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Crosscurrents

Cannabis news roundup

(SFWeekly) // A judge ruled Friday that Harborside Health Center cannot be evicted under state law, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office would still like to seize the property under federal law. That decision could come before the end of the month, although it has been postponed before.

(Christian Science Monitor) // Regular Cannabis News Roundup readers know how the federal government has dealt with California’s medical cannabis providers who are accused of overstepping the law: their operations are threatened with closure (see above). But how will the Justice Dept. handle recreational users in Colorado? This article outlines several options – with federal legalization of the plant as the least likely.

(SFWeekly) // And while people watch for a federal response after the Washington and Colorado elections, the U.S. Attorney’s Office seems to have forgotten about California, so one San Francisco dispensary has re-opened. New outlets in Oakland are also opening.

(Press Democrat) // That said, federal officials have ordered Mendocino County to turn over records of their cannabis permitting program, which has been suspended.

(NORML.org) // Maybe the states should just handle the legalization issue themselves: that’s the message in editorials last week in The Washington Post and the New York Times.

(SFGate) // As to individual enforcement, columnist Debra J. Saunders says it’s time for President Obama to show some mercy to nonviolent drug offenders.

(Huffington Post) // Washington and Colorado may be getting most of the attention after election day, but you have to come to California to find an Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research Center.

(Book) // You’re aware of how cannabis advocates can claim that their favorite plant is a natural cure-all for just about anything. Jeremy Daw of Berkeley takes a historical perspective – instead of the usual medical one – in his book Weed the People: From Founding Fiber to Forbidden Fruit. The book reminds readers that farmers in England in the 1600s were fined if they didn’t grow it; George Washington harvested hemp on his plantation; the Constitution is written on hemp-based paper, etc. And the plant continued to be a sustainable source of paper and other sturdy fiber-based materials until northern California’s William Randolph Hearst unleashed his special brand of yellow journalism against it. Much of this is well-traveled territory, but readers new to the subject will find Weed the People to be a quick, clear historical review.                       

Crosscurrents