Los Angeles, CA -- Federal District Court Judge George H. Wu issued a 41-page written sentencing order yesterday, stating that medical marijuana provider Charles C. Lynch was "caught in the middle of the shifting positions" on the issue and that, "Much of the problems could be ameliorated...by the reclassification of marijuana from Schedule I." Lynch gained notoriety as a federal medical marijuana defendant, who was prosecuted and convicted in 2008, under the Bush Administration, then sentenced after President Obama signaled a change in federal enforcement policy.
Judge Wu's call for the reclassification of marijuana comes as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is considering a petition, filed in 2002 by the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis. After a years-long review by the Department of Health and Human Services, the petition was recently sent to DEA, the final stage of the process. Acting DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, who still must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, has the authority to grant or deny the rescheduling petition.
"Yet another federal judge has called on the government to reconsider the current status of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical value," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access, the country's largest medical marijuana advocacy organization. "Judge Wu's sentencing order also begs the question of why the federal government is still prosecuting medical marijuana cases." Elford argued before Judge Wu last year that Lynch should be shown leniency as no state laws had been violated.
It has been more than ten months since Judge Wu sentenced Lynch to one year and a day, and four years of supervised release, despite the 5-year mandatory minimum being sought by the Justice Department. Four months after the June 11th sentencing hearing, the Justice Department issued a directive in October to U.S. Attorneys, discouraging them from arresting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients and providers. Lynch remains released on bail pending his appeal, but cannot use medical marijuana according to the terms of his release.
Before his medical marijuana dispensary was raided by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in March of 2007, Lynch had operated for 11 months without incident, and with the blessing of the Morro Bay City Council, the local Chamber of Commerce, and other community members. Two months after Lynch closed his dispensary, Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers, he was indicted and charged with conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute marijuana and concentrated cannabis, manufacturing more than 100 plants, knowingly maintaining a drug premises, and sales of marijuana to a person under the age of 21. None of the federal charges Lynch was convicted of constituted violations of local or state law.
Currently, patients and providers are prevented from using a medical necessity or a state law defense in federal court. The Justice Department policy has failed to deter the prosecution of more than two dozen pending federal cases. In response, ASA is advocating for the passage of Congressional legislation -- HR 3939, the Truth in Trials Act -- which would give state law-compliant defendants a fighting chance in federal court.
Further information:
Federal Judge George Wu's Sentencing Order: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/Lynch_Sentencing_Order.pdf
Friends of Charles C. Lynch website: http://www.friendsofccl.com
If you know of an event that you feel should be listed on our calendar, please send details to info@mjdispensaries.com ~Thank You
Friday, April 30, 2010
NEWS: Wildomar Mayor Bridgette Moore speaks out on medical marijuana
The City of Wildomar is faced with making a decision about allowing a medical marijuana collaborative to be opened within the City. Let me make it perfectly clear that I am not opposed to alleviating legitimate medical needs, as defined by a medical doctor, of anyone — far from it.
However, we need to look at some of the factors to consider in approving a medical marijuana facility within our community.
The medical benefits of marijuana and its synthetic derivative, Marinol, have been studied for decades now. Glaucoma, nausea relief, appetite enhancement and mood elevators seem pretty well a given. So why not rush out and start approving facilities to help alleviate needless pain and suffering? Nobody wants any human being to suffer, of course, but the key words are here are “needless suffering” and “rush.”
First off, there is still a clear conflict between State and Federal laws. It’s not known exactly how this is going to resolve itself, if it ever does. Voters in California will be asked about legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes this November. How will that affect marijuana collaboratives?
Would it be better to wait a few months and see what the outcome is? Is this truly a “rush” situation? Communities that have approved marijuana-dispensing facilities sometimes find themselves in a bind with their own law enforcement departments over enforcement issues. Also, are there secondary law enforcement issues about a marijuana dispensing facility in our community that we should consider? Does it have an impact on our already stretched thin police department? We should be pretty sure about that before we proceed, I think.
Second, how many marijuana facilities are required to serve our resident population? Of the folks testifying recently on advocating the opening of medical marijuana collaborative in Wildomar, how many of them were residents? Will we be attracting individuals from other communities? Are there other problems that may result from this?
Thirdly, let’s consider accessibility, (translate to “needless suffering”). I heard in testimony last Wednesday someone say, “These people are suffering right now. We’ve got to do something.”
As I said previously, I think I am about as compassionate a person as they come as I have spent thousands of volunteer hours in just about every cause you can think of. However, I also heard on Wednesday testimony from the owner of a medical marijuana collective in Lake Elsinore. Is it a valid argument to state that we need to move forward with all due haste on a medical marijuana collaborative in Wildomar when a similar facility is already available in Lake Elsinore? Here again, I’m not saying that perhaps a facility in town would not be appropriate, rather I’m saying let’s look very carefully before we leap.
Lastly, let’s consider the cost.
Yes, I know that perhaps the city can receive some kind of taxable proceeds from the sale of marijuana. However, I don’t think our motivation to open a facility should be based on that. It’s been estimated that the City has already spent $12,000 on preparing for this item at City Council. It will cost at least another $5,000 for legal review. We don’t know what additional law enforcement or other costs might be. If the City did want to tax it then we would have to have an election and that’s another cost at an estimate of $30,000.
If I was going to be flippant about this, I could suggest that it would have been far cheaper to have the City pay for taxi cab rides to Lake Elsinore for every resident of Wildomar with a legitimate doctor’s prescription. Of course this is ridiculous, but you can see these are real costs we’re talking about here.
I don’t know how this issue is going to resolve. Who knows, if my questions are all answered and the residents of Wildomar favor the establishment of marijuana collaborative, perhaps I’ll help lead the charge. But until those questions are cleared up, I strongly advise we take this one cautious step at a time. It’s generally a good rule of thumb to measure twice and cut once.
Bridgette Moore is Wildomar’s Mayor and was the lone dissenting vote April 28 on a city council motion to draft a new zoning ordinance to allow medical marijuana operations in Wildomar.
Source: Southwest Riverside News Network
NEWS: Making Sense of Medical Marijuana in San Diego
At first, the city of San Diego's decision last summer to stop allowing medical marijuana outlets to open within its boundaries didn't attract much attention. A September police raid of some city outlets brought the matter widespread publicity. The city's reason for halting the outlets from opening? The city had no rules for how they are supposed to operate.
One outcome of the stoppage was September's establishment of a medical marijuana task force to help the City Council develop guidelines for addressing one of the murkiest issues in the California: How to give people access to a substance the state says they can have, but the federal government says they cannot.
Alex Kreit, an assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, has chaired the medical marijuana task force since its beginning.
The task force recently completed its work, recommending to the council everything from the distance separating medical marijuana outlets and schools to background checks for employees. So far, the task force's work has been through two City Council committees. Kreit hoped the council would pass a medical marijuana ordinance this summer, though two important actors haven't been part of the process: Mayor Jerry Sanders and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
Kreit spoke in favor of swift controls, pointing to Oakland, which has a few well-regulated outlets, as a successful model and Los Angeles as an example where the slow implementation of rules led to a proliferation of unregulated outlets before a recent crackdown. The best estimates for the number of outlets in San Diego now, Kreit said, are 75 to 100.
Right now, does San Diego have a medical marijuana problem?
I think so. Any time you have unregulated entities, that's going to pose a problem. Citizens are going to be rightly concerned that a collective or cooperative could just open up shop in a location that's just not appropriate for whatever reason. I think you see a problem on both sides. For patients I think it's harder for them in some ways in this kind of system, too.
Because they don't know what places are legitimate and what places are some fly-by-night operation.
Do you think that if guidelines are implemented it would end the proliferation and bust cycle that has characterized local medical marijuana policies locally? And can you address that in the context of the Mayor's Office and the District Attorney's Office not participating in the task force?
Once regulations are established I don't think it will immediately end some of the uncertainty, but I think it will immediately speak to the concerns that citizens have about places that are opening up in inappropriate locations or without permits because those places will presumably have to come into compliance with whatever ordinance is passed.
Specifically with respect to the issues that you've talked about with the district attorney, that I think is one of the things that makes it a little trickier in San Diego. The district attorney has taken a very unusually restrictive view of what the state law says. They seem hesitant to budge from that view and they don't seem to be willing to come to the table to come up with a constructive, sensible solution.
Even absent any city regulations it's going to be very hard for the county to keep going into court with the legal interpretation that they have. Because the two times they've gone to jury trials with their argument, which is basically that in order for a collective or cooperative to be legal under state law it has to be run like a commune where everyone is coming in and giving labor, juries have rejected it very quickly. When you think about a collective and a cooperative, anybody who's ever been a member of a food co-op knows most members aren't growing the turnips and the radishes.
What happens if the city doesn't pass an ordinance?
I think that would be the worst possible outcome. In the absence of regulations that's when it leaves places to just open up and then the only the mechanism really for going after them is costly and difficult criminal prosecutions.
I suspect there are a lot of places that might have been thinking about opening up a collective or cooperative and now they look at it and say the city is about to enact regulations and they're probably holding off. If it doesn't happen, if the city says we're going to enact a moratorium for a year and revisit it a year from now, that's going to be a signal to places that are going to say: 'Oh well, we're just going to open up shop wherever we want.' The important thing is that more than any specific regulation, get something in place.
If you had to come up with a metaphor for how to explain how medical marijuana laws function in this state what would be the best comparison?
That's tough because they're in a pretty unique place. It's a system where federal law makes it tough to have some of the regulations that most folks want. The most common thing I hear is, why can't this just be sold at a pharmacy like any other medication? Most folks would support that on all sides of the issue. The problem is because of federal law that's why it can't be. It's left to the state and the localities to come up with their own systems for how to address this. Unless and until federal law changes that's going to be the case.
-- Interview conducted and edited by LIAM DILLON
Source: Voice of San Diego
One outcome of the stoppage was September's establishment of a medical marijuana task force to help the City Council develop guidelines for addressing one of the murkiest issues in the California: How to give people access to a substance the state says they can have, but the federal government says they cannot.
Alex Kreit, an assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, has chaired the medical marijuana task force since its beginning.
The task force recently completed its work, recommending to the council everything from the distance separating medical marijuana outlets and schools to background checks for employees. So far, the task force's work has been through two City Council committees. Kreit hoped the council would pass a medical marijuana ordinance this summer, though two important actors haven't been part of the process: Mayor Jerry Sanders and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
Kreit spoke in favor of swift controls, pointing to Oakland, which has a few well-regulated outlets, as a successful model and Los Angeles as an example where the slow implementation of rules led to a proliferation of unregulated outlets before a recent crackdown. The best estimates for the number of outlets in San Diego now, Kreit said, are 75 to 100.
Right now, does San Diego have a medical marijuana problem?
I think so. Any time you have unregulated entities, that's going to pose a problem. Citizens are going to be rightly concerned that a collective or cooperative could just open up shop in a location that's just not appropriate for whatever reason. I think you see a problem on both sides. For patients I think it's harder for them in some ways in this kind of system, too.
Because they don't know what places are legitimate and what places are some fly-by-night operation.
Do you think that if guidelines are implemented it would end the proliferation and bust cycle that has characterized local medical marijuana policies locally? And can you address that in the context of the Mayor's Office and the District Attorney's Office not participating in the task force?
Once regulations are established I don't think it will immediately end some of the uncertainty, but I think it will immediately speak to the concerns that citizens have about places that are opening up in inappropriate locations or without permits because those places will presumably have to come into compliance with whatever ordinance is passed.
Specifically with respect to the issues that you've talked about with the district attorney, that I think is one of the things that makes it a little trickier in San Diego. The district attorney has taken a very unusually restrictive view of what the state law says. They seem hesitant to budge from that view and they don't seem to be willing to come to the table to come up with a constructive, sensible solution.
Even absent any city regulations it's going to be very hard for the county to keep going into court with the legal interpretation that they have. Because the two times they've gone to jury trials with their argument, which is basically that in order for a collective or cooperative to be legal under state law it has to be run like a commune where everyone is coming in and giving labor, juries have rejected it very quickly. When you think about a collective and a cooperative, anybody who's ever been a member of a food co-op knows most members aren't growing the turnips and the radishes.
