I have a marijuana plant growing nicely in my office. I purchased it from the marijuana dispensary across the street from my senior community. I've never bothered with marijuana before. Tried it once in college and decided back then that a cold beer was a better deal. But time and glaucoma have finally taken its toll. I got the idea of trying medical marijuana from a neighbor who gave me the name of an doctor that would issue the proper legalizing paperwork. [continues 475 words]
So weed is legal in Colorado and Washington? Should I start packing my things right now? Which state has the better policies? - -Recreational User Great day in the morning! Hallelujah! This is a huge moment for cannabis users, noncannabis users, taxpayers, those incarcerated for nonviolent cannabis offenses and people all over the United States. Everyone light one up in celebration of the democratic process. However, to paraphrase Mr. Wolf from Pulp Fiction: Let's not start smoking each other's joints just yet. There is still much to be done. [continues 507 words]
Re "Pot-bust flashback" (Newslines, by Vic Cantu, Nov. 8): It would seem that DA Ramsey is not reading his mail. If he were, he'd be aware of the decision published on Oct. 24 by the state appellate court in San Diego. The People v. Jovan Jackson shows Butte County's decision to prosecute the Tognolis as nothing but vindictiveness. Jovan clearly states that storefront dispensaries are legal under certain circumstances. With Jovan, the county has no case against the Tognolis, but it does have the will to drag them through the courts, on our dime, obviously with hopes of further financially ruining them. San Diego may be a long distance from the courthouse in Oroville, but it is still within the same California. Jay Bergstrom Forest Ranch [end]
Medi-Pot Good for a Number of Ailments Proponents of medical marijuana have rolled out any number of useful applications from curing cancer to easing boredom. Here are five trial-proven uses for medi-pot: Chronic pain: In a 2010 study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, 21 volunteers were tested with three different strengths of cannabis. Subjects smoked a random strain of pot for two months, three times a day in five-day stretches. The upshot of the experiment: The stronger the pot, the more their pain was reduced. [continues 141 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]
A Group of L.A. Marijuana Users Isn't Keen on Legalization Well, they've finally done it. The potheads will soon be running wild and free in Boulder and Seattle. By becoming the first states to legalize recreational marijuana last week, Colorado and Washington have jettisoned the whole mishmash of medical marijuana cards and dispensary permits that have tied California up in knots. How did they pull that off ahead of us? We gave the world the Emerald Triangle, not to mention a West Los Angeles skate park some clueless bureaucrat named Stoner Skate Plaza. [continues 803 words]
City staff has 45 days to come up with ordinance on medicinal grows The Lodi City Council approved a temporary ban on qualified patients and caregivers growing medical marijuana outdoors, but will still allow indoor cultivation as long as it cannot be seen or smelled from the public right-of-way. On Wednesday, the council in a 4-0 vote OK'd the temporary ban that gives city staff 45 days to come up with a permanent solution or ordinance regulating the grows. If it will take staff longer, the council can extend the ban up to a year. [continues 562 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]
What's up with that new report about the FBI making a marijuana arrest every 42 seconds? - -Don't Arrest Me Yup. And people wonder why we're paranoid. The latest FBI report (read it at http://tinyurl.com/FBI420) shows that 81.8 percent of drug arrests are for possession only, and that just less than half (49.5 percent) of all drug arrests are for marijuana. This is ridiculous. But the good news is that marijuana arrests are down compared to last year, as cities and states realize that arresting people for pot doesn't stop people from using it. The district attorney in Seattle won the election by promising not to prosecute low-level marijuana cases, and Chicago has just passed a cannabis-decriminalization ordinance. [continues 403 words]
Re "Keeping kids safe" (Newslines, by Shannon Rooney, Nov. 1): The only way to keep our kids safe from drugs is to re-legalize and regulate all drugs. The biggest risk kids face is criminals selling drugs. In a legal market, black-market dealers are eliminated, as they cannot make the huge profits they desire when competing with legal retailers. The fact is our kids can buy drugs easier than they can buy beer or cigarettes. Legal retailers will not risk losing their license by selling to minors. If adults want to use drugs, they will find them, and it is better that they get quality-controlled drugs with accurate dosage information. The only reason to keep drugs illegal is so that criminals and the police can make a lot of money. Dave Lane Santa Cruz [end]
America is clearly eager for a new conversation about marijuana, with three states passing initiatives to either legalize the drug (Colorado and Washington) or legalize it for medical use (Massachusetts, which has already decriminalized recreational use). The new laws pit the states against the federal government - and in California's experience, that's been an awkward, painful battle that's difficult to win. In the short run, the feds aren't likely to let these voters light up without a fight. [continues 60 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]
