Marin to remove cannabis from smoking ban
Cannabis will no longer be included on a list of “plant life” prohibited by Marin’s tough anti-smoking ordinance, the county’s supervisors have decided.
The ordinance bans smoking in apartments throughout unincorporated Marin, with the original version of the law defining “smoking products” as “tobacco, weed, spices, herbal or other plant life.” According to news reports, some county staff members had asserted the language extended the ban to marijuana.
At the request of Supervisor Kate Sears, the board ordered the ordinance to be revised to specifically exclude marijuana.
State Supreme Court to review dispensary cases
In a move that will almost certainly affect the medical marijuana industry across the state, the California Supreme Court has voted to review four cases revolving around the legality of local ordinances governing dispensaries.
The cases involve dispensary ordinances in the Southern California cities of Dana Point, Long Beach, Riverside and Upland. At issue is whether cities and counties can ban or otherwise regulate the distribution of medical marijuana, which is prohibited under federal law.
The Supreme Court gave no indication of when it would decide on the cases. The review came just less than a month since state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris sent letters to lawmakers asking for clarification on California’s confusing medical marijuana laws.
Study: Marijuana use may improve lung function
Moderate marijuana use not only doesn’t damage the lungs, but can even lead to increased air flow and lung function, the results of a new study out of UC San Francisco and the University of Alabama suggest.
The study, involving data collected from 5,000 male marijuana and tobacco smokers over a 20-year period, was published in January in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Among the study’s findings: Regular pot smoking causes no adverse lung affects, while modest pot use—defined as smoking cannabis two to three times a month—can actually improve lung function.
Only the most frequent pot smokers—those who consumed 20 joints or more a month—suffered measurable lung damage, the report found.
