Kharla Vezzetti 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 …
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 …
California NORML Release – Oct 26, 2009 A medical marijuana regulation ordinance proposed to the L.A. City Council by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich would cost $36 – $74 million in lost tax revenues plus untold additional enforcement costs, according to an analysis by California NORML. The hastily written ordinance, which is being rushed for an …
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 …
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 …
October 19 – While it is certainly encouraging that the Obama administration has committed to writing the AG’s declared policy of respecting state medical marijuana laws, the proof will be in the pudding. Just a week ago, federal prosecutors in San Diego appeared to violate the policy by filing charges against a pair of San …
LA’s District Attorney Steve Cooley is threatening a citywide crackdown on the city’s medical cannabis dispensaries. Speaking on Oct 8th, Cooley told reporters that “about 100%” of the dispensaries are illegal, and that he intends to close them. Cooley and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich have been erroneously claiming that sales of medical marijuana are illegal, …
Two marijuana legalization initiatives are currently collecting signatures for the 2010 ballot in California. (1) The California Cannabis Initiative, sponsored by Joe Rogoway, Omar Figueroa and James J. Clark, (Withdrawn 2/4/2010) and (2) The Tax and Regulate Cannabis California Initiative, sponsored by Richard Lee, Jeff Jones, and Oaksterdam University. (A third initiative, the Common Sense …
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 …
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 …