Feds to Target Pot Delivery Services
NBC 7 San Diego: “FBI agents in San Diego are shifting focus from closing down medical marijuana dispensaries to cracking down on marijuana delivery services. NBC 7’s Tony Shin has this exclusive report.”
Mesa Man Claims He was Evicted for Using Medical Marijuana
azfamily.com: “Vince Borinski says he generally smokes about one joint every day. . . . He is a medical marijuana card holder, and is legally authorized to use and cultivate medical marijuana in the state of Arizona. . . . Borinski was smoking and growing marijuana in his apartment at the Country Park Villas from April 2011 to October 2011, when he was evicted.”
Colorado Ponders How to Tax Marijuana
Associated Press: “Pot smokers in Colorado were the biggest winners in the vote that legalized the drug. Now state regulators are working out the details of exactly how to tax it, so the benefits are shared statewide in the form of increased revenue.”
World’s Largest Pot Shop Will Remain Open Despite Court Loss
International Business Times: “On Tuesday [February 19, 2013], U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James dismissed a lawsuit filed by the City of Oakland against Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag that sought to halt the federal government’s closure of the shop. Haag had said in July that the store, which was featured on the Discovery Channel television series ‘Weed Wars,’ has become too large, making it a candidate for the Obama administration’s marijuana dispensary crackdown that began 2010. ‘We are, of course, disappointed in today’s ruling,’ Harborside executive director Steve DeAngelo said in a statement.”
Group to Arizona Lawmakers: ‘Be Educated’ on Medical Pot
azcentral.com: “A professional group promoting medical marijuana protested at the state Capitol on Thursday, calling on lawmakers to get educated on the facts about the medicinal value of cannabis before they decide whether to send the entire issue back to voters. The Arizona Wellness Chamber of Commerce, which includes physicians, accused some legislators of making “false and misleading” claims about medical cannabis as they attempt to pass a bill aimed at overturning the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.”
Medical Marijuana Bill Unveiled in House
Politico: “Flanked by more than 150 advocates from around the country, Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer on Monday put forward his legislation allowing states to legalize medical marijuana in an effort to end the confusion surrounding federal pot policy. Blumenauer’s legislation, which has 13 co-sponsors — including GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California — would create a framework for the FDA to eventually legalize medicinal marijuana. It would also block the feds from interfering in any of the 19 states where medical marijuana is legal.”
Arizona Lawmakers Look to Regulate Legal Marijuana
Associated Press: “Arizona lawmakers want to overhaul the state’s medical marijuana law. . . . ‘It was the voters that clearly supported medical marijuana in Arizona, so it’s the job of the Legislature to ensure that the law is being implemented properly,’ said Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix.”
Cops Raid Michigan Medical Marijuana Dispensary
MI Live: “The recent raid of a medical marijuana dispensary was the first in the Jackson area since a Michigan Supreme Court ruling gave local authorities the ability to shut dispensaries down.On Tuesday, Feb. 19, members of law enforcement including the Jackson Narcotics Enforcement Team raided Kaya Provision Center”
Colorado Governor: Marijuana Legalization Is “A Challenge For Everybody”
BuzzFeed Politics: “Hickenlooper is in talks with Attorney General Eric Holder to find the regulatory framework for what voters in his state called for by a wide margin. “No one’s got the answer on this one,” says the governor. Governor John Hickenlooper said Saturday that he and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder are working to establish a legal framework for the Colorado measure, passed by a 55-45 margin on the state ballot last November, to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.”
Colorado Marijuana Regulators OK Pot Tourism
Associated Press: “Marijuana tourism is on the way to Colorado, under a recommendation made Tuesday by a state task force to regulate the drug made legal by voters last year. . . . Colorado’s marijuana task force was assembled to suggest regulations for pot after voters chose to flout federal drug law and allow its use without a doctor’s recommendation. . . . the task force agreed Tuesday that the constitutional amendment on marijuana simply says that adults over 21 can use the drug, not just Colorado residents. If lawmakers agree with the recommendation, tourists would be free to buy and smoke marijuana.”
