Legislation

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Los Angeles Pot Dispensary Crackdown Expected In May

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 24, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

It’s the beginning of the end for hundreds of Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries.

Most of the pot shops are about to be wiped out by L.A.’s new dispensary ordinance, which severely limits where they can be located, reports Dennis Romero at L.A. Weekly.

Councilman Ed Reyes is predicting that “noncompliant” shops — which means all of them, other than the 187 that were in business before the city imposed a moratorium — will start being shut down in May.

About 545 dispensaries are operating in Los Angeles, according to a comprehensive county by the L.A. Weekly (PDF). The City Council voted to winnow those down to 187 by declaring all the shops that opened after the moratorium — exploiting a boilerplate “hardship” exemption included in its language — noncompliant.

The number will eventually, through attrition, be reduced to 70 shops. Until that time, when any of the 187 permitted dispensaries go out of business, they won’t be replaced.

Pot Legalization On California Ballot In November

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 24, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Radical Rags

Hey Golden State, are you ready to legalize weed?

Here’s your chance! California will be voting this November on whether to legalize and tax marijuana.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles County election officials must turn in their count of valid signatures collected in the county for the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.

And that number is virtually sure to be enough to put the initiative over the top, qualifying it for the November ballot, according to a tally kept by state election officials.

New York Could Become 15th State To Legalize Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: GanjaGrow.es

A primo bud of Big Apple namesake New York Diesel. The Empire State is primed to become the 15th in the nation to allow medical marijuana — but, sadly, with no homegrown allowed.

Months after neighboring New Jersey became the 14th U.S. state to legalize marijuana for medical use with a doctor’s recommendation, New York appears ready to follow suit.

The Empire State’s medical marijuana bill has already passed the State House, and now has favorably cleared a Senate committee, included in the state budget.

Millions in license fees are at stake, reports Lou Young at CBS, but advocates say that’s not why the bill should be approved.

Young reports opposition to the New York bill is weakening, but marijuana being marijuana, of course there are some nervous Nellies.

“We’ve seen it in California. It doesn’t work in California,” lamented the hysterically reefer-phobic Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn). “We believe, I believe personally that it’s a gateway drug and it will open up for more usage of marijuana amongst kids, and lead to further drug use across our state,” Golden said, in an apparent (and if so, successful) attempt to construct an elaborate sentence containing absolutely no trace of intelligent thought.

Washington: Marijuana Legalization Gaining Momentum

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Emerald Herb

“It’s an idea whose time has come,” said Douglas Hiatt, co-author of Initiative 1068, which would legalize marijuana in Washington State.

And now it’s time for voters to take matters into their own hands, according to Hiatt. “This year, one in six legislators sponsored marijuana reform legislation,” the activist attorney said Tuesday at a press conference on the steps of the Capitol Building in Olympia.

“And again this year, major reform did not get out of committee,” Hiatt said. “So we formed Sensible Washington and wrote an initiative that removes the criminal and civil penalties for adults.”

Every poll taken shows that if I-1068 gets on the ballot, it will win. Washington voters support sensible marijuana laws.

Tuesday’s press conference detailed a wide and diverse array of endorsements, from former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper to Republican legislator Toby Nixon.

Marijuana Discussion Urged At Clinton’s Drug Policy Summit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2010 Global, Legislation

Graphic: Freaking News

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) on Tuesday urged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to include a discussion of marijuana prohibition — and effective alternatives to it — at a major drug policy summit in Mexico.

Secretary of State Clinton is leading a delegation, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, to Mexico City for a two-day conference focusing on ways the United States and Mexico can “break the power” of drug-trafficking organizations.

L.A. Taking Steps Toward Enforcing Marijuana Dispensary Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Merchant Circle

Dave Warden displays his wares at a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary

Two Los Angeles City Council committees were poised Tuesday to take a major step towards enforcing a new ordinance that would shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries around the city within months.

The City Council passed the ordinance in February, but it can’t take effect until registration fees for the pot shops have been established, reports KPCC Wire Services.

The Planning and Land Use Management Committee and Budget and Finance Committee are both expected to take a vote on the registration fees Tuesday.

A manager of an existing collective with no significant issues or construction will have to pay the city about $1,595 in registration fees, according to a report submitted to both committees by City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana.

“My goal for the joint committee meeting is to move forward with the medical marijuana collective fees and final draft ordinance,” said Councilman Ed Reyes, chairman of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

“I continue to work closely with the affected city departments and review public testimony to ensure that the collective fees are fair, reasonable and prioritize the health and safety of our communities,” Reyes said.

Colorado Lawmakers Want To Bar Cities From Banning Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: David Walter Banks

Boulder County Caregivers employees Randy (left) and Peter Kurzawski, behind the counter, help customers at the dispensary in Boulder, Colorado.

A Colorado House committee wants to bar communities in the state from banning medical marijuana dispensaries.

The House Judiciary Committee said Monday that communities already have the power to license and zone the dispensaries, making a ban unnecessary.

Lawmakers aren’t sure if the laws apply to home rule communities like Denver, reports The Associated Press.

The committee rejected a proposal that would have allowed veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to use medical marijuana, saying lawmakers “shouldn’t be making medical decisions.”

Humboldt County Plans To Be Ready For Pot Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2010 Growing, Legislation, News

Photo: PhoenixPharmer

A juicy bag of primo local product, Humboldt County Kush. How will legalization affect the Emerald Triangle’s booming pot economy?

In what is being described as an unprecedented event, residents, local business people, officials, and industry leaders plan to meet in Humboldt County, California Tuesday night to talk about the potential economic effects of the legalization of marijuana, reports Donna Tam of the Eureka Times-Standard.

“It’s time to talk about the elephant in the room,” said organizer Anna Hamilton.

Shelter Cove resident Hamilton said she is “intimately involved” with the marijuana business and has seen the market get worse due to changing pot laws.

Medical Marijuana Supporters Pray For Pot At Wisconsin Capitol

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Supporters of a medical marijuana bill in Wisconsin will gather to pray on the State Capitol steps Tuesday, hoping to convince lawmakers to legalize medicinal cannabis in the Badger State.

The Statewide Day of Prayer for Compassion will include ceremonies at noon on Tuesday on the State Street steps, featuring preachers, medical marijuana patients and advocates, and others, reports Bill Novak at The Cap Times.

The day is prayer is to show support for the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, the latest legislation in a decades-long fight to get marijuana approved as medicine in Wisconsin.

Lawmaker Says Marijuana Should Be Allowed For Veterans With PTSD

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: wussuphater.wordpress.com

A Colorado lawmaker wants veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder to be able to use medical marijuana.

Sen. Sal Pace (D-Pueblo) will try to amend proposed medical marijuana regulations, House Bill 1284, to allow the practice during a committee meeting Monday, reports The Associated Press.

The amendment would require PTSD sufferers to get a recommendation from a psychiatrist before they would qualify for medical cannabis.

“Frankly, I think it’s one small step to help our veterans,” Pace said. “An eight-member board of physicians in New Mexico just verified that medical marijuana does assist in fighting the symptoms of PTSD,” he told The Denver Channel.

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