It was Benjamin Franklin who famously wrote in a 1789 letter that "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Well, California pot farmers have largely skirted the second of those for decades and now fear the looming certainty of taxation may bring death to their businesses. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is moving forward with putting a marijuana excise tax on the November ballot that, if passed, promises to bring in millions of dollars in revenue to county coffers. Staff recommended a complexly tiered progressive tax that would give breaks to small, outdoor farms and operates under the basic premise that the larger and more environmentally damaging a grow the larger its tax bill. [continues 565 words]
Ahead of a Statewide Vote, Supervisors Extend a Ban on Cultivation and Distribution Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to extend by one year a temporary ban on medical marijuana cultivation and distribution in unincorporated areas. The vote came ahead of a statewide vote to legalize recreational marijuana and over the objections of medical marijuana patients and growers. The county put in place an initial 45-day ban earlier this year and then extended it by another month. County planning officials said the moratorium was needed so they can study how to regulate the marijuana industry. [continues 327 words]
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana after Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Tuesday that initiative proponents turned in more than enough signatures to place the question on the November ballot. A successful vote in California would mean one in every six Americans lives in a state with legal marijuana sales, including the entire West Coast. The initiative is promoted by a well-funded and politically connected coalition spearheaded by former Facebook president Sean Parker. "Today marks a fresh start for California, as we prepare to replace the costly, harmful and ineffective system of prohibition with a safe, legal and responsible adult-use marijuana system that gets it right and completely pays for itself," Jason Kinney, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement. [continues 362 words]
SACRAMENTO - Californians will vote in November on whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, after the secretary of state's office certified Tuesday that a proposed initiative had qualified for the ballot. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act would authorize the state to license, regulate and tax marijuana. Backed in part by venture capitalist Sean Parker, the initiative will be the second in recent years to go before California voters asking if they want to legalize recreational use of the drug for people 21 and older. A similar measure was defeated in 2010. [continues 629 words]
Medical marijuana advocates bristled at a Monday meeting over suggested grow regulations, saying the proposed plant count restrictions go too far. Grow supporters also opposed the creation of a per-plant, per-day fine for violators of any new marijuana ordinance, though some advocates indicated they'd support the fines if their implementation was postponed a year. "We're trying to find a balance," Supervisor Nate Beason said. County officials on Monday presented possible regulations to the ad hoc committee that will help craft an interim grow ordinance. The committee is scheduled to meet again on July 12. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote July 26 on the new ordinance. [continues 531 words]
When James Silver and his wife bought their Vancouver home about a dozen years ago, it was in need of a major renovation. That suited Silver, a handyman who over the next decade reduced the former marijuana grow-op to its foundation and frame, then rebuilt it into a stylish five-bedroom, three-bathroom home plus suite. It was nearly brand new by the time he was finished with it. But when he and his wife tried to sell the home this spring, banks balked at lending to prospective buyers. [continues 1346 words]
I SHOT heroin and cocaine while attending Columbia in the 1980s, sometimes injecting many times a day and leaving scars that are still visible. I kept using, even after I was suspended from school, after I overdosed and even after I was arrested for dealing, despite knowing that this could reduce my chances of staying out of prison. My parents were devastated: They couldn't understand what had happened to their "gifted" child who had always excelled academically. They kept hoping I would just somehow stop, even though every time I tried to quit, I relapsed within months. [continues 1180 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]
Commercial medical marijuana cultivation and sale will not be allowed in unincorporated Placer County, after the board of supervisors on Tuesday voted 3-to-2 to limit marijuana cultivation to small, indoor grows by medical marijuana patients only. The board directed county staff to return with an ordinance codifying the approach they approved for their consideration in the coming weeks. The individual right under California state law to marijuana for personal medical use is unaffected by Tuesday's vote. The board voted in January to approve a placeholder ordinance asserting the county's authority to regulate. [continues 493 words]
Mendocino County announced Tuesday that it had settled a lawsuit with a local wildlife group over recently passed medical marijuana regulations. The Mendocino County Blacktail Association alleged the Board of Supervisors passed its medical marijuana urgency ordinance last month without first considering environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. The board approved an agreement in a closed session portion of its meeting Tuesday. As a result, the county said it would stop accepting permit applications under the urgency ordinance as of 5 p.m. Wednesday. No new applications will be accepted after this time. [continues 130 words]
