News Nuggets

California – Bay Area

Oakland sues feds to keep Harborside open

Attorneys for the city of Oakland have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Justice Department to block the federal government’s efforts to shut down model medical marijuana dispensary Harborside Health Center.

The lawsuit was filed in October in U.S. District Court and specifically names as defendants U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag—one of the four federal attorneys who last year launched the crackdown on the compassionate-use industry. Oakland is now the first U.S. city to sue the federal government over the ongoing assault, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker told reporters the action was necessary to keep medical marijuana patients from having to look to the black market for their medicine.

Palo Alto to vote on allowing dispensaries

Residents of Palo Alto will vote Nov. 6 on whether to green-light a measure allowing up to three medical cannabis dispensaries to operate in the Bay Area city.

Measure C would permit the dispensaries to set up shop in any of the city’s commercial and industrial areas—provided they’re not near schools, parks, libraries or drug-treatment facilities. Cannabis sold at the venues would be taxed at 4 percent.

The initiative is opposed by the Palo Alto City Council and Downtown Business Association

Coming to a cannabis field near you: drones

Alameda County Sheriff’s officials have tested and are now exploring ways to employ unmanned aerial drones—similar to those used by the military overseas—to locate cannabis growing operations.

The drones, which cost between $50,000 and $100,000, would use infrared technology, video cameras and other high-tech equipment to locate marijuana grows both on public land and in private homes, Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern told the San Francisco Chronicle. Other uses would include search-and-rescue missions and tracking high-speed chases, he said.

The plan was sharply criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union, which warns that drone manufacturers “are considering” offering law-enforcement agencies the option of arming the crafts with rubber bullets, Tasers and tear gas, according to the Chronicle.

California – SoCal

San Diego dispensary operator’s conviction overturned

In a major win for the compassionate-use movement, a state appeals court has overturned the conviction of San Diego dispensary operator Jovan Jackson because he was prevented from arguing his actions were legal under California law.

Jovan was convicted in 2010 on felony marijuana possession and sales charges following two separate raids on San Diego cannabis dispensaries. But in an October ruling, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction, declaring Jackson was entitled to a medical-marijuana defense.

It was not known at press time whether San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis would appeal the district court’s decision.

L.A. Council overturns its own ban on dispensaries

Bowing to withering public pressure and the specter of a citizens’ referendum, the Los Angeles City Council reversed course and repealed its three-month-old ban on medical cannabis dispensaries.

The council vote came just days after organizers of a referendum effort to overturn the ban announced they had collected more than 50,000 signatures. It also represented the latest in a string of embarrassing policy reversals by the council on the issue of medical cannabis: In recent years, the panel passed a moratorium barring dispensaries, enacted an ordinance regulating them, repealed the regulations and then outlawed the shops entirely.

Despite—or perhaps, because of—the policy confusion, hundreds of dispensaries continue to operate in the city.

G3 Holistic owner convicted, faces long sentence

Aaron Sandusky, the popular medical cannabis activist who owned the G3 Holistic dispensary chain in the Inland Empire, was convicted in October on federal marijuana charges and now faces 10 years to life in prison.

Sandusky and five others who worked at G3 were charged following raids in November 2011 on the chain’s Upland shop. The five others reached plea agreements with prosecutors earlier, but Sandusky, a 41-year-old Rancho Cucamonga resident, was found guilty on two felony counts. He had not been allowed to mount a medical marijuana defense. Sentencing is set for January.

Colorado

Pro-A64 fundraising outpaces opponents 4-1

Activists supporting the Colorado marijuana legalization measure Amendment 64 have raised more than $3 million, nearly four times what opponents have managed to collect.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol reported receiving in excess of $1.3 in monetary donations and $39,000 in in-kind contributions. That’s on top of a $400,000 loan and $830,000 in donations provided by the Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, D.C.. Both the pro-A64 camp and Smart Colorado, which opposes the measure, say they received the lion’s share of funds collected from groups outside the state.

By comparison, Smart Colorado  has raised $433,000—nearly half that from the Florida group Save Our Society From Drugs.

Religious groups crusade on legalization

Colorado churches became a battleground in the war over Amendment 64 in October, as pastors both for and against the marijuana legalization measure spoke out in Denver.

Some 10 pastors of various Christian denominations denounced the measure at an event organized by the anti-64 group Smart Colorado. That resulted in a chorus of pro-64 remarks by other pastors, several of who said marijuana prohibition is a worse sin than marijuana itself.

The development echoed the Mormon Church’s opposition to California’s Proposition 19 in 2010, which many observers cited as a key reason for the initiative’s defeat.

Opposition to amendment measure gaining in polls

While a majority of likely Colorado voters still favor Amendment 64, a Denver Post poll released in late October revealed opposition to the cannabis legalization measure rapidly gaining ground.

The poll, conducted for the Post by SurveyUSA, showed support for the measure leading 48-43, with a four-point margin of error. That’s a dramatic change from the 51-40 lead Amendment 64 enjoyed in late September.

Analysts suggested the shift may be due to what can be termed the “reality effect,” in which voters to tend to grow increasingly uneasy with proposed major changes in public policy as a given election approaches.

Michigan

Lawsuit: Michigan LARA not following state law

Lawyers for a U.S. Navy veteran have filed a lawsuit against officials with the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Agency (LARA), alleging the agency has failed to properly carry out the provisions of the state’s medical marijuana law.

