Kharla Vezzetti

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(1) The California Cannabis Initiative, sponsored by Joe Rogoway, Omar Figueroa and James J. Clark, (Withdrawn 2/4/2010) and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 Act of 2010, sponsored by Californians for Common Sense in Long Beach, has also been submitted but is not presently circulating.)
The CCI is pursuing a volunteer grass-roots campaign, while the Tax and Regulate Cannabis 2010 initiative says it expects to qualify for the ballot with the assistance of paid signature-gatherers.…

Fresno is taking legal action against landlords of Medical Marijuana Collectives.
Fresno Bee story
CBS47 TV news story
ABC story

The Madera County Board of Supervisors will be meeting next Tuesday to pass an emergency ordinance to ban the 4 dispensaries in the County. The public is asked to attend next BOS meeting on 9/22 at 9:00am at 200 W. Fourth Street, Madera. People who cannot attend this event should e-mail the BOS. Here is the website that has the BOS e-mail link.…

September 20 – For the first time, officials are casting doubt on the popular myth that Mexican “cartels” are responsible for illegal marijuana grows on public lands in California. A story published today in the Sacramento Bee Mexican marijuana growers boldly operate in California says:

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Gordon Taylor said authorities “have
not seen any direct link” to notorious cartels in Mexico, including the Sinaloa, Tijuana, Ju√°rez and Gulf cartels, and other violent networks known as La Familia and Los Zetas.”That…

September 11 – SWAT-style raids on 14 medical marijuana outlets in the San Diego area on September 9 resulted in 31 arrests, including a man in a wheelchair who was wrestled into a police car. The action was the result of a four-month investigation by the San Diego district attorney’s office, which claims the collectives were operating for profit in violation of the Attorney General’s guidelines.

The raids came the day after the San Diego Board of Supervisors voted to convene a task force on medical marijuana, and weeks after the county finally began issuing medical marijuana I.D.…

August 23 – A recent University of Texas study that claims the active ingredients in marijuana spread and prolong pain is an isolated, theoretical lab study involving rodent cells and endocannabinoids. It is more compelling to consult the long list of human clinical studies examining actual use of marijuana for chronic pain.

It’s noteworthy that there have been four published, FDA-approved human studies of marijuana and chronic pain sponsored by California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. They are Dr. Abram’s study on cannabis and HIV neuropathy; Dr.…

August 22 – In a troubling development, the state assembly is balking at passing the prison population reduction bill passed by the state senate. The major objection appears to be precisely the provision of most interest to marijuana and drug reformers, namely one which would empower a state sentencing commission to review existing felony penalties for various offenses including drugs, and potentially reduce them to wobblers or misdemeanors.

Most disturbing is the fact that resistance to the sentencing reduction plan is coming from two “moderate” Democrats who are leading candidates for attorney general: Alberto Torrico of Fremont (phone 916-319-2020; FAX 319:2120) and Ted Lieu of Torrance (phone 916-319-2053; FAX 319:2153).…