The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is sending a clear signal to the administration of President Donald Trump following the latest negative words and deeds aimed at legal marijuana in Colorado and beyond by Justice Department officials Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein. In the words of NORML policy director Justin Strekal, “Should the Department of Justice decide to throw out the Tenth Amendment and respect for states’ rights as they govern their own intrastate commerce, they’re going to have a fight on their hands.”
Search Results: crackdown (216)
| Eric Hood/OC Weekly. |
According to a Santa Ana Police Department investigator, 17 medical marijuana dispensaries were visited by police in the past week. 42 tickets were issued to dispensaries operating in violation of the city’s 2007 ban on pot clubs, three of which–Wax City, Emerald, and Wax-R-Us–have now closed. The operation came in the wake of a July 15 city council meeting in which councilmembers voted to appropriate $500,000 for ongoing anti-pot enforcement actions.
| William Breathes/TotT. |
A bill that would ban the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration from prosecuting medical marijuana patients, caregivers and businesses which are otherwise following state laws is up for debate this week in Washington D.C.
Similar measures have failed in recent years, but bipartisan backers of the bill – including author Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California – say they’ve got the support this time around.
| Basil Soufi/Commons. |
Los Angeles has had a contentious relationship with medical marijuana dispensaries for years that culminated last year with Proposition D, which banned all but 135 dispensaries in the city, shut down hundreds of shops.
But not all of them closed quick enough, prompting the Los Angeles City Attorney, Mike Feuer to begin filing criminal complaints with dispensary landlords and building owners – more than 120 since September of last year.
| Sam Hodgson/Voice of San Diego |
| San Diego Mayor Bob Filner: “Stop targeted enforcement against marijuana dispensaries in the City of San Diego immediately” |
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner announced end to code enforcement attacks by the city, agreed to develop regulatory ordinance
Advocates applauded the recent actions of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner in trying to put an end to the years-long crackdown on access to medical marijuana in the city.
Two days after announcing at a local chapter meeting of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) — the country’s largest medical marijuana grassroots advocacy group — that he was going to direct city authorities to stop shutting down dispensaries, Mayor Filner delivered on that promise by sending letters yesterday to San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne and Neighborhood Code Compliance Director Kelly Broughton.
| Dave Maass/San Diego CityBeat |
| San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has ended that city’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries with a stroke of his keyboard |
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has ordered an end to that city’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries.
The mayor’s order decrees an immediate stop to the city’s practice of filing code-enforcement violations against the collectives.
Acting on City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s advice, the mayor sent a letter [PDF] to Kelly Broughton, director of San Diego’s Development Services Department, reports Dave Maass at San Diego CityBeat.
| The Med Men |
The battle over the legality of operating a medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles continues to escalate this week, leaving shop owners, patients and law enforcement officials without a clear picture of how to operate on the right side of the law.
In recent weeks, federal officials have perpetuated the confusion surrounding the medical marijuana industry in Los Angeles, issuing warning letters demanding that select dispensaries shutdown. This comes on the heels of the withdrawal of a citywide ban on dispensaries, which was passed and didn’t even get a chance to go into effect before being rescinded.
“The bottom line is that the state of California provides for the existence of collectives and dispensaries,” said Adam Bierman of MedMen, an L.A.-based consulting group that specializes in industry-specific branding, marketing and legal and financial consulting. “And as all the politics play themselves out in the media, well-intentioned operators are inevitably distracted.”
| Cannabis Culture |
Advocates argue DOJ attacks unnecessarily harm over 1 million patients and may endanger Obama’s re-election effort
Hundreds of patients will hold rallies Thursday at 5 p.m. at local “Obama for America” campaign offices and other key locations in at least 15 cities in eight states across the country in an effort to draw attention to the Obama Administration’s aggressive efforts to shut down legal medical marijuana dispensaries and obstruct the passage of laws that would regulate such activity.
In addition to a lively rally in the nation’s capitol, demonstrations organized by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) are planned in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
In Seattle, medical marijuana advocates are holding a press conference at City Hall on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. local time, featuring City Council member Nick Licata, State Rep. Roger Goodman, and State Senator Jeanna Kohl-Welles.
| THC Finder |
National Cannabis Industry Association releases report detailing economic benefits of industry in Colorado
The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), in conjunction with the Women’s CannaBusiness Network, a project it launched earlier this year, today called on President Obama to cease enforcement actions against state-legal medical cannabis providers while the administration reviews its policies to determine whether they are in the public interest.
Respected industry businesswomen defended their work and powerfully expressed their frustration with the administration’s crackdown.
| Colorado Cannabis Blog |
National Cannabis Industry Association’s Women’s CannaBusiness Network to host event
Group will release report detailing economic benefits of industry in Colorado
Employers and employees to speak
The National Cannabis Industry Association, in conjunction with the Women’s CannaBusiness Network — a project it launched earlier this year — will hold a press conference at the National Press Club on Thursday, September 13 at 9:30 a.m. At the event, female business leaders from the medical cannabis industry will call on President Obama to cease enforcement actions against medical cannabis providers while the administration reviews its policies to determine whether they are in the public interest.