City of Oakland: 'There is No Science' When it Comes to the Feds and Medical Pot

In an effort to stop the federal government from closing the Harborside Health Center medical marijuana dispensary, the city of Oakland stated that "In the (federal) government's world, there is no science," during a lawsuit Reuters reports.

Harborside, which claims to be the biggest medical pot dispensary in the world, is estimated to generate about $1.4 million in sales tax revenues for the city this year. Though the federal government attempted to seize the dispensary's assets in July, Oakland took the government to court in October to stop the proceedings.

Cedric Chao, who represents Oakland, stated the government's own researchers discover new medical uses for pot and "sought exclusive ownership rights to cannabis compounds."

The federal government asserts federal law trumps state laws and municipal laws which allows medical marijuana, of course. This is despite the numerous states that have OK'd pot for medical use and that Washington state and Colorado approved of its recreational use.

Washington City's Proposed Changes in Zoning Medical Marijuana Businesses Causes Uproar

Proposed zoning changes for medical marijuana facilities in Everett, Wash. have access advocated up in arms. The proposed law would allow the city to close medical marijuana operations on nuisance grounds, but would allow collective farms to conduct business in parts of the town designated as industrial, away from its residential areas.

Despite the fact that marijuana is legal in Washington for medicinal and recreational purposes, Everett's city council is worried about the federal government closing the medical pot businesses.

"We want to make sure we are honoring state law. We also want to make sure that the federal law is not going to put us in a bad situation," said Everett city spokesperson Kate Reardon told KOMO News.

However, the city's justification does not satisfy medical marijuana users who are protesting the proposed changes. "Why is is fair for someone in Seattle or Shoreline to have that right, or the corner store, when these people in Everett can't? It's just not fair," said Jeremy Kelsey of the Medical Marijuana Patients' Network.

Medical Marijuana User Faces Termination of Housing Benefits — In Colorado (as in Pot-is-Legal-in-Colorado Colorado)

A Longmont, Colorado woman is facing termination of her Section 8 benefits because of her use of medical marijuana — despite the fact that the state was one of two that recently legalized recreational use of the drug, Denver NBC affiliate 9News reports.

Ashley Weber, who was paralyzed because of a drunk driver, depends on the monthly check from the Longmont Housing Authority to rent a house for herself and her three year old son. It also provided the funds that made her bathroom wheelchair accessible.

Weber uses medical marijuana in edible form. She says it helps with the pain from her injuries and muscle spasms. When she submitted paperwork that included her medical marijuana expenses during a yearly renewal, the housing authority stopped her benefits.

A spokesman for the agency said it has zero tolerance policy for drug use.

Again — Colorado. Legalized pot. What the hell?


"When I got the letter, I was sick to my stomach," Weber said. "I would have nowhere else to go." 

Weber has found an attorney to represent her, pro bono. If her benefits are not reinstated, the lawyer plans to file suit against the housing agency.

Angelinos to Vote on Virtually the Same Pro-Medical Pot Initiatives in March

Los Angeles will have not one, but two medical marijuana initiatives to vote on in March. But it's not what you're expecting, with anti-pot group facing off against a pro-pot group. Instead it's a sort-of ludicrous Sophie's choice that puts the initiatives of two medical marijuana groups up against each other.

The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Control Act would only allow those dispensaries that opened and registered with Los Angeles as of Sept. 14, 2007. It's estimated that only about 100 clubs currently meet that criteria, the sfgate.com reports.

The Medical Marijuana Collectives Initiative Ordinance would allow dispensaries if they register with the city and adhere to policies decided on by the city. The proposed law would also give priority to those dispensaries that "operated as of September 14, 2007; timely registered with the City; have not ceased operations for 90 days except to relocate or in response to federal action; provide no ingress/egress from adjacent residential zoned lots; pass annual LAPD background checks; and after 300 days maintain a certain distance from schools, parks, and other designated places."

Over 450 medical marijuana dispensaries currently operate within Los Angeles.

