Look to Land Measure on November Ballot SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Backers of a marijuana legalization initiative said Wednesday they have collected enough signatures for the measure to qualify for the November ballot in California. The coalition that includes former Facebook president Sean Parker and is backed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and marijuana advocacy groups said it has collected 600,000 signatures from registered voters - far more than the 365,000 needed - ahead of the July 5 deadline. Stressing what promises to be a dominant message of their campaign, Newsom and other supporters said the initiative will make it harder for people under 21 to obtain pot. [continues 569 words]
SACRAMENTO (AP) - When the Legislature passed the state's first comprehensive medical marijuana regulations in September, pot advocates hoped the move heralded a new era of trust in their often-tumultuous relationship with wary local officials and police. So far, it hasn't turned out that way. Facing what appears to be a rapidly closing window for action, dozens of cities and counties from across the state are racing to enact new bans on growing marijuana. Some apply only to commercial cultivation, both indoor and outdoor, but many would also prohibit personal pot gardens that have been legal - or at least overlooked - for 19 years. [continues 476 words]
SAN FRANCISCO - The likelihood that California voters will be asked to legalize recreational marijuana next year is prompting lawmakers to make a serious run at reining in the state's vast medical marijuana industry a job they have deferred for nearly two decades. A pair of bills pending in the California Legislature would create the first statewide regulations for medical marijuana growers, manufacturers of pot-infused products, and distributors such as storefront dispensaries and delivery services. California authorized marijuana use for health purposes with a 1996 ballot measure that allows doctors to recommend the drug for any ailment, deliberately leaving the specifics for how it should be produced and sold for another day. [continues 270 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The likelihood California voters will be asked to legalize recreational marijuana next year is prompting lawmakers to make a serious run at reining in the state's vast medical marijuana industry a job they have deferred for nearly two decades. A pair of bills pending in the California Legislature would create the first statewide regulations for medical marijuana growers, manufacturers of pot-infused products, and distributors such as storefront dispensaries and delivery services. California authorized marijuana use for health purposes with a 1996 ballot measure that allows doctors to recommend the drug for any ailment, deliberately leaving the specifics for how it should be produced and sold for another day. [continues 353 words]
Bill Would Set Rules for Industry That Generates Billions SAN FRANCISCO - Law and order may soon be coming to the Wild West of weed. A California lawmaker has introduced legislation to regulate the state's freewheeling medical marijuana industry - the farmers that grow the drug, the hundreds of storefront shops that sell it and the doctors who write recommendations allowing people to use it. The state in 1996 was the first to authorize marijuana use for health purposes - there are now 20. [continues 776 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Law and order may soon be coming to the Wild West of weed. A California lawmaker has introduced legislation to regulate the state's freewheeling medical marijuana industry - the farmers that grow the drug, the hundreds of storefront shops that sell it and especially the doctors who write recommendations allowing people to use it. The state in 1996 became the first to authorize marijuana use for health purposes - there are now 20. But to this day no one knows how many dispensaries and patients California has or what conditions pot is being used to treat because the loosely worded law did not give government agencies a role in tracking the information. [continues 554 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Law and order may soon be coming to the Wild West of weed. A California lawmaker has introduced legislation to regulate the state's freewheeling medical marijuana industry - the farmers that grow the drug, the hundreds of storefront shops that sell it and especially the doctors who write recommendations allowing people to use it. The state in 1996 was the first to authorize marijuana use for health purposes - there are now 20. But to this day no one knows how many dispensaries and patients California has or what conditions pot is being used to treat because the loosely worded law did not give government agencies a role in tracking the information. [continues 749 words]
Legislation Would Regulate the Industry That Has Had Little Oversight Since 1996. San Francisco (AP) - A California lawmaker has introduced legislation to regulate the state's freewheeling medical marijuana industry - the farmers who grow the drug, the hundreds of storefront shops that sell it and especially the doctors who write recommendations allowing people to use it. The state in 1996was the first to authorize marijuana use for health purposes, but to this day no one knows how many dispensaries and patients California has orwhat conditions pot is being used to treat because the loosely worded law did not give government agencies a role in tracking the information. [continues 307 words]
No One Knows How Many in the State Use Medical Marijuana, but New Legislation Might Change That SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California has seven times as many residents as Colorado, but nearly nine times fewer medical marijuana users, at least on paper. And as far as record-keepers know, the most populous state, home to the nation's first and most liberal medical marijuana laws, also has a smaller number of pot patients than Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana and Oregon. If those statistics look offkilter, they should. The reality is that no one knows how many people are legally using marijuana in California because the state - with hundreds of pot stores and clinics that issue medical marijuana recommendations - does not require residents to register as patients. Of the 16 states that allow the medicinal use of cannabis, it is one of only three without such a requirement. [continues 582 words]
