LEGISLATION
“No way” will California be ready for recreational pot, says state senator // Fresno Bee
“’Being blunt, there is no way the state of California can meet all of the deadlines before we go live on January 1, 2018,’” said Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg. ‘We are building the regulatory system for a multibillion dollar industry from scratch.’”
Medical cannabis dispensary coming to Emerald Triangle // Press Democrat
Ukiah may be the largest town in Mendocino County, but there has never been medical cannabis dispensary there. That is about to change.
Calaveras County group wants growing ban // CBS Sacramento
“We’ve seen entire communities destroyed, the way of life, the environmental damage, generators running 24/7, the stench of pot growing in the summertime,” said Bill McManus with the Committee to Ban Commercial Cultivation.
New FDA head could be cannabis supporter // The Joint Blog
Two candidates, Jim O’Neal and Balaji Smivasan, “are being considered” for head of the Food & Drug Administration.
“Having a supporter of legalizing marijuana (or simply one who doesn’t oppose it) leading the [Food & Drug Administration] would be huge for the cannabis reform movement. For years prohibitionists have brought up the fact that the FDA finds marijuana to have no medical value, something that could easily be changed with someone helming the administration who understands its medical capabilities.”
COPS & COURTS
Pot seized in raids doesn’t have to be returned // The Cannabist
“The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled that law enforcement officers cannot be forced to return marijuana to defendants even after they are acquitted of pot crimes because doing so would force officers to be marijuana “distributors” and violate federal law.”
BUSINESS
Amoeba Music plans medical dispensary in Berkeley // SFWeekly
Discount CDs, most classical and some jazz recordings will be removed to make way for the new business, which is expected to open in June.
Old gun shop set to be new bud shop, with a union // SF Examiner
“The proposed dispensary would occupy the commercial space formerly famous for being San Francisco’s last remaining gun shop.” ... The dispensary applicant is working with “a local chapter of labor union United Food and Commercial Workers that represents a growing number workers in the marijuana industry across California.
Wineries concerned recreational marijuana will cut into wine sales // Yahoo News
“[W]ine producers are increasingly focused on two lingering concerns that they worry can be problematic headwinds: Labor shortages during the harvest season and the threat of legalized marijuana as an alternative to wines.”
Prediction: cannabis “is like the next tech pop” // Times-Standard
“’Our focus right now is engineers, it’s architects, it’s electric contractors,” the owner of Graham’s Brands says at last weekend’s Humboldt County Cup. “It’s how do we create a new industrial model that will compliment not only our community and not only our industry, but first and foremost, our brand and allow us to create a consistent product sustainably on a larger scale.’”
HEALTH
Study: Marijuana cuts migraines in half // Medical Daily
“After studying the patients from January 2010 to September 2014, the team found that their severe headaches were reduced from more than 10 a month to fewer than five per month.”
EVENT
Public forum on Oakland’s public banking idea // Friends of Public Banking
Oakland is considering creation of a public bank, in part to “Solve the problem of millions of dollars in cash that the cannabis industry cannot legally deposit in private banks.” A public forum with a panel of experts is scheduled for Thursday, February 9 at 6pm.
