Government to table new legislation Thursday, but is still working to resolve issues such as packaging and impaired-driving penalties The federal government will table a bill to legalize recreational marijuana on Thursday that is expected to tightly control the ability of producers to market their products to the public, federal sources said. But key issues such as how to deal with drug-impaired driving have yet to be fully resolved. The government has indicated its legislation will be highly restrictive and designed to discourage people from consuming marijuana, especially under the age of 18. The bill is expected to include tough penalties for those who provide marijuana to children and teens, sources said. [continues 600 words]
In 2016, 11 regions have gone beyond 15 overdose deaths, medical officials say Health experts painted a grim picture Wednesday morning as they updated Vancouver's mayor and council on an ongoing opioid crisis that has spread from its "epicentre" in the Downtown Eastside to touch every part of the province. Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall addressed a sombre Vancouver council chamber Wednesday, almost a year to the day after he announced a public health emergency in response to what he called at the time, "the recent surge of overdoses." [continues 572 words]
Permit or no permit, why Vancouver should embrace 4/20 Day Vancouver's annual 4/20 is going to be at Sunset Beach -- and this year will be bigger than ever. Since we began with a small gathering of activists in 1995, Vancouver's 4/20 protest has grown into one of the city's largest and most well-known public celebrations. Around 100,000 people now show up to protest prohibition, celebrate Vancouver's world-famous cannabis culture and enjoy a unique marijuana farmer's market. [continues 362 words]
Re: "Legal pot framework a long way off: Morneau," March 28. I don't understand why the federal government is having such a problem determining how to keep legalized marijuana out of the hands of children and criminals. Why is it even concerned about this matter? Isn't that up to the individual provinces in the same manner as their control of alcohol? The federal government sets and collects the excise tax on alcohol; that is what it should be doing with any other legal recreational drug. It also has the power to set the criminal offences for illegal production and setting the legal personal production in the same way it does with the production of alcohol. [continues 98 words]
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott was in London on Monday to sell the federal budget, but she found herself defending her government's plans to legalize marijuana. Speaking at Fanshawe College after media reports said the Liberals plan to introduce legislation in two weeks, Philpott said "no product is without risk." She noted tobacco and alcohol are legal although both pose serious health risks. "No one is proposing we go back to Prohibition. . . Just because a product is legal it does not mean it is advisable or recommended to use that product," said the former family physician and Western University medical graduate. [continues 333 words]
'No product is without risk,' health minister says Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott was in London on Monday to sell the federal budget, but she found herself defending her government's plans to legalize marijuana. Speaking at Fanshawe College after media reports said the Liberals plan to introduce legislation in two weeks, Philpott said "no product is without risk." She noted tobacco and alcohol are legal although both pose serious health risks. "No one is proposing we go back to Prohibition. . . Just because a product is legal it does not mean it is advisable or recommended to use that product," said the former family physician and Western University medical graduate. [continues 332 words]
The federal government has been scrambling to draft legislation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, hoping to have a bill in place ahead of the symbolic date of April 20, sources said. A senior federal official said preparing the legislation has exposed a number of divisions on key issues between the Health, Justice and Public Safety departments, requiring federal lawyers to work overtime to find the appropriate legal language to express the government's final intentions. The government is hoping to legalize pot by July 1, 2018, CBC News reported Sunday night. [continues 449 words]
Canada's "Princess of Pot" flew home to Vancouver Monday to cut ties with the cannabis empire she and her husband spent decades growing. Jodie Emery returned to her Chinatown apartment for the first time since being released from custody earlier this month in Toronto, where she, her husband Marc Emery, and three other associates in the Cannabis Culture business were arrested and charged with a range of offences including drug trafficking. "I am so grateful to be back where the nature and the forest and the mountains can soothe my soul, after that concrete jungle," she said Monday in her first interview since returning to Vancouver. [continues 622 words]
