By Rebecca Unger
Source: Hi-Desert Star

California — The application process for medical marijuana identification cards is slated to begin Aug. 14, says San Bernardino County Public Health Director Jim Lindley. The county’s Department of Public Health is the local agency administering California’s program in which eligible patients may obtain an ID card if recommended by a licensed doctor.

“We anticipate many people applying in the first few months, so on our target date of Aug. 14 we will start scheduling appointments for the applicants,” Lindley said.

By Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Source: Daily Bulletin

California - Jason Monroe on Monday night walked out of the San Bernardino County sheriff's station in Rancho Cucamonga with seven ounces of medical marijuana secured safely in a brown evidence bag.

Monroe is the first person in San Bernardino County to get marijuana returned to him after it was confiscated by police. "Here, let it be told, in San Bernardino County, things have changed and it's legal now," said Monroe, who has been a medical marijuana recipient for the past three years.

By Sabrina Shankman
Source: Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles -- Daniel Halbert moved here from Phoenix this year to invest his life savings in what he hoped was a golden opportunity: the medical-marijuana business.

But on Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council told him to shut down his dispensary, part of a broad crackdown against a growing and unregulated marijuana industry. More than 600 dispensaries have taken advantage of a loophole in city regulations to open shop here in the past two years.

By Jane Glenn Haas, The Orange County Register
Source: News & Observer

California -- Reefer Madness! Is marijuana a medical benefit or just a high time for stoners? And should California - where cannabis is legal for medical use and where dispensaries pay $100 million in taxes annually - legalize marijuana for everyone's use?

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's looking for tax money under every rock and tree trunk, says "I think it's time for debate. I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues - I'm always for an open debate."

By Jennifer Upshaw
Source: Marin Independent Journal

California -- Corte Madera officials are pondering what to do, if anything, about two pot clubs that have quietly sprung up in an office complex, suddenly making the sleepy central Marin town the cannabis collective capital of Marin.

Marin Holistic Solutions, a medical-marijuana collective that opened at 200 Tamal Plaza on June 1, is owned and operated by patients who volunteer time or donate money to support the group and its out-of-county growers, said Scot Candell, a Larkspur resident and patient with rheumatoid arthritis who volunteers his time as the collective's attorney.

By Adam Jensen
Source: Tahoe Daily Tribune

California -- South Lake Tahoe city attorneys Jacqueline Mittelstadt and Patrick Enright have signaled police will begin enforcement against three medical marijuana providers who have opened in South Lake Tahoe over the past year.

“Possession of amounts of marijuana in excess of the allowable state law amounts is a violation of both state and federal law,” the attorneys wrote in a memorandum to the City Council dated July 7. “(South Lake Tahoe police) will soon commence pursuit of such illegal conduct.”

[b]Editorial/b]
Source: Portsmouth Herald

New Hampshire -- Governor Lynch should sign the legislation allowing the use of small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes. It's the humane thing to do.

As he weighs the arguments for and against the bill, people are suffering, are in pain because the use and possession of any amount of marijuana in New Hampshire is against the law.

By Genevieve Bookwalter, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz, CA -- A state appeals court in Sacramento this week ruled that medical marijuana patients can sue over raids by local law enforcement, but county authorities aren't too worried as local rules spell out when and where such raids are allowed.

"It's the sheriff's department's policy to protect medical marijuana patients," said Sgt. Mark Yanez with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. However, he said, when patients break rules or use their medical cards to cover up illegal drug sales, his department still cracks down.

By Dean Praetorius
Source: ABC News

California -- Most people have a routine when they turn on their computers, whether it's checking their e-mail, reading the news or…ordering pot?

Artists Collective, a non-profit California medical marijuana delivery service, is now Twittering out its goods, and all it takes to get high is a doctor's note. They've got everything from brownies to blunts and the delivery is free. Rather than whispering "weed" to passersby, the solicitation is like this:

By Zack Cinek
Source: The Daily Journal

California -- Zip-ties to identify medical marijuana plants grown in Mendocino County went on sale for the first time at noon Wednesday. About 1 p.m., a man arrived at the sheriff's headquarters and paid $150 to buy the first six zip-ties sold by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

The voluntary zip-tie program for medical marijuana has been in the works since 2007, when the Sheriff's Office provided free identification ties. "If law enforcement shows up and these are attached and everything else is in compliance," Sheriff Tom Allman said, "the plants will not be eradicated."

