In the first two months of cannabis legalization, consumers bought an estimated $339 million worth of marijuana products from retailers in California, 50 percent less than state projections, according to a leading analytics firm. The state has estimated that retail cannabis sales for the year would be $3.4 billion, or $570 million every two months. BDS Analytics of Boulder, Colorado, provided the firm's data to The Bee. Greg Shoenfeld, vice president for operations, said the company collects sales data from dispensaries and uses statistical modeling to project statewide sales. BDS Analytics also collects and analyzes such data in the three other states with recreational marijuana: Oregon, Washington and Colorado. [continues 443 words]
What makes a 40-year-old marijuana movie relevant? Cheech and Chong have an answer. When Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong made their groundbreaking movie "Up in Smoke" 40 years ago, marijuana and the culture surrounding it were much different. People smoked "Mexican brick weed," and often had to search high and low to "score a lid" because it was illegal. Nowadays, consumers vape, eat and smoke cannabis, which is much stronger and comes in so many strains that someone mimicked the periodic table to keep track of them all. And, of course, cannabis is legal in some form in much of the country. [continues 641 words]
Three months into the start of California's recreational marijuana market, industry leaders are voicing concerns that sales are not meeting projections, and that high taxes, complicated regulations and a thriving black market are having deleterious effects. The leaders pressed government officials to make changes during Tuesday's gathering of an estimated 600 people at the California Cannabis Industry Association conference at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento. "This is an industry in crisis," said Kristi Knoblich, president of the association's board and co-founder of Kiva Confections, a manufacturer of edible cannabis products. "This is me sounding the alarm." [continues 599 words]
A popular marijuana website has told the state's cannabis czar that she lacks the authority to make the company stop running advertisements for unlicensed pot retailers. In a letter sent Monday to Lori Ajax of the Bureau of Cannabis Control, Doug Francis and Chris Beals of Weedmaps.com said the company is not licensed by the bureau and therefore not subject to its enforcement. They also said Weedmaps is protected from such action because the company is an "interactive computer service" covered under the federal Communications Decency Act. The law states that such a service shall not be treated as the publisher of information provided by a third party. [continues 405 words]
Unlicensed marijuana delivery companies are operating across Sacramento County, drawing the ire of legal pot retailers and warnings from state and local regulators. Regulators cite concerns about the delivery companies not paying fees and taxes and selling weed that hasn't been tested for pesticides or other possible toxins. They say the companies are threatening the financial viability of legal retailers who must pay those costs in a new legal marijuana market that started in California on Jan. 1. In Sacramento County, about 200 marijuana delivery services were advertising Friday on the website Weedmaps.com. Only one jurisdiction in the county, the city of Sacramento, has plans to allow cannabis delivery services, and it has yet to issue permits. In the interim, city pot czar Joe Devlin has told delivery companies to register with city, and eight have done so. [continues 835 words]
A company responsible for keeping Sacramento dispensaries compliant with the law has run afoul of the city's pot czar for planning an illegal marijuana party. Capitol Compliance Management and its nine affiliated dispensaries have been running advertisements in the Sacramento News & Review for a "Holiday Budtender Bash" that was scheduled for Thursday. Joe Devlin, the city's chief of cannabis policy and enforcement, said the company canceled the event after he told them it would violate state and city laws by allowing public consumption of marijuana and by giving it away. [continues 373 words]
California's top cannabis regulator said the state deserves credit for a successful rollout of retail marijuana sales, but acknowledged that significant issues loom in the near future. One month after the start of recreational marijuana sales, Lori Ajax, chief of the state Bureau of Cannabis Control, gave an assessment of the state's performance for a few hundred people at the International Cannabis Business Conference. She praised her employees, who worked through the weekend before the Monday, Jan. 1 beginning of legal sales, granting licenses to dispensaries eager to start. Employees continued to work on Jan. 1, expecting to receive complaints from license applicants and holders, but they never came, Ajax said. [continues 360 words]
During his 25 years of researching cannabis, Dr. Daniele Piomelli has received hundreds of emails from people desperately wanting to know whether the plant can help them with medical problems. He recalls the one he received from the father of a girl with autism who was desperate for help. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, I have to say, 'We just don't know,' " said Piomelli, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. "It's heartbreaking." While Piomelli and other marijuana researchers acknowledge a shortage of research on the benefits and risks of the drug, they also said they feel the need to spread what is known about cannabis as California and seven other states move forward with legalized, recreational weed for adults. Piomelli was one of several public health experts who spoke Thursday during a legislative briefing at the state Capitol on the health effects of cannabis. [continues 385 words]
Critics said this ad promoted drug use. Now the state of California has pulled it Video: The campaign, released ahead of California legalizing marijuana on Jan. 1, stirred controversy with viewers over its descriptions of the drug. California Office of Traffic Safety The California Office of Traffic Safety has pulled a public service advertisement that was intended to stop stoned driving but critics said promoted marijuana use. The office joined with law enforcement leaders last week to announce a marketing campaign called "DUI Doesn't Just Mean Booze," which included the controversial advertisement. The campaign was timed to coincide with the start of recreational weed sales in California on Jan. 1. [continues 319 words]