What happens if the city doesn't pass an ordinance?
I think that would be the worst possible outcome. In the absence of regulations that's when it leaves places to just open up and then the only the mechanism really for going after them is costly and difficult criminal prosecutions.
I suspect there are a lot of places that might have been thinking about opening up a collective or cooperative and now they look at it and say the city is about to enact regulations and they're probably holding off. If it doesn't happen, if the city says we're going to enact a moratorium for a year and revisit it a year from now, that's going to be a signal to places that are going to say: 'Oh well, we're just going to open up shop wherever we want.' The important thing is that more than any specific regulation, get something in place.
If you had to come up with a metaphor for how to explain how medical marijuana laws function in this state what would be the best comparison?
That's tough because they're in a pretty unique place. It's a system where federal law makes it tough to have some of the regulations that most folks want. The most common thing I hear is, why can't this just be sold at a pharmacy like any other medication? Most folks would support that on all sides of the issue. The problem is because of federal law that's why it can't be. It's left to the state and the localities to come up with their own systems for how to address this. Unless and until federal law changes that's going to be the case.
-- Interview conducted and edited by LIAM DILLON
Source: Voice of San Diego
NEWS: Wildomar officials will draft medical marijuana law
The Wildomar City Council Wednesday night voted 4-1 to direct officials to draft a law allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
The city will model its ordinance after laws passed in other cities, which allow dispensaries but use zoning codes to keep them out of certain parts of town. Dispensaries are currently banned throughout the city.
The council could vote on a new law at its next meeting, on May 12.
Mayor Bridgette Moore voted against the measure, saying she didn't want the city to spend money on legal fees and staff time to draft the ordinance. The city had already spent about $12,000 to produce a report detailing the legal ramifications of medical marijuana, Assistant City Manager Gary Nordquist said.
Source: The Press-Enterprise
The city will model its ordinance after laws passed in other cities, which allow dispensaries but use zoning codes to keep them out of certain parts of town. Dispensaries are currently banned throughout the city.
The council could vote on a new law at its next meeting, on May 12.
Mayor Bridgette Moore voted against the measure, saying she didn't want the city to spend money on legal fees and staff time to draft the ordinance. The city had already spent about $12,000 to produce a report detailing the legal ramifications of medical marijuana, Assistant City Manager Gary Nordquist said.
Source: The Press-Enterprise
PRESS RELEASE: GreenGro Technologies Obtains Conditional Medical Marijuana Dispensary License in San Diego
BUENA PARK, CA, Apr 29, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- GreenGro Technologies, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: GRNH), a medical marijuana provider holding company, announced today that it has received a conditional approval for a medical marijuana license in the city of San Diego, California. Once approved GreenGro will obtain zoning permits and expects to begin operations within the next three months.
Currently, there are an estimated 80 dispensaries operating within San Diego's city limits, but there have been no zoning permits or business licenses issued until the City Planning Board has voted on the proposed ordinances. The City Planning Board is scheduled to meet on May 16, 2010. The Company anticipates final approval of the zoning ordinances for all medical marijuana dispensaries within the San Diego city limits. After gaining approval from the Planning Commission, it is expected that the City Board will vote to make these changes the new law. Once final approval is received, all licenses will be issued in the name of Non Profit collectives under exclusive contracts with the Company.
GreenGro has entered into separate agreements to provide financial, construction, staffing and management support to the Non Profit collectives who will occupy this facility for a period of 5 years, with a 5 year option. Although the Company plans to announce its financial projections nothing will be forthcoming until the final medical marijuana dispensary licenses are issued.
About GreenGro: GreenGro Technologies is a vertically integrated medical marijuana company which provides management services for the cultivation of medical marijuana to non-profit patient cooperatives in southern California.
Disclaimer: The Company relies upon the Safe Harbor Laws of 1933, 1934 and 1995 for all public news releases. Statements, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. The company, through its management, makes forward-looking public statements concerning its expected future operations, performance and other developments. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the company's best judgment based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that other factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements. It is impossible to identify all such factors. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the company include, but are not limited to, government regulation; managing and maintaining growth; the effect of adverse publicity; litigation; competition; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the company's public announcements.
Currently, there are an estimated 80 dispensaries operating within San Diego's city limits, but there have been no zoning permits or business licenses issued until the City Planning Board has voted on the proposed ordinances. The City Planning Board is scheduled to meet on May 16, 2010. The Company anticipates final approval of the zoning ordinances for all medical marijuana dispensaries within the San Diego city limits. After gaining approval from the Planning Commission, it is expected that the City Board will vote to make these changes the new law. Once final approval is received, all licenses will be issued in the name of Non Profit collectives under exclusive contracts with the Company.
GreenGro has entered into separate agreements to provide financial, construction, staffing and management support to the Non Profit collectives who will occupy this facility for a period of 5 years, with a 5 year option. Although the Company plans to announce its financial projections nothing will be forthcoming until the final medical marijuana dispensary licenses are issued.
About GreenGro: GreenGro Technologies is a vertically integrated medical marijuana company which provides management services for the cultivation of medical marijuana to non-profit patient cooperatives in southern California.
Disclaimer: The Company relies upon the Safe Harbor Laws of 1933, 1934 and 1995 for all public news releases. Statements, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. The company, through its management, makes forward-looking public statements concerning its expected future operations, performance and other developments. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the company's best judgment based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that other factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements. It is impossible to identify all such factors. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the company include, but are not limited to, government regulation; managing and maintaining growth; the effect of adverse publicity; litigation; competition; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the company's public announcements.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Cannabinoids in bipolar affective disorder: a review and discussion of their therapeutic potential
C. H. Ashton, P. B. Moore, P. Gallagher, A. H. Young
Department of Psychiatry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Bipolar affective disorder is often poorly controlled by prescribed drugs. Cannabis use is common in patients with this disorder and anecdotal reports suggest that some patients take it to alleviate symptoms of both mania and depression. We undertook a literature review of cannabis use by patients with bipolar disorder and of the neuropharmacological properties of cannabinoids suggesting possible therapeutic effects in this condition. No systematic studies of cannabinoids in bipolar disorder were found to exist, although some patients claim that cannabisrelieves symptoms of mania and/or depression. The cannabinoids DELTA 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) may exert sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic and anticonvulsant effects. Pure synthetic cannabinoids, such as dronabinol and nabilone and specific plant extracts containing THC, CBD, or amixture of the two in known concentrations, are available and can be delivered sublingually. Controlled trials of these cannabinoids as adjunctive medication in bipolar disorder are now indicated.
Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 19, No. 3, 293-300 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881105051541
Department of Psychiatry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Bipolar affective disorder is often poorly controlled by prescribed drugs. Cannabis use is common in patients with this disorder and anecdotal reports suggest that some patients take it to alleviate symptoms of both mania and depression. We undertook a literature review of cannabis use by patients with bipolar disorder and of the neuropharmacological properties of cannabinoids suggesting possible therapeutic effects in this condition. No systematic studies of cannabinoids in bipolar disorder were found to exist, although some patients claim that cannabisrelieves symptoms of mania and/or depression. The cannabinoids DELTA 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) may exert sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic and anticonvulsant effects. Pure synthetic cannabinoids, such as dronabinol and nabilone and specific plant extracts containing THC, CBD, or amixture of the two in known concentrations, are available and can be delivered sublingually. Controlled trials of these cannabinoids as adjunctive medication in bipolar disorder are now indicated.
Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 19, No. 3, 293-300 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881105051541
OPINION: Legalize marijuana? Not so fast
There's a sense among a lot of Californians that legalizing marijuana and then taxing it is some sort of panacea that would solve many law enforcement problems, make it safer to smoke pot and also produce a tax bonanza of $1 billion or more per year.
Voters will see just such a proposal in November.
Much of the pro-legalization thinking is based on analogies to the alcohol experience, which sees various forms of booze putting about $3 billion into the coffers of state and local governments each year and providing more than 300,000 jobs around the state.
But cannabis is not alcohol and the current confusion about marijuana does not constitute a situation anything like Prohibition.
For one thing, major distilling companies had produced whiskey, beer and other alcoholic beverages legally for many decades before Prohibition. By contrast, not a single significant taxpaying company has produced so much as an ounce of pot in this state or nation in the last century, if ever.
Yes, criminal elements did control much of the booze trade during Prohibition and they did foment gang warfare during the 1920s and early '30s. But backyard breweries and distilleries were far more rare than pot gardens are today. And when it came to larger-scale production, foreigners were rarely involved. So it was far easier to bring alcohol into the realm of legitimate business than is likely with legalized pot.
Then there's the matter of federal law. When Prohibition ended, so did most federal alcohol raids. But Californians have their heads in the sand if they believe a state vote to legalize pot will end all federal raids on growers and gardens.
Yes, President Obama indicated while campaigning in 2008 that he most likely would not hassle mom and pop medical marijuana operations, from growers to dispensaries. And raids have eased off considerably since his election, even if they have not completely stopped. Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder, reserve the option to raid under the constitutional provision giving federal law precedence over state laws.
Obama never said a positive word about recreational marijuana, not covered by the 1996 Proposition 215, which made medpot legal in this state but authorized no other sort of use. Sure, plenty of pot users pay $40 or $50 to shady doctors who hand out the "recommendations" needed to get marijuana at dispensaries that have proliferated in some counties. That's a subterfuge and an end-run around the law, but falls far short of open defiance of federal law, which full legalization would amount to.
Many precedents suggest such defiance would cause the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to restart serious anti-pot enforcement efforts again if recreational use is "legalized."
Then there are the matters of price and taxation. The sales and excise levies that would produce the largest share of taxes anticipated by backers of legalization depend directly both on price and the openness of sales.
How likely are pot prices to remain at their present level of $10 per ounce or more? Not very, if every pot user can suddenly grow his or her own in a backyard or a window box. Which means estimates of the tax take from legalization are probably far higher than it would really be — especially if most pot became home grown and not subject to any taxation at all other than what new growers might pay head shops for seeds or small plants.
And how likely are the big commercial pot growers — those who maintain heavily armed cadres of illegal immigrants around their often-boobytrapped gardens in national forests and other woodlands — to allow themselves to be taxed?
With legalization already likely to bring the street price of pot down, the drug cartels behind many of today's illicit operations won't want to give a nickel to the tax man.
They may, in fact, engage in some kind of warfare against growers who do pay taxes and let themselves be regulated. They won't take kindly to competition or to having their street dealers made irrelevant.
Which means legalization could bring to California the kind of drug wars that now plague countries like Mexico and Colombia, where gangs and cartels openly defy police. It's a Third World horror scene California need not inflict on itself.
None of that even mentions the moral and medical questions often raised both by doctors and police: What is the social benefit of legalizing a mind-altering substance that produces passivity and lethargy? And what about addiction, anxiety and psychosis, three conditions the Harvard Mental Health Letter says (in its April issue) may be associated with regular pot use.
All of which means that life will surely not become simpler if pot were legalized, nor would the benefits be as clear-cut as proponents suggest.
Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram
Craig Beresh from SoCal NORML at public comment (San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force)
Craig Beresh from the Southern California Chapter of NORML (http://www.normlsc.org/wordpress/) shares his concerns with the San Diego City Council and Medical Marijuana Task Force. (December 8, 2009).
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
NEWS: MAMA brings bold message to Bend: Drug war is a failure
Tuesday night, they stopped at the Bend Community Center on their two-week speaking tour of Oregon. Their message was simple: Criminalizing marijuana isn't working.
Howard Wooldrige, a retired law enforcement officer from Texas, is one of the speakers.
"It's been my experience that the war on drugs has been the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery and Jim Crow." Wooldridge said. "It is time to end it, as soon as possible."
Wooldridge and other speakers shared their stories to raise awareness for an issue they say is surrounded by many stigmas.
That's why MAMA is trying to teach people how to understand Oregon's medical marijuana law, how to use it effectively, and fighting for changes in the law.
Alice Ivany, a medical marijuana user for nine years, says like many others, she originally felt demoralized and humiliated by having to use marijuana to control her pain - and now wants to remove the stigma.
"I don't tolerate (traditional prescribed pain medications) well at all," Ivany said.
