensaries, medical marijuana growers and a powerful union local are rallying behind an initiative that would regulate California's $1.5 billion pot trade. They predict they will be able to raise $2 million from medical marijuana businesses and drug policy groups to qualify the measure for the November ballot. A drive to gather a required half-million valid voter signatures could begin this week after Attorney General Kamala Harris completes a legal summary and petitions are certified by Secretary of State Debra Bowen. [continues 1053 words]
A proposal in the Virginia General Assembly might bring something unexpected to ABC stores: marijuana. Virginia Delegate David Englin, a Democrat from House District 45, introduced House Joint Resolution No. 140, which proposes a study to examine the economic impact of legalizing marijuana and selling it in Virginia ABC stores. However, it is not the first bill of its kind to reach the floor. "It's hard for me to believe that even a study will get passed," said Karen Hult, a Virginia Tech political science professor. "I think there is going to be some concern about whether it's studying something that legislators would ever agree to, and I think many of them will say, 'No, we wouldn't.'" [continues 711 words]
Backers of an initiative to legalize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries - and even head off a federal crackdown - are putting together an initiative targeting the November ballot, the second time in as many years that cannabis advocates have asked the electorate to decide weed-linked issues. "There isn't a uniform regulation or structure or rule, so the question is, 'How do we do this in a way that tightens regulations over medical marijuana?'" said Roger Salazar, a political strategist for the campaign, called Californians to Regulate Medical Marijuana. [continues 366 words]
Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" - Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address. We live in a democracy, one which many people say is the greatest on earth, including myself. In a democracy, the will of the people is paramount, and the majority rules, provided that it does not oppress the minority. But today the minority is oppressing the majority, spearheaded by the federal government. In the beginning of October, four United States prosecutors announced they would be increasing their "enforcement" of federal law in California. This increased enforcement was outlined as the use of new tactics, which include threatening property owners with civil forfeiture of their properties and any assets derived from them, such as rent payments. [continues 784 words]
Anne Greff's letter ("No to legalization," Jan. 12) would have been more convincing if her letter dealt with marijuana. Instead, she talked about "other drugs" and opium; she did not discuss marijuana, and that is what Proposition 19 is concerned with. The letter spoke about "some countries that have legalized drugs" and brought up China and opium. The Chinese were quite literally forced to buy and use opium produced by British mercantilists, who had heavy investments in opium. The Chinese did not want opium. Nor does Proposition 19 have anything to do with opium; it deals with marijuana for industrial and recreational purposes. [continues 80 words]
County Repeals Dispensary Ban; Activists Turn Attention to Statewide Legalization Effort Local medical-marijuana activists declared victory Tuesday (Dec. 10) when the Butte County Board of Supervisors decided to scrap an ordinance banning dispensaries. The ordinance, passed in October, was blocked by a petition circulated by the Citizens for Safe Access group that called for either repeal or a public vote. "There's been some confusion over the necessity to outlaw dispensaries," County Counsel Bruce Alpert told the board by way of introduction. "It was not necessary to have that ordinance on the books because our zoning code does not provide for dispensaries. It's easier to repeal at this point." [continues 658 words]
As plastic bottles shuttle along humming conveyor belts in General Hydroponics' vast Sebastopol factory, a row of nozzles fills the bottles with a bright pink liquid. The production of this proprietary mixture of phosphates, sulfates and potassium is being fueled by the popularity of growing plants indoors. Once an industry focused on orchids, roses and tomatoes, hydroponics is now being propelled into mainstream business by marijuana. "I used to be put off by seeing the work I did always show up in marijuana-focused stores," said General Hydroponics founder Lawrence Brooke, a scientist-turned-entrepreneur who has been developing fertilizers and water-pump systems since the 1970s. [continues 1008 words]
Len Schropfer's letter to the editor (LJS, Dec. 26) was factual about the state process to legalize hemp/cannabis/marijuana (Proposition 19). It touched on hemp uses, including as biofuel. Susie Dugan's response (LJS, Dec. 29) made 14 nonfactual assertions about pot. Cannabis can be abused, but causes a decrease of aggression, not an increase, as alcohol does. After significant time scrutinizing this plant's potentials and shortcomings, 16 states and the District of Columbia -- one-third of the U.S. population -- have approved medicinal cannabis by legislature or voter action. Legalizing, regulating, producing and taxing this plant makes sense. [continues 101 words]
Someone needs to correct the misinformation that Susie Dugan of PRIDE was spreading in her letter, "Don't legalize marijuana" (LJS 12/30). She makes many misstatements and unsupported assertions, but the one that takes the cake is when she implies that house fires will increase if marijuana is legalized! In fact, her point illustrates the most important fact about this whole issue: Illegality makes marijuana use more dangerous, not less. Entrepreneurs are forced to grow their product in an inappropriate place (increasing house fires) because it is illegal. Drug cartels exist because those in the marijuana business have no legal recourse in contract disputes. And children, whom Susie purports to care about, have access to this drug because there is no honest business person afraid to lose his license and livelihood by selling to a minor, as with tobacco or alcohol. [continues 108 words]