Martin Chilcutt, founder of the group Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access, says LARA continues to process medical marijuana patient applications too slowly and has failed to set up a review panel for establishing new qualifying medical conditions for patients. Under Michigan’s 2008 compassionate-use statute, LARA is responsible for administering the state’s medical marijuana program.

The lawsuit asks for a court order compelling the agency to properly administer the program, or face contempt-of-court charges.

Kalamazoo scales back marijuana enforcement

Lighting up in Kalamazoo just became a little less risky after the City Commission approved an ordinance directing local police to ticket people found in possession of marijuana rather than arrest them.

The new law didn’t decriminalize pot possession in Kalamazoo—it’s still a misdemeanor offense, punishable by fines or imprisonment, or both. But arrestees will no longer face the ignominy of being hauled away in cuffs, but instead receive an order to appear in court.

The more lenient policy does not apply to Western Michigan University campus, where campus police recently released a report showing marijuana possession arrests up over last year.

Michigan Supreme Court hear dispensary arguments

Michigan’s highest court heard oral arguments in October on whether the state’s medical marijuana law allows cannabis to be sold in dispensaries.

The case before the Supreme Court stems from a ruling by the state appellate court last year that says nothing in the 4-year-old law allowed medical cannabis patients at a Mount Pleasant dispensary to sell their home-grown medicine to other patients. Attorneys for the dispensary argued that since the law says nothing about dispensaries, the transactions should be allowed, while Isabella County prosecutors say the law’s silence on such shops means state prohibitions on marijuana sales remain in place.

The dispensary was shut down by Isabella County authorities, who had declared it a public nuisance.

Washington

Study looks at Washington’s possession arrests

Washington law enforcers arrested some 240,000 people in the state over the past quarter-century—the overwhelming majority of them young people, a new study by a cannabis advocacy group revealed.

Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans were arrested in disproportionate numbers to whites, the study by the Marijuana Arrest Research Project reported. Minorities comprise about 14 percent of Washington’s population, but from 2001 to 2010, accounted for a quarter of marijuana arrests.

Seventy-nine percent of the arrestees were 34 or younger, according to the study. Marijuana prohibition was shown to be as massively expensive in Washington as elsewhere in the U.S., with arrests costing taxpayers between $200 million to $300 million over the past 10 years.

Justice official: Feds ready to attack legalized industry

Federal law enforcers are suiting up for battle in the event states like Washington legalize marijuana for adult use, a senior Justice Department official revealed on an outtake from an October episode of 60 Minutes.

“We’re going to take a look at whether or not there are dangers to the community from the sale of marijuana, and we’re going to go after those dangers,” Deputy Attorney General James Cole says in the clip posted to the news show’s website.

The remarks were interpreted by marijuana reform activists as an indication the federal government will treat a state-sanctioned recreational-use industry in the same way it’s assaulted the MMJ community. Cole made the comment in reference to marijuana legalization efforts in Washington, Colorado and Oregon.

Late polls show tighter cannabis race

With barely a week to Election Day, several polls show opposition to the cannabis legalization measure Initiative-502 growing.

All the polls revealed a general shrinking in support for the measure. The most positive temperature-reading for fans of the measure was conducted in late October by SurveyUSA, and showed I-502 leading by 55 percent to 36 percent opposed. Strategies 360 had the measure ahead by 54-36, while a KCS9 Washington poll put support for I-502 at 51 percent of registered voters, with 41 percent opposing.

Among the many I-502 surveys to be released late in the game, the most worrisome for supporters was an Elway Poll showing barely 48 percent of likely voters favoring the measure and 44 percent opposing it.

The Nation

U.S. appeals court considers reclassifying marijuana

In a case with enormous potential ramifications for the nation’s cannabis community, the U.S. appellate court in Washington, DC, is considering a major challenge to the federal government’s claim that marijuana is a dangerous drug with no redeeming medical value.

Evidence in the challenge, stemming from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s denial of a cannabis rescheduling petition a decade ago, was presented in October to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, accused the DEA of ignoring 200 scientific studies when it refused to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I narcotic with no medical benefits to a less stringent category.

Americans for Safe Access and other pro-medical cannabis groups want the court to reconsider its classification of marijuana.

Connecticut MMJ law takes effect

With a tick of the clock, Connecticut became the 17th star in the union allowing residents to legally use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The Palliative Use of Marijuana Act, which the state’s Democratic governor signed into law five months ago, took effect on Oct. 1. Physicians can now recommend cannabis is a therapeutic treatment for patients with certain serious illnesses, and patients can obtain a medical cannabis ID card by registering with the state.

The state Department of Consumer Protection must submit a set of regulations by July 1 to the General Assembly for state-licensed dispensaries. Until then, qualified patients can possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis at any one time for their medicinal needs.

The World

Vancouver inches closer to cannabis gardens

Qualified medical cannabis patients would be allowed to grow cannabis for up to 10 people, under a proposed ordinance to be considered this month by the City Council of Vancouver, BC.

A state law passed last year directed Vancouver officials to either come up with a plan for regulating cannabis gardens or allow patients to grow them anywhere in the city’s borders. The City Council delayed action on the requirement for 18 months, but has at last scheduled a workshop on the proposed ordinance for Nov. 19.

If approved, the ordinance would allow patients to group as many as 45 marijuana plants for medicinal use.