So what are the possible outcomes? Both initiatives are shot down, but considering the overwhelming support for medical pot by Angelinos, that's not likely. One of the initiatives pass, which is pretty likely. Or, both initiatives pass, causing even more confusion in the Los Angeles dispensary industry — while not as likely as just one of the measures massing, this is still a very strong possibility...and once again, confusion will rule.

Forget Amsterdam — Marijuana Tourism may Take Off in Seattle and Aspen

With the future of Amsterdam's legendary coffee shops up in the air, will marijuana tourism in Colorado and Washington take up the slack for Americans looking for a legal toke?

It's one of the possible unintended consequences of the states legalizing pot, the Sandusky Register reports. While tourist officials in Aspen downplay the possibility of the city becoming "Aspendam," as some are saying tongue in-cheek, ski resorts are quietly investigating the possibility to adding adults-only cannabis lodges.

Seattle's "Hempfest" draws 250,000 visitors to the event, and are left alone, for the most part, by local law enforcement and city officials.

Now that pot is legal in Washington, even larger numbers are expected. Vivian McPeak, the event's executive director, said, "People travel to Seattle from other states and countries to attend Seattle Hempfest every year to experience the limited freedom that happens at the event. It's reasonable to assume that people will travel to Washington assuming that the federal government doesn't interfere." 

Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo, whose jurisdiction includes Aspen, takes a tolerant attitude toward the possibility of pot tourism.

"For me, it's going to be live and let live. If people want to come to Colorado because pot is legal — and that's the sole reason — it's up to them. I am not the lifestyle police," he said.

Marijuana Advocates Try to Read the Tea Leaves in Obama's Latest Medical Pot Statement

In a recent interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, President Obama had this to say about casual users who are now smoking legally under the protection of Colorado and Washington: "We've got bigger fish to fry."

He continued, "It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal."

What he actually meant, though, is making pro-legalization and pro-access advocates each give their own conflicting opinions on the subject, according to the Eureka, Calif.'s Times-Standard.

Mark Lovelace, a district supervisor in Humoldt County, expressed his reservations about the quote. "A statement to Barbara Walters is far from substantive policy," he said.

"I would welcome any movement from the feds that would allow state and local government to regulate marijuana,” he added. "Even better would be to see not just a hands-off approach, but...a cooperative approach."

But others took his statement at face value. Joe Elford, general counsel for Americans for Safe Access, said, "It's a tremendous step forward. It suggests the feds are taking seriously enough the idea that there should be a carve-out for states with marijuana laws."

However, with federal raids on dispensaries commonplace despite then-presidential candidate Obama's promises to be hands-off when it came to medical marijuana, others aren't so optimistic about the future.

Alison Sterling-Nichols, former Humboldt Growers Association and Emerald Growers Association executive director voiced her doubts about the President and government agencies having "bigger fish to fry."

"Honestly, he said that in '08 when he was running for president about medical marijuana," she said.

Reefer Madness Redux: I-502 Makes Educators Ask Hard Questions About Policies, Anti-Drug Curriculum

Now that pot is legal in Washington state and Colorado, how will anti-drug crusaders now address the subject now that it's as legal as alcohol and tobacco? More importantly, how will those in schools discuss this "gateway drug"?

According to an article by the West Seattle Herald, the change in law is making educators examine what they're teaching to kids in terms of drug prevention. With the voter OK for legalization, it's making them realize that they may need to reexamine what they're teaching.

"Especially with the marijuana laws that passed recently, I think that one of the things we are not doing well at our school, and I think at many of our schools, is we are not really educating our kids very well," Diane Garcia, a principal at Cascade, a middle school, said.

Surprisingly, one of the school's counselors, Julian McCullough, admitted that not all students fit the stoner/underachiever stereotype and that some are better at coping that others and identifying kids who use drugs may not be easy as others want believe. While some students may have performance that plummets if they start to use marijuana, others maintain their grades.

"I’m sure that we have kids who are using regularly who come to school and get really good grades, play sports, and just do really well," McCullough said.

