Let’s not get too smug about polls that suggest California voters are poised to legalize marijuana. Even if the Tax Cannabis initiative passes by a landslide, you can bet cops, prosecutors and elected officials will undermine the law in every way possible. After all, they’ve had plenty of practice with medipot. While it’s too soon for full-blown campaign fireworks, the anti-legalization strategy is easy to predict. The law-and-order types will paint medical marijuana as a plague unleashed upon California, while at the same time expressing heartfelt compassion for patients who use it legitimately. They’ll point [...]
4:20 Update: Apologies again for switching theme horses mid-stream. The new theme looked nice in some respects, but after kicking the tires for a while it became clear the old theme was better. It’s like deja vu all over again. ================= In case you haven’t noticed, the look of the Web site has changed dramatically. That’s because we’ve upgraded our WordPress “theme,” which governs the overall appearance of the site along with its navigation and functionality. While I haven’t been doing this all that long, I know that theme-tweaking is a constant process for dweebs [...]
After two months of tinkering, with no budget or advertising, California Pot News developed a small Web audience in January. It’s an encouraging sign, especially during this winter of widespread discontent. It’s also modest proof that an educated hunch is better than none. My hunch is that Californians crave more cannabis news than mainstream news outlets can or will deliver. My goal is to develop new ways to reach and serve those readers with useful information, especially with the question of legalization landing on the state ballot this fall. As a former newspaper reporter, I [...]
Jon Martin professes to be “just a person concerned for persons” in authoring this editorial posted on OpEdNews.com. Works for me. Lightly edited, with a brief Bud’s Nugz added at the end. ============ All around us the country is mired in an economic depression of epic proportions. The people of California have an opportunity, right now on the table, to create a real industry generating millions of jobs in a time and place where jobs are desperately needed. AB 390, introduced by Tom Ammiano to the California legislative system, is one of the first pieces [...]
Dec 312009
My good friend Beach Goat has posted a pic of his esteemed Twisted Sister plant in our cultivation forum. The picture appears below to a) provide some eye candy for the home page, and b) see if this link to the forum post is accessible to guest users. She sure looks like a happy plant to me. Speaking of which, Happy New Year everyone!
So I’ve been perusing the usual media suspects, looking for something newsworthy and unique to post. I’m sure there’s a decent excerpt or retweet somewhere to share, but I’m tired of just poaching and being poached. That’s a very big part of how the game is played online, so it’s not like I’m whining about it or anything. But I suspect if my own muse is getting bored, CPN’s valued readers are getting bored too. And now that I’ve outed my own boring tendencies, it’s time to light up and lighten up. California Pot News [...]
With 2009 drawing to an end, it’s already clear that 2010 will be a banner year for potheads. A bill to tax and regulate marijuana is set for January hearings in the Assembly, and at least one initiative along the same lines is headed for the California state ballot. Those who don’t use cannabis, though, may find the next 12 months more troubling than noteworthy. Despite a recent Field Poll of Californians showing 56 percent support for legal marijuana, the concept cannot be built or sustained on the shifting sands of public opinion. For that [...]
After twiddling our thumbs on Twitter for a couple of weeks, we’re now turning our fuzzy focus toward Facebook. You can find the page by searching FB for “California Pot News,” and because we’re friendly folks we’ll confirm your friend requests as soon as humanly possible. Also on Facebook, we launched a discussion board on Assembly Bill 390 and the proposed voter initiatives, one or more of which is likely to appear on the California ballot in 2010. You can find discussion on those subjects (and more) as well on our Web site’s user forums.
This Web site should have looked greener from its inception, considering the subject matter, but we settled on a plug-and-play blue theme because of its overall functionality. Then we upgraded the theme, which temporarily downgraded our functionality. So it goes when a professional journalist turns amateur Webmaster. (Another undesirable side effect: Constantly referring to one’s self in the third person.) So we (as in me) have spent the last two days tweaking the myriad color options available. The result is not perfect, but it’s functional and far greener than before. If you like the new [...]
Dec 082009
If it’s not apparent, CalPotNews.com is still in development. We just upgraded our WordPress theme, Swift, but working out the bugs and site navigation won’t be quite as swift a process as the upgrade itself. Please report any bugs or navigation errors to bud (at) calpotnews.com; as always, your suggestions are welcome. Thanks for your patience, and please come back! We’re working hard to become the best cannabis news source in California. – Bud
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