Medical Marijuana a Healing Plant for Medically Needy
Former U.S. Attorney for Arizona A. Melvin McDonald wrote an article in which he expresses his opinion about medical marijuana and how he saw first hand how it helped his son. He says:
“Nothing worked until a friend with severe pain issues gave him some marijuana, which proved to be the only substance that would curtail the nausea. This was prior to Arizona’s medical marijuana law.
So there I was – the man appointed by President Reagan to head the drug war in Arizona – with pot being used to help my son find some peace and to have some semblance toward a quality of life.
My wife had to be resourceful to gain access to marijuana. But if you are a parent, if you are a mother, is there anything you won’t do to aid your ailing child? The choice for her was brutally harsh – find ways to give your son life-saving marijuana so he could eat and diminish the nausea knowing that her loving help for our son could potentially result in criminal prosecution.”
Former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Supports Medical Marijuana
Phoenix New Times: “On the list of people we’d probably never expect to come out in support of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, we’d probably put an anti-drug crusader U.S. Attorney who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan somewhere near the top of the list. However, we’ve seen that man, A. Melvin McDonald, all over the place in the past couple of weeks, giving a glowing review of medical marijuana.”
httpvh://youtu.be/WkeUPmzg6Cw
Court Says U.S. can Proceed with Plans to Close Oakland Pot Shop
Los Angeles Times: “Judge throws out lawsuit by Oakland that challenged as illegal the federal attempts to shutter the medical marijuana dispensary, which is the nation’s largest. . . . In filing the suit last October, Oakland became the first city to take on federal enforcement actions that have led to the closure of hundreds of dispensaries in recent years. Attorney Cedric Chao, representing Oakland, had argued that the city has broad interests in ensuring Harborside Health Center remains open, as its closure would compel many of the dispensary’s 108,000 patients to turn to the illegal market, triggering a public health and safety crisis.”
Arizona Senate Panel OKs Bill Destroying Medical Marijuana
Yuma Sun: “Ignoring a threatened lawsuit, a Senate panel voted Monday to let police destroy marijuana they have seized, even if it was taken wrongly from a medical marijuana patient. SB 1414 is designed to address situations where police come into custody of marijuana and later learn that the person was a medical marijuana patient and allowed to have it. Under the law as it has been interpreted by the state Court of Appeals, police are now required to give it back.”
Arizona Court of Appeals OKs DUI of Pot
Associated Press: “An appeals court has issued a ruling that upholds the right of authorities to prosecute pot smokers in Arizona for driving under the influence even when there is no evidence that they are actually high.”
Denver Considers Opting Out of Colorado’s Marijuana Legalization Law
CBS Denver: “There’s a chance Denver will opt out of Amendment 64 despite the fact voters in the city overwhelmingly approved legalizing marijuana. Some members of the city council argue that while the majority of Denver voters said yes to the amendment, it was in an effort to decriminilize small amounts. Their intentions may not have been to have a marijuana store in their neighborhood.”
Medical-marijuana Dispensary to Open in Mesa
Arizona Republic: “Despite the legal uncertainties swirling around the program, Mesa’s first medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to open this year. Dr. Gina Berman of Scottsdale, doing business as the Giving Tree Wellness Center of Mesa Inc., has filed an application with Mesa’s planning office to use a vacant lot at 922 E. Juanita Ave.”
Marijuana Legalization Raises Safety Questions
Associated Press: “Marijuana may be coming out of the black market in Colorado and Washington state, but the drug, at least for now, will retain a decidedly underground feel: Users may not know what’s in it. Less than a year away from allowing pot sales, regulators are grappling with how to ensure that the nation’s first legal marijuana industry will grow weed that delivers only the effects that pot smokers want.”
