Editorial
Source: San Francisco Chronicle

California -- The hazy legality of medical marijuana just got a little clearer. Since 1996 when voters approved a measure allowing the humane use of cannabis to ease sickness and pain, California has struggled to come up with an orderly way to supply the weed.

Federal law hasn't help as Washington insisted that pot is illegal, plain and simple. And local communities have deployed varying rules to rein in the runaway profusion of loosely watched dispensaries. Neither police nor medical marijuana sponsors are happy with the confusing present-day picture.

Editorial
Source: Los Angeles Times

California -- They're more than a decade overdue, but the guidelines on medical marijuana issued this week by California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown could finally help divide the gray area in which the state's growers and dispensers operate into clearer shades of black and white.

Brown's 11-page directive is aimed at giving police the ability to distinguish between criminals and legitimate medical marijuana sellers under state law, as well as protecting patients from arrest.

By Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Source: Daily Bulletin

California -- If state Attorney General Jerry Brown's medical-marijuana recommendations released this week were meant to clarify a muddied issue caused by conflicting state and federal law, not all local officials saw the light.

Some welcomed Brown's effort to protect legal dispensaries and patients, but others believed the guidelines released Monday were far from the final word.

By Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross
Source: San Francisco Chronicle

CA -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown has ordered a crackdown on medical pot clubs that are selling the drug for big profits.

The move puts the state a bit more in line with the feds in dealing with the explosion of questionable marijuana dispensaries since the passage of Proposition 215 more than a decade ago.

By Matt Kettmann
Source: Santa Barbara Independant

Elvy Musikka Arrives for Wednesday March to Protest Federal Government's Threat to Close Santa Barbara Dispensaries

CA - At noon on Wednesday, August 27, dozens of medical marijuana patients and proponents are expected to gather at the dolphin statue near Stearns Wharf and walk up State Street toward the County Courthouse. They’ll be protesting the recent threats by the federal government to punish Santa Barbara landlords who rent to state- and city-sanctioned cannabis dispensaries. The federal crackdown in Santa Barbara is the latest battle in the long-simmering war over medical marijuana, a state’s rights showdown in which voters and lawmakers from California and other states have deemed the drug legal for patients but the feds continue to consider an illicit, medically useless substance.

By Donna Tam, The Times-Standard
Source: Times-Standard

California -- The state Office of the Attorney General released medical marijuana guidelines Monday in hopes of ensuring that Proposition 215 is not abused, providing law enforcement -- as well has patients and caregivers -- a better understanding of the law.

Dana Simas, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said the guidelines will protect all parties involved from unnecessary court proceedings.

By Jack Broom, Seattle Times Staff Reporter
Source: Seattle Times

Tumwater, Thurston County -- More than 100 activists who jammed a state Health Department hearing Monday to protest proposed medical-marijuana limits won at least a minor victory: getting more time to make their case.

Responding to concerns by advocates, Assistant Health Secretary Karen Jensen extended until 5 p.m. Friday the deadline for comments on a proposed rule to limit medical-marijuana users to possessing 24 ounces of cultivated marijuana, six mature plants and 18 immature plants.

By Eric Bailey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Source: Los Angeles Times

Sacramento, CA -- For the first time in the dozen years of turmoil since state voters legalized medical marijuana, California's top law enforcement official stepped into the fray Monday with new guidelines designed in part to quell the ongoing friction between the state and federal authorities.

Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown issued an 11-page directive intended to help legitimate patients avoid arrest while giving police the tools to distinguish legal medical marijuana operations from illegal cultivators and criminal middlemen.

Breaking News
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

CA -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Monday that for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries in the state are likely operating illegally, opening the way for local police to join federal authorities in shutting down such enterprises.

There are an estimated 300 so-called "storefront" dispensaries operating throughout California in various business guises and little agreement on how many are operating as for-profits.

By Pamela A. MacLean
Source: National Law Journal

California -- In the first decision of its kind, a federal judge has ruled that California's medical marijuana advocates may go forward with a claim that the federal government has a pattern of drug law enforcement intended to subvert California law in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel, in San Jose, Calif., said he will allow Santa Cruz County to go forward with its claim that federal authorities deliberately are seeking to frustrate the state's ability to determine whether an individual's use of marijuana is permitted medical use, or illegal recreational use.

