News Nuggets

COLORADO

Dispensaries rise, teen cannabis use falls

Teen marijuana use in Colorado dropped by nearly 3 percent from 2009 to 2011—the same period in which the state’s medical cannabis industry was exploding, says a newly released report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System looked at data from state and local education and health agencies, measuring everything from youth drug use to the availability of drugs on school grounds. It found that even as the number of dispensaries increased dramatically in the state, teen marijuana use declined 2.8 percent, bringing Colorado’s youth marijuana rate 1.1 percentage points below the national average of 23.1 percent.

Feds force closures of 10 more dispensaries

Ten more Colorado medical cannabis dispensaries have chosen to shut down after receiving letters from U.S. Attorney John Walsh threatening them with federal prosecution for being located too close to schools.

The closures bring to 57 the number of cannabis outlets wiped out under the federal government’s ongoing crackdown on the medical marijuana industry, according to the ABC News affiliate 7News. Over a one-year period, Walsh’s office has sent out three waves of letters to dispensaries, giving them 45 days to shut down or face the U.S. government’s wrath.

Walsh recently announced in a press release that a fourth wave of letters is forthcoming.

National police groups endorse Amendment 64

Two national law enforcement groups, representing black and Latino police officers, have announced their support of the Colorado marijuana legalization measure Amendment 64.

The September endorsements by the Blacks in Law Enforcement of America and the National Latino Officers Association are the latest sign of discontent among minority groups over perceived racial bias in the enforcement of the country’s marijuana laws. In announcing their support of the Colorado legalization initiative, spokespersons for both law-enforcement agencies cited statistics showing blacks and Latinos are arrested in vastly disproportionate numbers over whites for marijuana violations.

The NAACP declared its endorsement of Amendment 64 earlier this year.

MICHIGAN

Appeals court upholds Walmart patient’s firing

Ruling that Michigan’s compassionate-use law doesn’t protect people in the workplace, a federal appeals court in Grand Rapids upheld Walmart’s firing of a seriously ill cannabis patient for using his doctor-recommended medicine.

Joseph Casias was fired in 2009 from his job as an inventory-control manager at Walmart after testing positive for THC. Casias, who has an inoperable brain tumor, sued, claiming Michigan’s medical-marijuana law made him a protected class of worker.

A federal judge disagreed, and, in September, an appellate court ruled that the law provides immunity to patients only in criminal cases.

Michigan cities to vote on cannabis laws

Voters in five major Michigan cities will decide in November on whether to increase cannabis freedoms in their municipalities or maintain the prohibitive status quo.

Residents of Detroit and Flint will cast ballots up or down on making possession of up to ounce of marijuana a noncriminal offense. Similarly, voters in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids will consider turning first-time pot possession offenses into an infraction, punishable by a mere ticket, while Ypsilanti ballot-casters will decide on making marijuana crimes the municipality’s lowest law-enforcement priority.

Statewide, marijuana possession remains a criminal misdemeanor, carrying a maximum sentence on 1 year in prison. Those convicted of possessing marijuana in a Michigan park could face up to 2 years behind bars.

Legislature delays critical patient-doctor votes

State legislators in Lansing have delayed voting until after November—at least on a pair of bills cannabis activists say would make life tougher for patients.

If passed, House Bill 4851 would toughen the state’s definition of a medical marijuana “doctor-patient” relationship, while HB 4834 would grant law-enforcement officers access to cannabis patient records. Lawmakers were expected to vote on the bills in September but failed to act on them.

At least 200 MMJ supporters protested at the state capitol last month, with one declaring, “It is time for the people to reclaim democracy,” the Battle Creek Enquirer reported.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Eradication program mostly leaves Triangle alone

Mendocino and Humboldt counties’ outdoor cannabis growers may have gotten a bit of a break this year: the federal government’s annual marijuana-eradication campaign so far has largely left the Emerald Triangle alone.

