Kharla Vezzetti

CaNORML Opposes Red Bluff Cultivation Ban

UPDATE: Red Bluff backs off strict medical marijuana prohibitions; dispensary ban remains in effect

Nov. 10 – Medical marijuana supporters met today to oppose Red Bluff’s proposed ban on MMJ cultivation, collectives and dispensaries. Speaking to a packed house of over 150, California NORML attorney James Silva explained via telephone/microphone how the ordinance violates state law and Prop. 215.

The proposed Red Bluff ordinance would effectively deprive patients of their Prop 215 right to grow medical marijuana, both individually and collectively.…

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AMA, CMA Call for Medical Marijuana Research, Policy Change

November 11 – The California Medical Association has adopted a resolution declaring criminalization of marijuana to be a “failed public health policy”:

Resolution 704a-09 CRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA
RESOLVED: That CMA consider the criminalization of marijuana to be a failed public health policy; and be it further

RESOLVED: That CMA encourage and participate in debate and education regarding the health aspects of changing current policy regarding cannabis use.

Sources say the resolution was intended to be a call for debate, not outright legalization.…

Cal NORML Testifies at historic hearings on marijuana legalization

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 of marijuana users who are tired of being criminals and would like to be taxpaying, law-abiding citizens,” testified California NORML director Dale Gieringer, who argued for a system of regulated legal distribution like that found in the Netherlands or India before 1986 For CalNORML’s testimony, see www.canorml.org/APStestimony.pdf.…

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Kelly Case Sees Oral Argument

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 how the Kelly decision could be recast so as not to invalidate 11362.77 when used for other purposes: for example, to protect card-holding patients from arrest when they are within the limits.…

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Ill-Conceived L.A. Medical Marijuana Proposal Would Cost $36 – $74 Million In Tax Revenues

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 early vote in November, would effectively shut down the city’s medical marijuana distribution system by banning all sales of marijuana and sharply curtailing collectives’ ability to grow and obtain medicine.…

Marijuana Arrests Up Again in California

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 57,995.
After 96 years of prohibition, the state’s war on marijuana is no closer to success than when it began. Cal NORML estimates that the state currently spends over $200 million per year to arrest, prosecute and imprison marijuana offenders.…

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Mendo Measure B Blamed for Increased Arrests

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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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 year. (The record number of misdemeanors in Mendo was 267 in 2001).

The surge in marijuana felonies in Mendocino appears to be attributable to Measure B, which tightened the county’s marijuana policy as of last June.…

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Will They Really? Feds Finally Accept State Laws on Med MJ

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 Diego dispensary operators, James Dean Stacy of Movement in Action in Vista and Joesph Nunes of Green Kross. In both cases, DEA agents with doctor’s recommendations made small controlled buys of a few grams of medical marijuana.…

LA District Attorney Targets Cannabis Collectives

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, citing the State Supreme Court’s Mentch decision that effectively prevents dispensaries from claiming to be primary caregivers.

However, state law SB 420 specifically authorizes sales by non-profit collectives
and coops in Health & Safety Cod 11362.775.…

Legalization Initiatives Filed in CA

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.…