'Prince' and 'Princess of Pot' face several drug-related charges after Toronto arrest Marc and Jodie Emery, Vancouver's first couple of cannabis, have been arrested, as police across the country raided seven of the couple's Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensaries, including a shop on West Hastings and a residence in Vancouver. The Emerys were charged Thursday with drug-related offences in Toronto, after raids in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver. They are due back in Toronto court this morning. The self-styled "Princess of Pot" were arrested Wednesday as they went to board a plane at Toronto's Pearson International Airport for a cannabis expo in Spain. [continues 665 words]
Marc and Jodie Emery face drug charges after latest crackdown A dozen Vancouver police officers raided Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture headquarters on West Hastings Street on Thursday morning. Marc and Jodie Emery were charged with drug-related offences in Toronto on Thursday after police also raided seven of the couple's Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensaries. The self-styled "Prince" and "Princess of Pot" were arrested Wednesday evening as they were about to board a plane to Spain at Pearson International Airport. They were heading to Barcelona to attend the Spannabis marijuana expo. [continues 551 words]
The day after Marc and Jodie Emery were arrested by Toronto police, B.C.-based cannabis advocates and business people said they expect the retail bud business to continue as usual in Vancouver. Jeremy Jacob, the Vancouver-based head of a national industry association for dispensaries, said Thursday its members "have a good relationship" with the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Department "and we expect that to continue. "We value the position the VPD has taken during this transition to a regulated market," said Jacob, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries and owner of The Village Dispensary near Vancouver's Granville Island. None of the Emerys' businesses are members of his association, he said. [continues 367 words]
Dispensaries: First couple of cannabis face multiple charges after police operations in B.C. and Ontario Marc and Jodie Emery, Vancouver's first couple of cannabis, have been arrested as police across the country raided seven of the couple's Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensaries, including a shop on West Hastings and a residence in Vancouver. The Emerys were charged Thursday with drug-related offences in Toronto after raids in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver. They are due back in Toronto court this morning. [continues 452 words]
Conditions include not operating or being at pot shops Canada's first couple of cannabis and three associates were released from jail Friday evening in Toronto after a string of arrests and raids over the previous two days that gripped the attention of legal observers and pot advocates across the country. Marc and Jodie Emery, Canada's "Prince and Princess of Pot," were arrested Wednesday in Ontario. The following day, police in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver executed 11 search warrants, while three of the Emerys' associates in their Cannabis Culture dispensary franchise business were also arrested. [continues 475 words]
Agencies across the province step up efforts in fight against deadly opioids Ultimately, it's about getting this drug off the street before any more loss of life takes place. A Crime Stoppers initiative aimed at getting fentanyl off the streets could soon be coming to the capital, as a deadly opioid crisis sweeps across the country. Durham Regional Crime Stoppers launched its program Wednesday, offering a $1,000 cash reward to anyone whose tips directly result in the seizure of illegal fentanyl or its derivatives, or to the arrest of fentanyl traffickers. [continues 436 words]
The members of the Middlesex-London Board of Health endorsed Thursday evening a motion to take the "next steps" to set up a supervised-injection site for drug users in London. That essentially means determining what the method will be for moving forward with the project. As part of that, there will be a public consultation before setting up any such site, including talking to the people in the chosen neighbourhood, including residents and business. The first part of the three-pronged motion covered accepting a feasibility study. Dr. Gayanne Hovhannisyan, the acting medical officer of health, led the discussion. [continues 68 words]
It's a question people have been wondering about for years: Would marijuana be a competitor to alcohol if it were legal? Now a new study is out suggesting it might. The Marijuana Times recently reported that according to a study conducted by the research firm Cowen and Company, beer markets in Colorado, Oregon and Washington have "collectively underperformed" over the past three years. All three states have both legal recreational marijuana and a popular craft beer culture. "With all three of these states now having fully implemented a marijuana retail infrastructure, the underperformance of beer in these markets has worsened over the course of 2016," according to the report. [continues 553 words]