"So it is a stigma, and as I educated myself about the medical benefits and experienced the medical benefits of this substance, I became frustrated at how the system was working not so well and friendly for patients."
Ivany and Wooldridge say our country has wasted more than $1 trillion over the last 40 years, fighting to get marijuana off the streets - money that could be used elsewhere.
"I would prefer to have our law enforcement out actually searching for people who are trying to hurt us," Ivany said. "I don't think it's reasonable to be out seeking cannabis consumers. It's not cost-effective. It's fiscally irresponsible, in my humble opinion."
Wooldridge had this advice: "Tell your state and federal officials how you feel. Because they need to hear from you. They need to know it's okay to talk about this policy, to discuss it and to find alternatives to locking everybody up."
Ivany and Wooldrige will be touring across the state with MAMA over the next couple weeks. Their next stop is in Klamath Falls Wednesday night. You can read more about their views on the issue at their Website, http://www.mamas.org/
Source: KTVZ-Central Oregon's News Leader Online
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
VIDEO: San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force Report - Public comment by Adela Falk
Adela Falk speaks on behalf of medical marijuana community regarding some of the findings by the San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force. December 8, 2009 City Council Meeting.
Monday, April 26, 2010
NEWS: Police report plate of marijuana on dashboard
LAGUNA BEACH – Police reported finding a plate of marijuana on the dashboard of a parked Kia early Thursday morning.
A Laguna Beach police officer responded to what appeared to be an occupied vehicle during a routine patrol on the 1300 block of Cliff Drive just after midnight Thursday.
The officer reported the car's reverse lights were on, and the key was in the ignition. On the car's floor, the officer saw marijuana containers, and a plate full of marijuana was on the dashboard, according to the police blotter.
Laguna Beach Police Lt. Jason Kravetz said in an e-mail it was not immediately clear if the officer contacted a person inside the vehicle or not, and the amount of the drug was not significant enough to be seized.
"That leads me to believe that the person had a California Medical Marijuana card, or nobody was in the car and it was locked up," Kravetz said.
Source: OC Register
A Laguna Beach police officer responded to what appeared to be an occupied vehicle during a routine patrol on the 1300 block of Cliff Drive just after midnight Thursday.
The officer reported the car's reverse lights were on, and the key was in the ignition. On the car's floor, the officer saw marijuana containers, and a plate full of marijuana was on the dashboard, according to the police blotter.
Laguna Beach Police Lt. Jason Kravetz said in an e-mail it was not immediately clear if the officer contacted a person inside the vehicle or not, and the amount of the drug was not significant enough to be seized.
"That leads me to believe that the person had a California Medical Marijuana card, or nobody was in the car and it was locked up," Kravetz said.
Source: OC Register
NEWS: Mobile medical marijuana dispensary cited by Corona, Norco police
The collective has been on the road for seven months, but this month its operators were cited by Norco and Corona police for possessing drug paraphernalia and operating a dispensary, said Stewart Hauptman and his wife, Helen Cherry, who run the collective.
The couple plans to contest the citations and challenge zoning laws in the two cities that ban dispensaries.
The motorhome collective is parked at the center of a legal debate over whether municipalities have the authority to ban collectives despite a state law that permits them. Medical marijuana became legal for medicinal use in 1996, and municipalities are permitted to regulate them. But legal experts disagree over whether cities can ban them.
Legal experts are watching a state appeals case filed against Anaheim by the Qualified Patients Association. The association argues that the city cannot ban a collective because it conflicts with state law, said Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, a patient-advocacy group in Oakland.
Cherry said her August 2008 experience filling a medical marijuana recommendation for chronic back pain in Los Angeles led her and Hauptman to open the nonprofit Lakeview Collective.
The clinic she went to was less than appealing, she said.
"The paint was coming off the walls and (there were) bars on the windows and no medical equipment to be found. I was like, what the heck is this? This doesn't look legitimate," said Cherry, 60.
Six weeks later, she teamed up with two physicians to open Serenity Medical Evaluations in Norco, where recommendations are written.
Patients then join the Lakeview Collective to purchase the medical marijuana. The collective has about 700 members from the Inland area and as far away as Las Vegas, Cherry said.
"We really want to take care of patients. We're not looking for the 18-year-old stoners," Cherry said. "We have people coming in wheelchairs, in walkers."
William Sump, who runs a Riverside collective called the Inland Empire Health and Wellness Center Medical Marijuana Collective, said he knows of at least four similar mobile medical marijuana collectives.
Riverside County sheriff's Lt. Ross Cooper, who runs the Norco station, said the collective is a sales operation, not a nonprofit organization, so it doesn't meet state guidelines and violates Norco's municipal code.
Norco City Attorney John Harper said the city is seeking a temporary restraining order against what he said is a dispensary.
"We don't perceive what they do as a collective," Harper said. "They sell marijuana out of a van."
Attorney Lawrence Bynum, who represents the collective, said it is legal.
Source: Press-Enterprise
Sunday, April 25, 2010
NEWS: In Mendocino County, pot initiative's a touchy topic
He views his Area 101 spiritual retreat as the answer to the looming upheaval for a renowned California pot-growing region challenged by a November state ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use and new growing techniques.
Blake hopes his roadside haven, where local marijuana tenders gather to share smokes and tales of the harvest, will emerge as a nostalgic tourist draw – a destination honoring Mendocino's proud pot traditions.
California produces one-third of America's pot, with an estimated $13.8 billion cash crop, counting legal medicinal grows and vast illicit production. In this county of 90,000 people, it is an uncomfortable topic. Most civic leaders would rather talk about the enchanting Mendocino Coast, the picturesque mountains and the charming towns.
But weed fuels the regional economy.
"There are people who don't want to talk about it because that may seem as if they're endorsing it," said Bert Mosier, chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce in the county seat of Ukiah. "But this affects our community."
It isn't just the November initiative that has upset the area's pot culture and stirred calls for new approaches.
Blake and others say the local market is already in free fall. Across California, legal medical marijuana dispensaries and indoor hydroponics warehouses that grow high-potency pot are undercutting Mendocino's outdoor crop.
For years, most Mendocino cultivators have grown their "Northern Lights" and "Super Skunk" strains beneath the stars and coastal redwoods. Increasingly, their weed can't compete with the high-octane "Purple Urkles" and "OG Kushes" that flower under glowing indoor lamps.
Pot from Mendocino County fetched more than $5,000 a pound just a decade ago. Now it goes for closer to $2,000, Blake says.
"Most people up here are growing," he said. "And for every grower, you support the gas station, the dry cleaners, the health food store. But everybody's numbers are down. Nobody has any money."
On Saturday, scores of Mendocino marijuana growers and local officials met in Ukiah to ponder the impact on the county if California voters decide to legalize marijuana beyond current medical use. They brainstormed remedies to economic fallout, including promoting pot tourism and branding local medicinal products to bring recognition to Mendocino's crop and its tenders.
Anna Hamilton, a Mendocino musician who hosts a radio talk show in neighboring Humboldt County, warned that the "legalization of marijuana will be the single most devastating event" to hit the region.
But Matthew Cohen, a Mendocino grower whose Northstone Organics delivers pot to medical marijuana patients in Northern California, saw an economic opportunity. "Mendocino can have a hand-picked, boutique market," he said.
'Way of life' threatened?
Pebbles Trippet, a strictly small-time grower, says many cultivators are "worried their way of life is going to be taken away from them."
Trippet, who served jail time for pot-related offenses in three Northern California counties before she settled in Mendocino, organically farms onions, garlic, squash and medical pot on a small riverfront parcel in Cloverdale.
Others see legalization as an opportunity to reshape Mendocino's illicit culture into a legal attraction. They envision Mendocino and neighboring Humboldt County blossoming with smoke fests and meet-the-growers tours, recasting itself as the Napa Valley of pot.
"People in Mendocino County know a better way and they're ready to show it," said Marvin Levin, 35, president of the Mendocino Farmers Collective, a new union of medical pot growers. The collective hopes to market Mendocino's outdoor pot as environmentally sustainable cultivation.
Levin contends that indoor operations, many in or near cities, leave a substantial carbon footprint with excessive electricity use, fertilizers dumped into sewage systems and buildings damaged with moisture and mold.
Indoor cultivators, a minority in Mendocino, use controlled environments to produce multiple cycles a year of thick-budding designer pot strains. Outdoor growers have one large harvest producing plants 12 to 16 feet high.
At harvest time, Area 101 sponsors an annual "Emerald Cup" – honoring the best local pot. No indoor product is allowed. Levin says last year's winner was a special "Cotton Candy Kush." He calls it "a sweet-flavored weed" that is "less musty" than a similar "Diesel Kush" grown indoors.
Tradition of illegal growing
Mendocino's effort to honor its pot traditions belies its long – and continuing – role in criminal marijuana cultivating and trafficking.
Blake admits he used to illicitly truck thousands of Mendocino pot plants for distribution in the San Joaquin Valley. He says he quit the illegal trade after he was spooked by a series of federal raids. "I went from a kingpin to a no-pin," he says.
Now Blake, a 53-year-old cancer survivor, has a county permit to grow 99 medical marijuana plants, the maximum allowed on large acreage. The county allows 25 plants on parcels of five acres or less, if grown for multiple medical users.
But many growers have neither pretense of medical cultivation nor care about limits. Last September, sweeps by federal, state and local narcotics officers resulted in the arrests of numerous local residents illegally cultivating several hundred plants each in mountainous terrain near Laytonville.
Local grower James Taylor Jones, a grizzled Grateful Dead fan who came to the county nine years ago with his wife, Fran Harris, is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. He quit cocaine 25 years ago and gave up drinking 16 years ago. He regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, yet says he is a spiritual devotee to using and cultivating pot for medical purposes.
Jones and Harris, who also run a Laytonville tie-dye T-shirt shop, are part of the Humboldt Farmers Collective and have provided products for dispensaries in Mill Valley and San Francisco. They said they made $55,000 in the pot business last year. They reported it to the Internal Revenue Service as "farm income."
Jones says they're in this lifestyle to stay "no matter what the profit is." But he opposes legalizing recreational use. He believes it will drive other growers out of Mendocino County.
"If it's legalized, the market is going to plummet. There's no question," he said.
But then Jones added: "Who the hell are we to say who can have pot?"
Source: The Sacramento Bee
Saturday, April 24, 2010
NEWS: Don’t Call It ‘Pot’ in This Circle; It’s a Profession
OAKLAND, Calif. — Like hip-hop, health food and snowboarding, marijuana is going corporate.
As more and more states allow medical use of the drug, and California considers outright legalization, marijuana’s supporters are pushing hard to burnish the image of pot by franchising dispensaries and building brands; establishing consulting, lobbying and law firms; setting up trade shows and a seminar circuit; and constructing a range of other marijuana-related businesses.
Boosters say it is all part of a concerted effort to trade the drug’s trippy, hippie counterculture past for what they believe will inevitably be a more buttoned-up future.
“I don’t possess a Nehru jacket, I’ve never grown a goatee, I’ve never grown my hair past the nape of my neck,” Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said. “And I don’t like patchouli.”
Steve DeAngelo, the president of CannBe — a marketing, lobbying and consulting firm here — will not even use the word “marijuana.” Calling it pejorative, he prefers the scientific term “cannabis.”
“We want to make it safe, seemly and responsible,” Mr. DeAngelo said of marijuana.
That extends to his main dispensary and headquarters, the Harborside Health Center in Oakland, with its bright fluorescent lights, a clean, spare design, and a raft of other services including chiropractic care and yoga classes. On a recent Friday, the center was packed, with a line of about 50 people waiting as the workers behind the counter walked other customers through the various buds, brownies and baked goods that were for sale.
“If we can’t demonstrate professionalism and legitimacy, we’re never going to gain the trust of our citizens,” Mr. DeAngelo said. “And without that trust, we’re never going to get where we need to go.”
The ultimate destination, for many supporters, is legalization. Californians will decide in November if that is where they want to go, when they vote on a ballot measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.
Regardless of the outcome, CannBe says it expects to expand its business model nationwide to become what admirers say will be “the McDonald’s of marijuana.”
The for-profit company is made up of four proprietors of nonprofit dispensaries and their lawyer. Mr. DeAngelo calls them an “A-team of cannabis professionals.”
