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UPDATED NOVEMBER 8, 2012

November 7 – Election day started strong for marijuana reformers when Massachusetts became the 18th state to legalize medical marijuana, with 63% in favor and just 37% opposed. Arkansas nearly passed its own medical marijuana law, in a surprisingly close race from a state that went to Romney.

As the polls closed in Colorado, all eyes were on that state as early returns indicated its adult use legalization measure would pass, 52-48%. And just as Obama clinched his re-election, the news came that Washington would be the second state to legalize marijuana for personal adult use, by a 56-44% margin.…

November 1 – The California Medical Association House of Delegates has passed measures supporting marijuana rescheduling and decriminalization, and is considering another regarding medical marijuana use in hospital settings.

Resolution 103-12 “Petition the Governor to Petition the DEA Reschedule Cannabis,” authored by Dr. Donald Abrams and Dr. Larry Bedard, passed unanimously at the 141st annual meeting of the Delegates, held October 14, 2012.

The resolution notes that “medical decisions should be based on science, not politics”; that the US ignored its own 1972 report recommending rescheduling, and that the governors of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont have petitioned the DEA and Administration for rescheduling.…

California NORML Release 

Washington DC, Oct 16th – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments in a case challenging the Drug Enforcement Administration’s rejection of a petition to remove marijuana from Schedule I, the most dangerous category of drugs for which no medical use is recognized.

The lawsuit, filed by Americans for Safe Access, stems from a rescheduling petition that was filed in 2002 by the Coalition to Reschedule Cannabis with participation from California NORML and NORML.…

Oct. 5 – The 41st annual NORML conference is happening this week at the Omni Hotel in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles (in the same plaza as MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art and next to the historic Angels Flight cable car).

A good time is being had by all, despite the hotel’s clampdown on smoking on the patios after other patrons, apparently, complained (perhaps the belligerent Republican Romney fans watching the first presidential debate in the hotel bar on the opening night; or the senior citizens in the apartment complex next door).…

From CalNORML’s August Newsletter (get your copy!)

August 2012 – Medical marijuana farmers and other supporters–and opponents–are showing up by the hundreds at meetings where cultivation ordinances are being considered. Cal NORML Legal Committee attorneys are involved in challenging ordinances and representing plaintiffs.

After Lake County’s Measure D failed to carry at the voting booth, county supervisors attempted to pass an urgency ordinance allowing only 6 plants, indoors or out, anywhere in Lake, and only 3 outdoor plants on 1/2 acre plots.…

Voters Have Chance to with Fix with MMRCT 2012

January 31, 2011 – Medical marijuana patients who want to keep their jobs are out of luck again this year, as California Senator Mark Leno has declined to bring his employment rights bill SB129 to a floor vote.

At issue was a clause in the bill that specifically allowed patients to sue their employers for damages, which was red-flagged by the California Chamber of Commerce and pro-business Democrats. Only two or three votes short of a majority in the state Senate, the impasse could not be broached, since Leno’s office refused to take the teeth out of the bill.…

Cal NORML Release Jan 24, 2012

SACRAMENTO: The California legislature will soon be voting on two marijuana reform bills that seem to be more popular with the public than with the politicians in Sacramento: SB 129 by Sen. Leno, which would prohibit employment discrimination against medical marijuana patients, and AB 1017 by Tom Ammiano, which would allow for reduced, misdemeanor charges in marijuana cultivation cases.

Both bills have strong public support according to a newly released poll of state voters by EMC Research.…

AB1017 (Ammiano) would reduce penalties on marijuana cultivation.

Many are unaware that the California Supreme Court has ruled that employers may fire anyone who fails a drug test, even legal medical marijuana patients. Sadly, many find this out only after they’ve lost their jobs. California NORML regularly receives calls from frantic workers in danger of job loss. In recent weeks we have heard from a manager at an electronics store, a bottler at a beer factory, and others who have been unfairly deemed unfit for work because they use marijuana medicinally.…

California NORML Press Release – Nov 7, 2011

Prop. 215 supporters from around the state will be protesting the federal government’s attack on medical marijuana at the U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento, 501 I Street, this Wednesday, Nov. 9th at noon. The protest is sponsored by a coalition of organizations including California NORML.

This week marks the 15th anniversary of California’s landmark medical marijuana law, Prop. 215. Since 1996, sixteen states and three foreign countries have followed California’s lead in legalizing medical marijuana; dozens of scientific studies have confirmed the medical value of marijuana; and thousands of patients and doctors have found marijuana to be uniquely beneficial for a growing list of maladies including nausea, appetite loss, chronic pain, muscle spasticity, auto-immune diseases, psychiatric disorders, etc.…

California NORML Press Release – Oct 7, 2011

           SACRAMENTO – Medical marijuana supporters are rallying to protest the Obama administration’s crackdown on medical cannabis dispensaries outside a press conference by U.S. Attorneys at the Sacramento Federal Court House this Friday, Oct. 7th from 10 AM to 1 PM.

           US Attorneys in California have begun sending letters to landlords of dispensaries threatening them with property forfeiture and criminal penalties for violating federal law.

            In a letter to the landlord of the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the longest-operating dispensary in California, the US Attorney of Northern California warned that MAMM was operating within “a prohibited distance of a park.”  …

RALLY AGAINST DOJ CRACKDOWN ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA – SACTO FEDERAL COURTHOUSE, Friday Oct. 7, 11 am – 3pm

Cal NORML Release – Oct 5, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – In yet another attack by the Obama administration on medical marijuana, US Attorneys in California have sent out a series of letters threatening landlords with property forfeiture for renting their property to dispensaries deemed too close to “sensitive areas” such as schools and parks.

Prominent among the targets is the state’s longest-operating dispensary, the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, which enjoys official support from the city and has been operating without complaint since July 3rd, 1996.…

Cal NORML Release – Sep 21, 2011

California NORML and Project CBD release the results of the first “Ring Test” to assess the accuracy of analytical laboratories

Mixed findings show strengths and problems among analytic testing services

In the winter of 2010/11, California NORML and Project CBD initiated a “Ring Test” to assess the accuracy of analytical cannabis testing laboratories that have recently emerged to serve medical marijuana collectives, breeders, growers and patients.

Coauthored  by California NORML director Dale Gieringer and Dutch chemist Dr.…

September 21, 2011 – Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed Sen. Correa’s bill SB 847 to ban medical cannabis dispensaries within 600 feet of residential areas.

In his veto message, the Gov. noted that he has already signed AB 1300, giving cities and counties authority to regulate dispensaries, and that this bill would go in the opposite direction by preempting local control. “Decisions of this kind are best made in cities and counties, not the State Capitol,” declared the Governor.

California NORML thanks the Governor for standing firm against excessive and heavy-handed state interference in local government.…

September 14, 2011 – California reported a moderate decline in marijuana arrests in 2010, according to the latest figures from the Criminal Justice Statistics Center.

There were 16,585 felony and 54,849 misdemeanor marijuana arrests, down from 17,008 and 61,164 respectively in 2009. This marks the second year in a row that arrests have declined, after posting a recent high in 2008.

Hispanics accounted for 35% of felonies and 42% of misdemeanors; blacks for 25% of felonies and 16% of misdemeanors; and whites for 33% of felonies and 36% of misdemeanors.…

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.…