N.Y. Times report: Prop. 215 patients in legal limbo

 Marijuana News
Nov 262011
 

UKIAH — An intensifying federal crackdown on growers and sellers of state-authorized medical marijuana has badly shaken the billion-dollar industry, which has sprung up in California since voters approved medical use of the drug in 1996, and has highlighted the stark contradiction between federal and state policies. Federal law classifies the possession and sale of marijuana as a serious crime and does not grant exceptions for medical use, so the programs adopted here, in 15 other states and in the District of Columbia exist in an odd legal limbo, Erik Eckholm reports in the New [...]

Sacramento freezes dispensary permits, extends deadlines

 Dispensaries
Nov 162011
 

With legal uncertainty swirling around the issue, the city of Sacramento formally entered a holding pattern on its issuance of medical marijuana permits Tuesday night in a move that advocates said could help save the industry in the city. Last month, City Manager John Shirey ordered a “temporary freeze” on new permits for medical marijuana dispensaries as federal authorities launched a series of crackdowns on the facilities around the state. At least three Sacramento dispensaries have been investigated by federal drug enforcement agents, Ryan Lillis reports in the Sacramento Bee. At the same time, a [...]

Medical marijuana patients call out feds in Sacramento

 Marijuana News
Nov 102011
 

Medical cannabis patients and several noted industry leaders rallied Wednesday outside the federal courthouse in downtown Sacramento. They were there to protest the recent federal crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries and collective growers, with Assemblymember Tom Ammiano calling on President Obama to order federal enforcement agencies to stand down. “I support the president, but he is confusing the issue by having these people muddy up the water and violate civil rights and human rights,” Ammiano said. “(Proposition) 215 is to be respected. It is an issue of state rights.” The rally came days after the [...]

Federal entrapment claimed in medical marijuana lawsuits

 Courts
Nov 082011
 

Medical marijuana advocates have filed lawsuits in California’s four federal judicial districts aimed at quickly winning court orders to halt the U.S. attorneys from closing dispensaries. The lawsuits are the second legal challenge to the stepped-up enforcement efforts that the four prosecutors announced last month at a high-profile joint news conference in Sacramento, John Hoeffel reports in the Los Angeles Times. Matt Kumin, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuits, said that Tuesday the plaintiffs plan to ask the judges assigned to the cases for temporary restraining orders halting the crackdown. “The government has [...]

California dispensaries fire back with federal lawsuits

 Courts
Nov 082011
 

Pot suppliers went to federal court Monday to try to halt the Obama administration’s campaign to close down their dispensaries, saying the survival of California’s medical marijuana law is at stake. In lawsuits filed in each of the state’s four federal districts, medical marijuana cooperatives, joined by patients and property owners, accused the Justice Department of violating an agreement to leave them alone if they complied with state law, Bob Egelko reports in the San Francisco Chronicle. The department had pledged to the courts, and to patients and their suppliers, that “those who possess, grow [...]

Medical cannabis protest in Sacramento

 Advocates
Nov 052011
 

Title: Medical cannabis protest in SacramentoLocation: Federal courthouse, 501 I St., SacramentoLink out: Click hereDescription: Join Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and a statewide coalition on Wednesday, November 9, for a peaceful protest at the Federal Building in Sacramento to protest the Obama Administration’s new attack on medical cannabis patients and property owners! Most of California’s legal medical cannabis patients rely on cooperatives and collectives for safe access to the medicine they need to treat the symptoms of cancer, HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic pain, and other serious conditions. Tell President Obama and the DOJ to [...]

Sacramento freezes medical marijuana dispensary permits

 Dispensaries
Oct 242011
 

The city of Sacramento, unnerved by a federal crackdown on marijuana dispensaries, has abruptly suspended its process for issuing permits to medical pot stores. The city’s order of a “temporary freeze” on dispensary applications comes as other jurisdictions around the state are also reviewing their approach to medical marijuana outlets in light of recent federal actions. Sacramento’s move doesn’t mean that the 38 medical marijuana stores operating in the city will have to close, Peter Hecht reports in the Sacramento Bee. But halting the application process could put in limbo their long-term prospects. Closing the [...]

SacBee: Attorney General Harris should offer Prop. 215 guidance

 Opinion
Oct 232011
 

It’s a good thing that some legislators are willing to take on California’s medical marijuana morass. Attorney General Kamala Harris just tossed it in their laps. It’s perhaps a safer course to stay out of the fray and issue a carefully crafted, completely inoffensive statement, as she did Thursday, that supports the “compassionate use” of medical marijuana for the ill, expresses concern about criminal enterprises exploiting the law and urges federal authorities to focus enforcement on significant traffickers. But for the state’s top law enforcement officer, that’s just not good enough, says this Sacramento Bee [...]

AG worries about ‘overly broad’ marijuana push by feds

 Dispensaries
Oct 202011
 

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors should be careful not to overreach in their crackdown on California’s pot dispensaries, even though there are ambiguities in the state’s medical marijuana laws, the state attorney general said Thursday. The law passed 15 years ago by California voters has ambiguities that must be resolved either by the state Legislature or the courts, state Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement. However, Harris said she was worried that “an overly broad federal enforcement campaign will make it more difficult for legitimate patients to access physician-recommended medicine in California.” She [...]

Citing federal law, Brown vetoes industrial hemp bill

 Hemp
Oct 112011
 

Though Gov. Jerry Brown called federal regulation of industrial hemp plants “absurd,” potential enforcement of those regulations ultimately led to his veto of state Senate Bill 676, which would have allowed hemp cultivation in four California counties, including Kern, as part of an eight-year pilot program. Supporters of the bill said the federal categorization of industrial hemp plants as the same as marijuana plants is woefully outdated, Jill Cowan reports in the Bakersfield Californian. The fact that industrial hemp is imported for legal products means Californians are missing out on a cash crop, advocates say. [...]

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