In late March, it helped lobby the City Council in San Jose, the nation’s 10th-largest city, to pass ordinances regulating dispensaries, a crucial step toward a legitimate industry. And last week at a cannabis conference in Rhode Island, Mr. DeAngelo was diversifying his product line, introducing a kind of “pot lite” with less psychoactive agents than regular marijuana and thus popular with what he calls “cannabis-naïve patients.”
John Lovell, a California lobbyist who represents two major police groups that oppose legalization, scoffed at the notion that marijuana proponents were cleaning up their act or gaining traction with the public, citing a recent decision by the Los Angeles City Council to sharply curtail the number of medical marijuana dispensaries there.
“They are a neighborhood blight,” he said. “Here you have dispensaries that have cash and dope. So, duh? Is it any surprise that they’ve been magnets for crime?”
But advocates call that characterization unfair and outdated.
“This is an emerging business opportunity, as it would be in any other area,” said Ethan Nadelmann, the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which favors legalization.
In California, dispensaries already employ all manner of business gimmicks to survive in an increasingly competitive market. West Coast Cannabis, a trade magazine, has dozens of advertisements for daily specials, free samples, home delivery, gift certificates, scientific testimonials, yoga classes, hypnotherapy, Reiki sessions, coupons, recipes and, of course — being California — free parking.
There are also new schools and seminars that can be used as credit for required continuing education classes for doctors and lawyers.
That includes the Cannabis Law Institute, which was certified last month by the California state bar. It was co-founded by Omar Figueroa, a graduate of Yale University and Stanford law school, who is hosting a seminar in Sonoma County in June that promises to teach attendees about “this fascinating area of the law.”
Mr. Figueroa, who said he was voted “most likely to fail a Senate confirmation hearing” at Stanford, said he was earning a good living in marijuana law, but was in it for the experience. “My passion has always been cannabis,” he said. “It’s the world’s most interesting law job.”
But it is not just California. Business is also booming in Colorado, which has seen an explosion in the number of dispensaries in the last year. That rapid expansion has alarmed some authorities and sent legislators scrambling to pass new regulations, but has been a boon for law firms like Kumin Sommers L.L.P. in San Francisco, which has merged with Warren C. Edson, a lawyer in Denver representing about 300 Colorado dispensaries. Mr. Edson said many of his clients were curious about decidedly staid fields like workers’ compensation, tax withholding and occupational safety.
“There’s this real Al Capone fear that they’re going to get our guys, not on marijuana, but on something else,” Mr. Edson said, referring to how Capone was eventually charged with tax evasion rather than criminal activity.
The federal government continues to oppose any decriminalization of the drug. And while the Obama administration has signaled some leeway when it comes to medical marijuana, raids on dispensaries and growers by law enforcement agencies are still common — even in California, where the industry effectively began in 1996, with the passage of the landmark Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana.
Today, rules vary widely in the 14 states that allow medical marijuana, and a final vote on legalization is pending in the District of Columbia. Some states require sellers to prove nonprofit status — often as a collective or cooperative — and all states require that patients have a recommendation from a physician. But even those in favor of medical marijuana believe that the system is ripe for abuse or even unintentional lawbreaking.
“Almost all the dispensaries in California are illegal,” said William Panzer, an Oakland lawyer who helped draft Proposition 215. “They’re sole proprietorships, not collectives.”
Mr. Nadelmann’s organization, the Drug Policy Alliance, says it does not take a position on whether those who sell the drug should be nonprofit or not. But he added, “The key people involved are not becoming personally wealthy.”
Source: New York Times
As more and more states allow medical use of the drug, and California considers outright legalization, marijuana’s supporters are pushing hard to burnish the image of pot by franchising dispensaries and building brands; establishing consulting, lobbying and law firms; setting up trade shows and a seminar circuit; and constructing a range of other marijuana-related businesses.
Boosters say it is all part of a concerted effort to trade the drug’s trippy, hippie counterculture past for what they believe will inevitably be a more buttoned-up future.
“I don’t possess a Nehru jacket, I’ve never grown a goatee, I’ve never grown my hair past the nape of my neck,” Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said. “And I don’t like patchouli.”
Steve DeAngelo, the president of CannBe — a marketing, lobbying and consulting firm here — will not even use the word “marijuana.” Calling it pejorative, he prefers the scientific term “cannabis.”
“We want to make it safe, seemly and responsible,” Mr. DeAngelo said of marijuana.
That extends to his main dispensary and headquarters, the Harborside Health Center in Oakland, with its bright fluorescent lights, a clean, spare design, and a raft of other services including chiropractic care and yoga classes. On a recent Friday, the center was packed, with a line of about 50 people waiting as the workers behind the counter walked other customers through the various buds, brownies and baked goods that were for sale.
“If we can’t demonstrate professionalism and legitimacy, we’re never going to gain the trust of our citizens,” Mr. DeAngelo said. “And without that trust, we’re never going to get where we need to go.”
The ultimate destination, for many supporters, is legalization. Californians will decide in November if that is where they want to go, when they vote on a ballot measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.
Regardless of the outcome, CannBe says it expects to expand its business model nationwide to become what admirers say will be “the McDonald’s of marijuana.”
The for-profit company is made up of four proprietors of nonprofit dispensaries and their lawyer. Mr. DeAngelo calls them an “A-team of cannabis professionals.”
In late March, it helped lobby the City Council in San Jose, the nation’s 10th-largest city, to pass ordinances regulating dispensaries, a crucial step toward a legitimate industry. And last week at a cannabis conference in Rhode Island, Mr. DeAngelo was diversifying his product line, introducing a kind of “pot lite” with less psychoactive agents than regular marijuana and thus popular with what he calls “cannabis-naïve patients.”
John Lovell, a California lobbyist who represents two major police groups that oppose legalization, scoffed at the notion that marijuana proponents were cleaning up their act or gaining traction with the public, citing a recent decision by the Los Angeles City Council to sharply curtail the number of medical marijuana dispensaries there.
“They are a neighborhood blight,” he said. “Here you have dispensaries that have cash and dope. So, duh? Is it any surprise that they’ve been magnets for crime?”
But advocates call that characterization unfair and outdated.
“This is an emerging business opportunity, as it would be in any other area,” said Ethan Nadelmann, the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which favors legalization.
In California, dispensaries already employ all manner of business gimmicks to survive in an increasingly competitive market. West Coast Cannabis, a trade magazine, has dozens of advertisements for daily specials, free samples, home delivery, gift certificates, scientific testimonials, yoga classes, hypnotherapy, Reiki sessions, coupons, recipes and, of course — being California — free parking.
There are also new schools and seminars that can be used as credit for required continuing education classes for doctors and lawyers.
That includes the Cannabis Law Institute, which was certified last month by the California state bar. It was co-founded by Omar Figueroa, a graduate of Yale University and Stanford law school, who is hosting a seminar in Sonoma County in June that promises to teach attendees about “this fascinating area of the law.”
Mr. Figueroa, who said he was voted “most likely to fail a Senate confirmation hearing” at Stanford, said he was earning a good living in marijuana law, but was in it for the experience. “My passion has always been cannabis,” he said. “It’s the world’s most interesting law job.”
But it is not just California. Business is also booming in Colorado, which has seen an explosion in the number of dispensaries in the last year. That rapid expansion has alarmed some authorities and sent legislators scrambling to pass new regulations, but has been a boon for law firms like Kumin Sommers L.L.P. in San Francisco, which has merged with Warren C. Edson, a lawyer in Denver representing about 300 Colorado dispensaries. Mr. Edson said many of his clients were curious about decidedly staid fields like workers’ compensation, tax withholding and occupational safety.
“There’s this real Al Capone fear that they’re going to get our guys, not on marijuana, but on something else,” Mr. Edson said, referring to how Capone was eventually charged with tax evasion rather than criminal activity.
The federal government continues to oppose any decriminalization of the drug. And while the Obama administration has signaled some leeway when it comes to medical marijuana, raids on dispensaries and growers by law enforcement agencies are still common — even in California, where the industry effectively began in 1996, with the passage of the landmark Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana.
Today, rules vary widely in the 14 states that allow medical marijuana, and a final vote on legalization is pending in the District of Columbia. Some states require sellers to prove nonprofit status — often as a collective or cooperative — and all states require that patients have a recommendation from a physician. But even those in favor of medical marijuana believe that the system is ripe for abuse or even unintentional lawbreaking.
“Almost all the dispensaries in California are illegal,” said William Panzer, an Oakland lawyer who helped draft Proposition 215. “They’re sole proprietorships, not collectives.”
Mr. Nadelmann’s organization, the Drug Policy Alliance, says it does not take a position on whether those who sell the drug should be nonprofit or not. But he added, “The key people involved are not becoming personally wealthy.”
Source: New York Times
Friday, April 23, 2010
NEWS: LA City Council approves fee schedule for medical marijuana clinics
The City Council gave final approval Friday to a fee schedule for medical marijuana clinics, the last element needed in the hard-fought effort to regulate the facilities in Los Angeles.
The measure was approved on 10-1 vote, with Councilman Bill Rosendahl voicing his continued opposition to a measure he claims is too restrictive. The ordinance will take effect 30 days after it is signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The measure puts strict limitations on where the clinics can operate, banning them from close proximity to schools, parks and residential areas. While the city now has an estimated 800, the new restrictions are expected to significantly reduce that number.
Under the plan approved Friday, clinics will have to pay nearly $1,600 in fees in order to continue operating. The fees include $688 for Department of Building and Safety permits and $151 for a police background check.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich already has begun an effort to close down many of the existing shops, saying he believes they are illegally profiting from medical marijuana sales.
Source: Contra Costa Times
The measure was approved on 10-1 vote, with Councilman Bill Rosendahl voicing his continued opposition to a measure he claims is too restrictive. The ordinance will take effect 30 days after it is signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The measure puts strict limitations on where the clinics can operate, banning them from close proximity to schools, parks and residential areas. While the city now has an estimated 800, the new restrictions are expected to significantly reduce that number.
Under the plan approved Friday, clinics will have to pay nearly $1,600 in fees in order to continue operating. The fees include $688 for Department of Building and Safety permits and $151 for a police background check.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich already has begun an effort to close down many of the existing shops, saying he believes they are illegally profiting from medical marijuana sales.
Source: Contra Costa Times
NEWS: State May Keep Dispensaries Away From Schools
A bill to keep medical cannabis dispensaries at least 600 feet away from California's schools is wending its way through the digestive tract of Sacramento. The buffer rule would be consistent with most local ordinances than ban liquor stores within 600 feet of schools, Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) stated in a April 22 press release. Her bill, AB 2650, passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee with bipartisan support yesterday. The bill also would keep dispensaries away from both public and private schools, thereby clearing up confusion experienced in other cities, including Berkeley.
The bill sounds reasonable and it heads next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration. Besides, if kids want drugs, they can just raid their parents Vicodin stash at home.
Source: East Bay Express
The bill sounds reasonable and it heads next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration. Besides, if kids want drugs, they can just raid their parents Vicodin stash at home.
Source: East Bay Express
NEWS: Marijuana Users Leave Shadows Behind: THC Exposé shines light on changing attitudes
As novelist Victor Hugo once said, “there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
Though he didn’t know it at the time, Hugo could have been talking about the marijuana legalization movement in the United States–and increasingly, Los Angeles is at its epicenter. Once a marker of fringe associations and counterculture ties, marijuana use has a new face, which is proudly on display at public events, such as this weekend’s second annual THC Exposé.
Taking its name from tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive substance found in cannabis, THC Exposé bills itself as “the greatest cannabis show on earth,” and is expected to draw thousands to the Los Angeles Convention Center April 23-25.
“Initially, it was an Expo,” says owner and founder, Brian Roberts. “But in the last year it has become more of an exposé, since we need to expose the truth about THC.”
In a statement, Roberts’ company, World War Thirteen, Inc., says it is fighting a propaganda war “that was started by the U.S. Government in 1937 when it arrested the first prisoner of war.” The reference is to Samuel R. Caldwell, who has the distinction of being the first seller of marijuana convicted under the Marijuana Tax Act, sentenced to 2-4 years in Leavenworth Prison.