It's time for a little clarification on the initiative petition to end the hemp/cannabis/marijuana prohibition in Nebraska. Nebraska's Proposition 19 is a proposal to add Article XIX to the Nebraska Constitution that would remove all penalties for the private noncommercial use of cannabis and that calls on the Nebraska Legislature to enact a fair and equitable method of taxation and regulation for commercial growing and consumption -- like alcohol, tobacco or corn. To get on the November 2012 Nebraska ballot, we need signatures of 10 percent of the registered Nebraska voters at the time we turn in our petition to the secretary of state on July 6, 2012. That must include 5 percent of the registered voters in 38 different Nebraska counties. Quite a requirement. But we don't need a vote of the Legislature or the governor's signature to end this misguided prohibition -- only a vote of the people. There has been no amendment to the U.S. Constitution as there had to be with alcohol. [continues 109 words]
When President Richard Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration by executive order 40 years ago, the promise was a diminishing market for illegal drugs and a decrease in crime and violence. The reality has been much different. In the early 1970s very few Americans had ever used an Illegal drug. Now nearly half of us have. Illegal drugs are available to anyone willing to pursue them. The violence in producing countries in Central and South America and transit countries such as Mexico and the Caribbean has increased to the point that it threatens the stability of some governments. [continues 611 words]
The notion that Coachella should become an industrial marijuana producer was a bad idea from the start. Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia and Councilman Steve Hernandez should have walked away. Instead, we have witnessed an unpleasant episode. Rancho Mirage City Councilman and private political consultant Scott Hines, working for Burke, Rix, Hines Communications of Palm Springs in the summer of 2010, said he considered medical marijuana compassionate service for people in pain. The Desert Sun also supports medical marijuana. With polls indicating voter support for legalizing marijuana for recreational use, Hines, thought it could become a lucrative opportunity. However, Proposition 19 was rejected by 53.5 percent of California voters. [continues 510 words]
KINGMAN - Another former county employee is suing the county. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona released a statement Nov. 17 saying it was representing former County Probation officer Joe Miller who was allegedly fired for signing a letter in support of a California ballot measure to decriminalize marijuana. In June 2010, Miller was one of 32 current and retired law enforcement officers who signed their names to a letter from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition endorsing Proposition 19, an initiative that would have allowed adults over the age of 21 to legally possess and grow small amounts of marijuana for personal use. The letter was released to the press on Sept. 13, 2010. [continues 183 words]
California Voters Don't Want to Legalize Pot Just Yet-but They Don't Think Anyone Should Go to Jail for It, Either. a New Ballot Initiative Might Just Make This a Reality. Pot-smoking California liberals may not be voting for Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain anytime soon-even though, this week, he did come out in favor of state's rights when it comes to regulation of medical cannabis. That's a step up from the Golden State's current imbroglio with the feds, at least, and President Barack Obama's admittedly confusing stance on pot. [continues 772 words]
LINCOLN - Nebraska has snuffed out a lawsuit by agreeing to issue a marijuana-themed personal license plate to an activist leading a legalization drive in the state. The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles agreed Friday to sell the "NE420" plate to Frank Shoemaker of Holbrook, a lawyer working to put marijuana legalization on the 2012 ballot. The department previously denied the plate because the number "420" is associated with "a date and time for people to gather and smoke marijuana/cannabis," said Beverly Neth, department director. [continues 375 words]
PHOENIX - The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona today filed a lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of a former Mohave County probation officer who was fired after adding his name to a Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) letter in support of a California ballot measure to decriminalize marijuana. "More and more members of the law enforcement community are speaking out against failed drug policies and they don't give up their right to share their insight and engage in this important debate simply because they receive government paychecks," said ACLU of Arizona Legal Director Daniel Pochoda. "In this case, Mohave County Adult Probation officials decided to punish a public servant who works on the front lines with communities most affected by drugs, rather than respect his right to speak out on his own time about the need to reform marijuana laws." [continues 569 words]
