In 2012, CalNORML fought off bad bills in Sacramento, advanced good ones, protested federal involvement, and continued to work at local levels on policy. We will kick off 2013 with a conference to mark the 100th anniversary of cannabis prohibition in California and plan for the end of that failed and unjust policy.
December 11 – Reported marijuana arrests dropped sharply as California’s new decriminalization law took effect in 2011, but the apparent decline is deceptive because it doesn’t count thousands of minor possession offenses that are no longer reported under the new law.
December 7 – A California Appellate Court has reversed a trial court decision declaring a child to be a dependent of the court, as well as an order that the father undergo drug testing and parenting courses because of his medical marijuana use.
December 3 – Mendocino’s 9.3.1 program was a model for the state in bringing medical marijuana cultivation into the light of regulation and taxation, with good environmental practices and public safety protections. Those who signed up for the program did so in good faith, and coming above board should not lead to a federal trial. This further action by the federal government against California’s best-regulated medical marijuana programs must be challenged.
Nov. 20 – The Emerald Growers Association (EGA) and California NORML endorsed the City of Sacramento’s sensible personal use medical cannabis cultivation ordinance, which allows for secure greenhouses.
Talk in California has already turned to possible initiative campaigns in 2014 and/or 2016. CalNORML’s “Cannabis in California: Ending the 100 Year War” in San Francisco January 26 & 27 will focus on these efforts.
November 1 – The California Medical Association House of Delegates has passed measures supporting marijuana rescheduling and decriminalization, and is considering another regarding medical marijuana use in hospital settings.
October 16, 2012 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments in a case challenging the Drug Enforcement Administration’s rejection of a petition to remove marijuana from Schedule I, the most dangerous category of drugs for which no medical use is recognized.
October 11 – In contrasting moves, the city of Oakland has sued the federal government to stop its forfeiture actions against city-regulated dispensaries, while Long Beach has joined the feds to arrest 40 dispensary workers and is threatening to arrest more.
October 6 – At the second day of the 41st annual NORML conference, pending legalization initiatives from three states were discussed and California activists held a strategy session.
October 5 – The 41st annual NORML conference is happening this week at the Omni Hotel in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. There’s still time to attend, today and tomorrow when the NORML Women’s Alliance will hold a luncheon.
October 2 – After 49,000 Los Angeles voters signed a petition to repeal the city’s ban on medical marijuana collectives, forcing a repeal or a vote, the LA City Council voted 11-2 to repeal the ban.
September 27 – Eyewitnesses to Wednesday’s federal-led raid on marijuana growers in Santa Rosa describe a chilling, full-scale paramilitary assault on a Latino residential neighborhood.
August 2012 – Medical marijuana farmers and other supporters, and opponents, are showing up by the hundreds at meetings where cultivation ordinances are being considered. Cal NORML Legal Committee attorneys are involved in challenging ordinances and representing plaintiffs.
You are invited to join us in a peaceful protest demonstrating your support for California’s medical marijuana laws when President Obama comes to visit Oakland this Monday, July 23rd.
July 13 – At a pretrial detention hearing, federal magistrate Donna Ryu ordered medical cannabis activist Jose Gutierrez to find another legal drug than Marinol to treat his chronic back pain. Jose’s actual charges have nothing to do with marijuana other than the fact that he was protesting a medical marijuana raid.
July 12 – The federal government has filed property forfeiture suits aimed at closing Harborside, the foremost medical cannabis dispensary still operating in Northern California. Supporters are invited to protest the administration’s crackdown when Obama visits the Fox Theater in Oakland on July 23rd, 3:30 PM.
June 20 – Lake County is considering a medical marijuana cultivation ordinance in violation of state law; CalNORML is receiving reports that sheriffs’ deputies are destroying gardens and threatening forfeiture of property across the county.
June 8 – Attorney General Eric Holder lied to the House Judiciary Committee in testifying that his agency is only going after medical cannabis dispensaries and growers that are going “beyond what states had authorized.”
June 6 – Yesterday’s election brought mixed results for medical marijuana proponents in California.
May 31 – The California Assembly approved the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Control Act, AB 2312 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, by a vote of 41-30.
The California Senate roundly rejected Mark Leno’s bill SB 1506 to reduce penalties for simple possession of narcotics and dangerous drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Tom Ammiano’s bill to establish a state medical marijuana regulation system cleared a major hurdle today by passing the Assembly Appropriations Committee. A second MMJ reform bill, SB 1182 by Sen. Leno, faces a showdown vote in the State Senate in the next week.
May 10 – California’s congressional delegation voted 34-18 in favor of House Resolution 4326, to cut off federal funding for DOJ raids on medical marijuana.
May 2 – A new zero-tolerance DUI bill would make it a crime for a person to have a controlled substance in his or her blood while driving a vehicle.
April 30 – A very bad court opinion that disallows MMJ sales by collectives has been published by the Second Appellate District. The decision plays havoc with established law recognizing the legality of sales by medical cannabis collectives.
April 30 – The California Assembly has approved a bill to impose additional civil penalties for cultivating marijuana on public lands, parks and forests.
