By CULTURE STAFF
THE STATE
Anticipated Anaheim case goes back to a lower court
In a highly scrutinized lawsuit involving Anaheim’s ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, a three-judge panel for California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal tossed the case back to a lesser court for further review. The ruling had been much anticipated because it was believed it could have established a clear precedent regarding whether cities in California have the right to ban dispensaries. More than 130 cities have already established dispensary bans of one type or another. About 36 cities (10 from Orange County) supported Anaheim’s ban, according to the Orange County Register.
The case, Qualified Patients Association v. City of Anaheim, stemmed from a lawsuit that was filed after Anaheim passed a dispensary ban in 2007. Qualified Patients filed for appeal in March 2008 after an Orange County Superior Court ruled that Anaheim could prohibit dispensaries.
The recent Court of Appeal decision also concluded that the prior court ruling was wrong when it declared that federal law trumped state law that allows the use of medical cannabis—something advocates and patients have been claiming for years.
Wildomar planning officials reject pro-dispensary ordinance
An ordinance that would allow medical-marijuana dispensaries in the Riverside County community of Wildomar was rejected last month by a 3-2 Planning Commission vote.
Commissioners heard from more than two dozen speakers at their Aug. 4 meeting, ultimately siding with the majority of residents who expressed reservations about dispensaries. Nearly all 20 of the opponents claimed Wildomar residency, while only three of 12 supporters lived in the city, according to the Southwest Riverside News Network.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re trying to measure this on a moral compass,” Wildomar resident Gina Castanon said at the meeting, according to SRNN. “The law has been passed in California. These people (who are opposed) are in denial.”
Earlier this year, the City Council had voted to draft the ordinance and send it to the Planning Commission to consider the zoning and land-use issues. The Council may still approve the ordinance at a later date, despite the Planning Commission’s recommendation.
Poll shows cannabis use among California’s registered voters
A new field poll shows that 47 percent of registered voters in California have smoked marijuana at least once in their life, with the highest concentration of users among people making less than $40,000 a year.
The poll, conducted for The Sacramento Bee, showed that the highest percentage of users claimed a medical condition as their primary reason, with relaxation and sleep inducement a close second. Only 24 percent said that it helps stimulate their creativity.
With this November’s ballot measure proposing the legal non-medical use of marijuana, the Bee found that cannabis use is most prevalent in the Bay Area and Northern California, and lowest in the Central Valley.
According to the state Board of Equalization, more than 400,000 Californians smoke pot daily.
THE NATION
Cannabis less dangerous than cigarettes and alcohol, survey shows
Cigarettes and alcohol may be legal, but in a survey of 1,000 adults, they’re viewed as more dangerous than marijuana.
Only 17 percent of respondents said that marijuana was riskier than drinking alcohol, and 24 percent said smoking cannabis was worse than cigarettes. On the other hand, half of the adults surveyed said they believe alcohol use is more dangerous than recreational marijuana use and 46 percent believe cigarettes are the least desirable vice.
The survey, by Rasmussen Reports, was conducted July 21 and 22. Men held the stronger belief about marijuana being safer, and that feeling was most intense among young adults, according to the poll.
Florida woman holds on to pot plant because it’s “cute”
A Florida woman arrested on suspicion of marijuana cultivation told authorities that the only reason she kept a plant on her property was because it looked “cute.”
Jacqueline Moore, 55, said she received the plant from a neighbor several months prior, and placed it near the curb in front of her Holiday, Fla., home because it had grown too large, the St. Petersburg Times reported. A Pasco County sheriff’s deputy noticed it while driving by.
Moore told the deputy that she doesn’t smoke marijuana, but held onto the plant because she felt it was visually appealing, the newspaper reported. Her bail was set at $2,000.
Judge doesn’t recognize Hawaiian man’s medical card
Medical marijuana card or not, a Hawaii man on probation for a recent conviction will be in violation if he tests positive for pot, a judge has ruled.
Kaleo Roberson, 35, was sentenced to five years probation and 500 hours of community service following a no-contest plea to counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and promotion of a detrimental drug, according to the Maui News. Authorities said they found nearly 500 grams of marijuana in Roberson’s kitchen cabinet, and $1,030 and 12.7 grams of marijuana in the master bedroom closet.
At the sentencing hearing, Second Circuit Court Judge Shackley Raffetto ordered Roberson not to consume alcohol or drugs—or medical marijuana. “I am not going to recognize your medical marijuana card, so if you test positive for that you will be in violation,” Raffetto told Roberson, according to the News.
He added that he’d only recognize a card if Roberson’s physician signed a statement under oath stating a specific diagnosis that requires marijuana, with no other alternative.
THE WORLD
Spanish researchers cite possible new tumor treatment
A Spanish medical journal has concluded that THC can reduce tumor growth in metastatic breast cancer, and could be a new tool for treatment of the disease.
The study was published in the Journal of Molecular Cancer, and cites investigators from Complutense University in Madrid. They said that THC applied to certain breast tumors in mice reduced growth and frequency.
“These results provide a strong pre-clinical evidence for the use of cannabinoid-based therapies for the management of ErbB2-positive breast cancer,” the journal concluded.
Past studies have shown that THC can be effective in treating a wide range of cancers, including brain, lung, skin cancer and lymphoma.
Prime Minister’s neighborhood includes a grow house
Marijuana grow houses can be anywhere in Canada—even down the road from the Prime Minister.
Authorities in Calgary recently reported that they had busted one such operation—in the neighborhood that Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls home—that netted 848 plants. The resident was charged with cultivation, as well as stealing electricity and water.
Inspector Kevin Forsen of the Alberta Law Enforcement Reponse Team told The Canadian Press that it’s not uncommon to bust a pot house in the most affluent or well-kept neighborhoods.
“We’re finding illegal marijuana grow operations throughout urban and rural Alberta,” he told the newswire. “It doesn’t matter what type of residence.”