LODI - Joshua Dougherty looked in on a new batch of marijuana seedlings that he had been growing in a closet in the upstairs of his south Lodi home Wednesday afternoon. Dougherty, a medical marijuana patient, hopes to move the plants outside for harvesting in February. However, how and where he is able to plant the cannabis is something that will be in the hands of the Lodi City Council in the next month and a half. The Lodi City Council approved a 45-day moratorium on all medical marijuana cultivation Wednesday night and directed the City Attorney's Office to draft an ordinance that will place limitations on how and where patients can grow marijuana within city limits. [continues 520 words]
District Attorney Finally Files Charges in 2010 Medical-Marijuana Raid Nearly two and one-half years ago, Rick and Donna Tognoli were proud owners of the medical-marijuana dispensary Scripts Only Service (SOS), growing and dispensing cannabis to hundreds of members with doctors' recommendations. That all came to a crashing halt in June 2010 when SOS was raided, along with seven other Butte County dispensaries. Though SOS was shut down due to the seizure of its property and money, no charges were filed until this September, which has the Tognolis crying foul and suggesting collusion within the county government between a county supervisor and the district attorney. [continues 750 words]
Dispensaries Are Rejected in Several Races. Hetch Hetchy Measure Is Defeated. While voters in Colorado and Washington opted to legalize recreational marijuana use, a host of California communities moved instead to curtail the booming cannabis industry. In San Diego County on Tuesday, measures to permit and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries were rejected in Del Mar, Solana Beach, Lemon Grove and Imperial Beach. The closest of the measures was in Del Mar, supported by 44% of voters. In the Bay Area, a proposal that would have allowed up to three dispensaries in Palo Alto went down to defeat as well. Members of the City Council had argued that the stores would increase criminal activity and send children the wrong message, and 62% of voters sided with them. [continues 477 words]
NORTH COUNTY -- Medical marijuana dispensaries will not be coming to Del Mar and Solana Beach. Early returns Tuesday showed both initiatives -- called Proposition H in Del Mar and Proposition W in Solana Beach -- failing to meet the simple majority of votes needed to pass. "We're glad that it is going down to defeat," said Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian. "The citizens of Solana Beach have made the right decision here." Solana Beach Councilwoman Lesa Heebner said, "It's no surprise. It was a flawed initiative." [continues 187 words]
A growing number of studies are concluding that teen and preteen use of marijuana leads to lower intelligence and the increased potential for psychotic behavior. Binge alcohol use also has been linked to irreversible changes in brain development. The findings are particularly troubling for the Willits area, where school surveys show local students begin marijuana use and binge drinking earlier than the California average. Biologists have known for decades there was a link between early marijuana use and psychotic behavior. There have also been well-established links between early marijuana use and poor educational achievement. [continues 612 words]
COAST CITIES -- While residents in Del Mar and Solana Beach will choose whether to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the county's two smallest cities, council action to place the nearly identical measures on the Nov. 6 ballot was not by choice. Proposition H in Del Mar and W in Solana Beach made their way to the ballot after the Patient Care Association of California, a nonprofit organization of medical cannabis collectives, gathered enough signatures to qualify the initiatives for the upcoming election. [continues 695 words]
Despite the recent spate of rainy weather, the marijuana season is far from wrapping up -- and that means the Nevada County Sheriff's marijuana ordinance enforcement team is "staying busy," said Lt. Steve Tripp. The team still is serving abatement warrants on gardens that have been found to be out of compliance with the county's new cultivation ordinance, "In fact, they served one or two this afternoon," Tripp said Friday. "People aren't even harvesting yet, they're still growing. They will get as close to the end of November as they possibly can. They're just covering the plants. They're pushing their luck; they want to have as much yield as possible." [continues 923 words]
SAN BERNARDINO - The Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday raided two medical-marijuana clinics on Highland Avenue, seizing dozens of pounds of marijuana, hash and edible products containing the drug. "No arrests were made pursuant to the search warrants, however, local authorities did take one individual into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant on unrelated charges," said DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen. Both businesses - Alternative Solutions Patient Care and Advanced Healing Qualified Patients Association - had been fined for violating city codes and were told by the DEA to shut down for violating federal law. [continues 377 words]
Inside California