Roberts refers to the newly-liberated marijuana industry as “an economic powerhouse.” The organizer estimates that cannabis and its related businesses constitute a $16 billion a year industry, many of which will be represented, including cannabis tourism, cultivation and legal & medical professionals.
More than ever, marijuana users are showing their faces–and those faces look–unsurprisingly–like someone you might see at the mall or Home Depot. In a recent on line conversation about marijuana use, readers of blogger Andrew Sullivan, reported their own “cannabis closet” stories. Self-identified users ranged from the leader of a successful law firm to “a 39 year-old homeschooling mom” and a woman who remarked, “My husband and I are both successful, responsible citizens and parents to two teenagers. I have smoked pot occasionally since high school–always thinking on those occasions that I really should do it more often.”
As reader Charlene commented to The 420 Times, “pot users have always been normal, everyday people like you and me. The only thing that’s changing is that we’re no longer cowering in the shadows.”
The growing willingness of users, both medicinal and recreational, to identify themselves with marijuana, has spawned close-knit communities around the cause of legalization as well as burgeoning medical cannabis industry. Hundreds of dispensaries, lawyers, medical establishments, and publications (including The 420 Times) have emerged to serve the needs of this specialized industry. But, it has not been without significant opposition and anxiety from law enforcement and elected leaders.
On April 16, the Los Angeles City Council approved the final piece of a long-delayed ordinance that, when enforced, will cause hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries to close shop. However, this November, California voters will have the opportunity to cast their vote on the full-scale legalization of marijuana. State voters first approved the use of cannabis for medical purposes with the passage of the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, although federal prohibition on marijuana possession has continued to make the legal position of patients and caregivers somewhat precarious.
In spite of the setbacks, however, the trajectory of marijuana legalization is clearly toward greater liberalization. In 2009, the Obama Justice Department announced that it would not pursue enforcement of federal marijuana statutes in cases where users are in compliance with local law.
Dave Brian of The 420 Times, which specializes in issues related to medicinal marijuana, believes that the industry’s spirit is strong. “The high turnouts we’ve seen at community gatherings and industry conventions show that patients and caregivers are determined to move forward no matter what.”
[Readers are invited to visit The 420 Times' booth at the THC Exposé, Los Angeles Convention Center, April 23-25.]
-Larry Lechuga and The 420 Times staff
Source: The 420 Times
Though he didn’t know it at the time, Hugo could have been talking about the marijuana legalization movement in the United States–and increasingly, Los Angeles is at its epicenter. Once a marker of fringe associations and counterculture ties, marijuana use has a new face, which is proudly on display at public events, such as this weekend’s second annual THC Exposé.
Taking its name from tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive substance found in cannabis, THC Exposé bills itself as “the greatest cannabis show on earth,” and is expected to draw thousands to the Los Angeles Convention Center April 23-25.
“Initially, it was an Expo,” says owner and founder, Brian Roberts. “But in the last year it has become more of an exposé, since we need to expose the truth about THC.”
In a statement, Roberts’ company, World War Thirteen, Inc., says it is fighting a propaganda war “that was started by the U.S. Government in 1937 when it arrested the first prisoner of war.” The reference is to Samuel R. Caldwell, who has the distinction of being the first seller of marijuana convicted under the Marijuana Tax Act, sentenced to 2-4 years in Leavenworth Prison.
Roberts refers to the newly-liberated marijuana industry as “an economic powerhouse.” The organizer estimates that cannabis and its related businesses constitute a $16 billion a year industry, many of which will be represented, including cannabis tourism, cultivation and legal & medical professionals.
More than ever, marijuana users are showing their faces–and those faces look–unsurprisingly–like someone you might see at the mall or Home Depot. In a recent on line conversation about marijuana use, readers of blogger Andrew Sullivan, reported their own “cannabis closet” stories. Self-identified users ranged from the leader of a successful law firm to “a 39 year-old homeschooling mom” and a woman who remarked, “My husband and I are both successful, responsible citizens and parents to two teenagers. I have smoked pot occasionally since high school–always thinking on those occasions that I really should do it more often.”
As reader Charlene commented to The 420 Times, “pot users have always been normal, everyday people like you and me. The only thing that’s changing is that we’re no longer cowering in the shadows.”
The growing willingness of users, both medicinal and recreational, to identify themselves with marijuana, has spawned close-knit communities around the cause of legalization as well as burgeoning medical cannabis industry. Hundreds of dispensaries, lawyers, medical establishments, and publications (including The 420 Times) have emerged to serve the needs of this specialized industry. But, it has not been without significant opposition and anxiety from law enforcement and elected leaders.
On April 16, the Los Angeles City Council approved the final piece of a long-delayed ordinance that, when enforced, will cause hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries to close shop. However, this November, California voters will have the opportunity to cast their vote on the full-scale legalization of marijuana. State voters first approved the use of cannabis for medical purposes with the passage of the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, although federal prohibition on marijuana possession has continued to make the legal position of patients and caregivers somewhat precarious.
In spite of the setbacks, however, the trajectory of marijuana legalization is clearly toward greater liberalization. In 2009, the Obama Justice Department announced that it would not pursue enforcement of federal marijuana statutes in cases where users are in compliance with local law.
Dave Brian of The 420 Times, which specializes in issues related to medicinal marijuana, believes that the industry’s spirit is strong. “The high turnouts we’ve seen at community gatherings and industry conventions show that patients and caregivers are determined to move forward no matter what.”
[Readers are invited to visit The 420 Times' booth at the THC Exposé, Los Angeles Convention Center, April 23-25.]
-Larry Lechuga and The 420 Times staff
Source: The 420 Times
NEWS: Business Model Debate: Who will distribute the marijuana...Big Tobacco VS Fat Pharma
As support for medical marijuana grows and states consider proposals to legalize the drug for recreational use, advocates on both sides of the debate over whether to end the war on pot are pooling their collective resources to help push their agenda.
It’s no stretch to imagine, then, that the two industries best positioned to develop pot-based products—tobacco and pharmaceuticals—are also drafting playbooks to determine how they might capitalize on what CNBC.com estimates to be a $40-billion-a-year market.
And if there's a battle to bring recreational cannabis to market, most believe tobacco companies would have the upper hand.
“The tobacco companies are clearly in the best position to take their existing business model and employ cannabis and they have already privately thought to do so,” says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of Norml, an advocacy group for marijuana legislation reform. “These companies are well aware that they are sitting on a business model that needs only the acquiescence of the federal government.”
Indeed. A popular urban myth maintains that Marlboro Cigarettes, a product of Philip Morris, have the trademark pre-registered for a marijuana cigarette that would be sold in short packs called Marleys—a reference to the pot-smoking reggae legend Bob Marley—with the colors of the Jamaican flag (The company, however, says it has no such product in development, nor has it registered for a trademark on a marijuana cigarette).
The Tobacco Model
Indeed, companies like Philip Morris and British American Tobacco [BTI 67.80 -0.40 (-0.59%) ] already have the agricultural infrastructure in place, (fields of tobacco which could easily be converted to cannabis), a successful delivery method via cigarettes and well-established distributions channels.
In fact, tobacco retailers are already the default mechanism for the distribution of medical marijuana in some states.
A bill introduced this year in Rhode Island, for example, that would legalize the use and possession of marijuana by adults over age 21, stipulates that should the state fail to provide a licensed system for distribution within 18 months after the enactment of the bill, tobacco retailers would be allowed to sell the product.
A similar bill in New Hampshire that would legalize the sale of marijuana to adults for personal use also indicates that should the state fail to issue a retailer license to a qualified applicant within 90 days and the applicant holds a valid retail tobacco license they “shall be deemed to be a retailer.”
“Some states are saying they’d simply use the system already in place to sell marijuana,” says Darryl Jayson, a spokesman for the Princeton, NJ-based Tobacco Merchants Association, noting California is different in that it sells through licensed dispensaries, or pot shops. “If it became legal to sell marijuana and a manufacturer made these products, they would most likely enter the market through existing distributors and then through tobacco retailers.”
While tobacco companies have much to gain, analysts say pharmaceutical firms would lose billions in market share for prescription painkillers, specifically the marijuana-based products already on the shelves.
At present, two synthetic cannabinoids are approved for prescription use by the Food and Drug Administration—Marinol capsules, developed by Solvay Pharmaceuticals and available generically as dronabinol, and Cesamet oral capsules, developed by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International [VRX 42.07 0.20 (+0.48%) ], and generically sold as nabilone.
But many more exist in the R&D pipeline, including Sativex, a whole plant medical cannabis extract from GW Pharmaceuticals that is already approved as an oral spray in Canada.
Such companies would cease to invest in the development of any additional products containing THC, the primary active ingredient in marijuana, if weed became legal, says Joel W. Hay, professor of pharmaceutical economics and policy at the University of Southern California.
Already, he notes, the approval of medical marijuana in 14 states (and counting) has robbed them of incentive.
“It makes no sense to go through the expense of Phase I through Phase III testing and seek FDA approval of a product that goes out and competes with much cheaper over-the-counter medical marijuana,” says Hay. “There’s absolutely no reason why any pharmaceutical company should bother developing a cannabinoid product.”
The Pharma Alternative
Yet Big Pharma hasn’t tempered its pharmacological research of marijuana. In fact, it’s picking up steam.
The National Institute of Health reports the number of cannabinoid drugs under development in the U.S. climbed to 27 in 2004, from 2 in 1995—the most recent data available.
One reason, perhaps, is that the pharmaceutical industry is sitting on drug delivery models that have greater appeal than cigarettes—especially among younger generations for whom smoking is increasingly taboo.
Many would prefer using pills, skin patches, oral sprays and nebulizers, in which dosages are controlled, to taking a hit. That’s especially true for non-recreational users seeking the healing properties of THC for various health ailments.
Another reason, though, that Big Pharma continues to invest in marijuana is that it is hoping to discover combinations of the THC molecule that are better than the whole plant product available today on the black market, says Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor of psychiatry emeritus at Harvard Medical School and author of the book, “Marijuana Reconsidered.”
“If pharmaceutical firms could develop a product that reduced the [so-called] munchie effect through biochemistry or one that could be injected to patients intravenously, which is not possible today because marijuana is not water soluble, they would make a fortune,” he says.
“They know that marijuana is so versatile in treating everything from Crohn’s disease to nausea to premenstrual syndrome that once it can be produced in an economy of scale and free of prohibition tariffs it would sweep all these artificially expensive pharmaceutical products on the market aside," adds Grinspoon.
Licensed pharmacies would no doubt distribute FDA-approved cannabis drugs under a doctor’s prescription, as they do today, but it’s also reasonable to assume that some firms might distribute their product via alternative medicine shops that specialize in natural and herbal medicine.
Several major pharmaceutical companies already did so in the early 20th century.
Before marijuana was made illlegal 70 years ago, for example, Eli Lilly [LLY 36.24 -0.29 (-0.79%) ] sold cannabis as an herbal extract (not a prescription medicine) for use as a painkiller.
Should lawmakers ever decide to legalize pot, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies would no doubt put research into overdrive to deliver a slew of THC-derived products to consumers, using the full strength of their financial muscle to dominate market share.
Which would ultimately prevail, of course, depends on consumers.
Source: NBC San Diego
It’s no stretch to imagine, then, that the two industries best positioned to develop pot-based products—tobacco and pharmaceuticals—are also drafting playbooks to determine how they might capitalize on what CNBC.com estimates to be a $40-billion-a-year market.
And if there's a battle to bring recreational cannabis to market, most believe tobacco companies would have the upper hand.
“The tobacco companies are clearly in the best position to take their existing business model and employ cannabis and they have already privately thought to do so,” says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of Norml, an advocacy group for marijuana legislation reform. “These companies are well aware that they are sitting on a business model that needs only the acquiescence of the federal government.”
Indeed. A popular urban myth maintains that Marlboro Cigarettes, a product of Philip Morris, have the trademark pre-registered for a marijuana cigarette that would be sold in short packs called Marleys—a reference to the pot-smoking reggae legend Bob Marley—with the colors of the Jamaican flag (The company, however, says it has no such product in development, nor has it registered for a trademark on a marijuana cigarette).