By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle

California -- A federal judge breathed new life Wednesday into medical marijuana advocates' effort to ward off the federal crackdown on medical pot in California, saying enforcement of U.S. drug laws can go too far if it seeks to interfere with state authority.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose denied a Bush administration request to dismiss a lawsuit by Santa Cruz city and county officials and members of a medical marijuana collective whose drugs were seized by federal agents in a 2002 raid.

By Linda Williams, TWN Staff Writer
Source: Willits News

California -- Last Wednesday the California Supreme Court unanimously agreed to hear the case of California vs Patrick Kelly to determine whether any limits imposed by the legislature to the Compassionate Use Act is constitutional.

While the California Supreme Court takes up the issue, the existing limits in the California Health and Safety Code remain in effect throughout much of California. For Mendocino County, the limits are a bit murkier as the ongoing legal challenge to the portion of Measure B, which had the county adopt the state limits may await the final Supreme Court decision.

By Roger Phelps, The Telegraph
Source: Folsom Telegraph

DEA California -- A threat from federal drug officials is forcing El Dorado County’s medical-marijuana clinic to lease a new headquarters.

The Medical Marijuana Caregivers Association of El Dorado County previously leased from a landlord who received written notice recently from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The notice said the agency had discovered the lease agreement between the caregivers association and the landlord, and warned the arrangement violated federal drug law.

By The Ukiah Daily Journal Staff
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal

California -- We understand why a local judge struck down the provisions of voter-approved Measure B limiting the number of plants a medical marijuana patient can grow.

The California Appeals Court ruled in May that the six mature, 12 immature plant limit and the eight ounce dried marijuana possession limit were unconstitutional because the California Legislature had set the limits by legislation not voter initiative. Measure B's limits were based on the California state law.

By Kenji Yoshino
Source: Los Angeles Times

California -- Just because a majority of Californians voted to make marijuana available for medical purposes does not mean it is legal. Charles Lynch, the owner of a Morro Bay medical marijuana dispensary, learned this lesson the hard way on Aug. 5 when he was convicted of violating the federal Controlled Substances Act. His lawyers defended him in part by saying his business had the blessing of elected officials in Morro County. But the jury convicted him under federal drug laws; in October, he will be sentenced to a period of five to 85 years in prison, though he has vowed to appeal.

BY TREVOR HUGHES
Source: Coloradoan

Colorado - A Larimer County couple already being prosecuted for marijuana cultivation was re-arrested Thursday after investigators in two counties seized 25 pounds of pot and more than 200 live plants.

Christopher and Tiffany Crumbliss were arrested by Larimer County sheriff's deputies after raids at four locations in Larimer County and one in Breckenridge, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

By Jill U. Adams, Special To The Times
Source: Los Angeles Times

USA -- Depending on whom you ask, marijuana is a dangerous drug that should be kept illegal alongside heroin and PCP, or it's a miracle herb with a trove of medical benefits that the government is seeking to deny the public -- or something in between: a plant with medical uses and drawbacks, worth exploring.

As the political debates over medical marijuana drag on, a small cadre of researchers continues to test inhaled marijuana for the treatment of pain, nausea and muscle spasms.

By Lauren McSherry, Staff Writer
Source: San Bernardino Sun

More than 20 protesters gathered Tuesday at the San Bernardino County Government Center and called for the county to start issuing medical-marijuana identification cards.

In 2003, the state Legislature required county health departments to issue medical-marijuana cards allowing chronically ill patients to obtain the drug if their doctors recommended it.

By Bob Egelko
Source: San Francisco Chronicle

California -- The state Supreme Court returned to the medical marijuana wars Wednesday, agreeing to decide the validity of a law that shields doctor-approved pot users from arrest for possessing up to eight ounces of dried marijuana or growing six plants.

The justices voted unanimously to review the issue after a prosecution appeal of a lower-court ruling in May. In that ruling, an appellate court found the 2003 law conflicted with California's 1996 medical marijuana initiative, which allows possession of an amount of marijuana "reasonably related to the patient's current medical needs," but did not set specific limits.