Marijuana prohibition is a policy choice, not a fact of life. With a devastating economic downturn and increasing violence associated with illicit drug syndicates, that choice makes sense to fewer people than ever. Forty years after the war on drugs started, an October Gallup poll found for the first time that 50 percent of Americans support making marijuana legal. The poll indicated that only 46 percent oppose ending marijuana prohibition. No other law is enforced so harshly and pervasively yet deemed unnecessary by so many Americans. Almost half of U.S. adults admit in government surveys to having tried marijuana at least once. Politicians on the campaign trail readily admit to being members of that group. And yet over 800,000 people are arrested every year for violating marijuana laws - the vast majority for personal possession - - at a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars. In every state, people of color are disproportionately arrested for marijuana offenses. [continues 466 words]
Richard Lee, the leader of the marijuana legalization movement in California, does not appear to be intimidated by the federal government's crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries. Mr. Lee closed his Oakland dispensary, Coffeeshop Blue Sky, this week after the Department of Justice threatened his landlord with criminal prosecution. He then reopened it three doors down, with enormous posters of marijuana buds in the windows. On Thursday morning, an employee was handing out fliers to customers at the new locale that read: "Thank you for your support. Together we will survive the attack. Long Live Oaksterdam." [continues 435 words]
Medical marijuana advocates, decrying a federal government crackdown on dispensaries and a failure of state lawmakers to act, said Tuesday that they are drafting a 2012 ballot initiative to impose statewide oversight of California's burgeoning medicinal cannabis trade. The ballot push, announced at a San Francisco news conference, is being readied by groups that include the architects of 2010's unsuccessful Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Dale Sky Jones, chancellor of Oakland's Oaksterdam University, the cannabis trade school that became the nerve center for the Proposition 19 campaign, said recent federal enforcement actions underscored a need for an initiative dealing specifically with regulating medical marijuana. [continues 678 words]
A generation ago, the legalization of marijuana didn't generate much discussion beyond activists and college students. The vast majority of Americans just said no. According to a new Gallup poll, however, about 50 percent of those surveyed support legalization of marijuana - the first time that's happened since their researchers started asking the question back in 1969. What used to be an automatic "no" is becoming a much more open question. There are a few qualifiers, to be sure. The survey's margin of error was 4 percent. Statistician Nate Silver, who writes the influential FiveThirtyEight blog, says it's likely that marijuana's supporters are still in the minority, judging from other surveys conducted this year. [continues 371 words]
California Medical Assn. Questions Marijuana's Medicinal Value but Urges It Be Regulated As Alcohol Is. Reporting from Sacramento- The state's largest doctor group is calling for legalization of marijuana, even as it pronounces cannabis to be of questionable medical value. Trustees of the California Medical Assn., which represents more than 35,000 physicians statewide, adopted the position at their annual meeting in Anaheim late Friday. It is the first major medical association in the nation to urge legalization of the drug, according to a group spokeswoman, who said the larger membership was notified Saturday. [continues 819 words]
The Global Commission on Drug Policy minced no words last June when it released its report on the war on drugs. "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," the report concluded. "... Forty years after President (Richard) Nixon launched the U.S. government's war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug-control policies are urgently needed." Chief among the commission's recommendations: Decriminalize and even legalize some drugs, like marijuana. [continues 829 words]
Ballot Initiative to Allow Three Pot Dispensaries Gathers Needed Signatures, Heads to City Council Marijuana dispensaries could sprout at up to three Palo Alto locations, if the City Council or voters were to approve an ordinance legalizing medical marijuana within city limits. A citizens group has gathered more than enough signatures to put the issue on the city ballot, City Clerk Donna Grider told the Weekly. The success of the signature drive means the council must either adopt the proposed ordinance or bring it to the voters some time next year. [continues 809 words]
I had two invitations for Thursday. At South Coast Plaza, Sandy Segerstrom Daniels was hosting the opening-night party for her 10th annual Festival of Children, a monthlong endeavor to promote the general betterment of the lives of children. In years past, her gala has been themed like an old-fashioned ice-cream social, with the happy sounds of a carousel and children laughing. Always an event as lovely and wholesome as the Lennon sisters. ADVERTISEMENT A few miles away on Thursday, her dear cousin, Richard Moriarty, was hosting a fundraiser to legalize pot. [continues 652 words]
Pot Movement Clashes Over Dueling Pot Initiatives The spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood will awaken in blissful harmony this weekend at Hempfest, the world's largest celebration of the magickal cannabis plant, as activists unite behind a communal strategy to legalize marijuana. Just kidding. These activists are at each other's fucking throats. Specifically, two factions of the marijuana legalization movement will clash in Myrtle Edwards Park this weekend (August 19-21) with dueling initiatives. So if you sign a pot petition at Hempfest and somebody asks you to sign another petition a few minutes later, it may be a different one. Because even though Hempfest will likely be another breezy affair in a marijuana-friendly city, Seattle's pot movement is divided by money, policy, and (of course) cultural differences. [continues 616 words]