The Tobacco Model
Indeed, companies like Philip Morris and British American Tobacco [BTI 67.80 -0.40 (-0.59%) ] already have the agricultural infrastructure in place, (fields of tobacco which could easily be converted to cannabis), a successful delivery method via cigarettes and well-established distributions channels.
In fact, tobacco retailers are already the default mechanism for the distribution of medical marijuana in some states.
A bill introduced this year in Rhode Island, for example, that would legalize the use and possession of marijuana by adults over age 21, stipulates that should the state fail to provide a licensed system for distribution within 18 months after the enactment of the bill, tobacco retailers would be allowed to sell the product.
A similar bill in New Hampshire that would legalize the sale of marijuana to adults for personal use also indicates that should the state fail to issue a retailer license to a qualified applicant within 90 days and the applicant holds a valid retail tobacco license they “shall be deemed to be a retailer.”
“Some states are saying they’d simply use the system already in place to sell marijuana,” says Darryl Jayson, a spokesman for the Princeton, NJ-based Tobacco Merchants Association, noting California is different in that it sells through licensed dispensaries, or pot shops. “If it became legal to sell marijuana and a manufacturer made these products, they would most likely enter the market through existing distributors and then through tobacco retailers.”
While tobacco companies have much to gain, analysts say pharmaceutical firms would lose billions in market share for prescription painkillers, specifically the marijuana-based products already on the shelves.
At present, two synthetic cannabinoids are approved for prescription use by the Food and Drug Administration—Marinol capsules, developed by Solvay Pharmaceuticals and available generically as dronabinol, and Cesamet oral capsules, developed by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International [VRX 42.07 0.20 (+0.48%) ], and generically sold as nabilone.
But many more exist in the R&D pipeline, including Sativex, a whole plant medical cannabis extract from GW Pharmaceuticals that is already approved as an oral spray in Canada.
Such companies would cease to invest in the development of any additional products containing THC, the primary active ingredient in marijuana, if weed became legal, says Joel W. Hay, professor of pharmaceutical economics and policy at the University of Southern California.
Already, he notes, the approval of medical marijuana in 14 states (and counting) has robbed them of incentive.
“It makes no sense to go through the expense of Phase I through Phase III testing and seek FDA approval of a product that goes out and competes with much cheaper over-the-counter medical marijuana,” says Hay. “There’s absolutely no reason why any pharmaceutical company should bother developing a cannabinoid product.”
The Pharma Alternative
Yet Big Pharma hasn’t tempered its pharmacological research of marijuana. In fact, it’s picking up steam.
The National Institute of Health reports the number of cannabinoid drugs under development in the U.S. climbed to 27 in 2004, from 2 in 1995—the most recent data available.
One reason, perhaps, is that the pharmaceutical industry is sitting on drug delivery models that have greater appeal than cigarettes—especially among younger generations for whom smoking is increasingly taboo.
Many would prefer using pills, skin patches, oral sprays and nebulizers, in which dosages are controlled, to taking a hit. That’s especially true for non-recreational users seeking the healing properties of THC for various health ailments.
Another reason, though, that Big Pharma continues to invest in marijuana is that it is hoping to discover combinations of the THC molecule that are better than the whole plant product available today on the black market, says Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor of psychiatry emeritus at Harvard Medical School and author of the book, “Marijuana Reconsidered.”
“If pharmaceutical firms could develop a product that reduced the [so-called] munchie effect through biochemistry or one that could be injected to patients intravenously, which is not possible today because marijuana is not water soluble, they would make a fortune,” he says.
“They know that marijuana is so versatile in treating everything from Crohn’s disease to nausea to premenstrual syndrome that once it can be produced in an economy of scale and free of prohibition tariffs it would sweep all these artificially expensive pharmaceutical products on the market aside," adds Grinspoon.
Licensed pharmacies would no doubt distribute FDA-approved cannabis drugs under a doctor’s prescription, as they do today, but it’s also reasonable to assume that some firms might distribute their product via alternative medicine shops that specialize in natural and herbal medicine.
Several major pharmaceutical companies already did so in the early 20th century.
Before marijuana was made illlegal 70 years ago, for example, Eli Lilly [LLY 36.24 -0.29 (-0.79%) ] sold cannabis as an herbal extract (not a prescription medicine) for use as a painkiller.
Should lawmakers ever decide to legalize pot, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies would no doubt put research into overdrive to deliver a slew of THC-derived products to consumers, using the full strength of their financial muscle to dominate market share.
Which would ultimately prevail, of course, depends on consumers.
Source: NBC San Diego
NEWS: Advocates Anxious for Decision on Cannabis Collective
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KCBS) - Medical marijuana collectives around the Bay Area are keeping a close eye on a soon-to-be-filed legal challenge by the city of Mountain View.
Advocates say it could have far-reaching implications for the future of medical marijuana cooperatives.
Mountain View plans to go to court next week, in an effort to shut down Buddy's Cannabis Patient Collective. Owner Matt Lucero, who is also a multimillionaire and a corporate attorney, is ready for the fight. "Mountain View has passed an ordinance that I believe is illegal. I belive that that ordinance is preempted by state law and I believe that it violates our due process and equal rights clauses of the federal and state constitutions."
However, acting Mountain View City Attorney Jannie Quinn insists the city has the right to decide what and where businesses are allowed. "Fundamentally, it's the city's right to regulate land uses in the city. And so in the city of Mountain View, we don't have a district where a medical marijuana dispensary is permitted for use."
The collective opened ten days ago, and already has more than 150 members.
Source: KCBS
Advocates say it could have far-reaching implications for the future of medical marijuana cooperatives.
Mountain View plans to go to court next week, in an effort to shut down Buddy's Cannabis Patient Collective. Owner Matt Lucero, who is also a multimillionaire and a corporate attorney, is ready for the fight. "Mountain View has passed an ordinance that I believe is illegal. I belive that that ordinance is preempted by state law and I believe that it violates our due process and equal rights clauses of the federal and state constitutions."
However, acting Mountain View City Attorney Jannie Quinn insists the city has the right to decide what and where businesses are allowed. "Fundamentally, it's the city's right to regulate land uses in the city. And so in the city of Mountain View, we don't have a district where a medical marijuana dispensary is permitted for use."
The collective opened ten days ago, and already has more than 150 members.
Source: KCBS
Thursday, April 22, 2010
NEWS: Marijuana's Drug Status Should Change, Lawyers Say
Dan Pope has been using medical marijuana for six years to help control the muscle spasms and pain from muscular dystrophy.
Colorado state legislature approved a bill to legalize pot for medical purposes.
"I get very extreme hip, lower back pain and pain going to down to my leg -- it gets so bad I can't move," said Pope, 44, of Longmont, Colo. "I get very jerky -- I couldn't hold a cup of coffee, my balance and my gait becomes very much affected."
"By using medical marijuana late in the afternoon [when his symptoms hit], I can find immediate relief from my muscle spasms," said Pope, who is the volunteer patient outreach coordinator for Sensible Colorado, a non-profit focused on drug policy reform.
Read the rest of this story
Colorado state legislature approved a bill to legalize pot for medical purposes.
"I get very extreme hip, lower back pain and pain going to down to my leg -- it gets so bad I can't move," said Pope, 44, of Longmont, Colo. "I get very jerky -- I couldn't hold a cup of coffee, my balance and my gait becomes very much affected."
"By using medical marijuana late in the afternoon [when his symptoms hit], I can find immediate relief from my muscle spasms," said Pope, who is the volunteer patient outreach coordinator for Sensible Colorado, a non-profit focused on drug policy reform.
Read the rest of this story
NEWS: Mountain View suing a medical marijuana collective that opened despite a city ban
A medical marijuana collective opened recently in Mountain View, flouting the city's ban on pot dispensaries.
And for being so bold, the club now may be slapped with a lawsuit from the city.
The Mountain View City Council decided in closed session Tuesday to take legal action against Buddy's Cannabis Patient Collective, a medical marijuana operation that opened April 10 on the 2600 block of Bayshore Parkway, city officials confirmed.
The city council voted in February to ban dispensaries, saying it wants to eventually allow medical marijuana clubs but needs time to develop regulations.
Despite the ban, Matt Lucero, an attorney and Campbell resident, opened Buddy's with his nephew Jesse. Matt Lucero said he believes Mountain View's ordinance is illegal and he was not willing to wait another year while the city develops regulations.
He had been searching for a site in Santa Clara County to open a collective, found one he liked in Mountain View, and signed his lease a week after the city council passed a ban, Lucero said. He chose Mountain View partly because its council members appeared open to the idea of allowing dispensaries.
"There's not one city in this county that has a lawful ordinance allowing for medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives to operate," Lucero said. "I'm not willing to wait any longer."
Lucero said city officials told him Wednesday they intend to sue and seek a preliminary court injunction to stop him from distributing marijuana.
"It will not be a criminal action but (acting City Attorney Jannie Quinn) will file whatever she needs to file to get him to stop," said Council Member Tom Means, who visited the dispensary with Quinn and other city officials recently.
Means said that during the visit, "everything, I think, was cordial ... though (Quinn) was telling him 'You don't have the right to do this.' "
Quinn could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Council Member Margaret Abe-Koga said she thinks there was a misunderstanding about the council's intent when it passed the ban, which was only intended to buy the city time.
"I wish folks would have understood that and they would have just waited until we could have had the time we needed to study the issue better," she said.
Mountain View's ban violates constitutional rights of due process and equal protection, Lucero said, plus it's pre-empted by state law that legalized medical marijuana several years ago. He said he made millions as a corporate attorney and has the finances to fight the city.
"Bottom line: I'm not going away," Lucero said. "For the sake of the people of Mountain View, I'm not going away. I'm ready for the fight."
The collective is inside warehouse space in an industrial area off Highway 101. Clients first enter a gated waiting room where they fill out membership information. Collective staff use online systems or call doctors and the Medical Board of California to verify new clients have been prescribed medical marijuana by a legitimate doctor.
Inside, the warehouse is painted a Pepto-Bismol pink with a black-and-white checkerboard floor. The space is open, with a stereo playing electronic music and a few staff members sitting at computers and answering phones. A mural depicting the Virgin Mary is painted on one wall, as a donation by an artist who supports the medical marijuana cause, Lucero said. He's recruiting other artists to display and sell their work there, and hopes to turn the facility into a sort of "community center."
The collective's goods are stored in a large vault and the building is protected by barred windows, motion sensors and other security measures, Lucero said.
More than 100 members have joined the collective since it opened, Lucero said, and it has 12 employees. He said he has been amazed at the response he's gotten from sick people who previously had to drive all over the Bay Area to find medical marijuana.
"I've never been hugged by so many people in my life," he said.
Source: Mercury News
And for being so bold, the club now may be slapped with a lawsuit from the city.
The Mountain View City Council decided in closed session Tuesday to take legal action against Buddy's Cannabis Patient Collective, a medical marijuana operation that opened April 10 on the 2600 block of Bayshore Parkway, city officials confirmed.
The city council voted in February to ban dispensaries, saying it wants to eventually allow medical marijuana clubs but needs time to develop regulations.
Despite the ban, Matt Lucero, an attorney and Campbell resident, opened Buddy's with his nephew Jesse. Matt Lucero said he believes Mountain View's ordinance is illegal and he was not willing to wait another year while the city develops regulations.
He had been searching for a site in Santa Clara County to open a collective, found one he liked in Mountain View, and signed his lease a week after the city council passed a ban, Lucero said. He chose Mountain View partly because its council members appeared open to the idea of allowing dispensaries.
"There's not one city in this county that has a lawful ordinance allowing for medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives to operate," Lucero said. "I'm not willing to wait any longer."
Lucero said city officials told him Wednesday they intend to sue and seek a preliminary court injunction to stop him from distributing marijuana.
"It will not be a criminal action but (acting City Attorney Jannie Quinn) will file whatever she needs to file to get him to stop," said Council Member Tom Means, who visited the dispensary with Quinn and other city officials recently.
Means said that during the visit, "everything, I think, was cordial ... though (Quinn) was telling him 'You don't have the right to do this.' "
Quinn could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Council Member Margaret Abe-Koga said she thinks there was a misunderstanding about the council's intent when it passed the ban, which was only intended to buy the city time.
