Police demonstrate the Alere DDS2, a saliva swab test some authorities are using to determine marijuana impairment, in May at the Capitol in Sacramento. Police demonstrate the Alere DDS2, a saliva swab test some authorities are using to determine marijuana impairment, in May at the Capitol in Sacramento. A bicyclist has died after colliding with a vehicle driven by a man under the influence of marijuana, according to the Sacramento Police Department. The cyclist, Amar Askhra, 41, struck the vehicle on Truxel Road near the South Natomas Community Center at noon on Saturday. The driver had the right of way, police spokeswoman Linda Matthew said. [continues 295 words]
In mid-May, authorities discovered an acre of poppy fields in Monterey County. By the end of the month, they carried out the largest known opium poppy bust in California history, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office. "We know it's the biggest grow in California history and we believe it could be the biggest in the nation," sheriff's spokesman Cmdr. John Thornburg told the Monterey County Herald. In a Facebook post, the agency announced that, in addition to the acre found at Moss Landing, they found seven more fields of the flowers in a span of three days. Five of the fields were in Royal Oaks and two were in Aromas. [continues 275 words]
Efforts to lower marijuana taxes to help the transition to California's new legal market have suffered a setback. A bill that would have slashed taxes on legal pot for three years to entice people away from the black market failed to advance out of a key legislative committee Friday. Assemblyman Tom Lackey co-authored the bill and said the setback is a win for the black market. The Los Angeles-area Republican says he hopes the policy can still be passed this year. He says opponents of the bill in the Assembly had argued it is too soon to slash the taxes without further evidence they are driving people to the black market. Growers and sellers of marijuana in California have complained the taxes are too high. [end]
A cloud of smoke hung over Cal Expo Friday afternoon as thousands gathered for the High Times Cannabis Cup, the first permitted event in California to allow recreational use of marijuana. Organizers expected upwards of 15,000 people over the course of the two-day festival, which boasts musical performances from acclaimed artists, including Lauryn Hill, Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Rich The Kid, Cypress Hill, Rick Ross and Ludacris. The event was at risk of becoming a music-only festival until the Sacramento City Council approved a license for on-site consumption and sales in a 6-2 vote Tuesday. Weeks earlier, a similar High Times event had its permit denied by the San Bernardino City Council just before it was scheduled to take place. [continues 603 words]
There's a problem with access to legal weed in California, and a Senate bill may help solve it. A 2016 voter-approved measure to legalize marijuana in the state gave cities and counties the authority to pass regulations outlining the types of weed businesses that can operate within their borders. With limited time to craft rules before the law took effect at the start of the year, many towns approved outright bans of all marijuana businesses. The patchwork of local laws have created vast "pot deserts" that will remain until cities and counties opt to reconsider rules. A Bee analysis in March found that 40 percent of the state is 60 miles or more from a legal dispensary. [continues 105 words]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a longtime opponent of legalizing recreational marijuana, now says the federal government should not interfere in California's legal marijuana market. In comments to McClatchy Tuesday -- in the middle of a 2018 campaign for her seat in a state that has settled into the legal pot market -- the California Democrat said she was open to considering federal protection for state-legalized marijuana. Feinstein's office said her views changed after meetings with constituents, particularly those with young children who have benefited from medical marijuana use. [continues 968 words]
State and local regulators are warning dispensary owners against holding off-site parties or allowing on-site cannabis consumption Friday during the annual celebration known as 4/20. A number of Sacramento-area dispensaries are advertising special events for the day, but most are scheduled for on-site and make no mention of on-site consumption. One exception is the second annual "Hella 420," billed as "Sacramento's only 4/20 recreational cannabis event." It is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at midtown Sacramento's Exhale Smoke Shop and is sponsored by Ohana Gardens, a licensed dispensary. [continues 266 words]
In the first two months of cannabis legalization, consumers bought an estimated $339 million worth of marijuana products from retailers in California, 50 percent less than state projections, according to a leading analytics firm. The state has estimated that retail cannabis sales for the year would be $3.4 billion, or $570 million every two months. BDS Analytics of Boulder, Colorado, provided the firm's data to The Bee. Greg Shoenfeld, vice president for operations, said the company collects sales data from dispensaries and uses statistical modeling to project statewide sales. BDS Analytics also collects and analyzes such data in the three other states with recreational marijuana: Oregon, Washington and Colorado. [continues 443 words]