By Tim Fahey, State House Bureau Chief
Source: Union Leader

Concord, N.H. -- With the battle over a state budget now over, activists are fighting over whether Gov. John Lynch should sign a medical marijuana bill into law. Conservatives are urging Lynch to veto HB 648, while those who favor more liberal marijuana policies are urging him to pass it.

The bill calls for three-nonprofit "compassion centers" that would be licensed to grow and distribute marijuana to critically and terminally ill patients, who must be certified by the state and their own doctor.

By Kevin Landrigan, Staff Writer
Source: Nashua Telegraph

Concord, NH -- A conservative watchdog group called upon Gov. John Lynch on Monday to veto a bill legalizing medical use of marijuana on financial grounds. Cornerstone Policy Research said a 20-page compromise (HB 648) approved by lawmakers would require an "overly cumbersome and expensive bureaucratic response.''

The bill calls for an estimated $250,000 for the Department of Health and Human Services to oversee the dispensing of the drug exclusively to patients who have a debilitating illness.

By Michael Neibauer, Examiner Staff Writer
Source: Washington Examiner

Washington, D.C. -- House appropriations subcommittee has lifted a long-standing budget rider banning the District government from spending any money to decriminalize marijuana.

The Financial Services panel, which has oversight of D.C., has removed from the 2010 budget 11-year-old language outlawing the District’s use of federal or local funds to legalize marijuana or reduce penalties for its possession or distribution.

By John Stucke
Source: Spokesman-Review

Washington -- Now that marijuana can be legally used to ease patients' pain, dispensaries are opening in Spokane to provide it.

And regardless of whether such stores are what Washington voters and legislators envisioned when they allowed medical marijuana, it may only be a matter of time before the businesses are commonplace: Medical marijuana has been approved in more than a dozen states.

By Logan Jenkins
Source: Sign on San Diego

California -- Close your eyes. Now imagine a garden-variety marijuana doc. You projected someone goofy, right? Dr. Feel-Good?

Or venal? Dr. Slime-Ball? Anecdotal evidence abounds that unscrupulous marijuana doctors will recommend weed for anyone who claims a malady, genuine or not.

By John Hoeffel
Source: Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles, CA -- A city inspector dropped by the Bulldog Cafe Collective on Melrose Avenue last week to see if it was still in business. It was. Inside the spare, modern interior, dusky green marijuana buds were still displayed in plastic jars. An owner who is often at the store tweezed whimsically named strains into small vials for customers.

The store near Hancock Park is among the first 14 medical marijuana dispensaries targeted for extinction by a City Council chagrined that it allowed hundreds to open in Los Angeles despite a 21-month-old moratorium.

By Charlie Brennan
Source: KDVR

BOULDER, Colo. - Several cartons and dozens of mason jars filled with high-grade marijuana were turned over by Boulder Police on Thursday to owners of a medical marijuana dispensary, returned to those who lost it in a brazen theft just one week ago.

The marijuana, more than 28 different strains of weed, were recovered by police from a quartet of men who allegedly stole it in a mid-afternoon heist -- along with surveillance equipment owned by the New Options Wellness Clinic -- and were then tracked down and arrested as they tried to flee on U.S. 36.

By Karen Langley, Monitor Staff
Source: Concord Monitor

New Hampshire -- Legislators voted yesterday to legalize marijuana for some seriously ill patients, sending Gov. John Lynch a bill he said he has yet to study.

If passed into law, New Hampshire would become the 14th state to allow medicinal marijuana use for severely sick patients. In a move geared to winning the governor's approval, senators and representatives passed a bill that - unlike versions passed in March and April - would not allow patients to grow marijuana at home.

By Dana Smith, Staff Writer
Source: Nashua Telegraph

Concord, NH -- For the last five years, Matt Simon has held rallies, tried to inform people about the medicinal uses of marijuana, and argued with lawmakers over one goal – making marijuana legal for patients with debilitating medical diseases.

On Wednesday morning, long before the outcome of the medical marijuana bill was known, he was back in front of the Statehouse with some 50 medical marijuana supporters with "Patients, not Criminals," signs and stickers.

By Genevieve Bookwalter
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

California -- City leaders approved a 45-day moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday, giving city staff time to deal with an influx of inquiries from entrepreneurs.

