Experts: New Year Won't Bring Clarity on Legality, but Courts Could Answer Questions on Regulation

Palm Springs - Just over a year ago, voters were on the verge of making California the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but public opinion turned, and the idea swiftly went up in smoke.

That voter rejection left courts and local municipalities to grapple, yet again, with medical marijuana laws that are often vague, confusing, contradictory and vary from city to city.

In 2012, don't expect any new laws or decisions that will clear the murky legal landscape for the hundreds of thousands of Californians who use medical pot - or for opponents of legalization.

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The fight over farming marijuana as medicine is growing in Live Oak.

Growers are thinking about launching a campaign to recall the five Live Oak City Council members who voted to ban growing medical marijuana. The council voted for the ban Dec. 20, which takes effect Jan. 20.

"This town is disgusted with these people," said James Maral, who started the Live Oak Patients, Caregivers and Supporters Association. "This town is disgusted with what they're doing."

Council member Diane Hodges isn't getting the same reaction. About 20 people approached her over the past eight days to thank her for voting to ban marijuana grows, because they stink and threaten public safety, she said.

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So who's benefiting from the federal crackdown on medical-marijuana dispensaries? Why, black-market pot growers and dealers, that's who.

According to a recent report by the Center for Investigative Reporting's California Watch, prices for high-grade, outdoor-grown marijuana, after slumping precipitously in 2010, have risen by 20 to 40 percent since four U.S. attorneys began cracking down on growers and dispensaries and threatening local agencies-like the Chico City Council and city staff-with prosecution.

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FOR the past four months, the four United States Attorney offices in California have begun a "crackdown" on medical marijuana dispensaries in our state.

The crackdown is a departure from previous policy and judicial commitments by the Department of Justice to prioritize scarce enforcement resources elsewhere.

Recent events in Fairfax demonstrate that the crackdown is inhumane and counterproductive.

In 1996, the voters of our state overwhelming approved the Compassionate Use Act which allows patients to grow and possess marijuana with a physician's recommendation. The Marin Alliance of Medical Marijuana began operating as the state's first publicly licensed medical marijuana dispensary pursuant to a use permit issued by the town of Fairfax in 1997.

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A young Mendocino man whose legal plight has become a cause celebre for medical marijuana advocates appeared in Mendocino County court Thursday in hopes of halting extradition to Texas.

Mendocino County Judge Ann Moorman told Chris Diaz' attorney, Don Lipmanson, he needed to submit that request to Texas authorities.

"I don't have any jurisdiction," she said. But Moorman said she will consider releasing Diaz on bail at a hearing she then scheduled for Tuesday.

Supporters of Diaz, 22, an asthmatic and father of two children, ages 1 and 4, contend that he is emblematic of the problems wrought by inconsistent laws governing medicinal marijuana.

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California's year in medical marijuana might best be summed up with the story of prominent Sacramento County dispensary Magnolia Wellness.

Sporting huge ads and a great selection of strains such as Violator Kush, the Orangevale club boasted an estimated 40,000 patients at its peak. But it drew increasing fire from fed up local and federal prohibitionist-minded officials. Facing fines and potential forfeiture, Magnolia held a widely publicized marijuana giveaway on Friday, December 16. Hundreds of patients lined up for free grams as police cruisers idled nearby.

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A group of local medical cannabis advocates is trying to gather 10,000 signatures to overturn a recent ordinance Shasta County supervisors passed that restricts marijuana growing for county residents.

Nor Cal Safe Access member Dave Shore said about 30 people have been gathering signatures outside medical marijuana dispensaries and less controversial local businesses like Walmart for about a week now.

While county supervisors passed two ordinances regulating medical marijuana earlier this month "" one banning dispensaries and one introducing cultivation restrictions for county residents "" the group is seeking a referendum only for the growth ordinance, Shore said.

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The tug-of-war between county government and marijuana proponents continued to make headlines in Nevada County in 2011, and promises to heat up again early next year when a proposed cultivation ordinance goes before the Board of Supervisors.

Early in the year, local jurisdictions made it clear that dispensaries were not welcome here.

In January, Grass Valley City Council members voted down a proposed ordinance to allow and regulate dispensaries, instead joining 214 California cities that have banned them outright. Council members cited concern about the effects of marijuana use on young people and worries over crime associated with dispensaries in some areas, saying those who genuinely need marijuana for medical reasons can get it at the nearest dispensary in Colfax, about half an hour away in Placer County.

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Members of California's largest medical marijuana advocacy group mounted a protest at the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse to commemorate-albeit reluctantly-the anniversary of the county's largest raid on medical marijuana providers to date.

After a year, a majority of the defendants from "Operation Green Sweep" have yet to make it to trial, thanks to a series of legal wranglings over multiple cases that hang on state law.

On Dec. 27, members of the local chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) wielded signs reading "STOP Medical Raids Now" and "DA Shea: Drop the charges against ALL of the 'SLO 12.'" Though protester turnout was significantly less than at a similar demonstration held during the defendants' arraignments in the first days of 2011, the organizers weren't dissuaded.

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RIVERSIDE - Riverside County officials are moving swiftly to shut down storefront medical marijuana dispensaries, seeking an injunction against one and ordering the owner of another to appear before the Board of Supervisors to explain why he's refused to close his doors, it was announced today.