DEA Using Sale of $37 of Pot as Basis to Take $1.5 Million Commercial Building in Anaheim
OC Weekly: “Last year, the city [Anaheim, CA] also called in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to help crack down on pot clubs. In August, the DEA sent threatening letters to dozens of landlords and filed three asset-forfeiture lawsuits, including one against the owner of a $1.5 million building on Ball Road. . . . the single sale [$37 for 4.2 net grams of pot] —and a sale it was, since most pot goes for $50 or $60 per eighth of an ounce—was enough evidence for the DEA to argue that the otherwise-harmless computer engineer and dentist should lose their retirement-investment property. On Aug. 20, 2012, the agency filed its lawsuit.”
Congressmen Claim Bipartisan Support of Federal Bill to Legalize Marijuana
Denver Westword: “Representatives Jared Polis and Earl Blumenauer unveiled the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013, a measure that would effectively decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. The bill is being introduced in response to what Polis called the ‘enormous evolution of American opinion’. . . . The bill would not affect the current legal status of marijuana in any jurisdiction. Rather, it would allow states that have voted to legalize medical or recreational marijuana to implement regulations without fear of prosecution from any part of the federal government, including the Drug Enforcement Agency. . . . both Polis and Blumenauer stressed that there is bipartisan backing for the bill”
Feds Raid San Bernadino Medical Marijuana Dispensary Chain
The Daily Chronic: “Federal agents and local authorities raided a chain of medical marijuana dispensaries and a private residence Wednesday. The Drug Enforcement Administration served search warrants simultaneously at all three locations of Kush Concepts in San Bernardino,”
Shrinking U.S. Labor Unions See Relief in Marijuana Industry
Reuters: “The medical marijuana shop next to a tattoo parlor on a busy street in Los Angeles looks much like hundreds of other pot dispensaries that dot the city. Except for one thing: On the glass door – under a green cross signaling that cannabis can be bought there for medical purposes – is a sticker for the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), the nation’s largest retail union. The dispensary, the Venice Beach Care Center, is one of three medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles that are staffed by dues-paying union members. Another 49 in the city plan to enter into labor agreements with the UFCW this year, the union says.”
Effort Building to Change Marijuana Laws
Arizona Republic: “An effort is building in Congress to change U.S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a hefty federal pot tax. While passage this year could be a longshot, lawmakers from both parties have been quietly working on several bills, the first of which Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado plan to introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer told The Associated Press.”
Open House at Arizona Organix Medical Marijuana Dispensary
Arizona Republic: “Just a few minutes after Bill Meyer began his tour of his Glendale medical marijuana dispensary, it was over. The business layout for Arizona Organix is simple and straightforward: There is a lobby, where patients must pass their medical marijuana cards through a partition similar to what might be seen at a bank branch. Then there is a short hallway into a viewing area for available products, with a glass case similar to a bakery’s. And finally, a third room where the product is stored, again, with a secure partition.”
Bills would Tighten Regulations on Medical Marijuana
Arizona Republic: “In a move aimed at preventing children from accidentally eating marijuana and the state’s police from falling foul of federal drug laws, a state lawmaker is proposing two pieces of legislation to tighten the state’s medical-marijuana program. Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, wants to force medical-marijuana dispensaries to label edible drugs, such as cookies, brownies and lollipops, to make it clear they are only for medicinal purposes. Packaging could look similar to the U.S. surgeon general’s warning labels on cigarettes.”
Market Blooms for Medical-marijuana Experts
Arizona Republic: “Inside the suite of a nondescript industrial park in west Phoenix, an armed security guard in a bulletproof vest guards dozens of tents filled with lush plants that supply medical-marijuana patients throughout the state. . . . When they need pointers on yielding the best harvest, they go to Bruce Barnes, a 32-year-old “master grower” who works for the center and specializes in growing highly potent marijuana that patients use to treat ailments ranging from cancer to chronic pain. Barnes helps patients and caregivers grow high-grade marijuana using sophisticated techniques to manipulate the plants with light, nutrients and air.”