What makes a 40-year-old marijuana movie relevant? Cheech and Chong have an answer. When Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong made their groundbreaking movie "Up in Smoke" 40 years ago, marijuana and the culture surrounding it were much different. People smoked "Mexican brick weed," and often had to search high and low to "score a lid" because it was illegal. Nowadays, consumers vape, eat and smoke cannabis, which is much stronger and comes in so many strains that someone mimicked the periodic table to keep track of them all. And, of course, cannabis is legal in some form in much of the country. [continues 641 words]
A popular marijuana website has told the state's cannabis czar that she lacks the authority to make the company stop running advertisements for unlicensed pot retailers. In a letter sent Monday to Lori Ajax of the Bureau of Cannabis Control, Doug Francis and Chris Beals of Weedmaps.com said the company is not licensed by the bureau and therefore not subject to its enforcement. They also said Weedmaps is protected from such action because the company is an "interactive computer service" covered under the federal Communications Decency Act. The law states that such a service shall not be treated as the publisher of information provided by a third party. [continues 405 words]
Unlicensed marijuana delivery companies are operating across Sacramento County, drawing the ire of legal pot retailers and warnings from state and local regulators. Regulators cite concerns about the delivery companies not paying fees and taxes and selling weed that hasn't been tested for pesticides or other possible toxins. They say the companies are threatening the financial viability of legal retailers who must pay those costs in a new legal marijuana market that started in California on Jan. 1. In Sacramento County, about 200 marijuana delivery services were advertising Friday on the website Weedmaps.com. Only one jurisdiction in the county, the city of Sacramento, has plans to allow cannabis delivery services, and it has yet to issue permits. In the interim, city pot czar Joe Devlin has told delivery companies to register with city, and eight have done so. [continues 835 words]
A company responsible for keeping Sacramento dispensaries compliant with the law has run afoul of the city's pot czar for planning an illegal marijuana party. Capitol Compliance Management and its nine affiliated dispensaries have been running advertisements in the Sacramento News & Review for a "Holiday Budtender Bash" that was scheduled for Thursday. Joe Devlin, the city's chief of cannabis policy and enforcement, said the company canceled the event after he told them it would violate state and city laws by allowing public consumption of marijuana and by giving it away. [continues 373 words]
California's top cannabis regulator said the state deserves credit for a successful rollout of retail marijuana sales, but acknowledged that significant issues loom in the near future. One month after the start of recreational marijuana sales, Lori Ajax, chief of the state Bureau of Cannabis Control, gave an assessment of the state's performance for a few hundred people at the International Cannabis Business Conference. She praised her employees, who worked through the weekend before the Monday, Jan. 1 beginning of legal sales, granting licenses to dispensaries eager to start. Employees continued to work on Jan. 1, expecting to receive complaints from license applicants and holders, but they never came, Ajax said. [continues 360 words]
During his 25 years of researching cannabis, Dr. Daniele Piomelli has received hundreds of emails from people desperately wanting to know whether the plant can help them with medical problems. He recalls the one he received from the father of a girl with autism who was desperate for help. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, I have to say, 'We just don't know,' " said Piomelli, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. "It's heartbreaking." While Piomelli and other marijuana researchers acknowledge a shortage of research on the benefits and risks of the drug, they also said they feel the need to spread what is known about cannabis as California and seven other states move forward with legalized, recreational weed for adults. Piomelli was one of several public health experts who spoke Thursday during a legislative briefing at the state Capitol on the health effects of cannabis. [continues 385 words]
Critics said this ad promoted drug use. Now the state of California has pulled it Video: The campaign, released ahead of California legalizing marijuana on Jan. 1, stirred controversy with viewers over its descriptions of the drug. California Office of Traffic Safety The California Office of Traffic Safety has pulled a public service advertisement that was intended to stop stoned driving but critics said promoted marijuana use. The office joined with law enforcement leaders last week to announce a marketing campaign called "DUI Doesn't Just Mean Booze," which included the controversial advertisement. The campaign was timed to coincide with the start of recreational weed sales in California on Jan. 1. [continues 319 words]
Sacramento has more retail cannabis shops than any other city in California, which is the largest retail marijuana market in the country. According to recent records from the state Bureau of Cannabis Control, Sacramento has 15 dispensaries licensed to sell recreational weed to adults 21 and over, followed by San Diego with 13, San Francisco with nine and Cathedral City with eight. These figures will change as the bureau continues to process license applications. Dispensaries in some places, notably Los Angeles and San Francisco, lagged in the application process because local officials did not approve their own regulations as early as Sacramento and other cities. [continues 110 words]
