April 2015 | News Nuggets

BAY AREA

Vallejo collectives
turned away when attempting to pay Measure C taxes

A group of medical cannabis collective owners attempted to
approach Vallejo City Hall in February in order to pay taxes according to
Measure C, but were turned away, according to the Times Herald. Four owners only made it to the inside of the ground
floor with $50,000 in taxes in hand with the intent of renewing their Measure C
tax certificates. Measure C created a business tax license tax rate of 10 percent
on any sales of cannabis products within the city. Unfortunately, as of January
2015, the city announced that it would no longer issue or renew the business
license tax certificates, and the city council also voted to extend a
moratorium on all medical cannabis collectives in Vallejo as well. Many owners
spoke out in support of their businesses and the patients whom they serve.
James Anthony, a political consultant and lawyer, spoke on behalf of the
protestors, “Medical cannabis is good for Vallejo, it’s good for individual
patients, it’s good for people who need jobs. There are over 150 full-time jobs
with medical cannabis in Vallejo. It’s good for the city tax revenue.” As of this press
time, city council has yet to decide the fate of collectives in Vallejo city
limits. For current information, go to ireadculture.com.

NorCal counties
gathered to discuss cannabis legalization in 2016

Early last month, almost 50 representatives from Mendocino,
Humboldt, Trinity, Del Norte, Lake and Sonoma counties met for the first of
many meetings to come regarding cannabis legalization, according to the Ukiah Daily Journal. With intentions to
discuss the environmental lmpacts of legalized cannabis, information regarding
assembly bills was shared, a presentation by a Colorado county attorney was
presented and together, the meeting culminated with a regional statement that
will be given freely to the public to read. One of the attendees, County of
Mendocino CEO Carmel Angelo, expressed the benefits of getting a head start on
policy and regulation, “We’re working as a region. Cannabis issues are regional
issues, particularly for smaller, rural counties. These are policymakers really
making policy—not dealing with the minutiae of politics. Policy that is drafted
today has the potential of bringing the entire state forward over the next 20
years,” he stated. Members from all counties were in attendance, each providing
vital information regarding to that county’s water quality, supply, fishery
restorations and much more.

COLORADO

Colorado cannabis tax
raises $2.3 million for public schools

The first numbers were recently released regarding
Colorado’s successful year in cannabis sales for 2014, and it’s been mainly
good news. So too is the amount of money that has been gathered from cannabis
excise taxes. Now it appears that the statewide tax collection has gathered $2.3
million dollars that will be contributed towards public schools, according to VIBE. Thanks to the 10 percent sales tax
and 15 percent excise tax on recreational sales, all taken from over 300
dispensaries in the state, the community will soon be much improved. Not only
will that excess money go towards public schooling, but it’s also supporting
programs for abuse, medical research and police training.

Mayor of Kingston,
Jamaica visits Colorado to learn about cannabis

Last month, Mayor Angela Brown Burke of Kingston, Jamaica
took a trip to Colorado where she proceeded to get a hands-on experience with
the state’s successful cannabis industry. While on her two-day trip, Mayor
Brown Burke took a tour of local businesses, met with law enforcement and
policy makers, including a visit to the office of Governor John Hickenlooper,
as well as Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, according to Westword. There, she reportedly gathered information on cannabis
regulation in light of Jamaica’s recent legalization of the herb. “When I came
[to Denver], I was confident we (Jamaica) had a good potential in terms of a
market. We have been known for marijuana. It’s part of our culture, and it’s
what we’re known for. But coming here has cemented that notion,” Mayor Brown
Burke stated. Although the Mayor got a good look at cannabis regulation in
Colorado, her situation and approach to cannabis regulation will differ slightly.
She must keep both the normal regulation of cannabis in mind, as well as the
Rastafari community, which often relies on the herb in its religious practice.

LOS ANGELES

Cannabis advocates
sue Costa Mesa to force a special election

In mid-March, the attorneys who worked on two 2014 cannabis
petitions that aimed to legalize collectives in Costa Mesa are suing the city
in order to force a special election to occur, according to the Orange County Register. The lawsuit
argues that the city violated state election law when it decided not to hold a
special election and chose to vote on the issue in November 2016 general
election instead. Although city officials claim they have followed the
California Constitution to back their decision, advocates believe otherwise.
One attorney, Fullerton-based Randall Longwith, who is a medical cannabis advocate,
believes they were misled by the city’s initial plans, “I think their plan the
entire time was to lull us into this belief that they were going to . . . work
with us to enact an ordinance that would work for everybody,” Longwith stated,
who also added that advocates and patients are indeed qualified and entitled to
a special election. Alongside Los Angeles Attorney David Welch, the two
attorneys refuse to wait a whole year. “We’re not only filing on behalf of
ourselves, but on behalf of the 11,000 voters who signed a petition to have
this paced on a special election within the time parameters of California law,”
commented Longwith.

