November 2014 | News Nuggets

ARIZONA

Cannabis cultivation site restrictions lifted in Tucson

With the hopes of benefiting the city of Tucson, Arizona’s economy, the city council announced that it will be lifting zoning restrictions for medical cannabis cultivation sites. Previously, growers in Tucson had to buy their products from outside cities, like Phoenix, and have it shipped to them. “Most of the product was being cultivated in Maricopa County and in the Phoenix area, which added cost to patients in our area. And so we are really monitoring what is happening across the state as the law gets implemented and recognizing that being overly restrictive simply adds costs to patients in Tucson,” stated Tucson Councilwoman Karin Uhlich.

The lift now allows any cultivation sites to be more than 3,000 square-feet in size and current sites can now expand if desired. Many citizens of Tucson are ecstatic to hear the news, including Uhlich, “Any time we produce anything locally, it creates jobs and reduces costs.” Along with the cultivation site size change, the council also voted to allow patients to have their medicine home-delivered, as well as extended dispensary business operations.

Arizona works on issues with employees being fired for using medical cannabis

Similar to the ongoing issue in Colorado, there has been much discussion on whether or not workers in Arizona who test positive for cannabis can or should be fired. As a part of the 2010 legalization of medical cannabis in the state, the writers of that bill included a specific section dedicated to clearing up the fact that employers should not make decisions about hiring, firing or discipline based on an employee’s medical cannabis use. It even specifically states that a positive drug test can’t be used against that employee unless they were impaired on the job. The Arizona Supreme Court has only touched on the subject once in a driving case, and the justices stated that a driver who tests positive for cannabis cannot be charged if there is no actual evidence of impairment. Similarly, an employee should not be treated differently than his or her co-workers because they test positive for cannabis. Although it seems that resolution is far off for the moment, the discussion’s growth is expected to advance within the next year or so.

BAY AREA

Three people accused of growing cannabis in Lassen National Forest

Recently, three men were arrested upon suspicion for growing over 6,700 cannabis plants in the Lassen National Forest, which lays East of Redding. The Eastern California Office of the U.S. District Attorney states that the raid occurred in late-August where one man was arrested on suspicion of cultivation and the noted 6,700 plants were cut down. Investigators discovered a second grow site nearby but were unable to take a closer look due to a high amount of toxic pesticides at the time. A second investigation took place at the beginning of September for the second location where two more men were arrested. Because of the drought problem throughout the state, and the desperate need in Northern California, each accused individual could face up to life in prison and a $10 million fine.

Illegal cannabis cultivation sites cleaned up to protect endangered species

News of illegal cannabis plants growing in Northern California forests amidst a state-wide drought have been all too common. The presence of the plants have negatively affected local wildlife, some which have threatened the lives of endangered species. The Coho salmon, northern spotted owl and Pacific fisher are all federally endangered. However, a team of California wildlife officers, allied agencies and scientific personnel aim to clean up polluted cannabis plant sites to help protect these endangered species. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife received Section 6 federal funds to support the cleanup of these intended operations. The infrastructure of each site, including rodenticides, fertilizers, pesticides, human waste and garbage and irrigational tubing will be removed, according to the Imperial Valley News.

COLORADO

Recreational cannabis sales surpass medical 
Cannabis sales have been steadily growing and now the records from August show a 10 percent increase over the previous month. In the month of July, recreational cannabis sales surpassed medical for the first time. This trend continued in the month of August with recreational sales bringing in $33 million while medical sales came close bringing in $32.2 million. Both recreational and medical sales have been steadily increasing and increased once again from July to August. While the summer tourism coming to an end might bring sales down, with more stores opening in cities like Aurora it may just balance out and keep the sales from dropping.

Aurora welcomes both rec and med dispensaries
A couple of recreational and medical cannabis retailers have opened their doors in Aurora. The city of Aurora approved recreational cannabis sales to begin on October 1 and cannabis retailers have been prepping their stores for a previously untapped market. The first store to open its doors to the public was Euflora, followed by Terrapin Care Station. The city awarded a total of 21 licenses and plenty more stores are set to open in Aurora over the next couple months.

