California’s recreational initiative spawns opposition … NORML denied credit card processing … What pesticides are you smoking? ... and more.
LEGALIZATION & LEGISLATION
“Stop Pot 2016” hopes to block legalization // Reason.com
“Topics discussed in this frequently contentious interview include what the science does and doesn't say about the effects of marijuana on the brain, the unintended consequences of prohibition, and what lessons California voters can draw from legalization of cannabis in states like Oregon and Colorado.”
Placer County talks of grow site rules // Auburn Journal
“As well as the agricultural commissioner, the county’s planning arm is developing rules on where grow operations will be allowed. Supervising Planner George Rosasco said that the county is now looking at a minimum 10-acre parcel size for grows.” That would makes self-cultivation illegal.
COPS & COURTS
Dog attacks on livestock related to illegal grow sites // Los Coast Outpost
“I believe these dog attacks are the result of the unregulated industry of illegal marijuana cultivation by growers who maintain these dogs to protect their grow sites,” the Humboldt County sheriff says. “In many cases these animals can be extremely dangerous and vicious.”
Los Angeles speeds up efforts to close illegal dispensaries // Los Angeles Daily News
“'These illegal operations have routinely attracted a criminal element that threaten community safety and disrupt neighborhoods,'” says a county supervisor.
Santa Ana police charged in dispensary raid // Orange County Register
“Video showing Santa Ana police officers surfaced last year, soon after the late-afternoon raid during which several officers served a search warrant at Sky High.
“The video, viewed more than a million times, shows police breaking through Sky High's front door and ordering at least a half-dozen customers to the floor.”
BUSINESS
“Marijuana prejudice” blamed for NORML losing financial services // Sun Times, NY
“NORML ‘abruptly’ lost its ability to accept credit and debit card donations last week after the company that processes its donations, TransFirst, discovered NORML’s pro-legalization advocacy work.”
Evictions hitting old style dispensaries // SF Weekly
One County Supervisor is trying to block a loophole in the city’s codes that makes it easy to kick out what used to be called “medical marijuana clubs,” such as the Bernal Heights Cooperative. Once the co-ops are gone, they’re often replaced by investor-backed operations.
Investors: Beware of penny stocks // Motherboard.vice.com
We included a similar story last week. This one is from Canada, where “investors in small cannabis companies lost $23.3 billion in 2014" through "‘pump and dump’ schemes.”
HEALTH
CBD tests coming to U.S? // The Cannabist
“Experimental marijuana-based drug Epidiolex significantly reduced convulsive seizures among epilepsy patients in a recent clinical trial. …
"GW Pharmaceuticals [a U.K. firm] is currently in talks with federal regulators, hoping that Epidiolex will be introduced to the U.S. market — which would make it the first prescription drug in America that is extracted from cannabis.”
What pesticides are in your pipe? // East Bay Express
Those are pretty buds you just brought home from the dispensary, but were they grown with state-approved chemicals and pesticides — or not?
Drunk drivers speed, drugged drivers slow down // NORML
“Researchers reported that cannabis administration was associated compensatory driving behavior, such as decreased mean speed and increased mean following distance, whereas alcohol administration was associated with faster driving. Their findings are similar to those of other driving studies.”
EVENT
California High: The Great Marijuana Debate // videoproject.com
“With a statewide vote expected on legalization in November 2016, California is now considered the key battleground in the national marijuana debate. The results of the vote in the largest state in the nation will likely have far-reaching implications for America, and possibly the world.”
A documentary exploring this and other aspects of the issue promises “a balanced look at the intense controversy over the legalization of marijuana and its wide-ranging consequences.” The screening takes place at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland on Tuesday (3/22) at 7pm.
OPINION
Drug war “is an unmitigated disaster”// L.A. Times
The U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs meets next month for the first time in 18 years and already it “appears to be foundering even before it gets off the ground. ...
“Most important, diplomats attending the special session on drugs next month must confront the obvious failure of most existing drug laws. The only way to wrest control of the drug trade from organized crime, reduce violence and curb corruption is for governments to control and regulate drugs.”
Time to update former First Lady’s anti-drug message // USA Today
“Three decades after Nancy Reagan’s famous advice, in schools and communities all over the country, parents and educators are embracing a new mantra. It’s ‘Just say know,’ and offers, in addition to stressing the value of abstinence, reality-based information that teens trust.”
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