San Francisco (AP) - California has seven times as many residents as Colorado, but nearly nine times fewer medical-marijuana users, at least on paper. And as far as record-keepers know, the most populous state, home to the nation's first and most liberal medical-marijuana laws, also has a smaller number of pot patients than Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan and montana. If those statistics look off-kilter, they should. The reality is that no one knows how many people are legally using marijuana in California because the state - with hundreds of pot stores and clinics that issue medical marijuana recommendations - does not require residents to register as patients. Of the 16 states that allow the medicinal use of cannabis, it is one of only three without such a requirement. [continues 145 words]
New Bill Would Require Medical Marijuana Users to Apply for Identification Cards SAN FRANCISCO - California has seven times as many residents as Colorado, but nearly nine times fewer medical marijuana users, at least on paper. And as far as record-keepers know, the most populous state, home to the nation's first and most liberal medical marijuana laws, also has a smaller number of pot patients than Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana and Oregon. If those statistics look off-kilter, they should. The reality is that no one knows how many people are legally using marijuana in California because the state - with hundreds of pot stores and clinics that issue medical marijuana recommendations - does not require residents to register as patients. Of the 16 states that allow the medicinal use of cannabis, it is one of only three without such a requirement. [continues 343 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists. A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents- a mouth spray called Sativex it seeks to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. It hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013. [continues 333 words]
SAN FRANCISCO -- A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists. A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents- a mouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. And it hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013. [continues 925 words]
British Will Seek FDA OK for Pain Spray SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A quartercentury after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves. A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents- a mouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. And it hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013. [continues 490 words]
U.K.-Based Gw Pharma Is in Advanced Clinical Trials for the World's First Pharmaceutical Developed From Raw Marijuana - a Mouth Spray It Hopes to Market in the U.S. As a Treatment for Cancer Pain. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists. [continues 843 words]
Forget Hippie Hill. For thoroughly modern marijuana smokers in the San Francisco Bay area, the hip place to celebrate their movement's high holiday this year was the inside of stretch Hummer parked outside a pot gardening superstore where entrepreneurs mingled with investors and a city councilman. Marijuana legalization advocates across the country are expected to light up during Tuesday's annual observance of 4/20, the celebration-cum-mass civil disobedience derived from "420" - insider shorthand for cannabis consumption. IGrow, a 3-month-old cultivation equipment emporium, got a 24-hour jump start on the festivities by sponsoring a "420 Eve" festival Monday afternoon. [continues 552 words]
OAKLAND, Calif. =AD Forget Hippie Hill. For thoroughly modern marijuana smokers in the San Francisco Bay area, the hip place to celebrate their movement's high holiday this year was the inside of a stretch Hummer parked outside a pot gardening superstore where entrepreneurs mingled with investors and a city councilman. Marijuana legalization advocates across the country are expected to light up during Tuesday's annual observance of 4/20, the celebration-cum-mass civil disobedience derived from "420" =AD insider shorthand for cannabis consumption. IGrow, a 3-month-old cultivation equipment emporium, got a 24-hour jump start on the festivities by sponsoring a "420 Eve" festival Monday afternoon. [continues 554 words]
SAN FRANCISCO -- Patients, growers and clinics in some of the 14 states that allow medical marijuana are falling victim to robberies, home invasions, shootings and even murders at the hands of pot thieves. There have been dozens of cases in recent months alone. The issue received more attention this week after a prominent medical marijuana activist in Seattle nearly killed a robber in a shootout - the eighth time thieves had targeted his pot-growing operation. News of crimes related to medical marijuana comes at an awkward time for California and Washington advocates who are pushing to pass ballot measures to allow all adults, not just the seriously ill, to possess the drug. Critics say the heists and holdups prove that marijuana and crime are inseparable. Marijuana advocates contend that further legalization is the answer. "Whenever you are dealing with drugs and money, there is going to be crime. If people think otherwise, they are very naive," said Scott Kirkland, the police chief in El Cerrito, Calif., and a vocal critic of his state's voter-approved medical marijuana law. [continues 745 words]
Leaders Issue Budget Warning SACRAMENTO - In a rare show of unity, California's top higher education officials on Monday warned that inadequate state funding is bleeding the quality from one of the world's most celebrated college and university systems. The leaders of the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges predicted that a new round of spending cuts would have dire consequences for their 142 campuses, from losing top-notch faculty to making a college degree too expensive for some students. [continues 512 words]
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Armed with a new study that showed smoking marijuana eased pain in some HIV patients, medical marijuana advocates sued the federal government Wednesday over its claim that pot has no accepted medical benefits. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by Americans for Safe Access accuses the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of engaging in "arbitrary and unlawful behavior" that prevents "sick and dying persons from seeking to obtain medicine that could provide them needed, and often lifesaving relief." [continues 252 words]