Riverside cannabis
collective initiative on June ballot

Riverside residents succeeded in getting their initiative,
“The Riverside Medical Marijuana Restriction and Limitation Act,” approved for
voting, which will appear on the June 2 ballot, according to The Press Enterprise. The City Council
voted in late February to allow the measure to be voted upon by the residents
of Riverside, thanks to the amount of approved signatures gathered by
advocates. Although the measure has qualified, the City Council is still
adamant on signing an argument against the measure. The council has also
decided to ensure that the entire measure text details will be listed on the
mail-in ballot, so those who receive them can decide for themselves based on
the actual text (an option that cost the council an extra $25,000). The total
amount of money being spent on the election is near $209,000, which also
includes the election for members of the city council in Wards 1, 3, 5 and 7.

MICHIGAN

Senate votes for bill
that allows landlords the right to ban medical cannabis use

Recently, an amendment was made to a 2008 law by the
Michigan Senate to allow landlords in the state to ban medical cannabis from
their properties, according to Mlive.com.
The legislation approved the amendment in a 34-4 vote, allowing it to move on
to the House for further consideration. The legislation requires a
three-quarters majority vote in each chamber, because it’s an amendment to the
voter-approved medical cannabis law. One of the only three Senators who opposed
the bill, Rebekah Warren, reminded the group how this would effect patients,
“This is people’s medicine we’re talking about. And when you’re talking about
rental housing, this is where people live. So, what we did today—not me, I
voted against it—is say that people can’t take their medicine in the place that
they reside. That’s a challenge.” As of a 2013 ruling, only smoking cannabis is
legal in the state.

New cannabis
initiative aims to collect signatures for 2016 ballot

Signature collecting season is back in Michigan, with a
newly formed cannabis advocacy group, the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law
Reform Initiative, that is aiming to get legalization on the 2016 ballot. The
initiative would legalize, tax and regulate recreational cannabis, according to
FOX 17.  The initiative will closely
mirror that of Colorado’s cannabis laws in many ways, such as allowing an
individual to grow up to 12 plants. “We’re going to end criminal punishment for
any sort of marijuana possession or use, except for when someone distributes to
a minor,” stated Jeffrey Hank, chairman for the new initiative. Hank also
estimates that the herb’s full legalization could lead to 25,000 new jobs in
the state and plenty of excess tax money that could be used for road repairs
and education. The initiative needs to collect 250,000 valid signatures by the
end of the summer in order to qualify for the ballot in 2016.

OREGON

Cannabis taxes approved for Jackson County

Jackson County citizens voted to approve taxes on cannabis by a
winning 64 percent, according to The Oregonian. The vote will give
county officials permission to establish up to a 25 percent tax on all cannabis
sales, including in Medford, Ashland, Central Point and Gold Hill, which have
already established taxes on the herb. The Oregonian writer Thomas
Moriarty reported on the event, stating that “many city and county governments
have imposed taxes anyway, arguing that they’d be grandfathered in if passed
before July, and that the taxes are needed to pay for the local social impacts
of legalization.” Many cities made arrangements to establish a tax as soon as
possible, so they could be allowed the ability to impose taxes knowing that
Oregon’s newly approved cannabis law states that local governments will be
unable to tax cannabis sales.

Medical cannabis
growing facility in talks for Washington County

The County Board of Supervisors Agricultural Planning
committee passed two resolutions for approving a medical cannabis growing
facility in Washington County, according to the Post Star. The usual factors were considered and discussed,
including topics such as increased and ample security, as well as having enough
space to make it a successful venture. According to Hartford Supervisor Dana
Haff, the first resolution “shows we support, in general, the idea of a growing
facility in the county,” and the second promises to not exclude any other businesses
in that location, should the current applicant back out. The resolutions are
set to be presented to the full Board of Supervisors. Oregon will only have a
total of 20 dispensaries across the state once it all becomes officially legal
in January 2016, and it isn’t likely that Washington County will get a
dispensary. Only five licenses to own a grow facility will be allowed
throughout the state, but Haff believes having a growing facility would be
beneficial for the community.

SAN DIEGO

Cannabis collective
applicants moving forward in San Diego

Last month, CULTURE
covered the news of San Diego’s first legally approved cannabis collective that
opened up in mid-March in Otay Mesa. Six more collectives have received the
green light, now that environmental appeals that were filed against all of the
potential collectives have been cleared, according to UT San Diego. A total of 20 collectives are approaching approval.
Those collectives are at all stages of approval, with some only a few steps
away from complete approval, and others awaiting the assignment of a hearing
officer, who will be guided by the city attorney in suggesting approval. All of
the districts have applicants, except for Districts 5 and 9, and District 3
applicants have given up on the process because they “ran into issues.” Still,
with months of waiting, applicants are finally progressing through the city’s
rigorous approval process.

