Dispensaries

Court Order Reopens Shuttered Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 23, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Dispensary owner and former City Council candidate Sue Lester: Judge’s decision to let shops open was the “right thing to do”

A group of shuttered medical marijuana dispensaries previously deemed public nuisances were allowed to reopen in Costa Mesa, California this weekend thanks to a court order, one of the business owners confirmed on Saturday.

Sue Lester, former City Council candidate and owner of Herban Elements at 440 Fair Drive, said an Orange County Superior Court Judge’s order Friday allowing her business to reopen was the “right thing to do” while waiting for a court hearing next month, reports Joseph Serna at the Costa Mesa Daily Pilot.

City officials in April declared several marijuana and massage parlor businesses at Fair Drive public nuisances in April. Police claimed some of the massage parlors were fronts for prostitution.

Lester’s dispensary was among those ordered to shut down earlier this month under a temporary injunction until they had a chance on Friday to appeal the decision. The judge lifted the injunction and scheduled the business owners and Costa Mesa’s attorneys to come back to court June 3 to argue their cases.

Costa Mesa has for about a year now targeted certain marijuana dispensaries throughout the city. Some were ordered to close because they allegedly violated California’s medical marijuana dispensary rules, and others were left alone because they appeared to follow state standards, according to city officials.

Charges Dismissed Against Marijuana Dispensary Operator

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 23, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: greenkind

All felony charges against Inglewood, California medical marijuana dispensary operator Paul Scott were dismissed in a Los Angeles court on Thursday, just days before Scott was scheduled to face trial, which was supposed to begin on Monday.

Scott, operator of Inglewood Wellness Collective for more than 10 years, was arrested in June of 2010 by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to Brett Stone of the Medical Marijuana News Yahoo newsgroup. Acting on an anonymous tip, detectives used helicopter surveillance of Scott’s home and saw marijuana plants growing in the back yard and also in a storage shed next to the house.

Scott was seen leaving the shed and an LAPD detective used that information and the smell of marijuana emanating from Scott’s back yard to conclude that a cannabis grow operation was located there.

Marijuana Advocates Take ‘CannaBus’ To Spokane; Join Protest

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 19, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Sensible Washington

Two volunteers from marijuana legalization group Sensible Washington have been driving an RV dubbed “the CannaBus” across the state this week to gather signatures and rally support for I-1149, a ballot initiative that would remove all criminal penalties for adult cannabis offenses.

From Thursday, May 19 through Sunday morning, May 22, volunteers Mimi Meiwes and Tricia Rogers, along with the CannaBus, will be in Spokane, where new raids this week by Spokane Police and federal agents have left even more medical cannabis patients without safe access to the medicine their doctors have authorized.

DEA, Police Raid More Marijuana Dispensaries In Washington

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 19, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Jessica Nuna

This photo was taken by an employee inside Medical Herb Providers dispensary in Spokane, Washington during the raid

One Drug Enforcement Administration agent, accompanied by about a dozen Spokane Police officers, on Wednesday raided at least three medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington state.

Medical Herb Providers (MHP), Essence of Mother Earth and Alternative MMD were all raided separately, reports Curtis Cartier at the Seattle Weekly.

According to Jessica Nuna of MHP, by the time law enforcement left that shop, they had taken about 32 cannabis plants, $1,400 in cash, several ounces of dried marijuana flowers and several laptop computers, cellphones and other electronic devices.

CannaFresh Jars: Mission #1 Is Keeping Your Marijuana Fresh

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 18, 2011 Dispensaries, Products

Photo: CannaFresh

Just yesterday, while in a Seattle dispensary, I saw the top of a bud jar simply break off when the budtender tried to remove the lid. Such thin glass and flimsy craftsmanship are not a factor when it comes to CannaFresh™ bud jars.

When you pick up a CannaFresh jar, the sheer heft of it becomes obvious, even in the smallest sizes. This is thick glass, and these apothecary-style jars should last for years.

“Our mission is simple,” CannaFresh says. “Keep it Clean. Medical. Professional.” Toward that end, the company offers a number of options, including patient sizes, larger display sizes well-suited for dispensaries, and even CannaFresh Customs™, on which dispensaries can put their logo.