"I wish folks would have understood that and they would have just waited until we could have had the time we needed to study the issue better," she said.
Mountain View's ban violates constitutional rights of due process and equal protection, Lucero said, plus it's pre-empted by state law that legalized medical marijuana several years ago. He said he made millions as a corporate attorney and has the finances to fight the city.
"Bottom line: I'm not going away," Lucero said. "For the sake of the people of Mountain View, I'm not going away. I'm ready for the fight."
The collective is inside warehouse space in an industrial area off Highway 101. Clients first enter a gated waiting room where they fill out membership information. Collective staff use online systems or call doctors and the Medical Board of California to verify new clients have been prescribed medical marijuana by a legitimate doctor.
Inside, the warehouse is painted a Pepto-Bismol pink with a black-and-white checkerboard floor. The space is open, with a stereo playing electronic music and a few staff members sitting at computers and answering phones. A mural depicting the Virgin Mary is painted on one wall, as a donation by an artist who supports the medical marijuana cause, Lucero said. He's recruiting other artists to display and sell their work there, and hopes to turn the facility into a sort of "community center."
The collective's goods are stored in a large vault and the building is protected by barred windows, motion sensors and other security measures, Lucero said.
More than 100 members have joined the collective since it opened, Lucero said, and it has 12 employees. He said he has been amazed at the response he's gotten from sick people who previously had to drive all over the Bay Area to find medical marijuana.
"I've never been hugged by so many people in my life," he said.
Source: Mercury News
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
NEWS: Update on James Dean Stacy Federal Court Hearing
Today the Federal judge reset the motion hearing date to May 19th at 10:30am in Courtroom 15. 940 Front St. San Diego CA 92101
This will be the day the judge makes his ruling on the motion for a medical defense in Federal Court.
The Judge cancelled the April 26 Trial Date, and said he would not set the court date as the length of the trial and preparation would depend on whether he gave James the defense or not.
One of the arguments being made in the case is Entrapment by Estoppel. This means that I was entrapped by the statements that President Obama made along with the Attorney General about the fact that they would not go after medical marijuana patients and providers. The President even wrote a memo on May 20th, 2009 telling the heads of executive departments not to preempt state law.
You can get all the info at www.movementinaction.org
Thanks,
James Dean Stacy
This will be the day the judge makes his ruling on the motion for a medical defense in Federal Court.
The Judge cancelled the April 26 Trial Date, and said he would not set the court date as the length of the trial and preparation would depend on whether he gave James the defense or not.
One of the arguments being made in the case is Entrapment by Estoppel. This means that I was entrapped by the statements that President Obama made along with the Attorney General about the fact that they would not go after medical marijuana patients and providers. The President even wrote a memo on May 20th, 2009 telling the heads of executive departments not to preempt state law.
You can get all the info at www.movementinaction.org
Thanks,
James Dean Stacy
CBS 5 Poll: Most Californians Want Pot Legal
A new KPIX-TV CBS 5 poll released Wednesday showed a majority of Californians now support legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
California was the first state to approve medical marijuana, in 1996, and has been the hub of the so-called "Green Rush" to legalize marijuana — a decision California voters will make in the November election.
In the poll, conducted for CBS 5 by SurveyUSA, it found that 56 percent of Californians support legalization and just 42 percent oppose it. Only three percent were unsure.
Support for legalizing marijuana was the strongest among young voters, according to the poll. Three out of every four people in the 18 to 34 age group favored legalization.
Those like Jeff Boggs, 25, of Visalia, who support legalization said opponents have overstated any potential dangers associated with the drug.
"People are scared about things they don't know about," said Boggs, who is married and works for an auto damage appraisal company.
But John Lovell, a spokesman with the California Narcotics Officers' Association, said pot legalization would just exacerbate widespread existing abuses of legal prescription drugs and alcohol.
"Given that reality, we don't need to add another mind-altering substance that compromises people's five senses," Lovell said.
The CBS 5 poll was conducted on April 20 and involved interviews with 500 adults across California. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Source: CBS 5
California was the first state to approve medical marijuana, in 1996, and has been the hub of the so-called "Green Rush" to legalize marijuana — a decision California voters will make in the November election.
In the poll, conducted for CBS 5 by SurveyUSA, it found that 56 percent of Californians support legalization and just 42 percent oppose it. Only three percent were unsure.
Support for legalizing marijuana was the strongest among young voters, according to the poll. Three out of every four people in the 18 to 34 age group favored legalization.
Those like Jeff Boggs, 25, of Visalia, who support legalization said opponents have overstated any potential dangers associated with the drug.
"People are scared about things they don't know about," said Boggs, who is married and works for an auto damage appraisal company.
But John Lovell, a spokesman with the California Narcotics Officers' Association, said pot legalization would just exacerbate widespread existing abuses of legal prescription drugs and alcohol.
"Given that reality, we don't need to add another mind-altering substance that compromises people's five senses," Lovell said.
The CBS 5 poll was conducted on April 20 and involved interviews with 500 adults across California. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Source: CBS 5
Marijuana and PTSD: Dispensary owner Wanda James reaches out to vets
Efforts to establish post-traumatic stress disorder as a condition treatable by medical marijuana fell short in the Colorado legislature last month.
That was fine by the state's health department, which circulated a fact sheet among legislators prior to vote on a PTSD amendment arguing that there's no medical evidence MMJ helps those with this condition.
Dispensary owner Wanda James couldn't disagree more. That's why she's staging an event this evening about marijuana and PTSD -- a topic she feels is particularly important given the state legislature's recent actions.
James and her husband, Scott Durrah, are owners of 8 Rivers restaurant and the dispensary Apothecary of Colorado in addition to being MMJ backers so passionate and effective that they were recently named the city's best medical marijuana advocates in Westword's recent Best of Denver issue.
Oh yeah: James and Durrah are also vets. Durrah is a former Marine, while James was a member of the ROTC at the University of Colorado from 1981 to 1986 before serving in the Navy from 1986 to 1991, ultimately rising to the rank of lieutenant. Her duties included tracking submarines "like in the Tom Clancy book The Hunt for Red October," she says.
In the years since then, James has become a prominent force in local business and politics. She served as Jared Polis's first campaign manager and ran the 2006 congressional race for Lieutenant Colonel Jay Fawcett in Colorado Springs. Moreover, she and Durrah serve on the National Finance Committee for none other than President Barack Obama.
Despite moving in such rarefied circles, James maintains a fierce identification with her fellow military men and women -- and she has no doubt that marijuana can help those suffering from PTSD.
"We know from study after study that the cannabinoids in THC have been known to help focus people -- to help them get over the trauma and the mental stimulus that comes from PTSD," she says. "We know it works."
If so, why is the health department so against recognizing its efficacy? "I think the state is just fearful of taking this next step," she believes. "I think they see this as maybe opening a door for legalization. But these are the wrong arguments when we're talking about people coming back from war. We should give them every opportunity to heal, and not put them through another hell by addicting them to opiates" that are frequently prescribed to PTSD patients.
"I've worked with some people who've spent months or years getting over their addiction to opiates," she continues. "We send kids to war, put them through the trauma of losing body parts and losing friends, and then put them through another trauma of addiction."
At this point, James and her Apothecary of Colorado staffers are trying to work around the current rules pertaining to PTSD.
"There are other conditions we can recommend medical marijuana for legally," she notes. "If you got caught with shrapnel and you're missing a leg, we can qualify you for medical marijuana for that, and it can help with your PTSD, too.
"By no means are we illegally stating fake situations," she emphasizes. "These folks have back pain and leg pain and arthritis and other chronic pain that we can work with. But the fact that we can't simply treat them for PTSD on top of those conditions is unfortunate and wrong."
It's also led to confusion among veterans. That's why she's staging tonight's event, which gets underway at 5:30 p.m. at the Apothecary of Colorado offices, 1730 Blake St., Suite 420. The main speaker at gathering, which is open to veterans and non-vets alike, is Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente, an attorney and medical marijuana advocate.
"Brian will answer the questions people have had over the last four months -- and we've gotten some crazy questions," James concedes. "There are a thousand blogs out there saying what's legal and what's not legal, telling what you're allowed to do, what you're not allowed to do -- the idea that the feds are going to come to your house and arrest you in front of your kids. So we wanted to get everyone in a room where they can ask those questions and find out what's really going on -- what the state's looking at, what's being enforced today, and what's probably coming down the pipeline tomorrow."
This is especially vital for vets, she feels, "because they're a lot like law enforcement. They're law-abiding folks. They work within a system, they get the system -- and I want to be able to make this system work for them. And I think it's a travesty that this state has denied veterans something we believe will help them."
Source: Denver Westword
That was fine by the state's health department, which circulated a fact sheet among legislators prior to vote on a PTSD amendment arguing that there's no medical evidence MMJ helps those with this condition.
Dispensary owner Wanda James couldn't disagree more. That's why she's staging an event this evening about marijuana and PTSD -- a topic she feels is particularly important given the state legislature's recent actions.
James and her husband, Scott Durrah, are owners of 8 Rivers restaurant and the dispensary Apothecary of Colorado in addition to being MMJ backers so passionate and effective that they were recently named the city's best medical marijuana advocates in Westword's recent Best of Denver issue.
Oh yeah: James and Durrah are also vets. Durrah is a former Marine, while James was a member of the ROTC at the University of Colorado from 1981 to 1986 before serving in the Navy from 1986 to 1991, ultimately rising to the rank of lieutenant. Her duties included tracking submarines "like in the Tom Clancy book The Hunt for Red October," she says.
In the years since then, James has become a prominent force in local business and politics. She served as Jared Polis's first campaign manager and ran the 2006 congressional race for Lieutenant Colonel Jay Fawcett in Colorado Springs. Moreover, she and Durrah serve on the National Finance Committee for none other than President Barack Obama.
Despite moving in such rarefied circles, James maintains a fierce identification with her fellow military men and women -- and she has no doubt that marijuana can help those suffering from PTSD.
"We know from study after study that the cannabinoids in THC have been known to help focus people -- to help them get over the trauma and the mental stimulus that comes from PTSD," she says. "We know it works."
If so, why is the health department so against recognizing its efficacy? "I think the state is just fearful of taking this next step," she believes. "I think they see this as maybe opening a door for legalization. But these are the wrong arguments when we're talking about people coming back from war. We should give them every opportunity to heal, and not put them through another hell by addicting them to opiates" that are frequently prescribed to PTSD patients.
"I've worked with some people who've spent months or years getting over their addiction to opiates," she continues. "We send kids to war, put them through the trauma of losing body parts and losing friends, and then put them through another trauma of addiction."
At this point, James and her Apothecary of Colorado staffers are trying to work around the current rules pertaining to PTSD.
"There are other conditions we can recommend medical marijuana for legally," she notes. "If you got caught with shrapnel and you're missing a leg, we can qualify you for medical marijuana for that, and it can help with your PTSD, too.
"By no means are we illegally stating fake situations," she emphasizes. "These folks have back pain and leg pain and arthritis and other chronic pain that we can work with. But the fact that we can't simply treat them for PTSD on top of those conditions is unfortunate and wrong."
It's also led to confusion among veterans. That's why she's staging tonight's event, which gets underway at 5:30 p.m. at the Apothecary of Colorado offices, 1730 Blake St., Suite 420. The main speaker at gathering, which is open to veterans and non-vets alike, is Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente, an attorney and medical marijuana advocate.
"Brian will answer the questions people have had over the last four months -- and we've gotten some crazy questions," James concedes. "There are a thousand blogs out there saying what's legal and what's not legal, telling what you're allowed to do, what you're not allowed to do -- the idea that the feds are going to come to your house and arrest you in front of your kids. So we wanted to get everyone in a room where they can ask those questions and find out what's really going on -- what the state's looking at, what's being enforced today, and what's probably coming down the pipeline tomorrow."
This is especially vital for vets, she feels, "because they're a lot like law enforcement. They're law-abiding folks. They work within a system, they get the system -- and I want to be able to make this system work for them. And I think it's a travesty that this state has denied veterans something we believe will help them."