WASHINGTON

Washington’s first
state-owned access point begins operation

An access point in North Bonneville recently opened last
month, but unlike other access points across the state, this one is
Washington’s very first state-owned cannabis shop, according to USA Today. The Cannabis Corner, located northeast
of Vancouver, is run by the town’s public development authority, which was
created specifically with the intent to open up a government-run access point.
North Bonneville loaned The Cannabis Corner $15,000 to get it up and running
(which has already been paid back in full). Of the state licenses that were
available to be applied for, two were up for grabs in Skamania County. Mayor
Don Stevens is one of many who expressed their positive feelings about the
access point, “It’s great. It’s a mixture of excitement and relief. It’s been a
real community effort, and it’s absolutely rewarding to see.” These efforts are
hopeful in not only bringing up the city’s economy, property values and sales tax
collections, but also hopeful in creating more jobs and bringing the lucrative
cannabis industry to the town through leasing out land to cannabis growers and
processors.

Legal access point
opens up shop in Pierce County, where access points had been banned

A new and licensed access point, The Gallery, opened in
mid-March in Pierce County, which banned the operation of cannabis shops within
its limits last year, according to the International
Business Times. Even with the ban, owner of The Gallery, Mike Henery, hopes
that the county will allow their existence “Our hope is that we will receive
not a blessing so much, but just indifference,” said Henery. Apparently, there
are a few other medical cannabis access points open in the county, and so far
the county has not taken any action to shut them down. Pierce County Executive
Pat McCarthy, in speaking to the Associated
Press regarding only recently hearing about the access point’s new opening,
noted that action may be imminent now, but that the county council and attorney
will discuss the options for Pierce County.

NATIONAL

Utah medical cannabis bill moves forward in Senate

In March, Senate Bill 259 moved forward in the Senate by a close margin of 16-13 vote. The bill would allow for those who qualify for specific illnesses to use medical cannabis in either edible or liquid form. It would also allow a limited number of licensed dispensaries to sell the herb. The senators who voted in favor of SB-259, claim that the decision was made because of research and advice from constituents, as well as the influence of a few positive stories and experiences of patients. One advocate, Christine Stenquist, spoke up about the state’s acceptance of the herb for those who need it, “We’re just really proud of our lawmakers right now that they’re showing such thoughtful compassion towards . . . Towards those that are suffering, and we’re very hopeful,” she stated.

INTERNATIONAL

French research reveals that cannabis lowers risk for insulin
resistance in HIV/HCV patients

Researchers from French company called INSERM have discovered that
the use of cannabis can lower the risk for insulin resistance in HIV and HCV
patients, according to Healio.com. A total of 703 patients who were already
infected with HIV and HCV were tested during the course of the study, where
insulin resistance was measured by the homeostasis model assessment of insulin
resistance known as HOMA-IR (the researchers listed that 46 percent of patients
had a HOMA-IR of more than 2.77, and 30 percent had more than 3.8). At the
beginning of the study, 54.6 percent of patients reported no cannabis use, 20.6
mentioned that they used it every once in a while, 11.7 percent said they use
regularly and 13.1 percent use the herb on a daily basis. The analysis
concluded with the evidence that the use of cannabis, in all frequencies,
resulted in a lowered risk for insulin resistance. The researchers also noted
that a further study on this subject should be made in the future, “The benefits
of these products for patients concerned by increased risk of insulin and
diabetes need to be evaluated in clinical research and practice,” wrote
researchers in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Cannabis activists
starting up initiative to legalize in Costa Rica

With recent positive action towards decriminalizing cannabis
in Jamaica earlier this year now Costa Rica’s legalization is in full swing,
according to The Tico Times. Last August, a bill was presented that would legalize
cannabis and hemp production. President Luis Guillermo Solís mentioned that he
does not support fully legalizing the herb, but is definitely behind its
eventual decriminalization. According to a survey by the University of Costa
Rica, 53 percent of the country’s population supports the use of the herb. There
are just enough advocates staying positive to give the patients a chance to
have access to the herb in the future, such as Valerie Corrall, founder of the
Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana. She believes that Costa Rica has
immense potential. “Costa Rica provides education and health care to all its
citizens. It only takes a minute for that education to take fire. It can
provide jobs. It can provide an alternative to corporatized and commodified
medicine. It could really work in this country,” Corrall stated. Unfortunately,
progress is slow-going for the Marihuana Medicinal Costa Rica organization that
seeks to gain traction in the country.