Appellate Court Reverses Conviction of Dispensary Owner

A Washington appellate court overturned a lower court's conviction against Scott Shupe, the owner of Change, one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries open in Spokane.

Shupe was found guilty of manufacturing, possessing and selling marijuana. However, the appellate court supported his defense that he was a legitimate dispensary owner.

The state's prosecutors presented a case that was torn apart on Shupe's appeal. The prosecutors did not answer Shupe's defense that he was a dispensary owner working within the letter of the law. The defense successfully argued that the warrants issued did not have probable cause and that the information for the basis of the warrant was not creditable because the informant for the warrant did not see the marijuana in question or see any sales taking place.

In addition, according to KXLY, the police did not prove that Shupe sold marijuana or that it was being transported because they did not conduct an undercover operation against Change — despite having an opportunity to do so.

However, possibly the most important and telling detail in Shupe's defense, that wasn't mentioned by the court, was the overwhelming legalization of marijuana by Washington state's voters.

Through the Looking Glass: How Prohibitionists See Advances in Pot for Medical Access and Legalization

With the advances made in the last year with brining marijuana to the mainstream, it's easy to forget there's a vocal percentage who will never see any benefit to using pot for medicine or recreation.

Charles "Cully" Stimson takes exception to the burgeoning cannabis culture in the US, and penned an opinion column in Milwaukee-Wisconsin Sentinel Journal, "How pot advocates are manipulating the truth". He's a former prosecutor (of course) and defense attorney (though probably not for those damned grasshoppers!) and a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

It should be noted that The Heritage Foundation is a Republican think tank that claims Rush Limbaugh as their own (marijuana isn't the same as prescription pain killers, I suppose) as well as Ed Meese, Ronald Reagan's attorney general who had his own prohibitionist war on porn.

The usual alarmist rhetoric is trotted out like a dead horse, waiting to be kicked.

Taxes? You're living in a fool's dream that it'll raise taxes because prices will plunge! Never mind about the usual conservative dogma about all taxes being bad.

It'll just make gang wars worse in states that don't legalize pot! Never mind that the real problem is that the federal government won't accept that its laws on pot need reforming.

Marijuana is bad for your health! Never mind…oh, just never mind.

Los Angeles Still Can't Make Up Its Mind About Disepnsaries

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission approved a plan to allow the city's dispensaries to remain open, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

However, not all of the city's dispensaries would qualify. Those that have been in business since September 2007, that have registered with the city, are up to date on their taxes and agree to regulations regarding zoning and their hours would be able to continue to service their patients. Less than 182 dispensaries in Los Angeles meet those criteria.

The plan was passed by a 5-0 vote by the committee. Dispensaries have been operating in a legal gray zone since October, when the LA City Council scrapped plans to ban all dispensaries.

However, the new proposal does not give the storefronts immunity from state and federal law enforcement agencies. The dispensaries would only give immunity from local law enforcement.

The entire proposed law may be moot, however, as medical access supporters are circulating a petition for two initiatives that would OK much more lenient rules than those passed by the commission.

Bogus: Institutes of Higher Learning in Colorado, Washington a Buzzkill for Marijuana-Minded Students

College students may have been the biggest supporters of pot legalization in Colorado and Washington, but ironically they may benefit the least from the new laws. 

Many universities and colleges have anti-marijuana codes of conduct on their books (which seem as quaint as curfews and single-sex dorms) and because of the federal funding many of the institutions receive from the government, anti-drug enforcement is still alive and well.

The penalty for toking it up in campus — even in a state that's decriminalized weed? Expulsion.

"Everything we've seen is that nothing changes for us," Darin Watkins, a spokesman for Washington State University in Pullman, told the Associated Press.

Of course, as the decades of anti-drug policy has shown and as the surging popularity of legalization demonstrates, just because someone bans something, it doesn't mean people will stop doing it.

"People in dorms now who want to smoke, they do it," Anna Marum, a Washington State senior, says. "I do think more people will be smoking in the dorms when marijuana is legal for use."