Fifteen years ago, Californians made the Golden State the first to allow its residents the relief cannabis provides for a long list of ailments. Because marijuana, despite its illegality, had long established itself as the USA's #1 cash crop, it didn't take an act of clairvoyance to foresee that the medical marijuana industry would turn out to be every bit as much about business and politics as about medicine. Probably no one, though, would have guessed just how convoluted the issue has gotten in a little patch of California called Long Beach. [continues 1919 words]
On Sept. 1 you will have a chance to help us make history. On this date there will be an event to support the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Initiative that will be on the November 2012 ballot. Please join us. The event will be hosted by Richard Moriarty at his Newport Beach Vineyards and Winery, 2128 Mesa Drive, Newport Beach, which overlooks the Back Bay from behind the Newport Beach Golf Course. This truly interesting winery isn't open to the public, and doesn't give public tastings, but Richard is opening his doors for us because he believes in this cause. [continues 863 words]
The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 is gaining momentum, and its key advocate isn't your stereotypical, hippy-dippy, pot-smoking liberal. It's a Republican former federal prosecutor and retired Superior Court judge James Gray. Those in the Newport/Costa Mesa area are probably most familiar with Jim through his weekly Daily Pilot columns, "It's a Gray Area." He's a guy with strong opinions and never one to shy away from controversy. A few weeks ago, I asked Jim why he's co-authored this act and why he feels it has legs in 2012. [continues 476 words]
In the 1920s, President Calvin Coolidge famously said, "The business of America is business." Current trends forecaster Gerald Celente offers a new twist to fit the times: "The business of America is war... The forty-year War on Drugs; The ten-year War on Terror; the Afghan War (longest in American history); the eight-years-and-no-end-in-sight Iraq War; the covert wars in Pakistan and Yemen; and most recently, the 'time-limited, scope-limited kinetic military action' in Libya." [continues 760 words]
LINCOLN -- Backers of a petition drive to legalize marijuana in Nebraska announced Friday that they are ready to hit the streets to start gathering signatures. The Nebraska Proposition 19 Cannabis Initiative seeks to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2012 general election ballot. The amendment would regulate and tax all commercial uses of marijuana and remove all laws governing private, noncommercial use of the plant. The drive is being undertaken by the Nebraska Cannabis Coalition. The group has about a year to collect signatures. [continues 137 words]
Here's one of the strangest pairings of late in Congress: Reps. Ron Paul and Barney Frank are teaming up today on legislation to legalize marijuana. The legislation by Paul, a libertarian-thinking Texas Republican running for president, and Frank, a liberal Massachusetts Democrat, is being touted by the advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). The bill to be introduced by Frank and Paul would allow states to "legalize, regulate, tax and control marijuana without federal interference." California voters last year rejected Proposition 19, which would have allowed marijuana to be sold for recreational use. Voters in Colorado and Washington state could vote on the issue this year. [continues 123 words]
As Sacramento Dispensaries Ready to Pay Up, Cities Across the Country Hop on the Pot-Tax Train Next month, medical cannabis dispensaries within Sacramento city limits will begin paying a 4 percent tax on their gross receipts. With the new tax, Sacramento joins the growing number of cities across the country collecting money from medical-cannabis sales. Sacramento city manager spokeswoman Amy Williams says the tax will bring in an estimated $1 million in revenue anually. The money will go to the city's general fund. [continues 583 words]
A coalition that includes former U.S. Attorney John McKay, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes and travel guide Rick Steves is launching an initiative that would legalize marijuana in Washington state. The group, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, decided to push the initiative this spring after Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed most of a medical-marijuana bill that had passed the state Legislature. "We did some more public-opinion research, looked at the numbers and said, 'Yeah, this is the time,' " said Alison Holcomb, campaign manager for the initiative and drug-policy director of the ACLU of Washington. [continues 807 words]
We've all been there. With the best of intentions, we do something and then discover our actions were a bad idea. It takes courage, maturity and humility to admit one's mistakes and try to correct the situation. That's what Redding faces with its medical-marijuana cooperatives. The Redding police chief, city attorney and City Council tried to formulate a strategy that provides people who have legitimate medical conditions with access to marijuana for their needs, but also restricts illegal marijuana growth, sale and purchase. [continues 624 words]
The Public Understands How Disastrous It's Been -- Now It's Time for the Politicians and Law Enforcement to Change Course. The "War on Drugs" was launched by President Richard Nixon 40 years ago this week. In 1980, at the end of its first decade, I began a nine-year career as a "captain" in the war on drugs. I was the attorney in the U.S. House of Representatives principally responsible for overseeing DEA and writing anti-drug laws as counsel to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. [continues 2280 words]