By Ethan Stewart
Source: Santa Barbara Independant

DEA Allegedly Tells Landlords to Evict Pot Club Tenants — Or Else

Not too long ago, critics were likening the medical marijuana movement in Santa Barbara to the cannabis culture equivalent of the Wild West: more dispensaries than Starbucks, no city oversight, and law enforcement without a clear mandate. Things have changed quickly, however, with the city stepping in earlier this spring to craft an ordinance outlining the dos and don’ts of dispensary operation. Now, just last week, the federal government’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) paid a visit to Santa Barbara and threatened the people who rent their properties to California-approved cannabis clubs with hefty fines, property seizure, and criminal charges for violation of federal law.

By Scott Dunn
Source: Sun Times

Crown Meaford man got licence to grow, use marijuana a month after being busted

Canada - Federal Crown attorney Clayton Conlan withdrew all drug charges Tuesday against a Meaford man who says he uses marijuana medicinally and against the man’s wife because prosecuting the charges “would not be in the public interest.”

By Dan Glaister
Source: Guardian

United States Federal agency takes on California over cannabis use for health reasons

The young woman in the bikini top and bottle tan was having a good time in the bright afternoon sun. Gyrating opposite the Muscle Beach Gym on the boardwalk at Venice beach, she chanted her mantra in an eastern European accent. "The doctor is here! The doctor is here!"

By By Dave Moller
Source: The Union

California - The arrest of two young men Wednesday in connection with five marijuana patches points to a growing problem of people abusing legal pot prescriptions, according to Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal.

Arrested were Nicholas Sahagian and Blake Wasechek, both 24 and from Penn Valley, on suspicion of felony marijuana cultivation, according to Lt. Frank Koehler. Both suspects were free Thursday, according to a spokesman at the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility.

By Sona Patel
Source: San Luis Obispo

Attorneys for the former owner of a Morro Bay medical-marijuana dispensary who was convicted in federal court of five counts of distributing illegal drugs are expected to request a new trial.

Charles Lynch of Arroyo Grande — who operated Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers before it was raided last year by federal agents and local sheriff’s deputies—could face a minimum of five years in prison.

By Ethan Stewart
Source: Independant

Rolling It Up

Less than four months old, Santa Barbara’s new-fangled Medical Marijuana Ordinance flashed its teeth for the first time last week, as two separate cannabis dispensaries found themselves in Superior Court facing potential shutdown. Charged with various forms of noncompliance, both Humanity and The Healing Center were in Judge Thomas Anderle’s courtroom on July 29 fighting injunction orders from Santa Barbara City Attorney Michelle Montez. In the end, Anderle agreed that both cannabis clubs appeared to be in violation of the newly minted regulations governing pot shops, though only The Healing Center’s shutdown was signed into reality, while Humanity’s case was continued to later this month.

HealthDay News
Source: U.S. News & World Report

HealthDay News -- Medicinal marijuana helps relieve neuropathic pain in people with HIV, says a University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine study.

It included 28 HIV patients with neuropathic pain that wasn't adequately controlled by opiates or other pain relievers. The researchers found that 46 percent of patients who smoked medicinal marijuana reported clinically meaningful pain relief, compared with 18 percent of those who smoked a placebo.

By Scott Glover
Source: Los Angeles Times

The owner of a Morro Bay marijuana dispensary was found guilty today in federal court of five counts of distributing drugs.

Charles Lynch, the owner of the dispensary, faces a minimum of five years in prison.

By LAURA CZEKAJ
Source: SUN MEDIA

Marijuana activist angry at councillor's e-mail

Canada - A federally licensed medicinal marijuana user is fuming after receiving correspondence from his city councillor telling him to "Quit taking up taxpayers' dollars" with a "frivolous" human rights complaint.

By Scott Glover
Source: Los Angeles Times

Lawyers for Charles Lynch of Morro Bay say a DEA agent gave the defendant misleading advice that amounted to entrapment.

A closely watched trial involving conflicting marijuana laws went to a federal court jury Monday, with jurors asked to determine if the owner of a Morro Bay pot dispensary is guilty of violating federal drug laws.

By Robert Downes
Source: Northern Express

Michigan -- Do you believe in having the freedom to do as you choose with your own body? Or should government make those decisions for you?

That’s the fundamental question in many great controversies of our time regarding smoking, prostitution, abortion, stem cell research, marijuana, wearing a motorcycle helmet, the right to die with dignity, the use of steroids, and drug use to name a few.