THE STATE
San Jose moves forward with 10-dispensary limit
San Jose recently outlined its plans to limit dispensaries in the city to 10—two per council district, according to the San Jose Mercury News. City officials also say dispensaries must remain 500 feet way from children’s daycare operations, community recreation centers, parks, libraries and other dispensaries. State law already requires dispensaries to keep at least 600 feet away from public and private schools.
A final vote on these new regulations—which also include requiring each dispensary to have a zoning verification certificate and keep away from night clubs and pawn shops—is not expected until at least Aug. 9, when the City Council is scheduled to review the Planning Commission’s final proposals. Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio has spoken in support of the city’s estimated 100 dispensaries, citing job creation and Measure U sales tax revenue.
Berkeley’s Measure T finally getting off the ground
Berkeley’s Medical Cannabis Commission recently began working on how to implement Measure T, The Daily Californian reports. The measure, passed by voters with 64 percent of the vote last November, allows the city to permit six new 30,000-square-foot cultivation sites in west Berkeley and allow one additional dispensary to set up shop. The nine-member commission has been entrusted to determine the exact locations for the cultivation sites and the dispensary. The commission must also establish a licensing process for grow sites as well as operational and safety guidelines.
Measure T also requires that one commission member be a member of a dispensary, a collective that is not a dispensary and a cultivator who is “not primarily associated with a single dispensary and provides medical cannabis to more than one dispensary.”
High Times Medical Cannabis Cup winners announced
Harborside Health Center’s Delta 559 Bogglegum won First Place in the Indica category during the second annual High Times Medical Cannabis Cup held in San Francisco June 25 to 26. Harborside’s strain won over 25 other entrants in the Indica category. First place in the Sativa category went to Granddaddy Purple Collective in Richmond for its Bay 11 strain. First place in the Hybrid category went to D & M Compassion Center in Clearlake for its OG Kush strain. Best Edibles was won by Greenway Compassionate Relief in Santa Cruz for its medicated baklava.
Power to the Peaceful Festival Canceled
The Power to the Peaceful Festival, put on by Michael Franti and Guerilla Management, has been rescheduled for 2012 and will thereafter resume as an annual event. More than 80,000 people attended last year’s Festival, which includes live music, DJs, action sports, workshops and environmental and social justice organizations.
“After 12 years of staging the festival, we’ve decided to take a breather in 2011 so we can put all of our energy into make the festival the most inspiring it can be in 2012!” festival organizers said on the event’s website, powertothepeaceful.org.
THE NATION
Feds trot out the same old propaganda
The federal government recently reaffirmed its position on marijuana: it has no acceptable medical use and is to be considered in the same class of substances as heroin. California is one of 16 states (plus Washington D.C.) in the country that has legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons. MMJ advocates and activists immediately denounced the decision.
The decision comes nearly nine years after cannabis supporters asked the federal government to reclassify marijuana in light of a growing body of scientific and medical research documenting its medical benefits, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Seattle officials approve new dispensary regulations
Seattle city officials recently passed a new ordinance to regulate dispensaries, seattlepi.com reports. The new ordinance was sponsored by Councilman Nick Licata and would required dispensaries to obtain a business permit, pay taxes and fees and meet city land-use codes. The open use and display of cannabis would also be prohibited.
Washington legalized medical cannabis in 1998.
Wilfred show is about a cannabis-using dog
Television network FX recently launched a new show, Wilfred, which tells of the ups and downs of a suicidal, depressed medical marijuana patient who gets help from a talking, cannabis-smoking dog named (you guessed it) Wilfred.
Actor Elijah Wood plays the MMJ patient. The show is written and produced by David Zuckerman, the guy behind Family Guy.
THE NATION
“Prince of Pot” contracts “superbug” infection
Canadian cannabis activist Marc Emery—dubbed Vancouver’s “Prince of Pot”—has contracted a “superbug” infection, Canadian newspaper The Gazette reports. Emery was sentenced to five years in a federal prison, and is currently serving time in Mississippi, due to his mail-order cannabis seed business. His request to be moved to a Canadian prison (he had been extradited by U.S. authorities) was previously rejected. An early release could happen as soon as July 2014.
Emery’s infection—called MRSA or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus—is a staph infection that is very resistant to most antibiotics.