Auntie's Halifax marijuana dispensary is among a nation full of shops that have begun selling recreationally, despite federal laws that promise prosecution. Raids have been conducted by police in Hamilton, Montreal and Toronto over the past year, including those of recreational marijuana shops owned by company Cannabis Culture. "The federal government has been clear that until new legislation is introduced, the current laws remain and must be followed," wrote Sarah Gillis, a spokeswoman for the provincial Department of Health & Wellness. [continues 554 words]
Banff police have shut down a shop illegally selling marijuana. The shop's nine employees were arrested Tuesday and charged with trafficking and possession for the purposes of trafficking. Banff RCMP acting Supt. Stan Andronyk said it became obvious Canna Clinic, which opened last month at 229 Bear St., was selling the products in a retail setting. "It's illegal to do that," he said. "We obtained a search warrant to go in and conduct an investigation and search for the drugs." [continues 123 words]
Police stay silent on their plan if store reoffends A leading Canadian marijuana activist is standing behind a bid by Auntie's Dispensary to reopen after a police raid shut them down. Last week, Halifax owner Shirley Martineau and three others were charged - and had their inventory seized - after complaints led the Halifax Regional Police to take action. Martineau, who hasn't returned phone calls, vowed to reopen and has volunteers working at the shop right now. Toronto marijuana legalization activist Jodie Emery, who is married to fellow activist Marc Emery, knows what Martineau is going through. [continues 682 words]
A study of Washington high school students out Tuesday examining marijuana use among students in the state two years before and after the vote to legalize in 2012 finds that marijuana use increased by about 3 percent among 8th- and 10th-graders over that period. Conventional wisdom, based on results since marijuana was legalized three years ago in Colorado, is that availability of legal weed is having little or no effect on teen's use of the drug. However, a study of Washington high school students out Tuesday flies somewhat in the face of prevailing opinion. Examining marijuana use among students in the state two years before and after the vote to legalize in 2012, it finds that marijuana use increased by about 3 percent among 8th- and 10th-graders over that period. [continues 591 words]
In response to Laurie R. Dirks letter regarding problems with government spending money on addictions. Never in my life have I read such an uninformed, ignorant, selfish and cold-hearted response to a problem that affects us all. As a Canadian, I'm embarrassed to know that uneducated buffoons such as yourself are breathing our collective air. These are people who are suffering a terrible disease, often as a result of being prescribed dangerous drugs by sometimes ill-meaning doctors. People who have no choice, no options, literally no hope. [continues 96 words]
I think the proposal for the age of 18, or 19 in some provinces, to align with the [legal drinking age] across the country, is a reasonable compromise. Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agrees the minimum age to smoke marijuana should be 18 or 19, in line with each province's drinking laws, endorsing one of the most controversial recommendations from a federal task force on legalization this week. Mr. Trudeau said the task force, which was chaired by former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, settled on the appropriate age to limit the role of the black market in Canada. With these comments, Mr. Trudeau rejected the calls of public health experts to set the minimum age in the early or mid-20s to protect developing brains. [continues 427 words]
The anti-marijuana-legalization movement has made the claim that legalization will lead to an eruption in teenage marijuana use a central part of its narrative. But it turns out that the kids didn't get the memo. The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research is out with its latest national survey of teenage drug use, including marijuana use, and what it found was that since 2012, the year that Colorado and Washington state legalized pot, teenage drug use is down, not up. [continues 647 words]
The Canadian government is giving itself until late 2018 or early 2019 to open up the market for recreational marijuana, based on a road map that will allow everyone over 18 to purchase pot from a variety of producers and retailers or to grow their own. In a report released on Tuesday, a task force chaired by former Liberal minister Anne McLellan provided 80 recommendations to end the prohibition on marijuana that dates back to 1923, using a model similar to the one in place for sales of tobacco and alcohol. [continues 1020 words]
Regulated production and a patchwork of provincial rules for recreational users expected when the Liberals table legislation in spring Canada's new legal marijuana regime is expected to feature a mishmash of provincial rules and a heavily regulated production system that will initially favour existing producers of medical cannabis, sources say. Former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, who leads a panel outlining a framework for the system, gave her report to the government on Wednesday, offering recommendations on how marijuana should be legally produced and sold and how it could be consumed and by whom. [continues 538 words]
