Kharla Vezzetti San Francisco, Oct 7, 2003: The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a lawsuit by Prop. 215 patients Angel Raich and Diane Monson challenging the constitutionality of the federal government’s ban on personal use and cultivation of marijuana for medicine under California law. The case involves the same basic issues that …
Drug reformers fared better than either Presidential candidate in last November’s elections as Californians voted 61-39% to approve Prop. 36, requiring treatment instead of prison for most drug possession offenses, while Mendocino County voters approved Measure G to allow personal use cultivation of marijuana by 58-42%. However, President-elect George Bush has given no indication of …
August 16, 1999: Amidst growing public interest in marijuana reform, NORML launched an innovative ad campaign in San Francisco urging marijuana smokers who are tired of being treated like criminals to come out of the closet. The campaign , which is running for 30 days at 30 bus shelters around the City, features two provocative …
SANTA ROSA, CA May 29, 2002 – The Aiko Compassionate Center, a medical marijuana patients’ group in Santa Rosa, was raided by a team of DEA agents today. Two suspects were arrested in what is thought to be the outgrowth of an ongoing DEA investigation of medical marijuana cultivation in Sonoma County. This is the …
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2002. In a foretaste of what could await the defendants in the DEA’s medical MJ raids, a Sonoma County patient, Keith Alden, was summarily convicted of marijuana cultivation in the first federal jury trial of a medical cannabis grower in San Francisco. The proceedings were a travesty of justice, as Alden …
Jun 6, 2002 – California saw spirited rallies against the DEA in a nationwide day of protest organized by Americans for Safe Access. Santa Rosa, where the DEA recently raided the Aiko patients’ co-operative, was the scene of the nation’s largest protest. Some 300 demonstrators turned out, closing the federal building to the public. KSRO …
OAKLAND, Jan 14 2002. BART announced that it has scrapped plants to deploy drug-sniffing dogs on its trains following a flood of protests from angry patrons and NORML supporters. BART had deployed canine units on loan from US Customs to sniff out passengers for two nights in December. They succeeded in nabbing 12 passengers for …
1999 – Marijuana activists are pushing the city of Berkeley to stop police from arresting minor pot offenders in violation of the city’s 20-year-old Marijuana Ordinance, which declares that marijuana should be lowest enforcement priority. Police statistics show a dramatic doubling in the number of marijuana arrests last year following a crackdown aimed at clearing …
SAN FRANCISCO, May 3, 2002 – US Judge Charles Breyer has issued a summary judgement for the government in its case against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club plus two other Bay Area cannabis clubs. In his decision, Breyer rejected the clubs’ interstate commerce clause challenge, noting that marijuana distribution is economic activity and is accordingly …
An electoral showdown is looming in California this November over Proposition 36, which would end prison sentences for non-violent drug users (www.drugreform.org). Modeled on Arizona’s successful Proposition 200, Prop. 36 would allow most offenders charged with simple possession of drugs to opt for a diversion program instead of imprisonment. Criminal charges would be dismissed upon …