Medford, Oregon doesn’t want any hippie lettuce shops opening up in their fair city. That would be just plain unlawful in their eyes, despite new state laws expressly allowing dispensaries and a federal policy permitting such state laws.
So the town has written an ordinance banning business licenses to anyone violating local, state or federal law. “I don’t see how you could license unlawful activity,” Police Chief Tim George tells the Yamhill Valley News-Register.
The Washington state Liquor Control Board, which was charged with overseeing cannabis regulations after voter approved Initiative 502 last November, is expected to pass the state’s initial set of rules governing the cannabis industry later today.
The rules will iron out the details of things like the number of plants in grows, security at recreational shops and how many shops can open in each city and county.
| Flickr.com/Christopher.Michael |
| Dalai Lama. |
In Mexico for the week, the Dalai Lama says that medical cannabis should be available to sick and needy medical patients. The comments make sense coming from a man that has devoted his entire life to compassion.
But the Tibetan Buddhist leader also cautioned against recreational use, saying that “if it’s just an issue of somebody [using cannabis for]a crazy mind, that’s not good.”
| Stepography. |
When the budtenders at the La Brea Collective packed their last bowl on June 20, it was the end of an era. For years, hundreds of stoners came to LBC every day to pick up, get high and hang out. Then voters in May approved a ballot measure that banned on-site smoking at marijuana dispensaries and the party abruptly shut down.
Well, now the gang is back together again, with a slightly different setup meant to edge around the law by separating out the bar from the dispensary. On September 27, friends of LBC’s owners opened TreeHouse Social Lounge, a swanky, alcohol-free clubhouse where patients can bring their own “medication” and chill for the evening, a block away from the old spot, where they can still legally buy weed. TreeHouse membership packages range from $5 a day to — duh — $420 a year. LA Weekly has the full story.
| Texas Rep. Steve Stockman. |
Less than a week after polling showed the majority of Texans would rather regulate and tax cannabis than keep it illegal, Texas Rep. Steve Stockman, a Republican from Friendswood, signed on as a cosponsor for a bill that would allow states to dictate their own marijuana legalization policies without the fear of federal intervention.
Arizona counties must allow state-legal medical marijuana dispensaries and cannot zone the shops out of existence, a judge ruled yesterday.
The ruling comes after Maricopa County essentially banned dispensaries on the grounds that they were federally illegal. Judge Michael Gordon called the law changes “a transparent attempt to prevent implementation of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act”.
Shortly after 4:20 p.m.–when else would it be, haha–last Friday, Oct. 11, California’s first open-sourced ballot initiative (read it here: MCLR.pdf) officially filed its paperwork for the November 2014 electoral ballot. In other words, despite the lack of leadership by state lawmakers, we’re officially one step closer to California’s era of legalized recreational marijuana.
OC Weekly has the full story.
City Hall is starting to make its move against the majority of marijuana dispensaries in town that were made illegal when voters passed Measure D, a May ballot initiative that only allows 135 or fewer older pot shops in L.A. to survive.
Some counts put the number of cannabis retailers in Los Angeles at more than 1,000, though the City Attorney’s office says it’s more like 800. For now, the office said today that 38 locations are being prosecuted. LA Weekly has the full story.
| John Morgan. |
Orlando attorney John Morgan has become the face of a growing grassroots medical marijuana ballot initiative campaign in Florida.
Morgan, who has recently taken to radio airwaves to get his message across, has also put his money where his mouth is by donating more than a quarter-million dollars to the People United for Medical Marijuana campaign.
Driving impaired isn’t cool, regardless of what substance you’re on. But a Columbia University study of alcohol and drugs in fatal crashes shows that marijuana impairment is among the least common factors, while alcohol and prescription drugs remain the highest.
According to the, 31.9 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes come up positive on drug screens. Add alcohol to the mix, and you become 23 times more likely to get in an accident than someone who is just solely drinking.