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California Raids May Owe to Asset Forfeiture

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By on News

That could end with legalization.

The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

California companies tell Inc. that a growing number of raids on businesses in California owe to asset forfeiture laws which allow authorities to seize cash and other valuables even if criminal charges aren’t filed.

An American citizen who was invasively searched at the Texas/Mexico border in 2012 will receive a $475,000 settlement but not an admission of guilt from the U.S. Border and Customs Protection agency. She previously received $1.1M from an El Paso, Texas, hospital that conducted secondary searches.

Devontre Thomas, the Oregon teen who faces a federal misdemeanor charge for possessing “about a gram” of marijuana, allegedly had it at his boarding school which is run by the federal Bureau of Indian Education. He faces up to a year in prison.

A judge in a trafficking case has ordered Yahoo to disclose how it handles deleted emails. The evidence includes emails that, according to Yahoo’s policy should not be accessible.

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte defended war on drugs which includes offering money to those who kill drug dealers.

Masamitsu Yamamoto, a Japanese man with liver cancer died at 58 while on trial for MED possession.

A lot of cannabis is found on federal land. The mail is a popular way to send weed and other drugs.

An Alabama prison guard was charged with using a Bible to smuggle opioids into a prison.

TV personality Montel Williams was briefly detained in Germany for MED.

At 99.9 % THC, crystalline is the strongest hash in the world. It sells for $200 a gram in southern California dispensaries.

Humboldt County, Calif. will start stamping product originating in the famed growing region. John Malkovich will star as the head of a crime family in the Netflix series “ Humboldt,” inspired by Emily Brady’s book “ Humboldt: Life on America’s Marijuana Frontier.”

Hip hop star Lil’ Wayne stormed off stage 10 minutes into his set at a High Times event in southern California. High Times said it was “baffled” and “awaiting an explanation.”

Yahoo meets Jeremy Plumb, Portland’s “wizard of weed.” The Oregon State Fair will give out blue ribbons for top pot plants. A Portland director made the first professional cannabis drink commercial/video. It features a cute song.

Billionaire Richard Branson said he has smoked pot with his son and recommended that other parents do the same. Cannabis Now interviews impresario Dr. Dina, who’s not a real doctor.

Cannabis absinthe exists, but doesn’t contain THC.

The Cannabist says little gifts of weed are not a substitute for tipping.

In The Onion, Joe Biden said it breaks his heart that so many hard working Americans can only afford “shitty ditch weed.”

Here’s the WeedWeek list of pot journalists on Twitter. Send recommendations for upcoming lists (opponents, executives, activists etc.) to [email protected]. Self-nominations welcome.

Pro-Pot Maryland Lawmaker Affiliated with Pot Company

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By on News

The Washington Post learned that Maryland state lawmaker Del. Dr. Dan K. Morhaim, a vocal supporter of legalizing MED, is affiliated with a company applying for a state MED license. Morhaim, who’s also a physician, said he has no equity in the company, and had cleared his involvement with the legislature’s ethics advisor.

Maryland has promised to begin awarding the coveted licenses next month. The evaluation process cost about $2 million , almost five times the original estimate.

More rigorous product testing is coming to Oregon this fall, but so far  no testing lab licenses  have been issued. MED dispensaries  can open in Hawaii  but none are ready.

Tech billionaire Sean Parker doubled his contribution to California’s REC initiative to $2.25 million.

Long Beach, Calif. won a lawsuit that will allow it to maintain its dispensary ban. Voters will have a chance to overturn the city’s ban in November. It’s complicated.

High Times says Brexit could set back legalization in the U.K.

Italian lawmakers will consider full legalization. Greece may legalize MED. A new bill in Ireland would legalize MED.

Legal pot probably isn’t as big a draw for Colorado tourists as had once been thought. Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger makes a technical argument that Washington State should have licensed more dispensaries.

Edibles company Bhang Chocolate lost a $1.875 million breach of contract suit to investor Mentor Capital.

HelloMD, a site that allows patients to obtain doctors’ recommendations online, has a questions and answers site that TechCrunch compares to “ Quora for cannabis.”

Canadian company Canopy Growth, plans to start selling MED in German pharmacies.

Weed is among the highest grossing products on the “ dark web,” online marketplaces that are difficult for law enforcement to track.

Investment in cannabis start-ups is on the rise. Instagram “ purged” a few big brands’ accounts.

The Atlantic talks to a few female cannabis entrepreneurs.

Canna Law Blog has a post on the eight pitfalls awaiting the industry in California.

Dispensary chain Terrapin Care Station acquired Denver Relief’s central Denver store.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock Blames Weed for “Urban Travelers”

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By on Legalize It, Medical, News

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D)  blames legal weed for the “urban travelers” who have caused violent episodes on Denver’s 16th Street Mall, the city’s main pedestrian thoroughfare. Recently, a 32-year old Indiana man was arrested after video showed him attacking pedestrians with lengths of PVC pipe. It’s not clear whether he was high at the time.

Other recent incidents, also caught on video, have seen arrests after attacks and aggressive panhandling. New research shows that legal states have seen a drop in Medicare prescriptions for anti-depressants and opiods, and a corresponding reduction in Medicare costs.

Prescriptions did not drop for drugs like blood-thinners that can’t plausibly be replaced with MED. (Read that study here.) If California legalizes REC in November, it could influence federal policy on banking and other issues. Regulators in the state said they will start inspecting dispensary scales  to ensure that customers are getting their money’s worth.