Bundle overdose-fighting naloxone with opioid prescriptions to save lives, area health unit urges It's been proven to be the most effective weapon in the fight to prevent deaths from opioid overdose, a major killer in Ontario. Now the Middlesex-London Heath Unit wants anyone who gets an opioid prescription to get access to and counselling on naloxone, the medication that reverses the deadly effects of an overdose by restoring respiration. The health unit board voted Thursday to make that recommendation to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. [continues 489 words]
SIERRA VISTA - If examples from Washington and Colorado are any indication, should Arizona voters pass Prop 205 this November and legalize recreational marijuana use for adults, there should be little to no federal interference with state law, even in areas with a high number of federal law enforcement agents, such as Cochise County. Just don't try to drive through a U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint with your state sanctioned weed, said Vic Brabble, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman for Arizona. [continues 1491 words]
Vancouver's licensing regulations for marijuana dispensaries favour non-profits Reefer retail is a growth industry in Vancouver, with annual revenues estimated in the hundreds of millions in Canada's first major city to regulate dispensaries. And, due to what a prominent cannabis lawyer calls a "peculiarity" of Vancouver's dispensary regulations, millions of dollars of commerce flow through non-profit societies every year. In Vancouver, where companies cannot apply for dispensary licences, most pot shops working their way through the city's licensing process are incorporated as nonprofit societies. [continues 1406 words]
Leaders in B.C.'s retail marijuana industry responded with concerns Tuesday to news of a privacy breach involving the website of a Vancouver pot dispensary. After news broke Tuesday that patients' personal and medical records had been publicly accessible through the website of an East Vancouver pot shop, the head of Canada's dispensary industry association said such privacy breaches are serious concerns, but are not limited or exclusive to pot dispensaries. Jeremy Jacob, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries (CAMCD) said patient privacy breaches have occurred elsewhere, including a 2013 incident when Health Canada mistakenly mailed out 40,000 letters identifying recipients as medical marijuana users. [continues 411 words]
Birth certificates, medical imaging, passports, prescriptions, biopsy reports, mental health assessments and more - the personal information and medical records of an unknown number of patients were publicly available on the website of a Vancouver marijuana dispensary until recently. It is not clear whether the information was exposed accidentally or for some malicious purpose. Dispensary management said they had notified the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C., who confirmed an investigation was underway. The situation prompted Health Canada to reiterate warnings about cannabis dispensaries, which are illegal under federal law. [continues 846 words]
CONFERENCE: Event runs Thursday and Friday At Vancouver's next big weed get-together, you can expect less tie-dye and more suit-and-tie. Organizers of the International Cannabis Business Conference this week at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver expect a crowd of 650 or more to attend Thursday and Friday. And with tickets to attend the conference running upwards of $600 each, the event might have more of a corporate feel than the average 4/20 rally. [continues 466 words]
Borough could limit locations by zoning code LANSDALE) Borough officials are looking ahead to a topic that looks likely to lead to months of discussion. What sort of local rules and regulations should be put in place for medical marijuana facilities? "This particular use is legal, now, in Pennsylvania: the distribution of it, the growing of it, and the cultivation of it," said Assistant Borough Manager John Ernst. "However, the legislature has not come to a final conclusion and agreement on what the laws actually say, and when it will be finally brought to a point where it can be enforced," he said. Back in April the state legislature approved a bill legalizing the provision of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, and state officials said at that time it would take roughly two years for regulations to be fully written and facilities to be opened. Details are still far from finalized, Ernst told council's code enforcement committee, but early indications are that the state legislature will pass rules and regulations governing medical marijuana facilities similarly to pharmacies, with medical marijuana only available in pill, cream or tablet forms - not leaf. [continues 621 words]
Texas traffickers hide in plain sight in Colorado with its lax pot laws Tien Nguyen, 35, is charged in Smith County, Texas with money laundering after allegedly being stopped with $71,900 in cash in a rental car on Interstate 20. Handout Tien Nguyen, 35, is charged in Smith County, Texas with money... Three packages were mailed one after another, each shipped from the same Colorado post office to the same Houston business in the name of the same fictitious person. [continues 1675 words]