"Apparently people all over the West Coast think Santa Cruz would be the perfect place to open this business," said Councilman Mike Rotkin, commenting on the surge in inquiries to the city planning department since President Barack Obama's administration said earlier this year that raids on medical marijuana dispensaries would cease.

By Edward Sifuentes
Source: North County Times

California -- After approving a medical marijuana ID program for the county, the Board of Supervisors said Tuesday that they will tackle an even thornier issue: deciding under what circumstances it is legal to sell pot for medicinal purposes.

At their meeting, supervisors Dianne Jacob and Bill Horn proposed asking the county's attorney, John Sansone, to draft an ordinance making for-profit, medical marijuana dispensaries illegal in the unincorporated areas of the county.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Source: Daily Bulletin

Final score: Medical marijuana 5, San Bernardino County supervisors 0.

But despite their victory Tuesday, the medical marijuana proponents are still angry because it will be almost two months or perhaps longer before the county begins issuing identification cards to people with doctors' prescriptions. "Our concern is seeing that the medicine gets out to our patients," said Ron Downey, a proponent who spoke at Tuesday's board meeting. A half-dozen others also spoke.

By Chris Weigant
Source: Huffington Post

Washington, D.C. -- Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts has introduced two pieces of legislation on marijuana -- one medical, and one recreational -- that deserve a lot more attention (and support by fellow House members) than they have been getting. The first would change federal law to allow states to experiment with medical marijuana without interference from Washington. And the second would drastically reduce federal penalties for "personal possession" of marijuana.

By Laura Berman
Source: Detroit News

Michigan -- The way some describe it, state's medical marijuana law -- passed by voter referendum last fall -- might as well have been written by Harold & Kumar at a hookah bar.

Ostensibly written to enable people suffering from serious medical conditions to gain relief by using marijuana, the law was also enthusiastically supported by the kind of voters who might envy Michael Phelps' designer bong.

By Ryan Grim, Huffington Post
Source: AlterNet

USA -- The Rhode Island legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto of a medical marijuana law Tuesday afternoon by an overwhelming margin, paving the way for state-licensed medical marijuana shops to begin operating. The House voted 68-0 for the pot measure and the senate moved it minutes later by a 35-3 count.

Once the law takes effect, the state will be the first in the nation to have one officially licensed nonprofit center selling marijuana. Over time, the state will license further nonprofit dispensaries.

By James Merriweather, The News Journal
Source: Delaware Online

Delaware -- In the 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush claimed 59 percent of the vote in beating John Kerry in Montana -- no surprise in one of the most conservative states in the nation.

During the same election, 62 percent of Montana voters gave thumbs up to a proposal that would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The lesson? Delaware legislators don't necessarily have to stick out their necks politically to legalize medical marijuana use here.

By Shaun Bishop
Source: Daily News Staff Writer

Want to open your own medical marijuana collective in unincorporated San Mateo County?

In a few weeks, you'll have to fill out an application, pay a $100 fee and submit to inspections to make sure your club is in line with all the terms of the county's new ordinance governing the collectives.

By Bob Kerr
Source: Providence Journal

Providence, R.I. -- Now that it has overcome Governor Carcieri’s ongoing attempt to impose a statewide ban on compassion, the Rhode Island General Assembly has some questions to answer about these pot shops.

Will they be mom-and-pop operations, where a customer can carry a half-gallon of milk and a bag of chips to the counter, then order an ounce of primo weed along with scratch tickets?

By Heather Clark, GateHouse News Service
Source: Sussex Countian

Delaware -- If a bill before the state Senate is passed, Delaware soon could join 13 other states that have legalized the possession of marijuana for medical use, but while there appears to be significant popular support for the measure, some legislators and physicians aren’t quite ready to jump on the bandwagon.

When Senate Bill 94, sponsored by Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington, was heard in the Senate Health and Social Services Committee earlier this month, not one person testified in opposition to the legislation.

By Megha Satyanarayana, Free Press Staff Writer
Source: Detroit Free Press

Michigan -- After testimony from a Southfield clinic doctor who recommends medical marijuana, a judge in the 43rd District Court in Madison Heights has dismissed felony manufacturing charges against a Madison Heights couple, who were growing plants they thought were legal under the state’s medical marijuana law.

At issue was whether Robert Redden, 59, and Torey Clark, 47, could use a letter from their doctor as authorization to grow a legal number of plants in the absence of the state-sponsored ID program.