Dispensaries

Task Force Prepares To Distribute Marijuana In Maine

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 1, 2009 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical, News

Wikimedia Commons

Maine is one of only three states — along with Rhode Island and New Mexico — authorizing state-run marijuana dispensaries.

A new task force is studying how, when and where medical marijuana will be distributed in Maine, WABI TV 5 reports.

The 14-member committee, assigned by Gov. John E. Baldacci after voters approved marijuana dispensaries in last month’s election, will advise the governor on how to implement the law with safeguards to protect public health and safety.

The rules are supposed to be in effect in 120 days. According to task force member Attorney General Janet Mills said “this time period is unrealistic.”

Colorado Patients Sue In Marijuana Dispensary Closure; Could Set Precedent

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2009 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Westword

Attorneys Bob Hoban (left) and Rob Corry, joined by patients, speak at a news conference today about the CannaMart lawsuit.

Four medical marijuana patients and two caregivers in Centennial, Colo., have announced a lawsuit against the city for forcing the closure of CannaMart, a pot dispensary, Westword reports.

The plaintiffs will argue that cities like Centennial “are prohibited from imposing land use restrictions on local businesses when such restrictions infringe upon the rights upheld by the state Constitution as ‘matters of statewide concern’.”

The group says it’s the first time in Colorado history that a coalition of patients and caregivers will sue a municipal government to reopen a dispensary.

According to Bob Hoban, one of the attorneys representing the patients and caregivers bringing the suit, a ruling in the case could turn out to be precedent-setting. “This isn’t something we’re looking at as a test case, something to throw against the wall to see if it sticks,” he told Westword. “It’s something where we believe the court is almost compelled to come down on our side because of the Constitutional issues at stake.”

Mendocino County, CA (Of Pot Fame) Looks At Regulating Collective Marijuana Growing

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2009 Dispensaries, Growing, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Reality Catcher

Mendocino County’s regulations on collective medical marijuana grow-ops and dispensaries are being hammered out Monday.

Historically weed-friendly Mendocino County’s debate over regulating medical marijuana dispensaries continues Monday at 3 p.m., when the Human Services Advisory Committee of the County Board of Supervisors meets. The committee has been working since spring to hash out the county’s marijuana cultivation rules.

Supervisor John McCowen, who along with Supervisor Kendall Smith sits on the committee for monthly meetings, said the process has been delayed by numerous speakers opposed to the county regulating dispensaries.

“People are opposed to what the committee is doing, and they’re doing everything they can to impede our work,” McCowen told the Ukiah Daily Journal. “I suspect the real intent is that they are not in favor of any regulation that might actually apply to them,” he said.

“Interfering with the ability of the committee to make a decision would prevent regulation,” he said.

Fallbrook, CA: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Joins Chamber Of Commerce

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2009 Culture, Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: Coaster420, Wikimedia Commons

Dispensary grade Purple Goo.

Despite District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’ recent dispensary crackdown, there are towns in the San Diego area that aren’t so pot-unfriendly. In Fallbrook, California, the newest member of the Chamber of Commerce is a medical marijuana dispensary.

Dispensary co-founder Bob Riedel said he joined the chamber for the regular reasopns: getting involved in the community and networking, according to the North County Times. The dispensary will even be one of the sponsors for Fallbrook’s Dec. 5 Christmas parade, having kicked $500 into the chamber’s parade fund.

California Radio Station Airs Medical Marijuana Dispensary Ad

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 26, 2009 Culture, Dispensaries, News

Canna Care

Canna Care employees were featured on the cover of Health & Fitness magazine last year.

A Sacramento radio station is currently airing an ad, one of the first of its kind, for local marijuana dispensary Canna Care.

Station K-HITS 921.1 FM is running the ads, which according to News 10 KXTV are the first marijuana ads to run in the Sacramento market.

The ad soft-pedals the message, never mentioning the words “marijuana” or “cannabis,” relying instead on the ability of listeners to decode the following message:

“There’s no need to suffer in silence. Canna Care is here to help. If you’re coping with chronic pain, arthritis, nausea, glaucoma or side effects from chemo, there are reliable alternatives.”

It was the radio station’s decision to keep any specific mentions of pot out of the radio ad, according to Canna Care co-owner Bryan Davies.

San Diego Pot Dispensary Task Force Releases Recommendations

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 25, 2009 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: Laurie Avocado, Wikimedia Commons

A San Diego task force has released its recommendations for the city council regarding medical marijuana dispensaries.

The task force said, among other things, that dispensaries should go through a permitting process, limit hours of operation, abide by zoning restrictions, and should be more than 1,000 feet from schools, libraries, or playgrounds. Dispensaries would also be restricted from bring less than 500 feet away from each other.

Some local marijuana supporters are on board with the proposed regulations. “I think it’s balanced and pretty fair,” Craig Beresh told the local NBC affiliate. “I think it’s going to work for both the medical marijuana community and the city of San Diego.”

CA Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown Says Medical Marijuana Sales Are Illegal

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 24, 2009 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

In a bitter disappointment to supporters of regulated sales of medical marijuana, California Attorney General Jerry Brown has said in a radio interview that all sales of marijuana are illegal, “no matter what.”

Brown told KFI News that he supports the efforts of Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley (who’s grabbed a lot of headlines recently with his hardline anti-dispensary stance, infamously saying “approximately zero” of the dispensaries were legal) and L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich (ditto) in going after marijuana dispensaries selling pot to patients.

Photo: Scott Clarkson

AG Jerry Brown: “The dope business”

”Unfortunately in some communities, Los Angeles in particular, there’s a lot of exploitation and just getting into the, er, drug business, the dope business,” Brown told KFI.

The L.A. City Council, which has seemed disinclined to take the advice of Cooley and Trutanich (much to Cooley’s public chagrin) spent about five hours today hammering out guidelines for their long-awaited, much-amended medical marijuana ordinance.

Is A Thousand Too Many? L.A. Council Discussing Dispensary Proliferation

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 23, 2009 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo by Laurie Avocado, Wikimedia Commons

We got a thousand of ’em! Medical marijuana dispensary on Ventura Boulevard in L.A.

How many medical marijuana dispensaries are needed in a city with 4 million people?

That’s the question the Los Angeles City Council will be grappling with Tuesday as they decide how to deal with an explosion of the pot shops. Two years ago, when the number reached 186 registered dispensaries, a moratorium was put in place, but a boilerplate “hardship” exemption was included that proved to be a big enough loophole for hundreds more to slip through.

Current dispensary estimates run between 800 and 1,000, and the truism that “L.A. has more marijuana shops than Starbucks” has already captured the public imagination.

Councilman Jose Huizar has suggested a cap of 70 dispensaries; “I’d rather start with a low number,” he told the Los Angeles Times, calling 70 “a reasonable number” since that would be two for each of L.A.’s designated communities. Huizar’s proposal is one of more than three dozen changes the council will consider as it resumes debate on L.A.’s proposed medical marijuana ordinance.

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