City politicians, never shy about demanding more money from beleaguered taxpayers, are now trying to get a cut of future cannabis taxes. In last year's Liberal election platform, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana, touting a "new system of strict marijuana sales and distribution, with appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes applied." By leaving out the possibility of city taxes, Trudeau raised the hackles of mayors across the nation. Now the mayors are pushing back - they want a piece of the green. [continues 465 words]
City politicians, never shy about demanding more money from beleaguered taxpayers, are now trying to get a cut of future cannabis taxes. In last year's Liberal election platform, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana, touting a "new system of strict marijuana sales and distribution, with appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes applied." By leaving out the possibility of city taxes, Trudeau raised the hackles of spend-crazy mayors across the nation. Now the mayors are pushing back-they want a piece of the green. [continues 582 words]
HOWEVER you put it, the Philippine National Police is among the government agencies responsible for the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country-either by direct involvement or sheer ineffectiveness. Strange enough, the law enforcers who gained notoriety for protecting drug cartels and syndicates in the past are now earning praises for killing drug suspects at will-in the name of a "drug war." Do you really want to vindicate and encourage the police to further abuse its power while the unjust social system prevails? [continues 218 words]
BALTIMORE - Gordon McGlothlin, who took his first puff at age 12 behind his family's garage, tried to quit smoking for years, but no cessation technique worked until he used a psychedelic drug. Researchers with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine gave the 69-year-old a derivative of psychedelic mushrooms similar to LSD and watched him "trip" in a therapy room during six-hour sessions. McGlothlin experienced wild hallucinations, including watching his body slowly unraveling until it disappeared into a puff of smoke. After researchers took his blood pressure, he imagined a red, bloodlike fluid covering him from head to toe. [continues 1364 words]
With its open-air marijuana stalls festooned in psychedelic colors and its freewheeling, self-governing structure, the Christiania neighborhood in Copenhagen has been for decades emblematic of Danish liberalism and tolerance. On Friday morning, however, a symbol of hippie hedonism came crashing down - at least temporarily. At about 9 a.m., hundreds of residents began dismantling the drug market on Pusher Street in the heart of the city, where men in masks usually peddle marijuana and hashish from stalls. Video footage showed residents hauling away plants and using saws, drills and bulldozers to demolish the stands. Signs saying "no photography allowed" were ripped down. [continues 737 words]
Hallucinogenics May Ease Addictions, Mental Disorders Gordon McGlothlin, who took his first puff at age 12 behind his family's garage, tried to quit smoking for years, but no cessation technique worked until he used a psychedelic drug. Researchers with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine gave the 69year-old a derivative of psychedelic mushrooms similar to LSD, or acid, and watched him "trip" in a therapy room during six-hour sessions. McGlothlin experienced wild hallucinations, including watching his body slowly unraveling until it disappeared into a puff of smoke. After researchers took his blood pressure, he imagined a red blood-like fluid covering him from head to toe. [continues 1353 words]
The higher the THC content in cannabis, the smaller amount required to be ingested for the desired effect. It is wrong to compare substances that have lethal doses, such as alcohol and opiates, to cannabis, which does not. End prohibition and there will be no reason to buy cannabis from criminals. In California, we have developed hundreds of mom-and-pop growers. We are not going back to Mexican weed no matter how hard the government tries to force a return. The misinformation spread by the prohibitionists will only get more prevalent as more people come to believe it is time for prohibition to end. Dan King, Sacramento [end]
On Nov. 6, 2012 the people of Colorado decisively voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Amendment 64 passed with 55.3 percent of the vote. In Boulder County Amendment 64 received 66.4 percent of the vote. The margin in the City of Boulder was even higher. But you would never know it by the cavalier way County and City elected leaders have chosen to "regulate" marijuana growers in the ensuing four years. Start with Boulder County. Shortly after the passage of Amendment 64 the Boulder County Commissioners voted to ban commercial marijuana production in the agricultural areas of Boulder County. The ban applied to both outdoor and indoor production. [continues 610 words]
