UPDATE: Medical Marijuana Taxation Bill Withdrawn

UPDATE June 22 – Sen. Calderon has withdrawn his Marijuana Tax Bill SBX6 – 16 from consideration by the Senate Revenue & Taxation committee, where it had been scheduled for hearings tomorrow (Wed Jun 23rd). The bill was aimed at levying a 41% tax on all medical marijuana sales and had attracted strong opposition from …

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Patients Challenge Tehama County Anti-Cultivation Ordinance

California NORML Press Release CONTACTS: Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858; Edie Lerman (707) 937-1711 RED BLUFF, Jun 4th. In a lawsuit supported by California NORML, Tehama County patients filed suit today against a county ordinance that limits their right to grow marijuana at home. The lawsuit, by the law firm of Edie Lerman and J David …

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Watered-Down Dispensary Bill Passes Assembly

June 4 – The California Assembly has passed a bill, AB 2650, that bans dispensaries within 600 feet of schools. Thanks to lobbying by MMJ advocates, the bill was greatly watered down from an earlier version which would have banned them within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, libraries, religious institutions, child care or youth centers, …

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California NORML Challenges Tehama County Anti-Cultivation Ordinance

May 28th, 2010 – In a lawsuit sponsored by California NORML, Tehama County patients are challenging a local ordinance that would drastically limit their right to grow medical marijuana. Tehama’s is the most restrictive of a rapidly growing number of anti-cultivation measures that have recently been proposed by local officials hostile to medical marijuana. The …

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California Collects $100 Million in Cannabis Sales Taxes

Cal NORML Release – May 5, 2010 The California Board of Equalization reports that the state is collecting $50 – $100 million in sales taxes from medical marijuana, confirming the estimate previously published in an economic analysis by California NORML (also independently affirmed by Americans for Safe Access). California NORML currently estimates the state’s retail …

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NEW FEDERAL ARRESTS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT OBAMA MEDICAL MARIJUANA POLICY

May 4, Ridgecrest, CA: A medical marijuana raid by the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service has led to the arrest of five defendants on federal charges. The defendants were charged for distributing marijuana for the R&C Collective next to the China Lake Naval Base. Read more. Unlike the DEA, NCIS does not operate under the Justice …

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4/20 Bills Pass Committees

SACRAMENTO – Legislative committees considered a pair of marijuana bills last week, approving Mark Leno’s bill SB 1449 to make petty pot offenses an infraction, and narrowly passing a much watered-down version of Assemblywoman Buchanan’s bill AB 2650 to limit dispensary siting. On April 20th (fittingly enough) the Senate Public Safety Commitee voted 5-2 to …

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AB2650 Would Limit Dispensary Locations Throughout California

In a surprise legislative move, a bill that would drastically limit medical marijuana dispensary siting has been introduced by Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Contra Costa). It is scheduled for hearing in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on April 20th. As currently amended, the bill, AB 2650, would forbid any medical marijuana collective, dispensary or other provider …

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Jury Acquits Eugene Davidovich/DA Re-Targets Lambert

UPDATE: April 4 – One week after Davidovich’s acquittal, the San Diego DA’s office brought new charges against medical marijuana defendant Donna Lambert, over possession of two legally registered guns in her home. Deputy District Attorney Steve Walter said outside court Friday that the two jury verdicts [Davidovich and Jovan Jackson] should not be interpreted …

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Local Ordinances Attack Patients’ Right to Grow

March 17 – As federal DEA pressure subsides in California, opponents of medical marijuana are pushing to impose new and unprecedented restrictions on medical marijuana cultivation through local ordinances of dubious constitutionality. In Long Beach, a city within LA County, the city council adopted a dispensary ordinance that requires all patient collectives to grow marijuana …

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