LA

San Bernardino cracks down on medical cannabis

A few months ago, CULTURE reported on the possible arrangement of allowing medical cannabis dispensaries in San Bernardino in order to save time and money better spent elsewhere. After the City Council met to discuss the topic in a closed session early last month, they voted that it was not in the city’s best interest to allow highly regulated dispensaries because of a change in circumstance. “At this time, the full Common Council has, by consensus, determined that the city will continue its total land-use ban against dispensaries; will not, at this time, ordain to allow regulated dispensaries,” stated City Attorney Gary Saenz regarding the decision. Due to the closed nature of the voting, many local advocates are upset about the sudden decision. One local advocate believes that the council would have met a lot of opposition had they held an open session, and many supporters, including himself, would have stood up for dispensaries, “I would have let them know that they let down the medical cannabis patients of this community and that they’re continuing to promote this violence that’s going on in allowing the dispensaries that we have. This in no way keeps the medical cannabis out. It just blocks safe access.” With such a sudden change, there’s no telling what will happen next but it’s clear that advocates won’t take it lying down.

Illegal cannabis collectives closing in Huntington Park

Things weren’t looking up for Huntington Park collectives last month as Police Chief Jorge Cisneros announced at that he was leading a team to close a number illegal collectives in the area. The city has closed three collectives and is working with both local landlords and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office to shut down six more. “For the past 10 months, several marijuana dispensaries were illegally established in storefronts throughout the city. The Police Department and the city prosecutor have worked closely to seek full compliance with the law and to ultimately remove each of these illegal businesses,” stated Cisneros. According to Cisneros, the targeted collectives are not listed in the city zoning code and have been deemed illegal under federal law.

MICHIGAN

Cannabis vote rejected in East Lansing

Recent news has surfaced that the cannabis legalization proposal will not be appearing in this year’s November ballot in East Lansing. If approved, the initiative would have repealed the city’s cannabis laws and allow “the use, possession and transfer—by people 21 and older—of up to one ounce of the drug on private property,” stated the Lansing State Journal. Now, East Lansing will be one of few cities that won’t be voting on the issue. However, due to late addition of the issue on the ballot, it would purportedly cost a hefty amount of extra money to reprint ballots and reprogram machines, not to mention that absentee ballots have already been mailed out. In defense of not allowing the initiative on the ballot, County Clerk Barb Byrum stated that “There is a process to get these things placed on the ballot, and this proposal has not met any of these deadlines.” Still, state law will allow the addition of a clarifying statement to the ballot (no more than 100 words); however, Byrum will be the deciding factor as to verifying the addition of the cannabis initiative onto the ballot.

Michigan growers take on solar panels for a different source of renewable energy

When cannabis was a much less accepted form of medicine and police raids occurred often, law enforcement was known to keep tabs on spikes in power increases to predict who might be illegally growing the herb. Even now, the use of a large amount of electricity in any state is a tell-tale sign of cannabis grows. However, one company, NovoFuel, has designed a Michigan grow op that utilizes wind turbines and solar panels to power its artificial lighting and electricity, which would help produce half of the required electricity to run the grow. The design is still in its early phases of testing, however NovoFuel President David Cade estimates that most grow-ops care for anywhere between 12 and 48 plants on average, and that a direct change of electricity and lighting sources is highly beneficial.

OREGON

Eugene opts to hear from locals regarding taxing legal cannabis, says “no” anyway

Instead of choosing to vote between the few individuals who make up the Eugene City Council, the city officials chose to ask the people of Eugene what they thought about taxing legal cannabis late last month. “I see no reason why we shouldn’t hear from the public. It would help inform us in terms of what the public is thinking on the subject, and maybe give us a different perspective on how we approach this,” stated Eugene Councilman Greg Evans. Eugene isn’t the only city that made plans to tax the herb—Springfield, Lane County and an estimated 20 other cities are also considering whether to approve the taxes. However, despite the allowance of locals to speak their mind at the public meeting on October 20, the council quickly decided that the city of Eugene would not pursue a cannabis sales tax in conjunction with Measure 91. On the same evening, the city of Springfield voted yes to the tax.