The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research - a group better known for its views on inflation targeting and GDP growth - says New Zealand should move "sooner rather than later" to legalise marijuana which would generate a net gain of $300 million to the government accounts. Drawing on Treasury research which found that legalising could reap $150m in new government revenue and reduce spending on drug enforcement by around $180m, NZIER principal economist Peter Wilson concludes that legalisation, combined with heavy taxation, regulation and education would be a better way of reducing social harm from the drug. [continues 205 words]
They Choose to Ignore the Current Laws VANCOUVER, British Columbia The Cannabis Culture Lounge has everything a pothead might need to feel right at home: $3 marijuana buds, bongs for rent, bags of Skittles and Doritos for sale, and black leather couches where customers can recline in zoned-out contemplation in a pungent haze. Never mind that it is all technically prohibited by Canadian law. Still, some enthusiasts have higher hopes for the business, which opened more than a decade ago as a kind of speak-easy for marijuana smoking long tolerated by the city's authorities. The lounge began selling marijuana after Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister in November. [continues 759 words]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The Cannabis Culture Lounge has everything a pothead might need to feel right at home: $3 marijuana buds, bongs for rent, bags of Skittles and Doritos for sale, and black leather couches where customers can recline in zoned-out contemplation in a pungent haze. Never mind that it is all technically prohibited by Canadian law. Still, some enthusiasts have higher hopes for the business, which opened more than a decade ago as a kind of speakeasy for marijuana smoking - long tolerated by the city's authorities. The lounge began selling marijuana after Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister in November. [continues 1218 words]
Medical marijuana advocate battles cancer with cannabis At first, he thought it was a shoulder injury. When the pain in his left shoulder started, Randy Caine thought his days working in construction had caught up with him. "I thought I had a rotator cuff injury." Then, in June of last year, Caine noticed a lump on his neck It was lung cancer, what is known as a Pancoast tumor, a slow-moving growth that had spread into nearby muscles and bone. [continues 640 words]
The Dark Side of Duterte's Deadly but Popular War. When the image of Jennelyn Olaires weeping as she cradled the body of her slain husband went viral in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte called it melodramatic. There's not much Duterte hasn't said when it comes to his war on drugs, his only real election platform and his big promise to the 16 million Filipinos who swept him to power in May by a massive margin. And "The Punisher", as he is known, has been true to his word. [continues 427 words]
The latest marijuana legalization polls are out, and they contain bad news and good news. First, the bad news. Recent polls in both Massachusetts and Arizona - two of the five states that will be voting on legalizing recreational marijuana this November - show the initiatives losing. In Massachusetts, a poll conducted by Gravis Marketing found that 51 percent of those surveyed planned to vote against the legalization initiative, while 41 percent planned to vote for it. In Arizona, a poll conducted by OH Predictive Insights, found the initiative losing 52.5 percent to 39.1 percent. [continues 680 words]
'Rush' Not Expected at City's First Facility Today's opening of the city's first pot shop in Downtown Crossing could be a mellow affair, with the owners predicting the dispensary will draw a few dozen customers with medical marijuana cards per day in its initial weeks, before slowly increasing to 90 to 100 daily customers. "We don't expect a rush the way you think about for recreational facilities," said Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita, whose nationwide company oversees the Massachusetts facility Patriot Care, at 21 Milk St. [continues 293 words]
Two-Thirds Support Retail-Styled Regulation and Zoning by the City Ottawans don't want to shut them down but do see the need for some regulation from the city. Ottawa's marijuana dispensaries are inching closer to becoming legitimate business - if not in the eyes of the law, then at least in the eyes of residents. A new public opinion poll conducted by Forum Research Inc. finds as many as six in 10 respondents say marijuana dispensaries should be allowed to operate in Ottawa, with fewer than a third (32 per cent) opposed. Two-thirds of respondents (67 per cent) believe they should be regulated and zoned like any other retail business, while one in five say they should be immediately shut down. [continues 443 words]
Oroville - Marijuana is back on the ballot. The Butte County Board of Supervisors sent an initiative by pot proponents to the November ballot with a 4-1 vote shortly after noon Tuesday. Parts of the initiative, titled the "Medical Cannabis Cultivation and Commerce Measure," were questioned by the supervisors, but ultimately, with the deadline approaching to either approve the initiative as a county ordinance or send it to the November election, District 5 Supervisor Doug Teeter made the motion to have the people of the county vote on the initiative. [continues 800 words]