The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday approved funding sources for increased law enforcement against illegal indoor pot grows, following a two-month pilot program that led to the closure of 614 pot houses. The city expects to spend between $700,000 and $1.1 million on police efforts to stop the approximately 1,000 illegal grows in Sacramento houses in the fiscal year ending June 30. The city will pay those costs with tax revenue collected from legal marijuana businesses, which are expected to start operating sometime after Jan. 1, when adults can purchase pot for recreational use statewide. The city plans to supplement that tax revenue with administrative fines collected from illegal pot growers. [continues 338 words]
Recreational weed is now legal in California. So what does that mean? In January 2018, state and local authorities will begin issuing licenses for the sale of legal recreational marijuana. But what do you need to know before you rush to the dispensary? Information courtesy of Ballotpedia.com. When recreational marijuana sales became legal in Nevada on July 1, customers were lined up around the block of a dispensary near downtown Reno, eager to buy buds. In Las Vegas, cannabis enthusiasts showed up in limos and tour buses, ready to participate in the opening-day pot festivities. [continues 1443 words]
You can buy legal marijuana in four months. But is California ready to sell it? With four months left until full legalization, the apparatus to regulate commercial cannabis sales in California is being built on the fly. Up to 82 people must be hired. Software must be written to accept applications of thousands of entrepreneurs hoping to legally sell marijuana. Regulations governing sales aren't fully cooked. Welcome to Lori Ajax's world. She is the director of the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (formerly the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation aka BMCR or, colloquially, "Bummer"), having worked 22 years at the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. [continues 472 words]
If there was any doubt that Sacramento was square in the path of California's "green rush," a recent tally showing the city could end up with more marijuana growing operations than it has Starbucks and McDonald's restaurants should serve as a wake-up call. More than 100 companies have applied to open grow rooms, The Bee's Ryan Lillis reported last week, and most are for industrial sites in already troubled, low-income neighborhoods in North Sacramento and off Power Inn Road. [continues 741 words]
California's county fairs -- those wholesome showcases of agricultural bounty -- could become places to score some pot. Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed a bill that details how to carry out the November 2016 ballot measure that legalizes recreational marijuana as of January 2018. Tucked deep in the text is an option for county fairs to allow sampling and sales for people 21 and older in designated spots. The Stanislaus County Fair has had "minor discussions" among the board and Chief Executive Officer Matt Cranford about the issue, spokeswoman Adrenna Alkhas said by email. [continues 323 words]
More marijuana growers than Starbucks stores? That could be Sacramento's future. Someday soon, more businesses could grow marijuana in the city of Sacramento than there are Starbucks and McDonald's restaurants combined. More than 100 businesses are seeking special permits from the city to run indoor marijuana growing operations. From North Sacramento to South Land Park, and from downtown to the warehouse district near Power Inn Road, the flood of applications touches many corners of the city. For now, the applications technically cover marijuana for medicinal purposes, and some companies are already growing pot for that purpose under previously approved guidelines. However, commercial production and the sale of recreational pot will be allowed in California beginning Jan. 1, 2018 and city officials expect many of the new businesses will seek to enter that business. [continues 1030 words]
The city of Sacramento soon may begin accepting applications from businesses wanting to cultivate marijuana. A City Council committee this week voted to lift Sacramento's moratorium on commercial cannabis cultivation. The action means that aspiring marijuana businesses would be able to apply for cultivation permits beginning April 2 under a new ordinance that could position the capital city as regional hub for commercial pot production. The council in November voted 5-3 to allow licensed recreational or medical marijuana cultivation in city limits under state rules governing the marijuana industry. But it is unlikely that the city will be issuing actual permits for cultivation businesses until months after the application period opens. [continues 321 words]
What is cannabis topical oil? And why is this Rancho Cordova couple so good at making it? The runner-up in the "topicals" division at December's Emerald Cup cannabis competition in Santa Rosa had a familiar name attached to it: Lavender Epsom Salts by Whoopi & Maya, a company co-founded by comedian Whoopi Goldberg. Chelsea Dudgeon and Newell Taylor of Rancho Cordova didn't have the same kind of name recognition with their product, which also provides pain relief from cannabis via skin absorption. But these partners in business and romance were equipped with something better: the winning formula. [continues 764 words]