This is in response to the June 9 opinion piece in The Union by Jonathan Collier, spokesman for the California (Marijuana) Grower Association. Mr. Collier first comments on the sheriff's "inability to eradicate growing related challenges." He later says that marijuana has been here for decades and you just can't get rid of it. He acknowledges "a rising criminal element" and says that the county has had a "laissez-faire attitude toward land use." I take that to mean that the county has not tried to eradicate illegal marijuana growing, which isn't true. [continues 514 words]
The Feds May Be Moving Slowly, But There's No Turning Back I keep reading articles about new states with weed programs. How is this still illegal federally? I KEEP READING about them too. Last month, Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana. Last week, it was Louisiana. As of today, 25 states and Washington, DC, have legalized weed for medical use. That's sort of more than half. By the end of this year, a true majority of states will have legalized something that is federally illegal. [continues 429 words]
New County Initiative Poised for November Ballot Outlines Sales of Medical Marijuana The day before the primary election, on June 6, representatives from the Inland Cannabis Farmers' Association dropped off a special delivery at the Butte County Clerk-Recorder's Office. Inside more than half a dozen boxes were thousands of signatures from Butte County voters, potentially enough to get a new initiative-the Medical Cannabis Cultivation and Commerce measure (aka MC3)-on the November ballot. "The big picture is that we need to stop the tactical skirmishes," said Jessica MacKenzie, ICFA president. "We looked at what makes sense-from the time a plant goes into ground to the time a patient picks it up as medicine in the dispensary?" [continues 438 words]
A nonprofit wildlife conservation organization has filed a lawsuit against the county of Mendocino, stating the Board of Supervisors passed its medical marijuana urgency ordinance without an environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. The Mendocino County Blacktail Association, part of a larger group which includes people from over 57 cities across the state, says it has become "increasingly concerned with the destructive nature of unregulated marijuana activities" within wildlands. Among its concerns, the group cited illegal grading, the use of poisons and fertilizers during cultivation, theft of water resources and trash left behind by some growers. It also claimed the supervisors didn't consider the county General Plan when making their decision, and that zones dedicated for other purposes could be affected. [continues 348 words]
Re "Undermining the public's trust" (Guest comment, by Nathan Esplanade, Jan. 7): Apparently to undermine my anti-alcohol and -marijuana guest comment last week, the CN&R changed and deleted some of my words and made others insensible, and completely omitted my conclusion. In the same issue, the CN&R published more propaganda arguing legalizing pot would enable pain relief for the poor and enrich local governments. In so doing, it once again ignored the elephant in the room: Patients with a prescription can already acquire affordable medication via the Internet. [continues 150 words]
Personal pot possession in California was reduced from an arrest to an infraction in 2010, but systemic racism around pot enforcement continues, a new study finds. The American Civil Liberties Union of California, in conjunction with the Drug Policy Alliance, published a groundbreaking, heavily reported piece of research Monday that concludes that the Black community in California faces ticketing for pot at a rate four times as high as whites. Latinos have about double the rate of pot tickets as whites. [continues 1008 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]
North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood's proposed medical marijuana excise tax advanced Thursday, passing the Assembly with the required bipartisan two-thirds votes needed for any new state tax. Assembly Bill 2243 would levy a $9.25 per ounce tax on cannabis flowers; a $2.75 per ounce tax on cannabis leaves; and a $1.25 tax on immature cannabis plants from nurseries. Wood's proposal is a tiered approach similar to how alcohol is taxed: based on the potency of the product. [continues 255 words]
Bills from North Coast lawmakers to tax and regulate medical marijuana advanced this week in the state capitol with bi-partisan support of the legislature. Two proposals -- tax measures from state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood, both Healdsburg Democrats -- won the required two-thirds majorities in their respective houses and move on for further consideration. McGuire's bill, SB 987, would place a 15 percent sales tax on medical cannabis. It would come in addition to an existing 8 percent tax and is expected to generate more than $100 million. About a third of the money would go to cities and counties for costs associated with medical pot. [continues 338 words]
Friday is the last day for submissions to Mendocino County's "Medical Cannabis Activity Registration," and as of Wednesday, the Department of Agriculture said it has received 58 returned forms. Not to be confused with the Board of Supervisors actual medical marijuana cultivation urgency ordinance adopted last month, the county has offered "priority processing" for local cultivation permit applications to those who voluntarily complete and return the activity registration form by 5 p.m. Friday, though it doesn't guarantee that a permit will be issued. [continues 410 words]
