Dispensaries

Ailing Dennis Hopper Seen Shopping At Marijuana Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 22, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries, News

Photo: Flash City

Legendary actor Dennis Hopper, the Easy Rider himself, was photographed Thursday at The Farmacy Cannabis Club in Venice, California, a medical marijuana dispensary.

Hopper wore a checkered paperboy cap and dark-rimmed glasses into the establishment, which resembles a farmer’s market, according to “Doug” at RadarOnline.

Hopper’s filmography contains many high points in addition to the 1969 counterculture classic Easy Rider, which featured an iconic pot-smoking scene with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.

San Diego Marijuana Dispensary May Be Headed For Reality TV

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 22, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: Jamie Scott Lytle/North County Times

Mother Earth’s Alternative Healing Cooperative founders Brenda Perez and Bob Riedel at the dispensary, which may be featured on an upcoming reality series

Mother Earth’s Alternative Healing Cooperative, a medical marijuana dispensary in the San Diego suburb of Fallbrook, may be featured in an upcoming reality TV series about California’s cannabis culture.

Two Los Angeles television producers were in town Wednesday to film interviews at the dispensary for a pilot episode they plan to pitch to Showtime, Bravo, Lifetime and other networks, reports Morgan Cook of the North County Times.

The show, which may be titled “Grass Roots,” will explore California’s burgeoning pot culture, from growers in Northern California to the dispensaries which sell marijuana to patients statewide.

Los Angeles City Council Adopts Marijuana Dispensary Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: www.losangelesmedicalmarijuana.org

After more than two years of deliberation, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11-3 Tuesday afternoon to adopt the first reading of an ordinance regulating the sale of medical marijuana in the city.

The ordinance will establish rules for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries, collectives and cooperatives.

Patients and advocates worked throughout the process to improve several versions of an ordinance they considered to be flawed.

L.A. City Council Set To Vote Tuesday On Marijuana Dispensary Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: Damon D’Amato, WAMC

Medical marijuana supporters march on L.A. City Hall in 2007

After a delay of nearly three years resulting in hundreds of unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries opening in Los Angeles, the City Council there will try to pass an ordinance Tuesday to regulate the booming industry.

The council already resolved some key issues, reports the Los Angeles Daily News — including whether to cap the number of dispensaries citywide, and the size of buffer zones between dispensaries and homes — during sessions that began last year.

Now the council must decide whether dispensaries should be kept 500 or 1,000 feet away from “sensitive use” sites, including schools, hospitals, religious institutions and rehab centers.

Once that’s settled, the council could pass the ordinance on first reading — but only if at least 12 of its 15 members vote for the measure. Otherwise, there will be a second reading a week later, when only eight votes are required to pass.

Kush-Loving Kiwis Soon To Have Pot Clubs All Over New Zealand

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 16, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries, Global

Photo: Luke Parker, Western Leader

New Zealand’s Dakta Green: “Live like it’s legal”

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of marijuana smoking in the world, and soon those Kush-loving Kiwis will have “cannabis clubs” throughout the country where they can indulge in their pastime.

“Pot dens,” where people can smoke, buy or even formally study the illegal herb, are poised to open throughout the country this year, reports Tamara McLean at Australia’s Brisbane Times.

Colorado Legislators Await First Bill To Regulate Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 15, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: The Denver Chronicle

Medical marijuana supporters rally at the Capitol in Denver, Jan. 14, 2009

The first bill to regulate Colorado’s medical marijuana industry will come before the Legislature today, according to its sponsor.

The bill, from state Sen. Chris Romer, would create stricter requirements for the relationship between medical marijuana patients and the doctors recommending it for them, report John Ingold and Jessica Fender of The Denver Post.

Marijuana providers would be barred from paying doctors who recommend cannabis to patients. Marijuana-recommending doctors would be required to be in good standing, with no restrictions on their medical licenses, and the doctor and patient would have to have a “bona fide” relationship in which the doctor provides a full examination and follow-up care.

Activists Blast Lawmakers At Denver Marijuana Rally

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 14, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: The Denver Chronicle

Aboute 200 marijuana advocates attended the rally in Denver, across the street from the Capitol.

Marijuana advocates who rallied across the street from the state Capitol Thursday had harsh words for lawmakers considering regulations for Colorado’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry.

“Keep your grubby hands off of medical marijuana!” shouted activist Robert Chase toward the Capitol building.

About 200 marijuana backers attended the rally, timed to begin once Gov. Bill Ritter finished his State of the State speech, reports John Ingold of The Denver Post.

L.A. City Council Tries Again To Adopt Medical Marijuana Dispensary Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Robyn Twomey

California patients wait for assistance at a marijuana dispensary. Los Angeles currently has more pot stores than either Starbucks or McDonald’s.

After nearly a month, the Los Angeles City Council returns Wednesday to the contentious issue of how to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. City leaders hope they will finally be able to vote on the long-delayed ordinance, in the planning stages for nearly two years.

The council stalled in December over possible zoning restrictions on where dispensaries can be located. Debate was postponed until planners completed an analysis of several proposals.

Maps drawn by city planners show that placing strict limits on the dispensaries’ proximity to residences would eliminate almost all locations, reports John Hoeffel of the Los Angeles Times.

Attorney: Denver’s Medical Marijuana Regs Will ‘Cause Human Suffering’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Westword

Rob Corry: “The overall impact is going to be to harm people and cause human suffering”

On Monday, the Denver City Council passed rules intended to regulate the city’s blossoming medical marijuana industry — and most members of the overflowing crowd weren’t happy with the results, reports Michael Roberts at Westword.

You should definitely count activist/attorney Rob Corry among those unhappy. Corry, who’d already threatened to file a lawsuit against Denver if the ordinance passed without significant change. Flash forward to Tuesday morning, when the council did exactly that — and Corry was quick to reemphasize his statement.

“If we can assemble an appropriate coalition of patients, caregivers, property owners and business owners, we will evaluate our legal options,” Corry said. “We’re obviously very disappointed by this unanimous smackdown of patients and our constitutional rights.”

Oregon Ballot Measure Would Legalize Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 11, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: salem-news.com
An Oregon medical marijuana garden

Medical marijuana advocates have turned in the first batch of signatures in a drive to place an initiative measure on Oregon’s November ballot to legalize cannabis dispensaries in the state.

Initiative 28 would create a system in which state-licensed cannabis growers would distribute their crops to dispensaries which would be regulated by the state health department, reports Brad Cain of The Associated Press.

Under I-28, medical marijuana patients with a doctor’s recommendation to use the herb could buy pot from the dispensaries, instead of having to find a personal grower/caretaker, figuring out how to grow pot themselves, or resorting to the black market.

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