The Oakland, Calif., city council voted to suspend a plan to allow the creation of four large-scale marijuana-growing facilities, in the latest setback for California's burgeoning marijuana movement. Tuesday night's vote follows warnings from the Obama administration and a local district attorney that the facilities, which would be built and operated as private ventures, could violate federal and state laws. California law allows marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. Federal law prohibits any use of pot, though the Obama administration has indicated it will largely allow states to enforce their own medical-marijuana laws. [continues 467 words]
About 40 employees of an Oakland, Calif., marijuana-growing company joined the Teamsters union earlier this month, becoming what are believed to be the first pot growers to unionize in the country. Employees of the grower, Marjyn Investments LLC, which grows pot for medicinal purposes, approached the union earlier this year, said Marty Frates, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 70. The pot-grower's employees ratified a two-year contract in early September, he said. Use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is allowed under California law, although it is still a violation of federal law. Medical-pot dispensaries are common in big California cities. [continues 306 words]
SAN FRANCISCO -- Proponents of a ballot measure that would legalize marijuana in California said they have collected enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the state's November 2010 ballot. The measure's supporters said they have collected 650,000 signatures, exceeding the 433,971 required for the ballot. "Today we're declaring an overwhelming victory in this important first stage of taxing and regulating cannabis," said proponent Richard Lee in prepared remarks. He runs an Oakland, Calif., school that teaches people to be pot entrepreneurs. [continues 293 words]
SAN FRANCISCO -- A majority of Californians in recent polls say the state should legalize marijuana. What pot proponents can't agree on is how soon voters will really be ready to approve legalization. A schism has emerged among California's pot-legalization advocates. On one side are those pushing to get a proposition to voters quickly, including activists such as Richard Lee, who last month began collecting signatures to put a pot-legalization measure on the state's November 2010 ballot. [continues 806 words]
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Leaders of this economically hard-hit city are proposing to tax medical marijuana as a way to help close a record budget shortfall. Oakland's City Council last week approved a 1.8% tax on medicinal marijuana sold in the city. If voters pass the proposal in a July election, Oakland would become the nation's first city to directly tax the drug, medical-marijuana advocates say. Such an outcome would further legitimize medical marijuana in California and represent the latest victory for advocates. Prospects for such a tax were made brighter in February, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the federal government would no longer raid state-approved dispensaries. [continues 314 words]
SAN FRANCISCO -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement that the federal government will no longer raid medical-marijuana dispensaries was cheered by California dealers as well as state legislators who seek to legalize and tax sales of the drug. Under the Bush administration, the Drug Enforcement Agency raided dispensaries across the country. Such seizures were especially common in California, which in 1996 became the first state to legalize marijuana sales to people with doctor's prescriptions -- in opposition to federal laws banning any use of the drug. [continues 483 words]
SAN FRANCISCO -- A state legislator proposed legalizing the sale of marijuana in California, saying the plan would generate more than $1 billion annually for the cash-strapped state. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill Monday that would legalize possession and sales of the drug for people aged 21 and older. The legislation would impose regulations and taxation similar to those for alcohol sales. Federal law makes it a crime to possess or sell marijuana, so the measure, if passed, would likely face an immediate legal challenge. Mr. Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat who is well known in the state as a champion of liberal causes, proposes a tax of $50 on an ounce of marijuana, which sells for a few hundred dollars on the street. California's dire financial situation was the impetus for proposing the bill, said Quintin Mecke, a spokesman for Mr. Ammiano. The state, which last week closed a $42 billion budget deficit through steep spending cuts and tax increases, should be making money on pot sales, Mr. Mecke said. He estimated that marijuana is a $14 billion-a-year crop in California. [continues 236 words]
A federal law that went into effect six years ago has resulted in hundreds of college students from northern New England being denied federal financial aid because of past drug offenses or their refusal to answer questions about drug convictions. Financial aid was denied to 669 applicants out of 356,394 students in Maine, 541 out of 322,761 in New Hampshire and 204 out of 172,625 in Vermont due to drug-related offenses, according to the Associated Press. Zachary Heiden of the Maine Civil Liberties Union told the AP the law discriminates against the poor because it does not affect students from affluent families that can pay for college without financial aid and because students convicted of other crimes remain eligible for aid. [continues 70 words]