Uri Zeevi is used to skepticism. People hear about his Seedo indoor home cultivator and they're astonished. "Nobody has seen anything like this," he said from his office in Israel. "It's really new, just coming onto the market." But someday, indoor home cultivators may be as common as dishwashers or backyard gas grills -- indispensable home appliances that changed the way people live. Without sunlight, outdoor space or experience, anyone could grow tomatoes, strawberries, gourmet lettuce, herbs and, yes, cannabis year-round inside a home cultivator. [continues 589 words]
[photo] What looks like oxycodone pills are actually fentanyl. The pills were seized and submitted to crime labs in Tennessee. (Tommy Farmer The Associated Press( [photo] Fentanyl is often legally prescribed to cancer patients to manage pain. It comes in patches and lozenges. (Tom Gannam Associated Press file) It was March when fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more powerful than morphine, insinuated itself into Sacramento County. In a matter of weeks, dozens of people overdosed. The drug killed 12 people, including Jerome Butler, a 28-year-old father of three young children. [continues 528 words]
Despite Proposition 64's clear mandate to end adult cannabis prohibition in California, a significant hurdle remains: how to legalize banking services for the newly legalized industry. Cannabis is a multibillion-dollar cash-only business in our state, which invites money laundering, tax evasion and armed robberies. Federal rules prohibit banks and credit unions from extending banking services to the cannabis businesses, despite legal recognition under California law. California Treasurer John Chiang is taking steps forward towards resolving this cannabis banking dilemma, for which he should be commended. [continues 516 words]
[photo] Gelato marijuana is for sale at Bud and Bloom, a dispensary in Santa Ana that got a $2 million loan this year from AP Investment Fund, a private lender that works with marijuana businesses. Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times Asked whether marijuana should be legal for adults in California, voters answered with a resounding "yes" in November. But that doesn't mean the matter is completely settled. And it definitely doesn't mean voters support marijuana use by minors. [continues 545 words]
Re "Pot critics focus on driving while stoned" (Page 7A, Aug. 31): Legalizing marijuana threatens highway safety while increasing court congestion and costs, and state judicial systems are already overwhelmed by drug-related casework. The evidentiary issues are serious. Unlike with alcohol, a scientifically based measure for THC impairment does not exist. THC is fat-soluble, so blood limits could remain above the legal limit for days after the user last legally smoked pot. The user would not appear stoned, but legally could still be considered impaired and presumed guilty. Devastating and long-lasting implications could result in cases such as auto accidents in which someone dies. [continues 53 words]
Re "Bumper crop of pot cash" (Insight, Aug. 30): I think Foon Rhee is dead on target when he writes that "California's marijuana market is projected to mushroom from $2.7 billion in 2015 to $6.5 billion by 2020 if recreational pot becomes legal," and "a lot of people are poised to make a lot of money." Whenever I'm deciding whether to vote "yes" or "no" on a particular proposition, I always ask myself in what way the passage or defeat of that proposition will improve the life, socially and economically, of the average California citizen. I emphasize the word "improve." From what I've read and understand, passage of Proposition 64 will does neither. It is as Rhee writes: A lot of people are poised to make a lot of money. Vote No on Proposition 64. Dennis A. Hunter, Sacramento [end]
Opponents of the fall measure to legalize recreational marijuana for California adults argued Tuesday that broader marijuana use would endanger motorists. Speaking to The Sacramento Bee editorial board, Doug Villars, president of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, criticized Proposition 64 for lacking an established standard such as what exists for alcohol. It's illegal for those with 0.08 percent or more of alcohol in their blood to drive. "That's a big deterrent, which keeps people from going out at these higher levels and driving, which obviously has the effect of lessening the amount of traffic accidents in California, lessening the amount of injury accidents and lessening the amount of traffic fatalities we have on a statewide basis," he said. [continues 406 words]
Marijuana is the very definition of a cash crop -and the windfall will only grow if California voters legalize recreational pot in November. But what to do with all that cash? It's a pressing problem and it isn't fixed by Proposition 64. The big hurdle is that the federal government still treats marijuana medical or otherwise as an illegal drug. So major banks and other financial institutions won't take pot businesses as customers for fear of losing their federal charters. That forces dispensaries and other marijuana businesses to deal almost entirely in cash, an invitation to robbery and shady accounting. [continues 692 words]
