Potential State-Sanctioned Pot Consiglieres Meet with Washington's Liquor Control Board

Though the call for consultants knowledgeable in all aspects of cannabis cultivation, processing, distribution and pricing seemed outrageous, about 75 people met with Washington state officials to learn more about the contract, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports.

Though pot use is legal for those over 21 in Washington, the state now has to deal with the actual administration of the law. To assist the Liquor Control Board with establishing rules and regulations for pot, Washington put out the call for consultants.

Those that showed up expressed concerns that bidding for the consultant position would be violating the state's conflict of interest laws. Those who would want to consult would also want a stake in the market — which would ultimately take many qualified candidates out of the running.

Others were worried about incriminating themselves, especially in light of the federal government leaving the door open to arrests of those involved in Washington's marijuana industry (despite being legalized).

However, many others felt they were already known to state and federal law enforcement because of their long history in growing, processing and distributing pot.

The U.S. Won't Study Pot…But the Israelis Will

Imagine a place where a government's response to studying medical marijuana is something other than a seven year old putting their fingers in their ears and saying, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LALALALALALA!" at the top of their lungs.

Amazingly, such a place exists. In fact, it's a place where most anti-drug crusaders consider holy. It's called Israel. Those "Just Say No" types would probably not be interested to know that THC was discovered there and that rabbis seem to have no problems with marijuana use.

Zach Klein, a specialist in medical marijuana policy (Wouldn't it be nice if we had one of those at the federal level?) with researchers from Tel Aviv University studied medical pot at 19 nursing homes, according to the National Pain Report.

Though it was a small-scale study with just 19 participants, 17 of the seniors regained lost weight. Complaints of pain, stiffness, tremors and insomnia went away once the patients began treatment with cannabis. It also helped those who were holocaust survivors and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Most of those taking part in the study were also able to reduce the number of pills they were taking each day.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s the future. This is God’s doing, and it’s marvelous in our eyes," Klein said. But it's not like we'd be able to find any of this out in the U.S., given the state of federal "drug enforcement."

Potential LA Mayors Face Off in Debate, Former Tech Honcho Pleitez Wants the Market to Decide How Many Dispensaries Should be Open

The issue of medical marijuana dispensaries took center stage, to no one's surprise, at the latest Los Angeles mayoral debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel both called on the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a medicine and also call for greater regulation as to where dispensaries can open and can remain open.

However, Garcetti said about 100 dispensaries were "about right," while Greuel didn't give an exact number.

Former tech executive Emanuel Pleitez seemed open to a laissez-faire attitude toward the dispensaries. He feels the marketplace should decide how many dispensaries the city should support and that "politicians shouldn't be in the business of setting numbers."

The sole Republican of the forum, Kevin James, called the City Council out for not being able to do anything about putting any sort of order on the dispensaries in Los Angeles.

"More pot clinics than Starbucks? Unbelievable," the Los Angeles Times reports James as saying. "Only this City Council could put a moratorium on 180 or so pot clinics — and it skyrockets to over 1,000."

Wanted: Marijuana Consultants — Apply to the State of Washington

Do you know the difference between kush and sativa? Or how to cook with pot (and I don't mean pot of the stainless steel variety)? Any idea of how to grow and process weed? If so, the state of Washington may have a job for you.

State officials are looking for those with expertise in cannabis to assist its state Liquor Control Board to help get its sanctioned marijuana industry up and running. Washington is in search for consultants to help form a committee that will help iron out the details for regulations to govern its voter-approved legalization law, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports.

According to the article, the state is specifically looking for individuals with product and industry knowledge, product standards and testing, usage and consumption validation (to "keep pricing at black-market levels") and product regulation.

Medical Marijuana Group Teams Up with Herbal Products Association to Expand Lobbying Efforts

The American Herbal Products Association, founded 32 years ago to represent botanical medicine companies, is now allied with Americans for Safe Access and will provide recommendations to states interested in regulating medical marijuana.

More importantly, the AHPA, which has spent more than $2 million for lobbying since 1998, will open new doors for the ASA's efforts to reach out to those in power. The partnership will also help medical marijuana advocates to advance the cause of cannabis as a medicine — despite, most recently, a court decision that refuses to reclassify the drug.


