Medical marijuana advocates are rallying to the cause of San Diego County defendant James Stacy, expressing hand-wringing outrage that the former dispensary operator is facing federal drug prosecution. Stacy operated a medical pot shop, called “Movement in Action,” in Vista, “Weed Wars” blogger Peter Hecht writes. He was charged with federal counts of illegally manufacturing and distributing marijuana after a series of undercover buys by a San Diego County sheriff’s detective and subsequent raids by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officers on his home and business. Last week, U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz rejected Stacy’s [...]
By Bud Green CalPotNews.com A funny thing happened on the way to Tuesday’s vote to ban new medical marijuana dispensaries in Fresno County: Existing dispensaries supported the moratorium and pleaded for new regulations. They got their initial wish when county supervisors voted to pass a 45-day ordinance banning new pot shops, which likely will be extended in August. Whether new regulations will result is less clear, according to Fresno attorney Brenda Linder. “I represent four collectives who self-regulate because the city and the county would not get on board as far as initiating regulations,” Linder [...]
Bud’s note: Brace yourselves for more TV coverage of medical marijuana as the campaign for legalization gears up. This “special report” from CBS47 in Fresno goes nearly 5 minutes, which is quite a haul for the attention-challenged, and features a pot doc who opposes legalization for recreational use. The headline on the eye-catching TV graphic: Abuse of privilege or helpful medicine? ======================= Medical marijuana: Is it abuse of privilege or helpful medicine? Medical marijuana continues to face scrutiny in California, especially as pot clinics open and close in the (San Joaquin) Valley and we get [...]
What if California could raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to preserve vital state services without any tax increases? And what if at the same time, we could, without any new expense, help protect our endangered wilderness areas while making it harder for our kids to get drugs? That is precisely what the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 initiative slated for the November ballot would do, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano writes in the New Times of San Luis Obispo. This measure, building off the legislation I introduced last year, is [...]
I spoke with Kevin Jodrey, cultivation director at the Humboldt Patient Resource Center in Arcata, at the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup in San Francisco. The three clips below, less than a minute each, discuss public perceptions about medical marijuana, the potential impact of legalization, and how the Humboldt County collective was more interested in networking than in drumming up new business. The poor sound quality and concrete wall backdrop are offset in part by some great visuals of folks enjoying the Prop. 215 patio reserved for medical marijuana patients. Kevin makes some interesting points, [...]
The High Times Medical Cannabis Cup seemed like a great place to talk about medical marijuana, and as luck would have it I spied Chef Mike DeLao of Cannabis Planet TV fame. Chef Mike had me cracking up on a recent episode where he slathered a generous helping of cannabis-infused dressing over a salad. “Everybody loves more medicine,” he said with a sly grin. At least I think that’s what he said, and I think it was salad, but I was “medicated” at the time so I couldn’t swear to it. Having recently renewed my [...]
Sacramento resident Ngaio Bealum says he loves to cut up on stage about “weed and sex.” But this stand-up comic-activist-journalist-entrepreneur says he also aims to change “the stoner paradigm.” “It’s not about sitting around and doing nothing,” says the editor and publisher of West Coast Cannabis, a monthly pot lifestyles publication that bills itself as the Sunset magazine of weed. “My thing is I like to smoke a joint and go do something.” And so Bealum, 42, a San Francisco native born in 1968 to Black Panther Party members, plays a multifaceted role in the [...]
Jun 042010
Marijuana may be the renowned cash crop in Humboldt County. But two reports in recent months suggest it is bad medicine for the regional environment. In an article in the North Coast Journal, two research engineers at the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University took issue with excessive energy use of thriving indoor marijuana grow rooms. “There are environmental consequences of what we’re doing,” wrote Peter Lehman and Peter Johnstone. They suggested that Humboldt pot rooms use enough electricity to power “13,000 typical homes” and put “20,000 metric tons of CO2 into the [...]
With a screaming red headine, “NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS!!!,” San Diego County medical marijuana activist Eugene Davidovich recently announced on his website his acquittal on charges of illegally selling marijuana and possessing weed. Davidson, who operated a medical marijuana home delivery service, was the second high-profile defendant to be found not-guilty in a crackdown by San Diego authorities on medical marijuana providers they accused of conducting illegal retail sales. His March 26 acquittal follows a earlier courtroom loss for District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, “Weed Wars” blogger/reporter Peter Hecht writes for the Sacramento Bee. In [...]
One of last times Dr. David Allen was seen in Sacramento, he had a packed waiting room of patients. They were paying $150 each to see the former Mississippi heart surgeon for medical marijuana recommendations, Peter Hecht reports in his “Weed Wars” blog. To anyone listening, Allen extolled the virtues of a “miracle drug” he said he started using at 17. He also told a reporter he was currently treating himself with pot for decades of accumulated stress as an cardiothoracic surgeon – and for more recent anxiety over his million dollar Mississippi ranch getting [...]
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