California politicians have traditionally opposed legalizing marijuana. In 2010, amid fierce debate about the pot legalization measure Proposition 19, every statewide elected official expressed disapproval. In more recent years, officials have suggested they wanted to wait to see how legalization played out in other states. Proposition 64, a recreational marijuana initiative on the fall ballot, is generating a slight thaw in political perspectives on legalizing the drug. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a candidate for governor in 2018, is the measure's highest-ranking supporter. But still many others remain undecided or in opposition. [continues 1093 words]
Sam Quinones makes an impassioned plea for state regulation of legal cannabis potency levels to safeguard children and to protect responsible adult cannabis users in his story, "Regulate potency in pot before legalizing it" (Forum, Aug. 21). I agree, and it is exactly why I, along with a bipartisan coalition of legislators, authored the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year and provides California's first comprehensive regulations for medical cannabis to protect patients, promote public safety and preserve the environment. [continues 316 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]
Of all the wrongs meted out by the criminal justice system, few are more unfair to poor, mostly minority Americans than the way police abuse civil asset forfeiture laws. Every year, cops seize and keep millions of dollars in cash and property from people who haven't been charged with - or convicted of - - a crime. They do it without warrants and use proceeds from the seized assets to pad depleted police department budgets. Stories abound of Californians being pulled over for minor traffic offenses only to have their vehicles towed away and cash taken. Nationally, police take more property from Americans than burglars do, violating rights in the name of fighting crime. [continues 333 words]
Re "Regulate potency in pot before legalizing it" (Forum, Aug. 21): Any attempt to regulate the potency - the THC level - of cannabis will just keep the black market thriving and the drug cartels profiting. Environmental disasters due to rogue growers will not be curtailed. The author says he researched his story, but he compares cannabis to alcohol and opiates? Marijuana is nowhere near as addicting, and no one has ever died from excessive cannabis intake. Decades of research point to a variety of medical uses for this unique compound, including pain relief, relief from PTSD, nausea and vomiting, as well as appetite stimulation, and benefits for asthma, glaucoma and as a sleep aid. The much revered Rick Simpson Oil used as a cure for cancer contains a high level of THC. I do agree with Sam Quinones that "legalizing marijuana needs to happen," but not with his concept of regulating the THC level. Jeff Ball, Sacramento [end]
Two groups studying the cannabis economy say legalizing recreational marijuana in California will provide a $1.6 billion boost in revenue from expanded retail marijuana sales. The projections on California's Proposition 64 legalization measure in November come from two firms with a vested interest in expanding the marijuana business. The market study was completed by New Frontier Data, a Washington, D.C., firm conducting cannabis market research, and the ArcView Group, an Oakland organization specializing in attracting investment for marijuana businesses and legalization causes. [continues 314 words]
In November, California will consider whether to legalize recreational marijuana, and voters seem ready to approve the idea. But the question of legalization is out of date, and is derived from the mistaken idea that all pot is created equal and that most of it is fairly weak. A question we ought to ask ourselves is just as important if legalization is to succeed: What kind of marijuana should we legalize? The hyper-potent mutant strains that pass for marijuana today have little relation to naturally grown pot associated with Northern California hippie growers of the 1970s. Levels of THC tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical that creates the high in pot now reach 20 to 30 percent, which is seven to 15 times the potency of a few decades ago. [continues 736 words]
Reading the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's report on marijuana, on how it should remain one of the nation's most dangerous drugs and has no medical value, we can't help but wonder what rock the agency's leaders have been living under. Or what they've been smoking. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have legalized weed for medical use, starting with California way back in 1996. Three more states Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota - will decide whether to follow suit this November. [continues 391 words]
The capital city is readying to become a cannabis production center under a plan advanced Tuesday by a City Council committee. The council's law and legislation committee moved forward with a conceptual plan to allow indoor cultivation of marijuana in commercial, industrial and agricultural zones in Sacramento with a possibility of granting conditional use permits for limited facilities operating just outside of residential areas. The city's push toward marijuana industrialization is expected to culminate in a plan to be voted on by the City Council in November, with facilities to be given operating licenses next year. [continues 893 words]
