Kharla Vezzetti

Dec 1, 2009 – A San Diego jury’s not guilty verdict for medical marijuana defendant Jovan Jackson sends a powerful message to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to call off the heat and dismiss the numerous other defendants currently facing similar charges in San Diego.

The jury rightly cited the vagueness of current laws as a reason not to convict Jackson of illegally possessing and selling marijuana.

It is to be hoped that Jackson’s case will set a precedent for other medical marijuana defendants in San Diego.…

December 12 (UPDATE): LA City Council will take up the latest ordinance draft on Wednesday, December 16.

December 2 (UPDATE): The latest draft of the L.A. Ordinance has been released. As written, it would cap the number of collectives at 70, distributed among 21 police precincts, and furthermore allow one coop per 57,000 people. It would disallow membership at more than one collective and allow inspection of patient records, just not full medical records without a warrant.

Read about Redding actions.…

UPDATE: On November 18, after a four-hour session, the full City Council declined to introduce the ordinance without amendments that would allow sales. The proposed regulations are expected to be presented next week for a vote by the full council.

All of the amending motions to the 5th draft ordinance regulating medical
marijuana collectives in Los Angeles that were presented are posted online at –
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=08-0923

Also the agenda for next Tuesday’s city council meeting (11/24) has been released,
the medical marijuana ordinance is item #10.…

UPDATE: Red Bluff backs off strict medical marijuana prohibitions; dispensary ban remains in effect

Nov. 10 – Medical marijuana supporters met today to oppose Red Bluff’s proposed ban on MMJ cultivation, collectives and dispensaries. Speaking to a packed house of over 150, California NORML attorney James Silva explained via telephone/microphone how the ordinance violates state law and Prop. 215.

The proposed Red Bluff ordinance would effectively deprive patients of their Prop 215 right to grow medical marijuana, both individually and collectively.…

SACRAMENTO, Oct. 28th. The state Assembly Public Safety Committee held historic hearings on the legalization of marijuana, the first since “Indian hemp” was prohibited in 1913. The hearings were chaired by Tom Ammiano (D-SF), who has proposed a legalization bill, AB390, which will be heard early next year.

“I speak on behalf of California’s millions of marijuana users who are tired of being criminals and would like to be taxpaying, law-abiding citizens,” testified California NORML director Dale Gieringer, who argued for a system of regulated legal distribution like that found in the Netherlands or India before 1986 For CalNORML’s testimony, see www.canorml.org/APStestimony.pdf.…

Berkeley, Nov. 3rd – In a remarkable turn of events, both sides at today’s California Supreme Court Hearing on the Kelly case agreed that the so-called SB 420 quantity limits in Health and Safety Code 11362.77 are unconstitutional when applied to limit patients’ right to a compassionate use defense under Prop. 215. Instead, they discussed how the Kelly decision could be recast so as not to invalidate 11362.77 when used for other purposes: for example, to protect card-holding patients from arrest when they are within the limits.…

October 19 – Marijuana arrests in 2008 rose to their highest level in California since the state’s 1976 decriminalization law, according to the latest data from the Cal DOJ Bureau of Criminal Statistics.
The state reported 17,126 felony marijuana arrests in 2008, up from 16,124 in 2007, while misdemeanor possession arrests rose to 61,366 from 57,995.
After 96 years of prohibition, the state’s war on marijuana is no closer to success than when it began. Cal NORML estimates that the state currently spends over $200 million per year to arrest, prosecute and imprison marijuana offenders.…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“““““““““““““““`
Cal NORML Release – Oct 17, 2009

Mendocino reported a record number of marijuana arrests in 2008, according to data from the Cal DOJ Bureau of Criminal Statistics.

Felony arrests soared to an all-time record of 238, up 42% from 167 in 2007.

Misdemeanors increased to 169, up from 129 last year. (The record number of misdemeanors in Mendo was 267 in 2001).

The surge in marijuana felonies in Mendocino appears to be attributable to Measure B, which tightened the county’s marijuana policy as of last June.…

September 28 – The 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld an injunction disallowing a medical cannabis dispensary in Claremont. The court ruled that the city could deny a dispensary a business permit on the grounds that no such businesses were authorized under the city’s land use and development code. It left open the possibility of applying for a code amendment.
The decision applies to situations where a local ordinance states: IF NOT LISTED AS A USE, IT IS PROHIBITED. It does not necessarily apply to other situations, such as the permanent dispensary bans enacted by Anaheim and Fresno, which are still under litigation.…

September 23, 2009 – PayPal, the online payment company, has told California NORML it has made the decision not to accept payments from our “type of business” over a disagreement about accepting listing payments from cannabis-recommending physicians.

After years of offering free listings to physicians and collectives, CaNORML began charging a yearly membership fee to cover our costs.

PayPal froze CaNORML’s account in June, saying that by accepting listing fees from collectives, we were violating their Acceptable Use policy, which says, “you may not use PayPal in the purchase or sale of narcotics.”…

UPDATE September 28

Sept. 19 – As late as today, one report from Oregon says California-based hemp activist and author Jack Herer is still in critical condition after he collapsed from a heart attack at an event last weekend.…