If you want to get attention in Rainbow Harbor, hovering over the sea with a water-propelled jetpack is a pretty effective means of doing so. And that's just the tactic deployed Friday afternoon in an effort to promote drug use. That drug is alcohol -- specifically, Air (Alcohol Inspired Refresher), a mixture of alcohol and carbonated water with citrus and berry flavors, according to the product's website. But the fact that alcohol is a society-sanctioned multibillion-dollar industry doesn't make it any less a drug than crack and heroin -- the two substances directly behind alcohol in a 2010 study published by The Lancet naming alcohol as the drug responsible for the greatest amount of combined personal and societal harm (While the study focused specifically on the United Kingdom, there is no evidence suggesting that harms caused by alcohol don't translate across the Pond). [continues 722 words]
In a decision that may have major implications for the City of Long Beach's ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries, an appeals court has ruled that a similar ban imposed by Los Angeles County is preempted by state law. "[... T]he County's complete ban on all 'medical marijuana dispensaries,' including collectives and cooperatives authorized under Health and Safety Code section 11362.775, conflicts with, and is thus preempted by, California's medical marijuana laws," writes Judge P.J. Mallano in the unanimous decision handed down by the California Court of Appeals (2nd District) on July 2. [continues 671 words]
During last Tuesday's city council meeting, Long Beach Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell made several arguments in favor of the City's ban of medical-marijuana dispensaries, including one stating the need for a complete ban in order to obtain federal aid. "If we were able to get the ban, we then are allowed to get on the list to be able to work with the U.S. Attorney and the DEA to be able to do asset forfeiture, to be able to seize the assets of those that are selling within the city," said McDonnell. "We can't do that as long as we have the two-tiered system where the City has somewhat sanctioned the 18 [dispensaries] and not the rest." [continues 584 words]
A decision wasn't expected for at least another week, but on Wednesday the California Supreme Court indicated its intent to review four medical-marijuana cases, including the Pack decision, which preempted most of the City of Long Beach's medpot ordinance. The decision came less than 24 hours after the Long Beach City Council voted to postpone action on a proposed ban on medpot collectives until February 14, when the full council is slated to be present. "These cases were very problematic for patients and their ability to safely and legally access a medication that works for them," said Joe Elford, chief counsel of Americans for Safe Access, a leading medpot advocacy group. "We're very pleased that local governments will now be without the means to deny access to medical marijuana for patients in their communities, at least until or unless the Supreme Court has ruled otherwise." [continues 309 words]
Fifteen years ago, Californians made the Golden State the first to allow its residents the relief cannabis provides for a long list of ailments. Because marijuana, despite its illegality, had long established itself as the USA's #1 cash crop, it didn't take an act of clairvoyance to foresee that the medical marijuana industry would turn out to be every bit as much about business and politics as about medicine. Probably no one, though, would have guessed just how convoluted the issue has gotten in a little patch of California called Long Beach. [continues 1919 words]
Medical marijuana is not illegal in California, but the DEA continues to raid dispensaries in Long Beach. We ask the obvious question: Why? It's just before noon on a sunny day in early October, and a young man in a Dodgers T-shirt skateboards up one of the funky East Village sidewalks of downtown Long Beach to 745 E. Fourth Street, picks up his board and enters Unit E. Inside the small vestibule, he greets the guys behind the counter and presents documents confirming that a doctor has diagnosed him with a medical condition with symptoms alleviated by the use of marijuana. He takes a seat to wait. He doesn't know his arrival has been watched. But any second now, he will. [continues 2972 words]
