A pair of bills that would enhance the legal standing of medical marijuana providers have advanced in the Legislature following this month's landmark court ruling that affirmed the rights of local governments to ban dispensaries. The bills are two components of the ongoing and often passionate arguments between Californians who support brick-and-mortar marijuana dispensaries and those who oppose such storefront operations as "pot shops" that often provide marijuana to people lacking serious medical problems. On one side, two of the Legislature's leading Democrats are backing the bills in the face of opposition from Republicans and law enforcement leaders. The California Police Chief's Association has pledged to oppose the bills, which would create new regulations and protections for medical marijuana providers within state law. The federal government's ban on marijuana would remain in force. [continues 712 words]
DIAMOND BAR -- Many California that have taken a stand on the medical marijuana question have given firm "no" answers to those wishing to operate cannabis dispensaries, but this suburb has been an exception. Diamond Bar, in contrast to many of its neighbors, has an ordinance that allows a single medical marijuana dispensary to operate within city limits. That privileged position is currently occupied by a dispensary calling itself Farm Assist Caregivers, which did not make anyone available to comment for this article. [continues 586 words]
Effects: Patients Say Ruling Will Limit Access to Treatment, Increase Illegal Sales RIVERSIDE -- Medical marijuana patient Gilbert Aguilar, who used the local collective at the center of Monday's landmark court ruling affirming cities' ability to ban cannabis dispensaries, did not hide his disappointment when he found it closed. "I think it sucks. They fought the good fight," Aguilar, 49, of Temecula said. "They ran a good establishment. I was proud to be a patient here," added Aguilar, who said he uses marijuana to alleviate back pain. [continues 443 words]
Medical Marijuana Backers Claim Officials Are Stalling Medical marijuana advocates say they are frustrated with what they see as San Bernardino County's refusal to pass a law defining how cannabis providers should operate. "They're making up their own rules as they go," said Abel Chapa, a self-described volunteer for San Bernardino Patients Association, a Chino-area collective that sheriff's deputies raided in late March. In the eyes of Chapa and Inland Empire cannabis advocate Lanny Swerdlow, county law enforcement is willfully ignoring California's medical marijuana laws and is presently using all means at its disposal to keep prevent patients from obtaining medical marijuana. [continues 837 words]
San Bernardino City Councilman Chas Kelley is unambiguous about his opposition to allowing medical marijuana to be distributed in his city. "I just don't want to be a regional magnet," said Kelley, noting that nearby cities had prohibitions on the books before San Bernardino followed their lead last month. The nearly 13 years since California voters asked their government to legalize medical marijuana has not been enough time to settle debate on the proper use of the much loved and hated herb. [continues 587 words]
A study published in 2007 by the medical journal Addiction confirms what many of us have observed for years. People who regularly smoke marijuana grossly underachieve in life. This breakthrough research studied the progress of approximately 1,900 teens for 10 years, and found that regular marijuana users were three times more likely to be unemployed or drop out of school than nonusers. The evidence of marijuana's negative effect on young people is so overwhelming that the scientist who conducted the research pronounced that marijuana is "the drug for life's future losers." [continues 232 words]
New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden recently published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine advocating a penny-per-ounce tax on sodas and sports drinks that contain sugar. Frieden argues such a tax would be instrumental in increasing public health and curbing America's obesity epidemic, as well as raise $1.2 billion a year in state revenue. Given the state of the economy and the recent rash of proposed goods-tax increases, I'd say the latter is likely a stronger motivational force than Frieden has admitted. [continues 778 words]
The scene: A young man with a shaved head laughs heartily while an off-camera voice declares, "He won't be able to hold it." The young man's laughter fades into anxiety in a matter of seconds. Within moments, the observer's prediction holds true as all traces of humor vanish from the man's face. He places his hands beneath his thighs and begins to rock back and forth as if in the grips of extreme stress. Things get worse. He rises from his chair and staggers around, stricken with an expression that suggests confusion and fear. Realizing something's wrong, one of the young man's friends helps him sit down. [continues 537 words]
YUCAIPA - Another inland town moved closer to snuffing out medicinal marijuana Monday when the City Council approved staffers' plans to craft an ordinance prohibiting medical cannabis dispensaries. Yucaipa's not the only East Valley city addressing the marijuana issue this week. In Redlands on Tuesday the Planning Commission voted unanimously to pass along a recommendation to the City Council to put an anti-cannabis law on the books. California cities face a contradiction between state and federal laws governing marijuana. The state's voters cast ballots to allow the use of medical cannabis when they passed Proposition 215 in 1996, but Uncle Sam has since maintained federal policy that classifies marijuana as an illegal, controlled substance. [continues 264 words]
The Oxford Community Police's recent effort to target street-level dealers in a recent two-month operation should be applauded. Not only does it get drugs and dealers off the streets, it sends an important message: sell drugs in the Friendly City and you'll end up in jail. Comments from OCPS Const. Bob McDonald and youth counsellor Judy Schnurr in Monday's Sentinel-Review reinforce the need for vigilance. Schnurr says she's seeing 12 and 13-year-old kids doing hard drugs, skipping past the so-called gateway drugs like marijuana. If these sweeps help keep drugs out of the schools, or deter kids from running the risks, then they are well worth it. [continues 82 words]
Crown's case in jeopardy after judge writes scathing review of Nelson City Police conduct The possession of marijuana case against Dustin "Sunflower" Cantwell, Alan Middlemiss and Paul DeFelice, the proprietors of the Holy Smoke Culture Shop, was dealt a severe blow yesterday when crucial evidence was thrown out because of an illegal police search. The written ruling on the voir dire - a hearing to determine the admissibility of evidence - comes after five days of testimony, spread out over several months. [continues 726 words]
The trial of Holy Smoke Culture shop owners Paul DeFelice, Alan Middlemiss and Dustin Sunflower Cantwell got underway Wednesday, but quickly got bogged down in a legal quagmire. The three are charged with possession of marijuana and possession with intent to sell stemming from an Oct. 15, 1997 search of the shop by Nelson City Police. The trial has been slowed by a voir dire - a hearing to determine the admissibility of evidence - that centers around the legitimacy of the warrant and search done by the police. The defence, led by local lawyer Don Skogstad, is claiming that search and warrant are unconstitutional. If Justice Mark Takahashi rules that the warrant was illegally obtained the case could be immediately dismissed. [continues 98 words]