Humbolt State University Launches Program to Study Pot, the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research

Humbolt State University opened the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research. While other universities have programs to study drugs and drug use, officials from Humbolt State's program are claiming that it's the first to dedicate itself to the study of marijuana, the Eureka Times-Standard reports.

Humbolt County's reputation as one of the best places to grow marijuana puts HSU in a unique position to study pot as it grows in acceptance. Lectures the institute sponsored include a talk on local marijuana enforcement, and how growing marijuana affects wildlife. A symposium in October brought Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey, District Attorney Paul Gallegos, two county supervisors and a Fish and Game biologist to discuss how marijuana production impacts the environment as well as policies regarding the drug.

Erick Eschker, co-chair for the institute and an economics professor at the university, said, "If anyone is going to have a marijuana institute, it really should be Humboldt State. It has the potential to be a world-class institute, and we're just getting going."

Late Actor Larry Hagman Wanted People to "Eat a Little of Larry" in Marijuana Cake

The general public may remember Larry Hagman as the backstabbing oil mogul JR Ewing or Air Force Major Anthony Nelson and Jeannie's "master" in "I Dream of Jeannie." But with his recent passing, a pro-marijuana side of the actor came to light.

Hagman, who embraced solar power and became an outspoken anti-tobacco campaigner after years of cigarette smoking in his later years, embraced pot as a medicine after being diagnosed for cancer. He told Germany's Bunte magazine, "The cancer and the chemotherapy really took it out of me. I lost 30 pounds, weighed only 171 pounds. Marijuana actually brought my appetite back."

The actor also told The New York Times he wanted his remains to be "spread over a field and have marijuana and wheat planted and harvest it in a couple of years and then have a big marijuana cake, enough for 200 to 300 people. People would eat a little of Larry."

DEA Shuts Down Operations on the Big Island of Hawaii

The DEA has — for the time being at least — closed shop on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Justice closed the DEA's office and hangar at the Hilo International Airport.The airport facilities provided aviation support for the agency's operations on the island.

Though the office and hangar were vacated on Oct. 1, the Hawaii County Police Department was not aware the DEA left until it was contacted by the newspaper. Office space set aside for the DEA in the police department's Hilo and Kona offices are also unoccupied.

The DEA states that it will continue conduct its operations from Honolulu (on the island of Oahu).

Wolf Daniel Braun, former president of the now-defunct Peaceful Sky Alliance, said, "Joy, joy. The DEA has been no friend of mine, or of the medical marijuana community."

In Wake of Washington, Colorado Legalization, Congresspeople Pile on to Stop Government from Enforcing Federal Drug Laws

Failure, the saying goes, is an orphan and success has many fathers. With the success of marijuana legalization measures in Washington State and Colorado, lawmakers are piling on to make it known that they support marijuana (at least for medical use) and that the federal government should keep their hands off state laws.

The Huffington Post reports that 18 representatives signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Drug Enforcement Administrator Michele Leonhart asking that they stop prosecuting medical marijuana cases and halt any plans to enforce federal drug laws against Oregon and Washington. Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) were among the signees of the letter. The letter states:

While we recognize that other states have chosen a different path, and further understand that the federal government has an important role to play in protecting against interstate shipments of marijuana leaving Colorado and Washington, we ask that your departments take no action against anyone who acts in compliance with the laws of Colorado, Washington and any other states that choose to regulate marijuana for medicinal or personal use. The voters of these states chose, by a substantial margin, to forge a new and effective policy with respect to marijuana. The tide of public opinion is changing both at the ballot box and in state legislatures across the country. We believe that the collective judgment of voters and state lawmakers must be respected.

Medical Marijuana Vending Machine Company's Stock Surge After Profile

Medbox, a manufacturer of medical marijuana vending machines profiled in The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch and the subject of this earlier post, saw its shares climb a whopping 3,000 percent from $4 a share to $215 after the news item spotlighted the company.

Executives in the company called for investors to chill out, settling the stock to about $100 a share.