The actions come two weeks after the board committed to taking legal steps to shutter the 35 dispensaries violating a county zoning ordinance that prohibits the operation of medical marijuana facilities in unincorporated communities.

Last week, the board filed a request in Superior Court seeking an injunction against Platinum Collective on Magnolia Avenue in Home Gardens. The dispensary has been notified that it's operating illegally but has refused to acknowledge the county's demand for cessation, according to county Executive Office spokesman Ray Smith.

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A year after 12 were arrested, protesters in SLO argue the sting was not necessary, aggravating for defendants and a waste of taxpayer money

One year after a group dubbed the "SLO 12" was arrested during an undercover investigation into medical marijuana dispensaries, some local activists are still fuming.

About 10 people gathered Tuesday morning outside San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Monterey Street to protest the arrests.

They held signs supporting "safe access" to medical marijuana and criticized the ongoing handling of the cases.

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The stores have become popular over last several years

There's a growing phenomenon sweeping across Tulare County - and across the nation, for that matter.

It's called "indoor grow shops," and it's taking many people - from farmers-market fanatics to, yes, those who grow marijuana legally - by storm.

There are two indoor grow shops in Porterville alone. Maximum Harvest Grower Supplies, the city's oldest indoor grow shop, is located at 730 E. Date St. The other shop, M&J's Grower Supply, is located at 128 N. Second St.

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Riverside County officials said Wednesday they have begun legal action to close about three dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas.

Attorneys filed for an injunction and issued legislative subpoenas against two of the stores, the latest volley since the Board of Supervisors authorized crackdowns on Dec. 13.

The county asked a Riverside County Superior Court judge to declare Platinum Collective in Home Gardens, near Riverside, a public nuisance and issue an injunction to shut down operations at the shop in the 12000 block of Magnolia Avenue, east of McKinley Street. According to the Dec. 21 court filing, the dispensary creates traffic problems, and officials said it poses a safety issue for children who walk past the shop on their way to Villegas Middle School.

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Proposition 215, passed by voters in 1996, leaves too many things open to interpretation and needs to be clarified by the Legislature.

As the California Legislature gets back to work next week, there's no more important duty than addressing the state's budget crisis. A close second in terms of priorities should be medical marijuana.

While the budget is job one, the Legislature can't say it doesn't have time for clearing up the medical marijuana confusion at the same time. After all, the Legislature last year had the time to debate and pass new laws for 2012 about tanning beds, child safety seats, carrying handguns and a raft of new requirements for employers.

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This week the California Supreme Court received an emergency request to temporarily set aside a Second Appellate Court District ruling which could have made the Mendocino County zip tie program illegal.

The appeals court ruled Long Beach dispensaries crossed the line between decriminalizing medical marijuana possession and authorizing the possession and cultivation of the drug. The county has chosen to wait until the courts decide the case before changing course on zip ties or drafting a new ordinance regulating marijuana dispensaries.

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The year in which many people thought they'd see the county's first medical marijuana dispensary selected and on its way to opening ended with no dispensary or drug in sight.

City staff spent the early part of the year reviewing applications in-house from six would-be dispensaries vying to be the chosen one. The city had estimated it would announce a preferred dispensary applicant in January or February, but that decision did not come until late summer.

The delay was reportedly caused by the close detail with which staff reviewed the applicants, city officials said.

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Veterans Affairs Allows It in Some States While Justice Department Cracks Down

For two years, John Riccio worried that smoking marijuana to relieve his chronic back and shoulder pain would get him in trouble with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Then the department last year began allowing former service members to use medical marijuana -- in states that have laws permitting it -- in conjunction with their regular treatment. Riccio, a Navy veteran living in South Park, says he sleeps easier now that he can talk about it with his VA doctor without risking his benefits.

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With Feds Threatening Storefronts, Couriers Become Alternatives

Medithrive, a cannabis dispensary in San Francisco's Mission District that was forced to close last month, has re-emerged as a delivery-only service, part of a growing trend in California's billion-dollar medical marijuana industry that's recently come under attack by federal authorities.

Threats of property forfeiture,

fines, lawsuits and raids this winter have made brick-and-mortar locations less enticing to pot entrepreneurs. Hundreds of storefronts have closed amid the new federal crackdown. Delivery services remain, offering a lower-profile, albeit more dangerous, alternative.

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I wish to reply to Tiffany Hughes' Dec. 12 letter concerning drug testing for welfare applicants. She is of the opinion that if the state did this it would lose money. She writes, "If California were to require everyone to submit to a drug test, the state would actually lose money overall." Her strawman scenario assumes that all Californians would be tested for drug use. I know times are tough, but I don't think all Californians are going to be drug tested.

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I'm writing about Joanne Crouch's not-so-thoughtful letter: "Marijuana not a harmless herb," Dec. 10. If Crouch is opposed to marijuana use, medical or otherwise, I have some simple advice: don't buy it, don't grow it and don't use it. Period. What somebody does to themselves in the privacy of their own home should be their business. Not their neighbors.

It seems to me that the right to self-medicate should be a fundamental right granted to all adult citizens or legal residents.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

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