Fresno dispensary owner posts bail after court hearing

 Collectives, Courts, Cultivation, Dispensaries, Government, Medical marijuana
Feb 112010
 

From Fresno, no stranger to strangeness, comes this story of a dispensary owner whose legal problems are self-inflicted in part. Sadly, there is no shortage of dispensary operators who try to skirt zoning regs by flying under the radar or pin their hopes on dubious legal advice in claiming those regs are unconstitutional. If you want to make such arguments, cool, but let a lawyer do the arguing; few judges enjoy or tolerate amateur legal analysis offered by the accused. – Bud ==================== An operator of a Fresno medical-marijuana dispensary posted $5,000 bail and got [...]

Amid complaints, Shasta County delays medipot ordinance consideration

 Business, Cultivation, Government, Medical marijuana, Ordinances
Feb 102010
 

After listening to hours of public comments that included threats of lawsuits, Shasta County supervisors Tuesday put off voting on proposed new medical marijuana laws for at least two weeks. The comments will continue at the board’s Feb. 23 meeting, the Record-Searchlight’s Amanda Winters reports. Supervisors also will discuss a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries proposed by Supervisor Leonard Moty. About 16 people spoke during the public comment period Tuesday with the majority in disagreement with the regulations outlined in the ordinance. The ordinance was developed by the county Planning Commission in conjunction with [...]

Oh lord, stuck in Lodi with medipot moratorium again

 Business, Dispensaries, Government, Medical marijuana, Ordinances
Feb 082010
 

Folks hoping to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Lodi are going to have to wait at least another year. The City Council voted Wednesday to extend Lodi’s existing moratorium on medical pot shops to April 13, 2011, Stockton Record reporter Daniel Thigpen writes here. Before drafting a set of rules, City Attorney Steve Schwabauer said he wants more time to watch pending court cases elsewhere in California that might affect the ability of cities to regulate the dispensaries. City Councilman Larry Hansen said he wondered whether a statewide petition to legalize recreational marijuana, proposed for [...]

Man arrested on plane blames medipot OD for odd behavior

 Courts, Law Enforcement, Medical marijuana
Feb 082010
 

A San Francisco man claims he was high on a double dose of medical marijuana cookies when he screamed, dropped his pants and attacked crew members on a cross-country flight, forcing its diversion to Pittsburgh, the FBI said Wednesday in this AP story picked up by the Washington Post. Kinman Chan, 30, was charged in a criminal complaint with interfering with the duties of a flight attendant on allegations that he fought with crew members of US Airways Flight 1447 from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on Sunday. His federal public defender, Jay Finkelstein, declined to [...]

Cannapa-losers: Mandalay Bay cancels pot-themed convention

 Business, Hemp, Media
Feb 022010
 

“It ain’t over!” boasts the Cannapalooza Web site, but the scheduled event at Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas has been cancelled. May we gently suggest a California venue instead? ============ A Letter From The Executive Director Dear friends and fans of Cannapalooza, The Cannapalooza team wants you to know how grateful we are for the overwhelming support and well wishes we’ve received in the last 48 hours. We are truly humbled. Please allow us to clear the air about the termination of our event. Many of our fans have called Mandalay Bay to inquire [...]

Mountain View takes another look at dispensaries

 Business, Dispensaries, Government, Law Enforcement, Medical marijuana, Ordinances
Jan 282010
 

In 2005, Mountain View native Jonathan Lustig came to the City Council with a seemingly radical proposal: Let him open a medical marijuana dispensary somewhere in the city. “I believe that all patients should be entitled to safe and affordable and practical means for obtaining their medicine,” he said at the time, as reported in this Mountain View Voice article. The idea was short-lived, however, after the council rejected Lustig’s proposal in a 4-3 vote after a great deal of contention — and what some felt to be intimidation from the federal DEA agents present [...]

S.F. Bay Guardian: Marijuana is going mainstream

 Business, Dispensaries, Government, Media, Medical marijuana
Jan 282010
 

Bud’s intro: One reason that newspapers will survive, I suspect, is that databases and Websites are inadequate vehicles for long-form journalism. It takes a dozen clicks or so and some serious scrolling to wade through Steven T. Jones’ review of Bay Area cannabis clubs, but the quotes in the introduction alone are worth it. Score Bay Guardian print version 1, iPad 0 and Kindle stuck in traffic somewhere. ========= I’ve smoked marijuana on and off for most of my adult life, usually in the evening to help let go of the anxieties associated with being [...]

San Francisco supervisors give OK to medipot task force

 Cultivation, Government, Medical marijuana
Jan 262010
 

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has voted to create a ”Medical Cannabis Task Force” that will make recommendations on everything from medical marijuana cultivation and taxation in the city to devising guidelines for baked goods containing the herb — once again putting San Francisco squarely in the pro-pot camp. But the decision wasn’t unanimous, the San Francisco Chronicle’s City Insider reports. Supervisor Sean Elsbernd cried foul. The west-side supervisor looked at the make-up of the 13-member panel — weighted heavily toward the people who use, run and advocate for medical marijuana — and wondered [...]

Update: Los Angeles City Council passes MM dispensary ordinance

 Business, Collectives, Cultivation, Dispensaries, Government, Law Enforcement, Medical marijuana, Ordinances
Jan 262010
 

The Los Angeles City Council gave final approval Tuesday to a medical marijuana ordinance that will impose some of the toughest rules in the state, the Los Angeles Times reports here. It was assailed by advocates who said the law will drastically restrict access to the drug, Times reporter John Hoeffel writes. The measure, which was passed more than 4 1/2 years after the council started to discuss the issue, will do little to calm the contentious debate over how Los Angeles should restrain a dispensary boom that has seen hundreds of pot stores cluster [...]

Palm Springs City Council takes lead on dispensary reviews

 Business, Dispensaries, Government, Medical marijuana, Ordinances
Jan 252010
 

The Palm Springs City Council has opted to add some flexibility to its medical marijuana ordinance, the Desert Sun reports. Under a 4-1 vote, a new amendment will give the council discretion to review applicants hoping to open medical marijuana facilities as the council sees fit — even if those applicants don’t fit within the ordinance’s standards. The ordinance was too rigid before and put the final decision “in the city manager’s lap, which is not where it’s supposed to be,” City Councilman Chris Mills said Wednesday. Councilman Lee Weigel, the dissenting vote, disagreed. “The [...]

 Older Entries  Newer Entries