St. Helena residents will have to go out of town to legally buy their medical marijuana. In the face of strong public opposition, the St. Helena City Council voted 4-1 (last) week to abandon an ordinance that would have allowed up to two marijuana dispensaries in the industrial and service commercial zoning districts. “I don’t think having a dispensary here will enhance St. Helena,” said Councilwoman Sharon Crull, adding that she personally supports medical marijuana. “I just don’t think it’s necessary, I don’t think it’s good for our town, and I don’t think the people [...]
May 292010
A medical marijuana dispensary will remain open in Galt after a Superior Court of Sacramento County judge refused Thursday to issue a temporary restraining order. At the hearing in Judge Rudolph Loncke’s chambers, the city argued that the dispensary was in violation of zoning codes, and could be a health and safety issue. The bulletproof glass and security guards indicate that members of the dispensary are worried about crime, said Jonathon Hobbes, who is a private attorney working with City Attorney Steve Rudolph. “You shouldn’t wait for something horrible to happen before enforcing city ordinances,” [...]
The Sunnyvale City Council passed a moratorium temporarily prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries from opening in the city, in the process asking city staff to begin studying the issue immediately to allow for a possible permanent municipal code change in the near future. Numerous representatives from local medical cannabis collectives were in attendance on May 25 to address the urgency interim zoning ordinance, but even proponents of medical marijuana supported the moratorium as it will force the city to immediately begin studying the effects of pot clubs in the city. Members of the Medicinal Cannabis Collective [...]
A major California labor union is organizing medical cannabis workers in Oakland, a move that analysts say will help efforts to legalize marijuana and open the door for the union to organize thousands more workers if state voters pass a measure in November to allow recreational marijuana use by adults. The 26,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 in San Jose is believed to be the first union in the country to organize workers in a marijuana-related business, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It is considering new job classifications including “bud tender” – a [...]
Four dispensaries failed Wednesday to win a court order to stop Los Angeles from shutting them down when the city’s medical marijuana ordinance takes effect June 7, a decision that suggests officials may not be impeded in their plans to start enforcing the long-awaited law. City officials had feared a victory would encourage numerous dispensaries to seek similar court orders, reports John Hoeffel of the Los Angeles Times. “The floodgates have been closed,” said Jane Usher, a special assistant city attorney. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe denied the motions for temporary [...]
Depending on what polls you read, marijuana advocates may be blowing smoke about the chances of a November legalization initiative in California. One poll, released by the California Public Policy Institute last week, signals voters are split on the measure, with 49 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed. An April 19 poll, released by the Smith Johnson Research and commissioned by opponents of the measure, found 56.3 voters are opposed to legalization while 36.5 percent of voters supported it. The measure was certified for addition to the ballot in March with more than the [...]
A San Francisco jury deliberated less than a day before convicting a 20-year-old man of first-degree murder Wednesday in the robbery and shooting death of a paratransit driver. Brian Yang of San Francisco testified that he had been forced at gunpoint to take part in the robbery of 46-year-old Gregory Lee Chapman on May 13, 2008, and said another man he knew only as “Shay” had pulled the trigger as Chapman begged for his life. “I’ve got kids, man,” Chapman said, according to Yang’s account, just before he was shot. Prosecutors said Yang had been [...]
Bud’s note: File this story under “Why cops have a bad attitude about pot.” Seriously, can you blame them? ===================== Police arrested a 27-year-old man who reportedly tried to hide bags of marijuana in a 6-year-old child’s pants during a traffic stop Wednesday in southeast Fresno. The man, who also had a 4-year-old child with him, attempted to leave the vehicle on the 500 block of South Chestnut Avenue after being stopped. The man kicked the vehicle’s door open, the Fresno Bee reports, striking a police officer. He ran from the vehicle but was arrested [...]
Vancouver’s Prince of Pot Marc Emery pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle Monday to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. As part of a plea bargain, Emery, 52, must serve five years in prison for selling marijuana seeds to U.S. customers through his business, Marc Emery Direct. He will remain in custody at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac until sentencing on Aug. 27, the Vancouver Sun reports. Emery’s wife, Jodie, said the deal is the best of his limited options. “It’s unfortunate that a five-year sentence is what we want for Marc, but the [...]
Gil Kerlikowske is the “drug czar” – the Obama administration’s director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The former Seattle police chief was interviewed last week by the Union-Tribune editorial board. Below are edited and condensed excerpts of the U-T’s “hot seat” interview: QUESTION : California has had medical marijuana legally available for some years now. It’s become an increasing problem in a lot of cities in recent years. But on the ballot this November is a measure that would essentially legalize marijuana. What’s wrong with it? ANSWER : The administration is opposed [...]
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