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Speaking live on CNN, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-47) cited the west coast’s majority support for regulating cannabis like alcohol – as acknowledged by NORML’s recent Zogby poll – and called for a statewide “pilot program” to objectively assess the impact of cannabis legalization upon adult society.

“Well, certainly, I have seen in my own state of California, people over and over voting in a big majority [on] the whole issue of marijuana, and possession of that,” Sanchez said. “So maybe it would be a good pilot program to see how that regulation of marijuana might happen in California since the … majority of Californians believe maybe that should happen.”…

February 25, 2009 – Speaking at a press conference with DEA administrator Michelle Leonhart, Attorney General Eric Holder declared that ending medical marijuana raids “is now American policy.”

A reporter asked, “shortly after the inauguration there were raids on California medical marijuana dispensaries…do you expect these to continue?”, noting that the President had promised to end the raids in the campaign.

Holder responded, “What the President said during the campaign…is consistent with what we
will be doing here in law enforcement.…

Contact: Dale Gieringer, Director, Cal NORML (415) 563-5858
WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN SUPPORT OF AB390

San Francisco, February 23, 2009 – At a press conference today, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-SF) announced the introduction of AB390, The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act, a landmark bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol and tobacco.

The bill would save the state’s taxpayers over $1 billion, according to an economic analysis by California NORML, with additional economic benefits of $12 –18 billion.…

February 19, 2009 –

A growing number of Americans, and a majority in the West, support legalizing marijuana, according to a January 29-31 poll of 1,053 likely voters by Zogby International, sponsored by California NORML and Oaksterdam University.

When asked: “Should marijuana be taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes to help raise money for public services and to reduce law enforcement costs?”, voters responded: 44% Yes, 52% No, and 4% Undecided.

Surprisingly high support was reported in the West, where voters favored legalization 58% – 36%.…

Download the Phelps Yes We Cannabis flyer

Pot advocates unite! Tell Kellogg Company and USA Swimming that you’re disgusted by their spurning of Michael Phelps. Phelps wasn’t flaunting pot in public. His privacy was wrongly invaded. No one tried to sanction him when he was busted for drunken driving. Tell Kellogg and USA Swim that anti-pot bigotry is unacceptable to the millions of Americans who value the right to use marijuana. We can thank Hilton Hotels, Omega watches, Speedo swimsuits, and VISA for keeping Phelps as an endorser.…

AUGUST 8, 2008 – Last week saw three significant California Appellate Court rulings on medical marijuana, most of them favorable to medical marijuana patients, but one with cautionary implications for “primary caregivers.”

(1) SAN DIEGO CHALLENGE TO PROP 215 & SB 420 ID CARDS REJECTED
In the first, Counties of San Diego & San Bernardino v San Diego NORML & Wendy Christakes, the 4th appellate district court upheld the validity of the SB 420 medical marijuana ID card program and discounted claims that state enforcement of Prop 215 violated federal law.…

Los Angeles, May 22, 2008: The Second District of California Court of Appeals ruled that the state limits on medical marijuana possession and cultivation established under state law SB 420 are unconstitutional.

In the case People v. Patrick Kelly, the court overturned defendant’s conviction for possessing 12 ounces of dried marijuana plants on the grounds that the prosecutor had improperly argued that the defendant was guilty because he possessed more than the 8-ounce limit established in Health & Safety Code Sec.…

On June 24, 2008 while fires raged in California, 450 law enforcement officers from the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE), plus FBI, IRS, US Postal Service and others descended on Humboldt and Mendocino counties for “Operation Southern Sweep.” Callers to local radio stations reported huge convoys of unmarked vehicles — as many as 200 — with the bulk of them heading towards Shelter Cove at the coast, not far from where a fire line was breached and firefighters were visiting local residents to warn them of possible evacuations.…

Jan 24th, 2008. The California Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that employers can drug test and fire workers for using medical marijuana. The court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Gary Ross under the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) arguing that he had been wrongfully denied employment by RagingWire Telecommunications on account of testing positive for past use of marijuana on a urine test.

The court took a narrow interpretation of Prop. 215, ruling that it did not create a general right to use medical marijuana, but only protected patients from criminal sanction for possession or cultivation of marijuana.…