Source: Denver Westword
NEWS: Medical marijuana club opens, against city's wishes
The City Council decided Tuesday to take legal action against the first known storefront pot club in Mountain View, operated by a multimillionaire lawyer who says he is ready for a legal fight.
Lawyer Matt Lucero and his nephew Jesse opened a medical marijuana dispensary called Buddy's on April 10 in a warehouse at 2632 Bayshore Parkway. Its opening came as a surprise to city officials, and to other prospective pot club operators who believed the city would allow them to open dispensaries legally sometime in the next year.
City Council members met in closed session on Tuesday night to discuss a potential lawsuit meant to close the dispensary. The city considers the club to be illegal under a moratorium on pot clubs the council approved in February. City attorney Jannie Quinn said the council had decided to "initiate an action" against the pot club, but declined to say what that action would be until it actually happened.
If the city does move forward with legal action, "I am absolutely ready for them," Lucero said Wednesday. He said he believes state law supersedes the city's moratorium.
"We have very considerable financial resources and the backing of some really, really hard-hitting lawyers -- people who have won California Supreme Court cases," Lucero said. "We're going to stay."
Some of those financial resources may come from Lucero himself, who said he made his millions working as a lawyer for large tech companies. "I've been significantly a millionaire for many years," he said.
Originally from Staten Island, Lucero has lived in the county since 1988 and currently resides in Campbell. He said the dispensary isn't about making money or making a political point: "It's about getting medicine to people who need it -- people who are fighting AIDS and fighting cancer. I will absolutely continue to fight for the rights of the seriously ill residents of Santa Clara County."
The dispensary opened to the chagrin of prospective pot club operator Brian David, who wanted to work cooperatively with the city to open a pot club in the same Shoreline industrial neighborhood.
"Personally I feel he is breaking the law, and being an attorney does not make him above the law so he should be arrested, fined or both," David said in an e-mail. He added that pot club regulations could be approved by the council later this year, so he worried that the city would try to pass on a lawsuit against the dispensary.
Lucero said he picked Mountain View because it appeared that the City Council was relatively supportive of dispensaries. While a majority of council members supported the idea of allowing dispensaries in a February meeting, the council wanted more time to create regulations on them and placed a temporary ban on them starting in March. Because of that moratorium, the city had rejected an application for a business license by the operators of Buddy's.
The pot club's "discreet" location on Bayshore Parkway was selected in respect for concerns from city officials, Lucero said. "If you don't know it is here you are going to drive right by it, which is exactly how we want it," he said.
A look inside
The dispensary is located in a warehouse building that is partly used by Intuit for storage (Intuit has no connection to the pot club). On display in small jars are the various strains of marijuana for sale, which Lucero said are legally grown by collective members.
Inside, electronic music bounces off the pink walls and black-and-white floor. A large mural of the Virgin Mary is one of the first works by local artists that the collective hopes to have on display.
The place is well fortified: An alarm system uses laser beams to alert police to break-ins, heavy bars are installed over the windows, and soon security cameras will be installed.
Prospective club members are directed into a waiting room made from covered cyclone fence, where their doctor's notes are verified before a membership card is issued. Members are then allowed through a locked door into the dispensary.
"No one gets through that caged area unless we've verified their doctor's recommendation," Lucero said. "We do not distribute to non-members ever, ever."
The pot club had over 100 members join in the first week and took in $4,000 in sales, Lucero said.
Lucero said he hopes the pot club will be a "very positive community center" where artists can display their art and medi-pot users can take classes about how to grow their own marijuana. Buddy's is a nonprofit, and its surplus revenue will be available to local charities and other nonprofits, Lucero said.
According to Lucero, the dispensary has already been visited by Mountain View police, a building code enforcement officer, city attorney Quinn, city manager Kevin Duggan, planning director Randy Tsuda and council members John Inks and Tom Means.
"I assured them it would be lawful," he said.
Source: Mountain View Voice
Lawyer Matt Lucero and his nephew Jesse opened a medical marijuana dispensary called Buddy's on April 10 in a warehouse at 2632 Bayshore Parkway. Its opening came as a surprise to city officials, and to other prospective pot club operators who believed the city would allow them to open dispensaries legally sometime in the next year.
City Council members met in closed session on Tuesday night to discuss a potential lawsuit meant to close the dispensary. The city considers the club to be illegal under a moratorium on pot clubs the council approved in February. City attorney Jannie Quinn said the council had decided to "initiate an action" against the pot club, but declined to say what that action would be until it actually happened.
If the city does move forward with legal action, "I am absolutely ready for them," Lucero said Wednesday. He said he believes state law supersedes the city's moratorium.
"We have very considerable financial resources and the backing of some really, really hard-hitting lawyers -- people who have won California Supreme Court cases," Lucero said. "We're going to stay."
Some of those financial resources may come from Lucero himself, who said he made his millions working as a lawyer for large tech companies. "I've been significantly a millionaire for many years," he said.
Originally from Staten Island, Lucero has lived in the county since 1988 and currently resides in Campbell. He said the dispensary isn't about making money or making a political point: "It's about getting medicine to people who need it -- people who are fighting AIDS and fighting cancer. I will absolutely continue to fight for the rights of the seriously ill residents of Santa Clara County."
The dispensary opened to the chagrin of prospective pot club operator Brian David, who wanted to work cooperatively with the city to open a pot club in the same Shoreline industrial neighborhood.
"Personally I feel he is breaking the law, and being an attorney does not make him above the law so he should be arrested, fined or both," David said in an e-mail. He added that pot club regulations could be approved by the council later this year, so he worried that the city would try to pass on a lawsuit against the dispensary.
Lucero said he picked Mountain View because it appeared that the City Council was relatively supportive of dispensaries. While a majority of council members supported the idea of allowing dispensaries in a February meeting, the council wanted more time to create regulations on them and placed a temporary ban on them starting in March. Because of that moratorium, the city had rejected an application for a business license by the operators of Buddy's.
The pot club's "discreet" location on Bayshore Parkway was selected in respect for concerns from city officials, Lucero said. "If you don't know it is here you are going to drive right by it, which is exactly how we want it," he said.
A look inside
The dispensary is located in a warehouse building that is partly used by Intuit for storage (Intuit has no connection to the pot club). On display in small jars are the various strains of marijuana for sale, which Lucero said are legally grown by collective members.
Inside, electronic music bounces off the pink walls and black-and-white floor. A large mural of the Virgin Mary is one of the first works by local artists that the collective hopes to have on display.
The place is well fortified: An alarm system uses laser beams to alert police to break-ins, heavy bars are installed over the windows, and soon security cameras will be installed.
Prospective club members are directed into a waiting room made from covered cyclone fence, where their doctor's notes are verified before a membership card is issued. Members are then allowed through a locked door into the dispensary.
"No one gets through that caged area unless we've verified their doctor's recommendation," Lucero said. "We do not distribute to non-members ever, ever."
The pot club had over 100 members join in the first week and took in $4,000 in sales, Lucero said.
Lucero said he hopes the pot club will be a "very positive community center" where artists can display their art and medi-pot users can take classes about how to grow their own marijuana. Buddy's is a nonprofit, and its surplus revenue will be available to local charities and other nonprofits, Lucero said.
According to Lucero, the dispensary has already been visited by Mountain View police, a building code enforcement officer, city attorney Quinn, city manager Kevin Duggan, planning director Randy Tsuda and council members John Inks and Tom Means.
"I assured them it would be lawful," he said.
Source: Mountain View Voice
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
NEWS: 420 Worldwide Screening of Marijuana Documentary on Defacto Pot Holiday
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 19, 2010 -- April 20th has grown into a counter-culture holiday, in which marijuana enthusiasts gather to celebrate and consume cannabis. This year is rumored to be the largest celebration to date including over 30 worldwide screenings of a feature-length documentary, How Weed Won the West.
The films poster art depicts an Old West scene with a twist - the DEA is the outlaw and he's entering a dispensary instead of a saloon.
April 20th represents 420, which is a code that quickly became popular with cannabis consumers after a group of San Rafael High School students (back in the 70’s) used that number to signal the time they would meet to smoke pot while on a scavenger hunt for an unguarded cannabis grow near Point Reyes.
The producers of Showtime’s American Drug War have finished their latest documentary which follows the stories of a handful of medical marijuana patients who are not on their death beds, including a prosecuted collective operator, a former female wrestler, a founder of GGECO University, and the cultivators of Pineapple Kush.
The Director, Kevin Booth, takes viewers on a guided journey through the billion-dollar world of California Cannabis production with host Alex Jones, famed InfoWars creator and radio personality.
And in true Hollywood fashion, the LA screening will be the most glamorous of viewings which will be shown at Paramount Studios at 7pm on Tuesday April 20. Tickets must be purchased in advance for this screening due to security measures required to enter the front gates of the historic studio.
The largest screening the organizers plan to have includes a 30,000-person march before the Toronto Screening that will end at the theatre which will have a double feature of both of Booth’s films.
Other American screenings on the same day at the same time include: New York; Clifton Park, NY; Buffalo, NY; Juno, AK; Hemet, CA; Long Beach, CA; San Diego, CA; Morris, MN; Missoula, MT; Boulder, CO; Detroit, MI; East Lansing, MI; Cincinnati, OH; Austin, TX; Houston, TX; Asbury Park, NJ
Other international screenings on the same day include: British Columbia, Canada; Calgary, Canada; Dublin, Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Hereford, UK; Yorkshire, UK; Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania
The film starts in the heavily guarded fields of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle where the long time growers of “Pineapple Kush” make the transition into the legal world of Medical Marijuana. The film ends with a recent LA city council ruling that attempts to close most of the city’s storefront collectives.
The worldwide screening How Weed Won the West is presented by Sacred Cow Productions and sponsored by Advanced Nutrients, Bill Kroger Marijuana law firm, Pineapple Kush, GGECKO University, Apothecary Genetics , Grow Goddess LED lights, and Medical Marijuana inc.
For Tickets and More Info please visit: http://sacredcowstore.com/tickets-to-420-screening-in-los-ange420.html
The films poster art depicts an Old West scene with a twist - the DEA is the outlaw and he's entering a dispensary instead of a saloon.
April 20th represents 420, which is a code that quickly became popular with cannabis consumers after a group of San Rafael High School students (back in the 70’s) used that number to signal the time they would meet to smoke pot while on a scavenger hunt for an unguarded cannabis grow near Point Reyes.
The producers of Showtime’s American Drug War have finished their latest documentary which follows the stories of a handful of medical marijuana patients who are not on their death beds, including a prosecuted collective operator, a former female wrestler, a founder of GGECO University, and the cultivators of Pineapple Kush.
The Director, Kevin Booth, takes viewers on a guided journey through the billion-dollar world of California Cannabis production with host Alex Jones, famed InfoWars creator and radio personality.
And in true Hollywood fashion, the LA screening will be the most glamorous of viewings which will be shown at Paramount Studios at 7pm on Tuesday April 20. Tickets must be purchased in advance for this screening due to security measures required to enter the front gates of the historic studio.
The largest screening the organizers plan to have includes a 30,000-person march before the Toronto Screening that will end at the theatre which will have a double feature of both of Booth’s films.
Other American screenings on the same day at the same time include: New York; Clifton Park, NY; Buffalo, NY; Juno, AK; Hemet, CA; Long Beach, CA; San Diego, CA; Morris, MN; Missoula, MT; Boulder, CO; Detroit, MI; East Lansing, MI; Cincinnati, OH; Austin, TX; Houston, TX; Asbury Park, NJ
Other international screenings on the same day include: British Columbia, Canada; Calgary, Canada; Dublin, Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Hereford, UK; Yorkshire, UK; Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania
The film starts in the heavily guarded fields of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle where the long time growers of “Pineapple Kush” make the transition into the legal world of Medical Marijuana. The film ends with a recent LA city council ruling that attempts to close most of the city’s storefront collectives.
The worldwide screening How Weed Won the West is presented by Sacred Cow Productions and sponsored by Advanced Nutrients, Bill Kroger Marijuana law firm, Pineapple Kush, GGECKO University, Apothecary Genetics , Grow Goddess LED lights, and Medical Marijuana inc.
For Tickets and More Info please visit: http://sacredcowstore.com/tickets-to-420-screening-in-los-ange420.html
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