When I hear people stressing out about the millions of Americans who use marijuana on a regular basis, a little voice pops into my head. It belongs to the comedian Chris Tucker. "Ain't nothing wrong with smoking weed," his character, Smokey, said rolling a joint in the movie "Friday." "Weed is from the Earth. God put this here for me and you. Take advantage, man, take advantage!" In California, many of us do just that. (Not me, though. I swear!) [continues 457 words]
California tokers, why are you trippin' so hard? You keep saying that marijuana helps manage anxiety. But those of you who work in or partake of the cannabis industry sound like the most stressed-out people in California. And that leaves me wondering what's in your bongs, especially since 2016 is supposed to be a year of great triumph for you. Cannabis is booming in California. New regulations on medical marijuana are coming together, and a November ballot initiative to legalize recreational use seems likely to pass. California is thus well on its way to becoming Mary Jane's global capital, and a national model for how to pull cannabis out of the black-market shadows and into the legal light. [continues 531 words]
Nevada City - Faced with furious protests by marijuana advocates, Nevada County supervisors on Tuesday approved a restrictive plan to allow limited outdoor marijuana growing in a Sierra Nevada county long known for its cannabis culture. In June, voters in the county of 100,000 residents roundly rejected a sweeping ban imposed by supervisors on outdoor marijuana farms and commercial cultivation. Measure W, which would have reinforced an ordinance passed by the board in June, went down by a 59 to 41 percent margin. [continues 994 words]
DAs Join Police Chiefs As Major Critics of Proposition 64 They Argue It Doesn't Protect 'Dangerously' Impaired Drivers Proponents Counter That It Contains Numerous Safeguards Opponents of a fall ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana grew Thursday when leading county prosecutors came out against Proposition 64. The California District Attorneys Association's board of directors, by a unanimous vote, has moved to formalize their well-known distaste for legitimizing the drug. They join the California Police Chiefs Association as major law enforcement opponents of legalization. [continues 275 words]
Election Officials Qualified the Initiative Based on a Random Sample of 606,520 Signatures Submitted in May Supporters Say Legalization Will Improve Upon an "Ineffective System of Prohibition" Law Enforcement Opponents Have Been Heavily Outraised So Far Californians' November ballot will include an initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, with the coming campaign likely to reverberate nationwide given the state's size and implications for similar efforts elsewhere. A random sample of more than 606,000 signatures turned in by supporters last month cleared the required threshold, according to an updated tally posted Tuesday by the Secretary of State's Office. [continues 154 words]
Calaveras Adopts Rules That Allow Commercial Cannabis Farms in Region Ravaged by Butte Fire Worried by Pot Speculators Buying Scorched Properties, Officials Set Restrictions on New Cultivation Residents Expected to Vote in November on Marijuana Tax That Could Bring in Millions in Revenue MOUNTAIN RANCH - Before the sky rained fire last September, Thomas Liberty figured he knew where he wanted to be for the rest of his life. A former Air Force psychiatric technician and group home counselor for emotionally disturbed teens, Liberty lived with his wife, Lauren, a hospice care social worker, in a modest wood-frame house with a wrap-around porch and a small marijuana garden. [continues 1868 words]
They Fear Trump Will Be Influenced by Ties to Chris Christie, Sheldon Adelson Pro-Pot Nevada Newspaper Reversed Its Stand After Pot Critic Adelson Bought It Industry Isn't Certain It Would Fare Any Better Under Democrat Hillary Clinton WASHINGTON - Mark Kleiman, who served as Washington state's top pot consultant after voters legalized the drug in 2012, says it would be easy for the next president to get rid of the nation's marijuana shops. "Look, a President Trump could shut down the legal cannabis industry everywhere in the country with the stroke of a pen," said Kleiman, who's now a professor of public policy at New York University's Marron Institute of Urban Management. "All you have to do is take a list of the state-licensed cannabis growers and sellers into federal district court and say, 'Your Honor, here are the people who have applied for and been given licenses to commit federal felonies.' " [continues 1332 words]
Nevada City - Silas Hurd's "golden ticket" was losing its luster. The Medi-Haze B provided by Grass Roots Solutions, the Nevada County medical marijuana collective rallying to help the boy, wasn't having the same effect. His seizures returned in late 2015 following a four-month respite that had brought his parents so much hope. But Nicole and Forrest Hurd still believed in the potential of CBD - a compound in marijuana that has shown medicinal promise in limited childhood epilepsy studies - to help their son. [continues 3031 words]
Re "The Silas Project" (Insight, May 31-June 2): My compliments to The Sacramento Bee and writer Peter Hecht for the excellent three-part series about Nevada County's marijuana scene and how people are affected by it. I learned more in these three days than I have in our local coverage over the past several months. Your follow-up editorial was on target ("Pot has no place on list of most dangerous drugs"; June 3). Excellent journalism! Dave Carter, Nevada City [end]