Arizona Medical Marijuana Patients Start Cultivating At Home

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 18, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Photo: Growing Marijuana

Arizona’s medical marijuana laws are going into effect, but dispensaries are still don’t know exactly when they’ll be opening their doors. Meanwhile, some patients aren’t waiting for them.

Patients who have already received their medical marijuana cards have already started cultivating their own medicine at home, reports Sonu Wasu at KOLD News 13. Under Arizona’s law, patients who don’t have an operating dispensary within 25 miles are eligible to cultivate — and right now, since no dispensaries are yet open, that includes every patient in the state.

Corey Miller, who applied for a medical marijuana card and checked the box asking whether he intended to cultivate plants for personal use, has already received his card and started the process.

Stoner Photo of the Day: Sativa Sampler Pack

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 17, 2011 Dispensaries, Products

I haven’t had this much fun since Mom brought home a Variety Pack of cereal when I was a kid. Both times, I was packin’ bowls like there’s no tomorrow. (Photo by Steve Elliott)

While visiting friendly Dockside Cooperative in the Seattle suburb of Fremont (“the Center of the Universe”), I noticed one welcome innovation that budtender Aaron told me is very helpful in allowing patients to find the strains that work best for them: sampler packs.

Dockside has sampler packs of both sativa strains and indicas, as well as 50/50 packs with four strains of each. Seen in the photo above is a Sativa Sampler Pack I got at Dockside today.

Is Rural Arizona Freaking Out Over Medical Marijuana?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 17, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: SWOP-USA

Apparently somehow unaware that marijuana is already easily available to practically any young person in America who wants it, one volunteer police officer in Kingman, Arizona, is pulling all kinds of drama-king moves over the coming of legal, medicinal cannabis to his town.

Harley Pettit of Kingman, Arizona says he’s seen young people get in trouble for everything from drugs and alcohol to vandalism. And Harley says that in a small community “with not a lot to do,” the last thing young people need is another way to get into trouble, reports Alyson Zepeda of Cronkite News Service.

And, of course, Harley is worried that’s what this newfangled medical marijuana stuff is going to give them. Well, news flash, Harley — for those of us who aren’t stuck in some king-hell 1950s time warp, young people are already smoking marijuana, they have been for 40 years, and they don’t have to buy it from medical marijuana dispensaries.

Flagstaff Nixes Pot Dispensary Next To Pot-Themed Restaurant

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 16, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Jesse Kasten/The Lumberjack

Flagstaff, Arizona’s Cheba Hut is a friendly haven for the high and hungry. But plans to located a medical marijuana dispensary next door have been derailed by city officials.

Aw, man. It would have been so perfect.

Locating a medical marijuana dispensary next to a sandwich shop known for its stoner-friendly atmosphere and its subs named after strains of cannabis? Genius idea, and good for both businesses.

Several ganjapreneurs evidently had the same idea, even going to far as to secure a letter of intent from the landlord to rent them the commercial space next to the Cheba Hut in Flagstaff, Arizona. Cheba Hut markets to stoners, winkingly putting in quotes “Toasted” Subs and featuring “palm trees” in its logo that look quite a bit like cannabis leaves. Oh, and check out alllll that smoke pouring out the chimney.

San Jose Collects First Month’s Marijuana Tax: $290,000

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 13, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP

San Jose’s medical marijuana dispensaries paid $290,000 in taxes to the city for March — even though they are officially considered illegal

San Jose, California now has its first month’s worth of marijuana tax in hand. “As of May 10, 73 medical marijuana collectives have remitted approximately $290,000 in taxes for the month of March,” the city announced on Friday.

Until the money was counted, nobody had been quite sure exactly how much San Jose’s medical marijuana tax might yield for the city’s empty coffers.

Starting March 1, San Jose slapped a seven percent tax on medical marijuana dispensaries under a measure city voters overwhelmingly approved last November. Even though San Jose officially considers all 100 or so of its dispensaries to be unlawful, pot providers are still required to pay the special marijuana tax to the cash-strapped city.

Browsing: Dispensaries