Every summer, hundreds of law-enforcement officers from multiple federal agencies fan through the public forests of California and elsewhere, seizing and destroying hundreds of thousands of cannabis plants. This year’s campaign, called Operation Mountain Sweep, began July 1, and according to the SF Weekly, has swept up about 23,000 plants in the Triangle—less than 5 percent of the entire 2012 catch.

The Weekly speculates that major wildfires in the Mendocino National Forest may have helped dissuade eradication crews from focusing too much on the region this year.

Celebrated dispensary to get new lease on life

Just months after being forced to shut down under pressure from the federal government, one of the Bay Area’s largest medical cannabis dispensaries is set to reopen just down the street from its former Berkeley location.

Berkeley Patients Group was one of only three medical cannabis shops permitted to operate in the city when federal agents forced the outlet’s landlord to evict it from its San Pueblo Avenue location in May. The dispensary now plans to reopen at a larger facility just three blocks away on the same street. BPG employees say the new venue is located more than 1,000 feet away from the nearest school.

Property owner wants feds to shut down Harborside

Claiming they had no idea pot dispensaries were a legal gray area when they rented space to the largest dispensary in the state, the property owners of Harborside Health Center’s San Jose location have asked a federal judge to stop the outlet from operating on the premises.

Concourse Business Center’s ignorance of the legitimacy of dispensaries was so complete, the commercial property owner claimed in lawsuits filed in a federal court last month, it wasn’t until it learned the federal government could seize its property that it gave Harborside 30 days to stop operating at the location. Now, the property owner is seeking a federal court order preventing Harborside from engaging in any illegal activities there.

For its part, Harborside states on its website that it “has nothing to be ashamed of” and will fight the eviction using available resources.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

UCLA: Number of MMJ shops far fewer than stated

Despite repeated claims by the Los Angeles officials that the city is home to more than 1,000 medical cannabis dispensaries, a new UCLA study reveals the existence of less than half that number.

The report by UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs isn’t just a matter of trivia: the Los Angeles City Council’s recent total ban on dispensaries was based in large part on the belief that the city was being overrun by cannabis shops. City officials even claimed to have sent letters regarding the ban to 1,046 separate dispensaries.

But UCLA researchers, working off a list of supposedly extant dispensaries provided by the city, were able to determine the existence of only 472 cannabis shops. The study claims the researchers visited each of the reported locations within a three-week period.

Activists force vote on LA dispensary ban

Activists intent on repealing the Los Angeles City Council’s total ban on medical marijuana dispensaries failed to collect the 27,425 voter signatures required to force a referendum on the law on an upcoming ballot.

Instead, the activists submitted to the City Clerk 49,021 signatures—110 percent of the number needed. As a result, city officials have put enforcement of the ban on hold and have until Oct. 7 to decide whether to place the referendum on the March 5 city election ballot or hold a special election this December.

The possibility of a March 5 referendum raises the question of whether the dispensary question will affect the futures of numerous public officials vying for re-election that day, including eight City Council members, the mayor and city attorney.

Threatened dispensary sues LAPD

Saying police officers threatened their clients with “severe repercussions” if they remain in business, attorneys for a Los Angeles medical cannabis collective have filed a lawsuit against the LAPD and the city for violating the state’s compassionate-use law.

In the lawsuit, filed in September, attorneys for Collins Collective allege LAPD officers told the owners the shop would be forcibly shut down and the owners arrested if they continued with plans to open the facility—threats that were followed up by a cease-and-desist letter by city officials. The collective is asking the court for a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction against further city actions against the business, and for court costs.

More than 70 lawsuits have been filed against Los Angles thus far as a result of City Hall’s handling of the dispensary industry there.

WASHINGTON

ACLU: Pot laws cost state half-billion over decade

Law-enforcement efforts at keeping Washington cannabis-free cost the state’s taxpayers more than $211 million over the past 10 years, the American Civil Liberties of Washington announced in a recently released study.

Every one of the state’s 39 counties spent at least $100,000 from 2000 to 2010 enforcing marijuana laws, the report stated. King County taxpayers footed the biggest bill, shelling out nearly $35 million over that time period. Pierce County followed, with $21 million spent.

