Kharla Vezzetti

CAL NORML KERN COUNTY ALERT

8/11/11 – Kern Citizens for Patients Rights is organizing a referendum petition to repeal the county’s repressive, new medical MJ dispensary ban and anti-cultivation ordinance. Similar petition drives have succeeded in overturning or suspending anti-MMJ ordinances in San Diego and Butte County.

Interested supporters are invited to contact Kern Citizens for Patient Rights: Heather Epps [email protected] (661) 327-3337 or Craig Beresh [email protected] or Bakersfield NORML

Read more.

News video:
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/127563833.html

For more on local ordinances, see https://www.canorml.org/prop/local215policies.html…

Cal NORML Release, July 8, 2011 – After nine years of regulatory delay, the DEA rejected a petition by a coalition of groups including NORML to reschedule marijuana for medical use. The response came only after advocates sued in federal court for unreasonable delay. The petition, filed in 2002 by the Cannabis Rescheduling Coalition, cited a growing body of scientific evidence plus the approval of medical marijuana in several states as grounds that marijuana qualifies as having “accepted medical use” and should be removed from Schedule I.…

Take Action to support this measure

June 23, 2011 – House lawmakers introduced legislation in Congress today to end the federal criminalization of the personal use of marijuana.

The bipartisan measure – entitled the ‘Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011’ and sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank and Texas Republican Ron Paul along with Reps. Cohen (D-TN), Conyers (D-MI), Polis (D-CO), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) – prohibits the federal government from prosecuting adults who use or possess marijuana by removing the plant and its primary psychoactive constituent, THC, from the five schedules of the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970.…

Cal NORML Release – Jun. 22, 2011

Butte County activists submitted 12,308 signatures on a referendum petition to suspend the county’s controversial medical marijuana ordinance, which sharply limits patients’ right to grow their own medicine. The ordinance is now officially suspended for 30 days pending validation of the signatures. If, as seems likely, at least 7,600 are valid, the ordinance will remain suspended until it can be voted on in the November election.

The referendum petition was sponsored by Butte County Citizens for Compassionate Use.…

CORRECTION
Our previous posting erroneously misinterpreted the scope of the Correa bill, SB 847, banning collectives within 600 feet of residential areas.

The bill applies ONLY to collectives that have a storefront or mobile location requiring a business license, e.g. a dispensary or delivery service. It does NOT apply to patients who privately share garden space with other patients in a non-commercial manner.

The relevant language which we overlooked is:

(e) This section shall apply only to a medical marijuana cooperative, collective, dispensary, operator, establishment, or provider that is authorized by law to possess, cultivate, or distribute medical marijuana and that has a storefront or mobile retail outlet which ordinarily requires a local business license

While SB 847 does not apply to non-commercial home collectives, it does seem to apply to satellite growers for dispensaries.…

Cal NORML Release – Jun 3, 2011

SACRAMENTO – The California Assembly rejected Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s bill AB 1017 to reduce marijuana cultivation from a mandatory felony to a wobbler. The vote was 24-36.

The bill had been sponsored by the DA of Mendocino County, but was opposed by the state DAs association.

“The state legislature has once again demonstrated its incompetence when it comes to dealing with prison overcrowding,” commented California NORML Director Dale Gieringer, “With California under court order to reduce its prison population, it is irresponsible to maintain present penalties for non-violent drug offenses.…