Michael McGuffin, American Herbal Products Association president, stated to The Huffington Post: "The AHPA Cannabis Committee includes in its charter a responsibility to develop policy recommendations that support safe use of products derived from cannabis species. This initial work should be well received by state regulators, who share our commitment to ensuring safe access to medical marijuana for their citizens."

Washington: State is Ready for Federal Challenge to Legal Pot Law

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder met with Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee to discuss its recent legalization of pot. Though Holder had no comment for reporters, Crosscut reports Inslee dominated the meeting and made sure the federal government understood that Washington was going forward with implementing its legalization law.

"I don't believe we should put the brakes on this," Inslee told the press after the meeting. "We should continue in a rational way to make these rules, and that's the direction we're going to pursue."

Though the two discussed issues such as implementation, taxation, regulating pot under the law and how Washington will keep the pot from neighboring states, Attorney General Bob Ferguson has lawyers looking over the law and coming up with defenses in case the federal government sues the state.

Will Pot Treat Combat Vets with PTSD? The Government Doesn't Know and Doesn't Care

The courts may have decided that marijuana has no medical use, but how would they know unless they study it? Federal red tape is keeping an Arizona researcher from looking into benefits pot might have for vets with PTSD.

Dr. Sue Sisley received the OK to research the effectiveness of using marijuana to treat combat vets from the FDA in 2011, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse refuses to authorize the study. The NIDA is the only federal agency that grows marijuana for legitimate research.

"It's in the pipeline waiting in limbo until we can persuade NIDA to sell us the study drug and the DEA to give us a permit so we're allowed to store the drug on campus," Sisley told Phoenix's CBS5.

But Dr. Richard Strand with the Arizona Wellness Chamber of Commerce is much more frank in his assessment of the situation: "NIDA will not fund any research whose goal is to find benefits of medical marijuana."

Sun, Sand and…Maui Wowie?

A Hawaii lawmaker hopes to make The Aloha State the third to allow legalized pot possession.

Like measures voted into law in Colorado and Washington, the proposed legalization law would allow individuals over 21 to possess up to an ounce of cannabis and allow limited cultivation for personal use.

"We wanted to give it a hearing and see what the public says. We know that there will be strong public safety concerns brought up at the hearing," state Rep. Scott Saiki told KITV news.

Not surprisingly, the local law enforcement does not support the bill, stating, "The Honolulu Police Department is opposed to the legalization, decriminalization and medicinal use of marijuana."

Pot legalization in Hawaii is expected to generate about $20 million a year in fees and taxes. However, given that while most states have allowed some form of gambling, Hawaii remains one of the few that doesn't even have a lottery — so don't hold your breath for any legal Puna gold just yet.

Angelinos Will Have Third Medical Marijuana Option to Vote On

Los Angeles voters will have three medical marijuana initiatives to vote on for the May ballot, the L.A. Daily News reports. The latest, floated by the City Council, would prohibit dispensaries from operating 1,000 feet from schools and tax $60 for every $1,000 in sales, as well as limit hours operation and require background checks on dispensary employees.

The option is being presented as a compromise between the other two initiatives that will be voted on. One initiative would allow dispensaries 1,000 feet from schools, churches and impose the same tax structure as the City Council's proposal; the other would only allow about 100 dispensaries that have been open since Sept. 14, 2007 to remain open.

Regardless of which initiative is voted in, given the constant flip-flopping of the Los Angeles City Council's position on medical marijuana, it's a safe bet that medical pot is far from being resolved.

Washington Apartment Moves to Ban All Pot, Wants Tenants to Narc on Each Other

A Seattle apartment landlord wants to make all pot — smokable and non-smokable, medical and recreational — cause for eviction. But that's not all, it also wants its tenants to narc on each other.

Iraq war vet Alex Aversano, who uses a liquid form of pot for pain and PTSD, found a note on his door informing him of the request. The note also asked him to sign an amendment to his lease and when Aversano complained, the management company admitted they cannot make anyone sign an amendment in the middle of their lease.

Though medical marijuana and and recreational marijuana are legal under Washington law, the largest association of landlords in the state is of the opinion that it can be banned under federal law.