The ACLU’s figures were based on data on multiple Washington law-enforcement agencies and organizations, and included the costs of arresting, prosecuting and warehousing alleged marijuana offenders.

Latest pro-pot project targets Seattle City Hall

Activists with the Responsible Marijuana Project, a pro-cannabis legalization group known for its street-theater-style political actions, have announced the targets of their next campaign: Seattle City Hall.

The grass-roots group recently launched “Project Green Light,” a multi-faceted drive aimed at pressuring city officials and city-affiliated agencies like police unions to drop their opposition of legalization. Members of the project will stage costumed performances around the city, put up posters, deploy chalk art, canvas door-to-door and generally engage in raising the blood pressure of marijuana prohibitionists.

Other recent Responsible Marijuana projects included peppering the Burke-Gilman Trail with “Free Marijuana” posters and hosting a “New Jim Crow” book club.

Oregon newspaper: I-502 will lead to thousands of arrests

Passage of a marijuana legalization measure in Washington could result in the driving-under-the-influence-of-drugs arrests for tens of thousands of Oregonians, an Oregon newspaper editorial warned its readers.

In a September editorial, the Salem Weekly newspaper cited a provision in Washington’s Initiative-502 that sets a limit of 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood for drivers in the state—anyone caught driving above that limit would be arrested on a charge of Driving Under the Influence of Drugs. Since more than 54,000 Oregonians are medical marijuana patients, and with some 275,000 Oregonians driving to and from Washington every day, passage of I-502 will almost certainly lead to DUID charges against thousands of drivers from the neighboring state, the Weekly reasoned.

Recent polls show the Washington measure leading significantly among likely voters.

THE NATION

Statewide legalization measures leading in polls

November is set to go down as one of the greenest months in U.S. history, as several major statewide cannabis measures facing American voters enjoy big leads going into the elections.

In Washington, 57 percent of registered voters surveyed said they plan to vote yes on Initiative-502, which would regulate the production and use of small amounts of cannabis for recreational purposes. Some 47 percent of likely voters in Colorado say they’ll support the legalization bill Amendment 64, compared to 38 percent opposed. Finally, Question 3, which would bring medical marijuana to Massachusetts, has gathered the support of 58 percent of likely voters, with just 27 percent opposed.

In Montana, a referendum on a 2011 law many see as a de facto repeal of the state’s medical marijuana program appears headed to go down on the side of pro-compassionate use forces. The law registered only 46-percent support among Montana voters in the latest poll.

VP candidate Ryan’s big pot day

Both presidential candidates have carefully avoided the subject of marijuana legalization this election season, but for one glorious day in September, we at least got to hear where one vice-presidential challenger stood on the issue—in fact, we heard all three of his stances.

Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan announced his first stance when he told Colorado radio station KRDO that he believed medical marijuana legalization was a matter for the states to decide. The statement represented not only a break with Ryan’s boss, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who doesn’t believe in medical marijuana, but also a 180-degree flip by Ryan himself. Just a few months ago, he voted against giving states the right to decide on medical cannabis legalization.

Or at least the statement would have represented all that, had Ryan’s staffers not retracted the statement just a few hours later, saying the candidate had misspoken, and provided Ryan’s third policy position of the month on the subject: Apparently, the congressman does not believe marijuana should be legal under any circumstances.

THE WORLD

Major cannabis rally squashed in Germany

What could have been the largest pro-cannabis public demonstration in Germany’s long history was shut down last month by a local government agency claiming the event would have been “of a commercial nature.”

The Cologne demonstration and parade had been planned for weeks and involved multiple cannabis advocacy groups, including the pro-compassionate-use organization Cannabis Als Medizin. But a local permitting council squashed the plan, saying that by listing major business sponsors on their websites, organizers had turned the event from political to commercial in nature.

Several organizers told reporters they believe the council’s decision was made purely to silence unpopular speech.