April 22 – Many thanks to everyone who turned out to make our 4/20 protest of the federal medical marijuana raids at Obama’s campaign headquarters in Oaksterdam a success.
April 20 – California NORML is happy to report that Assemblywoman Norma Torres has amended her DUI bill AB 2552 to drop objectionable new criminal penalties for driving with residues of marijuana or illicit drugs.
April 12 – The California Research Bureau has released a report on pesticides and medical marijuana. The report’s major finding is that the state’s regulatory jurisdiction is unclear due to uncertainty over the legal status of medical marijuana under current law.
April 11 – Sen. Mark Leno is sponsoring a bill, SB 1182, which would clarify SB 420 so as to make it clear that entities acting consistent with the Attorney General’s August 2008 guidelines may legally sell, cultivate, process, transport, (etc.) medical marijuana.
April 10 – Norma Torres’ zero-tolerance DUID bill AB 2552 has been amended so as to no longer apply specifically to marijuana, but to any non-medical use of controlled substances.
April 3 – Between 400 and 500 people converged on San Francisco city hall today for a Unity rally in support of medical marijuana. Six of the eleven San Francisco Supervisors spoke, along with representatives of the city attorney and district attorney, the state assemblyman and senator from San Francisco, plus patients, activists, and others.
April 2 – OAKLAND, Apr 2nd – Agents of the DEA, IRS and Federal Marshall’s office converged on Oaksterdam to raid Richard Lee’s Oaksterdam University, the Oaksterdam Museum, the Blue Sky Coffee Shop, the Oaksterdam Gift Shop and other locations, including Lee’s apartment.
April 2, 9:30 AM – Protesters are heading to Oaksterdam University with signs and bullhorns to protest the federal raid this morning. Read more.
March 31 – California NORML invites friends & supporters to rally in protest of the Department of Justice’s attack on medical marijuana at S.F. City Hall on Tuesday, April 3rd.
March 30 – As we were assured this week by Assemblyman Nestande’s office and the Assembly Judiciary committee, AB2365 has been amended to take out a reference to medical marijuana.
March 25 – Nora Campos (D-San Jose) has filed a bill to require that all medical marijuana patients in California register with the state. The bill, AB 2465, is sponsored by the Police Officers’ Research Association of California, which wants to make it easier for police to distinguish between illegal and legal marijuana users.
March 20 – “AB 2552 would effectively criminalize every pot user in California who drives,” says Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer, “The scientific evidence is unequivocal that the presence of cannabinoids in the system does not constitute impairment.”
March 15, 2012 – A comprehensive bill to regulate sales and production of medical marijuana, AB 2312, has been introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-SF). The bill is based on a proposed ballot initiative, the Medical Marijuana Regulation Control and Taxation Act, developed by a coalition of advocates including ASA, the UFCW, California NORML, the California Cannabis Association, the Emerald Growers Association, and others.
March 10, 2012 – A bill that would establish a zero-tolerance DUI standard for marijuana has been introduced in the California legislature.
March 4, 2012 – The legal status of medical cannabis dispensaries has been bolstered by two appellate court rulings in the past week. Read more.
February 15 – In a report to Congress, Cal NORML described the Dept of Justice’s attack on medical marijuana providers in California as arbitrary, inconsistent, disrespectful of state and local laws, and destructive of efforts to regulate medical marijuana.
January 31 – Medical marijuana patients who want to keep their jobs are out of luck again this year, as California Senator Mark Leno has declined to bring his employment rights bill SB129 to a floor vote.
January 24, 2012 – The California legislature will soon be voting on two marijuana reform bills that seem to be more popular with the public than with the politicians in Sacramento. Both bills have strong public support according to a newly released poll of state voters by EMC Research.
January 23 – A comprehensive initiative to revamp California’s medical marijuana laws has been filed for the 2012 ballot: the Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act.
January 18, 2012 – The federal assault on medical marijuana is escalating with raids in Costa Mesa and San Diego. Lawsuits against property owners have been filed in several districts of the state. Mendocino County’s outdoor licensed garden program has also been shut down by federal threats. The Obama administration has now closed more dispensaries than all its predecessors put together. Complaints should be lodged to the White House Hotline at 202-456-1111 and the Dept of Justice at 202-353-1555. Read more.
Five marijuana initiatives are vying to collect signatures for the November 2012 ballot, ranging from medical marijuana reform and decrim to outright legalization.
To say 2011 was a busy year would be an understatement. Read about our plans for 2012. Following up on the strong but losing campaign of the Prop. 19 legalization initiative, Cal NORML began the year with statewide activist conferences to plan the future of marijuana reform in California. As the year progressed, our energies were increasingly tied up in defensive efforts to combat mounting challenges from local, state, and federal authorities: bans and restrictions on dispensaries and cultivation, hostile legislation in Sacramento, and a full-fledged federal crackdown from the Obama administration. Prospects for reform nonetheless strengthened as legalization picked up unprecedented support from the California Medical Association, the national Gallup poll, and the first-ever prohibition repeal bill in Congress. Read about our plans for 2012.