Medical marijuana advocate and criminal attorney Doug Hiatt told the Yakima Herald that a prohibition by landlords would be difficult, if not impossible, to enforce.

"What would they do," Hiatt said, "search everybody’s chocolate chip cookies? It’s 'Reefer Madness' all over."

Legalization in Colorado, Oregon Causing Latin American Countries to Re-Think Their Drug Policies

Policymakers and politicians in Central and South America are openly revolting against decades of American-sponsored anti-drug laws that places their police, soldiers and civilians in harm's way when legalization is taking firm root in the United States.

Mexican congressman Fernando Belaunzarán told Time.com, "Everyone is asking, What sense does it make to keep up such an intense confrontation, which has cost Mexico so much, by trying to keep this substance from going to a country where it’s already regulated and permitted?”

Pot legalization is being seriously considered in countries south of the United States as a way to deny drug cartels revenue from cannabis and to end the violence that's caused by enforcement, particularly in Mexico.

Belaunzarán added, "It’s time the world discuss a new paradigm to confront drugs. In Latin America it’s already happening. And the U.S. is applying it de facto because states are already regulating marijuana."

Pro-Legalization Forces Makes Resolution for Oregon, California

Reuters reports that pro-pot legalization advocates plan to return to two states where they've been refused — Oregon and California.

The states were among the first to allow the medical use of marijuana, but recently rejected its recreational use. Bolstered by their successful initiatives in Washington and Colorado, pro-legalization groups plan on taking the fight back to California and Oregon.

Dale Gieringer, director of the California branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said, "We know that the younger generation is more supportive and the opposition really comes from the older generation. And as time goes on there's more of the younger generation and less of the older generation. The second factor is we have these results in Colorado and Washington under our belt, so that sort of fertilizes the ground."

The strides medical and legalization groups made to advance marijuana is remarkable. Medical marijuana's moved from a fringe political issue to an issue that's rallying conservatives and progressives alike. In the same way, talking about legalization a few years ago would never have been taken seriously, but the turnout to support legalized weed in Washington and Colorado shows the public is ready for a real change in national drug policy.

Reflections on a Collective: Shari Albert's Medical Marijuana Education

While most joke about writers and actors waiting tables and working at call centers until their big break, Shari Albert writes about her experiences working in a Los Angeles medical marijuana collective.

Though she originally took the job as a means of survival between gigs after appearing in the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning film "The Brother’s McMullen," she found herself liking the job's human contact and the availability of pot.

She writes: "In LA, you can go entire days without talking to another human, but this job forced me to get out of the house, interact with people whose lives were very different than mine, and learn, in the process, to let go of a lot of judgment I didn’t even knew I carried with me.

"On the flip side, I was smoking WAY too much weed. I realized this when hanging out with a friend, hitting the bong about three times more than he did, and not even getting high. At five feet tall, my tolerance felt like a football player's. He was concerned, as was I."

The schizophrenic nature of Los Angeles' medical pot laws are also touched on, such as pot, or "medicine," technically not being "sold."

Albert has since gone on to star in "Ugly Betty," "King of Queens," and "Law & Order." She's now working on a web series about a medical marijuana collective...of course.

DEA Uncooperative in LAPD Investigation of Drug Suspect's Death

In a display of just how crazy the "war on drugs" has gotten, the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a murder that occurred during the Drug Enforcement Agency's watch — and is getting stonewalled in their inquiry, the LA Times reports.

The investigation, which has been ongoing for the past two years, involves the arrest and subsequent death of Alberto Arriaga, who had been fingered by a DEA informant as a supposed meth dealer.
When he was taken in by the LAPD to be booked, Arriaga said he had no medical issues, but later complained of abdominal pains and that he was beaten by the DEA agents. He was taken to a hospital and died 16 hours later.

Homicide investigators tasked with investigating the death were told the DEA agents needed to find legal representation, then were told the questioning would have to be done after the autopsy was completed.

However, the agency did not make the agents available. Los Angeles prosecutors then decided that local police had no jurisdiction to question federal agents. The US Attorney agreed to do the questioning — but to date, it has not occurred.

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.