Montgomery Pushes Sun City Medical pot Case to Higher Court
Yourwestvalley.com: “Hoping for a speedy conclusion to the Sun City medical marijuana dispensary case, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery has asked the Arizona Supreme Court to immediately take up his challenge to a state law. In legal papers filed with the high court, Montgomery told the justices that his bid to overturn a lower court ruling upholding the law is proceeding at the Court of Appeals at a very slow pace. Montgomery filed his formal brief Friday; now the other side gets time to respond, with Montgomery then getting a chance to reply to that.”
Colorado’s New Growth Industry: Pot
Los Angeles Times: “Entrepreneurs ramp up after the state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational use of marijuana. . . . The state [Colorado] has become a nucleus of the rapidly evolving marijuana industry, offering a glimpse at what life might be like if weed is legalized nationwide, with companies, entrepreneurs and investors maneuvering for a piece of the expected boom. Dispensaries are handing out glossy prospectuses to lure investors. Luxury cannabis leisure magazines in the vein of Cigar Aficionado are promoting the industry and cannabis tourism. Companies are jostling for various sectors of the market, from grow lights to point-of-sale systems. And marijuana growers are shedding the pothead vibe to sell their services to MBAs, who may have the capital to get started but not the arcane knowledge required to produce good weed.”
Obama’s Drug War
The Huffington Post has an in depth review of the federal government’s war on medical marijuana under former Choom Gang member Barack Obama. Excerpts from the story are below.
In August 2011, Justice officials told their local government leaders in the town of Chico, Calif., that they could personally be jailed if they went forward with legislation to regulate medical cannabis. Under criminal conspiracy laws, “all parties involved would be considered, including city officials,” city manager David Burkland wrote in a report on their meeting with U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner. . . .
“Staff and Council’s involvement in implementing the marijuana ordinance could be interpreted as facilitating illegal activity associated with marijuana,” Burkland wrote. “U.S Attorney Wagner also stated that although the DOJ may lack the resources to prosecute every case, it intends to prosecute more significant cases to deter the activity of marijuana cultivation and unlawful distribution. In those cases, staff or elected officials will not be immune from prosecution under conspiracy or money laundering laws.”
The prosecutor’s pursuit of fairness also took her to Mendocino County, where local officials had established an effective “zip tie program” to regulate its medical marijuana trade. Growers, after paying a licensing fee and submitting to police inspection, were given zip ties by the sheriff. Police officers who found bags of pot cinched by those ties then had reason to believe the product had been grown legally.
Just before the county board of supervisors planned to vote on making the program official and permanent, Haag traveled to the county and, in a meeting with county counsel Jeanine Nadel, threatened the supervisors with legal action if they moved forward, according to a report by California Watch.
The board decided to squash the program, but Haag’s pursuit continued. She empaneled a grand jury and subpoenaed information from the county about its program, looking for the names of people who had registered as growers, as well as all financial information related to it.
Holder highlighted the contrast in 2010 as California voters prepared to vote on a ballot measure, Proposition 19, legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Just weeks before the election, Holder wrote a letter stating that the feds would “vigorously enforce” federal law “against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law.”
Jenny Durkan, the U.S. attorney for the District of Washington, warned residents the day before her state’s law went into effect in early December that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
“Regardless of any changes in state law, including the change that will go into effect on December 6 in Washington State, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law,” she warned.
Medical-Marijuana “Vapor Lounge” in West Valley Allows Patients to Toke Up, Rent Bongs and Hang Out
Phoenix New Times: “A group of medical-marijuana dispensary owners at the State Capital yesterday afternoon urged authorities to shut down unregulated cannabis clubs. Meanwhile, up the road in a small, west Valley strip mall, medical-marijuana patients toked up openly in a ‘lounge’ that has the look, feel, and scent of a Dutch coffeeshop. . . . The entrepreneur behind the Arizona Vapor Lounge, Bill Hayes, says his business is a budding franchise: He expects 14 similar lounges across the state to open in the next two months. . . . Hayes credits Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery for giving him the idea for the lounge’s business model.”
For more on the legalities of cannabis clubs read Richard Keyt’s article called “Are Arizona Cannabis Clubs Legal Under Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Laws?“