Kharla Vezzetti April 14 – Serving as acting governor while Jerry Brown is in China on a trade mission, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom called for the decriminalization of marijuana in his speech at the California Democratic Convention in Sacramento on Saturday. Newsom joked about an acting governor library currently being constructed in the back of a …
Over 300 people attended California NORML’s conference marking the 100th anniversary of marijuana prohibition in California, held January 26 & 27 at Ft. Mason Conference Center in San Francisco. The conference began with presentations on the history of cannabis prohibition and the resistance to it. The Board of Pharmacy pushed for a law in 1913 …
UPDATE 5/9: Stephanie Chaung of NBC Bay Area did some great research for this story, uncovering the fact that only four outdoor medical marijuana gardens were reported in complaints in Concord since 2009, and only one had a violent episode. The police sergeant she interviews speaks of home invasion robberies, something moving gardens indoors will …
Update April 30, 2013 – The Senate Public Safety Committee refused to pass the Correa DUI bill, but it may be re-introduced. March 26, 2013 – Despite growing public support for marijuana legalization, drug warriors are seeking to tighten the screws on consumers by imposing new and tougher drug testing rules that have nothing to …
UPDATE April 30 – After over 3,400 letters and emails were sent from NORML supporters in opposition to this bill, it was pulled from consideration this year. UPDATE April 18 – Over 2,000 letters and emails have been sent in opposition to Correa DUI Bill SB289 Please send your email today Head radio spot to …
Federal researchers this week began a serious PR push arguing that chronic cannabis consumers suffer impaired psychomotor/cognitive skills for a period of up to 30 days or more post-abstinence and, as a result, should not be legally permitted to drive. Note that this study did NOT actually examine the driving performance of cannabis consumers. Rather, …
ACTION ITEMS: Oppose Correa DUI Bill SB289 (This bill has been referred to the Senate Public Safety committee; see Drug Testing News below.) Support Federal Measures to Legalize Marijuana and Regulate Its Sales City of Concord to vote on outdoor mmj cultivation ban on March 26 STATE NEWS: Los Angeles Mayoral frontrunner Eric Garcetti urges …
Kudos to Rep. Eric Swalwell, the southern East Bay’s new Congress member, for co-sponsoring the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, the States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act, and other marijuana reform bills. Thanks too to our local activists and supporters who helped bring this issue to Rep. Swalwell’s attention. – Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML Former …
Two bills to legalize production of industrial hemp have been introduced in the CA legislature: SB 566 by Sen. Mark Leno (D-SF) and AB 1137 by Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Huntington/Newport/Laguna Beach). Both bills would revise the definition of marijuana to exclude industrial hemp and authorize its production with the provision that its potency not exceed …
CaNORML 2012 Accomplishments and Plans for 2013 In 2012, CalNORML fought off bad bills in Sacramento, advanced good ones, protested federal involvement, and continued to work at local levels on policy. We will kick off 2013 with a conference to mark the 100th anniversary of cannabis prohibition in California and plan for the end of …