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Legal Pot in California in 2010? "Oaksterdam" Provides the Model
June 17, 2009 – There is a buzz moving through the culture, as the public attitudes around cannabis use are rapidly shifting, that the legalization of marijuana in some states, particularly California, is a growing possibility. Recent polling by Zogby in May demonstrated that a majority of Americans, say it “makes sense to tax and…
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Legalization? Now for the Hard Question
June 13th, 2009 – ETHAN NADELMANN, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, has been advocating for legalization of marijuana for 20 years and says he’s seen more progress in the last four months than in the previous two decades. “It’s starting to cascade,” he said. “Our model is the gay rights movement and their…
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Pot advocates want California to vote on legalization
June 13th, 2009 – SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Californians could legally possess up to one ounce of pot and cities could sell and tax the drug under an initiative marijuana advocates want to place on the state’s 2010 ballot. The Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 is being pushed by pot activists who…
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366-day sentence for pot dispensary owner
Friday, June 12, 2009 – A federal judge sentenced the owner of a Central California medical marijuana dispensary to a year and a day in prison Thursday, spurning the Obama administration’s push to give the defendant five years imprisonment in a test case of new federal policies toward state pot laws. Charles Lynch’s case was…
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Backers of legal pot eye November 2010 ballot
June 11, 2009 — With polls showing the legalization of marijuana gaining public support, and a state budget crisis fueling an ever-more-desperate search for revenue, backers of the first major statewide initiative to legalize marijuana for personal use – and allow counties to tax and regulate the drug – say they’re preparing to get the…
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A Toke and a Tax – If governments legalize marijuana, how much revenue can they raise from it?
June 10, 2009 – The worse the economy gets, the better marijuana looks—not necessarily for its psychedelic properties, but for its revenue potential. As more cities and states face budget deficits, the idea that legal, regulated marijuana could reel in a bounty of taxes is gaining traction. This development has confounded legalization advocates, rendering their…
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L.A. closes loophole for medical marijuana dispensaries
June 10th, 2009 – Stunned by the spread of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, the City Council moved Tuesday to close a loophole that had encouraged their rapid growth. The council also rejected a dozen applications from dispensaries that sought permission to operate despite the city’s moratorium and prepared to extend the ban for…
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California Medical Marijuana Bill Calls for End to Federal Interference
Resolution urges the President and Congress to develop comprehensive policy June 9, 2009 – SACRAMENTO – State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced a joint resolution late yesterday that urges the federal government to end medical marijuana raids in California and to “create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access…
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L.A. City Council begins process of reigning in the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries
First Batch of Marijuana Hardship Exemptions Headed to Council on Tuesday June 9th, 2009 – DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — City Council will begin the process of reigning in the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday when it considers the first dozen of roughly 500 applications that have been filed since a 2007 ordinance forbidding…
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L.A. moves to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries
June 7th, 2009 – With hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries operating across Los Angeles in violation of a moratorium, the City Council has set the stage to start enforcing the ban, which went into effect almost 21 months ago. The city clerk has notified 14 dispensaries that their requests for exemptions from the moratorium will…