Police vet stars in Oregon’s cannabis legalization ad commercial

Recently an Oregon cannabis legalization initiative released one of the state’s first television ad campaigns, which is worth over two million dollars. To strengthen the video’s message, the initiative recruited 33-year police veteran Pete Tutmark to speak on behalf of police in the ad, which was aptly called “It’s About Time.” There, Tutmark states that the current system is “broken,” in regards to the resources wasted on over 13,000 cannabis arrest citations that were made in the state. He resolves that voting yes on 91, the state’s legalization ballot, would allow police officials to save time and investigate more pressing matters, “That takes time, time better spent solving murders, rape cases, finding missing children. The system’s broken,” Tutmark states. It’s the first in defense of “Yes on 91” that has been created, and the ad aired on both local TV stations as well as affiliates for every major broadcasting network. The initiative has received a handful of important endorsements by retired Chief Federal Prosecutor Kris Olson and retired Oregon Supreme Court Judge Bill Riggs, according to The Washington Post.

SAN DIEGO

San Diego collectives that don’t meet regulation requirements begin to close

Following new regulations of collectives in San Diego County, cannabis stores that do not have permission under the new set of rules are slowly beginning to close down. Many of the collectives are closing because the business locations are not far enough away from schools, parks and churches (which requires at least 1,000 feet) and also do not meet the requirement that collectives must be at least 100 feet away from residential zones. Between 2009 and 2014, San Diego worked to close illegal collectives, and there were 369 cases regarding the business closures. While these closures continue to occur, the process for the collectives that actually have been approved to open in the county is still slow-going. Applications to open up a city-certified collective began in April, and last month was the first time that a hearing was held for a single new collective applicant. Many believe that the city ordinance is not the most full-proof plan to regulate collectives in the area, but it is an improvement in comparison to having no regulation at all.

San Diego finally approves its first medical cannabis license

After waiting over six months, the city of San Diego has finally approved its very first medical cannabis collective under a fairly new set of regulations. The regulations allow four collectives to be open in each of the eight designated districts. The lucky owner, David Blair, applied for a conditional use permit to open up a collective in Otay Mesa. Blair’s attorney for the collective, Dan Riffle, was confident that this momentous occasion is the beginning of a new age for patients, “Today is a great day for the city of San Diego and its residents who need medical marijuana. Doctor-recommended care will be provided by responsible members, not by dealers and pop-up dispensaries,” Riffle stated. The mayor’s office noted that the permit process can cost applicants up to $100,000, and the approval of more licenses for collectives will take well into 2015 to complete.

WASHINGTON

Tacoma in talks for better regulation of medical cannabis

City leaders of Tacoma are currently looking into developing regulation of medical cannabis access points. Currently, the city reports that almost 50 access points are in operation that are neither taxed nor regulated. The Tacoma City Council called for council members to brainstorm and come up with a plan to tackle the issue for a more balanced set of regulations throughout the city. “I think everyone is on the same page that we want safety and security and everyone to be playing by the same rules, and to eliminate the black market in Tacoma,” commented Tacoma City Councilman Ryan Mello. However, some medical cannabis access points don’t think it’s a good idea. “I don’t think that’s a smart move because I don’t think recreational is ready to give patients the services we’re currently giving,” stated Cannabis Club President Brian Caldwell, who runs one particular access point that would be affected by future regulations. A plan is estimated to be ready in the coming weeks, but the implementation of regulations on medical cannabis access points are still far off.

Washington projected to generate massive sales through June 2015

Washington’s recreational market is now fully under way, with advocates and patients overjoyed to have legal access points with plenty of stock. Despite the rough start with a limited amount of cannabis available, the demand is expected to settle with the arrival of a plentiful harvest season where cannabis prices have been expected to drop by 50 percent, according to KOIN 6. One indoor growing facility in Vancouver, just North of Washington’s border, claims that during the cannabis “drought,” the business only produced four pounds of the herb. Now, it plans to harvest over 10 times that amount. With the extra influx of cannabis, Washington now plans to generate over $7 million in state revenue by June of 2015. By June 2016, the state is estimated to earn over $60 million.