Recreational weed is now legal in California. So what does that mean? In January 2018, state and local authorities will begin issuing licenses for the sale of legal recreational marijuana. But what do you need to know before you rush to the dispensary? Information courtesy of Ballotpedia.com. The California Department of Food and Agriculture has defied the will of voters by allowing large-scale marijuana farms, a group representing growers alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. At issue is a dispute that has divided the industry over whether the state should prohibit sizable cultivation facilities for the first five years of legalized retail marijuana sales, which started Jan. 1 of this year. [continues 263 words]
Sacramento has more retail cannabis shops than any other city in California, which is the largest retail marijuana market in the country. According to recent records from the state Bureau of Cannabis Control, Sacramento has 15 dispensaries licensed to sell recreational weed to adults 21 and over, followed by San Diego with 13, San Francisco with nine and Cathedral City with eight. These figures will change as the bureau continues to process license applications. Dispensaries in some places, notably Los Angeles and San Francisco, lagged in the application process because local officials did not approve their own regulations as early as Sacramento and other cities. [continues 110 words]
Cannabis 101: Here's what you need to know about recreational marijuana With recreational marijuana becoming available for sale on New Year's Day, you may be asking yourself: Do I want to try this stuff? If you have never used cannabis, or if it has been a long time since you have, you need to know that pot isn't just consumed through joints and bongs anymore. Consumers also use vape pens, edibles and other products. And marijuana has higher amounts of THC -- pot's psychoactive ingredient -- than it once did. In the early 1990s, the average amount of THC in confiscated marijuana samples was roughly 3.7 percent, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Now, many retail strains test in the high 20s and some even top 30 percent. [continues 626 words]
The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday approved funding sources for increased law enforcement against illegal indoor pot grows, following a two-month pilot program that led to the closure of 614 pot houses. The city expects to spend between $700,000 and $1.1 million on police efforts to stop the approximately 1,000 illegal grows in Sacramento houses in the fiscal year ending June 30. The city will pay those costs with tax revenue collected from legal marijuana businesses, which are expected to start operating sometime after Jan. 1, when adults can purchase pot for recreational use statewide. The city plans to supplement that tax revenue with administrative fines collected from illegal pot growers. [continues 338 words]
Recreational weed is now legal in California. So what does that mean? In January 2018, state and local authorities will begin issuing licenses for the sale of legal recreational marijuana. But what do you need to know before you rush to the dispensary? Information courtesy of Ballotpedia.com. When recreational marijuana sales became legal in Nevada on July 1, customers were lined up around the block of a dispensary near downtown Reno, eager to buy buds. In Las Vegas, cannabis enthusiasts showed up in limos and tour buses, ready to participate in the opening-day pot festivities. [continues 1443 words]
If you are 21, you can grow marijuana in California. But the rules vary by city. Here is what's legal in Sacramento if you want to grow pot. California's illegally grown marijuana, once largely produced in national forests and other outdoor locations, is increasingly found indoors, federal statistics show. In 2016, authorities seized 313,000 plants from indoor operations in California, which made up 75 percent of all indoor plants taken nationwide, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. [continues 178 words]
Sacramento County supervisors are expected Tuesday to limit the indoor growth of marijuana to nine plants per house in unincorporated areas. The indoor restriction comes nearly two months after the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to ban outdoor marijuana growth, joining a number of other California cities and counties that have targeted cultivation in response to safety and nuisance complaints. Sheriff Scott Jones said earlier this year a profusion of marijuana grows have led to burglaries and, in some cases, fatal shootings. [continues 462 words]
Sacramento County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to ban outdoor marijuana crops, joining a growing number of California cities and counties that have prohibited cultivation in response to safety and nuisance complaints. Sheriff Scott Jones told supervisors that marijuana plants have increased throughout the county because of a lack of clarity in federal and state laws and inconsistent prosecution. County aides and law enforcement showed numerous aerial photos of reported grow sites, including open space near Rio Linda High School and the Cherry Island Soccer Complex. [continues 696 words]
Concerns About Crime Drive Moratorium. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, citing their rapid growth and concerns about crime. At least 15 dispensaries are operating in unincorporated parts of the county, many of which opened after the city of Fresno banned their activity last year, officials said. The board's action means no new dispensaries can open in unincorporated parts of the county, while existing ones will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to see whether they can continue operating. The county also will draft regulations for dispensaries. [continues 295 words]
Efforts by the group targeting violent crime in Tucson have led to 37 people being charged. [photo] Norma Jeam Gargasz, Tucson Citizen Attorney General John Ashcroft discusses at the University of Arizona the recently announced federal initiative aimed at reducing crime in 15 U.S. communities. Tucson is one of the 15. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft yesterday praised early efforts by a federal task force to remove repeat offenders from Tucson's most violent neighborhoods. The Violent Crime Impact Team's work led to charges for 37 people, mostly weapons violations, between May 17 and June 27, its first six weeks. [continues 477 words]
BILOXI - Two security guards, who were supposed to prevent drug smuggling through the Port of Gulfport, face charges of possessing cocaine on a banana cargo ship. Norman Garita and Joel Vargas carried about two kilograms of cocaine on the Cape Cavo, which traveled from Turbo, Colombia, to the port in February, according to a sworn statement from a U.S. Customs agent. A federal grand jury charged Garita and Vargas with conspiring to import drugs, importing drugs and possession of drugs with the intention of distributing them. Jose Diaz of Houston, who allegedly tried to buy the cocaine and was involved in a chase afterward, was charged with the same crimes. [continues 304 words]