But even that price is still too high, according to the company. “We believe an appropriate trading range is between $5 and $10 but, alas, the market will do what it will do,” Medbox founder Vincent Mehdizadeh told MarketWatch in a follow-up article.

Mehdizadeh doesn't know if several large buyers or a single hedge fund was the cause of the rapid increase in Medbox's share price. However, it does demonstrate that Wall Street's acceptance of marijuana, at least for medical use, as a bona fide industry may be at hand.

Feds Mum on Response on Voters' OK of I-502

Washington state's governor told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the federal government hasn't made any plans as to what their plans are regarding its legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

Gov. Chris Gregorie said, "I told them, 'Make no mistake, that absent an injunction of some sort, it's our intent to implement decriminalization.' I don't want to spend a lot of money implementing this if you are going to attempt to block it."

Despite her statement, the U.S. Justice Department has not indicated what their intentions are. However, they did indicate that they want to treat Washington and Colorado, the other state that approved pot for recreational use, the same way — despite that the two states' laws will not be identical.

Gregorie added, "It's not a simple analysis for them. There's a difference between our two initiatives, and they want to look at that. They clearly want to know how things are going to flow, how regulations develop, how enforcement would be taken, taxes would be gathered."

Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch Examines Investing in the Exploding Pot Industry for Fun, But Mostly Profit

Like writers, investors are often told to go with what they know. With one third of Americans now living in states that have OK'd medical marijuana, and Washington and Colorado voters approving of its recreational use, The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch takes a look at possible investment opportunities in cannabis.

The post claims the medical marijuana industry is worth about $1.7 billion nationwide, and also uses the services and products of other industries, such as insurance companies, lawyers and agricultural equipment.

 Derek Peterson, CEO of GrowOp Technology, said, "Call it the 'green rush.' The industry is expanding, and there are all kinds of investment opportunities."

Possible over the counter stocks weed investors might be interested are Medbox, which dispenses medical pot through vending machines. A patient's identity is confirmed via a fingerprint reader. The company has 140 machines installed, with another 40 coming online the next quarter.

Other companies, like Steep Hill, are betting that the federal landscape for marijuana will change dramatically in the next 10 years. The company is a quality control lab for growers, and tests the pot for mold, bacteria or pesticides contamination. Steep Hill is betting on federal acceptance of medical pot and recreational use in the next decade.

Despite Legalization, Feds Promise Buzzkill in Washington, Colorado

Despite voters approving the use of marijuana for recreational use in Washington state and Colorado, the Department of Justice promises that it will continue to enforce existing drug laws — despite the will of the people in the states, reports CBS News.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, told the Associated Press, "Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."

Despite the tongue-in-cheek quote from Hickenlooper, who was against the pro-legalization initiative, the U.S. Attorneys were just-the-facts in their (predictable) statement.

"The department's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged. In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. We are reviewing the ballot initiatives and have no additional comment at this time," Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre stated.

The U.S. Attorneys in Colorado and Washington issued identical quotes.

Polls Point to Washington State's I-502 Passage, Despite Medical Users' Reservations

On the eve of the vote for Washington state's Initiative 502 vote — which would legalize cannabis use by adults — NORML's blog reports that a recent pool pegs support at 56 percent.

Those that do not support the I-502 comes in at 37 percent, with another 7 percent undecided. All indicators, then, point to its passage.

However, the initiative is not without its problems and detractors. It's still controversial among proponents of medical use, citing I-502's provisions for driving under the influence and research that points to THC levels over that threshold being in the body up to a month after ingestion. Medical advocates are also concerned that marijuana used as medication will be taxed at the same 25 percent rate as those using it for recreation.

Others are still clinging to the drug war dogma that pot is a "gateway drug."

"I had a judge speak at one of my D.A.R.E. graduations and he talked about the hundreds of cases that go through his court and out of all those cases maybe two people didn't start by smoking marijuana," Clarkston Police D.A.R.E. Officer John Morbeck told KLEW.

However, the anti-drug forces' arguments are sounding more and more like alarmist 1920's-era anti-alcohol temperance rhetoric to an increasingly skeptical public.