Massachusetts’ REC initiative will be on the ballot in November. Gov. Charlie Baker (R), Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D) and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo (D) have banded together to oppose it. Arkansas voters will decide on a MED initiative. Fortune sees signs of a backlash in Colorado. Murders in California’s Lake County, a center of growing, reached a 10-year high of eight last year. Donna Weinholtz, wife of Utah gubernatorial candidate Mike Weinholtz (D), is under federal investigation related to her MED use.

The rules for Alaska’s pot café’s are under review. Voters in the state’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough will decide on a commercial ban in the fall. Former Liberal Party deputy prime minister Anne McLellan will lead Canada’s nine-member legalization task force. McLellan is a former law professor at the University of Alberta. Canada’s legal purchasing age may vary across provinces, but the government wants a consistent national law on DUI. Both LSU and Southern University are exercising their option to grow Louisiana’s MED supply.

This article also appeared in the the pot-focused weekly newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

Jovan Jackson, trailblazing San Diego dispensary owner found guilty after 3rd trial, vows to appeal

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By on Culture, News, Opinion

Jovan Jackson, from YouTube.

Just over one year ago, on October 24th, 2012, historical legal precedent was set in the state of California in regard to its ambiguous medical marijuana laws. San Diego based medical marijuana storefront owner, Jovan Jackson, had been tried in court twice, based first on entrapment style undercover buys in 2008 (acquitted of all charges), and then trumped up charges of possession and sale of marijuana after a raid on his shop in 2009, of which he was eventually found guilty.

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Embattled Berkeley dispensary vows to fight federal lawsuit

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By on Dispensaries, Follow that story, News

Berkeley Patients Group, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in Berkeley, California, was sued by the federal government on Friday in an attempt to shut down the cornerstone collective and seize the property, according to a press release delivered today by Americans for Safe Access.
The feds accuse Berkeley Patients Group of breaking federal law by selling herb. And in a move that has been used with undeniable effect up and down the state of California, they’ve targeted BPG’s landlord and threatened her with asset and property seizure if she does not immediately evict her tenants.

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San Diego City Council rejects Mayor’s proposal, opts for repealed 2011 ordinance

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By on Dispensaries, Follow that story, Medical, News

Jack Daniel.

In 1996, California voters legalized medical marijuana for qualified patients and caregivers. Nearly two decades have passed, and the city of San Diego has yet to enact an ordinance which would regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, and provide the guidelines by which they could legally open.

In nearly four hours of testimonies given by dozens of San Diego citizens on Monday, the eight sitting City Council members heard arguments given both in favor of, and against, Mayor Bob Filner’s new proposed ordinance to allow for the legal and regulated re-opening of medical marijuana dispensaries in America’s Finest City.

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Patient’s Choice Medical Cannabis Competition Coming To S.F.

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By on Culture, Dispensaries, Products

San Francisco Medical Cannabis Competition/Facebook

Judges’ Packs are available for the sixth annual Patient’s Choice Medical Cannabis Competition in San Francisco, an event which provides Bay Area medical marijuana patients a sampling of the strains they are likely to find available at local dispensaries following the 2012 outdoor harvest season. The competition also provides cultivators, collectives and co-ops with a chance to show off their best weed to patient/judges with highly refined tastes.

Each Judges’ Pack (which costs $300 and is limited to California medical marijuana patients 18 and older) will include two tickets to the awards ceremony, one ballot, and cannabis totaling more than an ounce, made up of small samples of flowers, concentrates, and edibles.
Last year, Judges’ Packs came with 34 one-gram samples of medical cannabis, 10 quarter-gram concentrate entries, and 10 types of medibles, reports David Downs at SF Gate. Humboldt Royal Kush, an outdoor-grown indica from EarthGreenCali farms in Humboldt County, took first place, as reported here last year by Toke of the Town Northern California Correspondent Jack Rikess. It was grown in full sun with no added nutrients; the grower told attendees the plant got all its food from a “secret soil mix,” pH-balanced water, and molasses.
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23 Seattle Marijuana Dispensaries Get DEA Notification Letters

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By on Dispensaries, News

MMJ Truth

The Obama Administration’s medical marijuana crackdown came to Seattle in a big way today.

On Thursday, the Drug Enforcement Administration sent notification letters to the operators and property owners of 23 “marijuana store fronts,” as they called them, “located in school zones.” The letters informed the owner/operators that such enterprises “operating as ‘dispensaries’ ” within 1,000 feet of a school, playground or “other prohibited area,” “could result in the seizure and forfeiture of assets, as well as criminal prosecution.”

The seizure could include the property where the dispensary operates, any money received from the business, and potential criminal prosecution. The letter orders dispensary operators and property owners to cease the sale and distribution of marijuana “within 30 days.”
“We all work hard to create a safe zone for kids in school,” claimed U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington. “There is a reason that both federal and state laws prohibit the sale of marijuana in school zones. We need to enforce one message for our students: drugs have no place in or near our schools.”
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City, State Officials Protest Federal Marijuana Crackdown

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By on Dispensaries, News

MMJ Truth

It can be hard to find areas of agreement in politics — but the federal government’s assault on medical marijuana patients and providers has resulted in a lot of city and state officials finding common ground in California.
On Tuesday, on the steps of City Hall (Polk Street entrance) at 11:30 a.m., an overwhelming number of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will be joined by representatives from the offices of the City Attorney, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, State Senator Mark Leno, and the Board of Equalization to show their support for medical cannabis patients by delivering a strong message to the Obama Administration regarding recent actions by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the State’s four U.S. Attorneys against local medical cannabis dispensaries.
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