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San Francisco, Oct 7, 2003: The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a lawsuit by Prop. 215 patients Angel Raich and Diane Monson challenging the constitutionality of the federal government’s ban on personal use and cultivation of marijuana for medicine under California law. The case involves the same basic issues that were raised in a similar appeal by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative and Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana before a different Ninth Circuit Panel three weeks ago.…

Drug reformers fared better than either Presidential candidate in last November’s elections as Californians voted 61-39% to approve Prop. 36, requiring treatment instead of prison for most drug possession offenses, while Mendocino County voters approved Measure G to allow personal use cultivation of marijuana by 58-42%. However, President-elect George Bush has given no indication of heeding the voters’ mandate , appointing a hard-core drug warrior, ex-Sen. John Ashcroft, as Attorney General..

Political observers were stunned by the overwhelming victory of Prop 36, which is viewed as a revolution in drug policy.…

August 16, 1999: Amidst growing public interest in marijuana reform, NORML launched an innovative ad campaign in San Francisco urging marijuana smokers who are tired of being treated like criminals to come out of the closet.

The campaign , which is running for 30 days at 30 bus shelters around the City, features two provocative posters:

“Honk, If You Inhale”;

“A Pot Smoker Is Busted Every 45 Seconds – And You Wonder Why We’re Paranoid.”

At the heart of the campaign is the tagline, “Stop arresting responsible pot smokers.”…

UPDATE: BILL TO DECRIMINALIZE MINOR POT POSSESSION OFFENSES SIGNED BY GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER

SACRAMENTO Aug 30: The California state Assembly voted 43-33 to approve Sen. Mark Leno’s bill SB 1449 downgrading petty marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction. The bill passed thanks to support from the CA district attorneys and courts; similar legislation had been voted down by the Assembly three times in the past.

The bill now heads to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s desk for his signature.

As usual, the vote split largely along party lines, with Democrats voting 40 – 8 in favor of more lenient penalties and Republicans 2 – 23 against.…

SACRAMENTO Aug 30: In a disappointing display of legislative perversity, the California Assembly rejected State Senator Mark Leno’s medical marijuana resolution SJR 14.

The Assembly may still have a chance to revisit the resolution in the coming extraordinary session.

SJR 14 would call on the President and Congress to end federal raids and interference with state laws, permit an affirmative defense for MMJ defendants, encourage MMJ research, and create a comprehensive federal policy to assure safe access to medical marijuana. See text of SJR 14

The vote was 37-29, four short of the 41 needed for passage.…

State Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) is seeking to push through a last-minute bill to establish a statewide BOE tax registration system for medical marijuana sellers, distributors, growers and transporters. In order to bypass the normal legislative hearings, Sen. Calderon has sneakily devised the bill as a “gut-and-amend” to another bill, SB 1131, which has already been approved by the Senate. Text of SB 1131

SB 1131 would require all commercial growers, retailers, wholesalers, and transporters to register with the state, but would DO NOTHING to legally protect them by changing the law to explicitly legalize wholesale or retail sales.…

Opponents of this November’s Prop 19 initiative are blowing hot air about the supposed impacts of marijuana legalization on highway safety.

The opposition has shrewdly named itself Public Safety First, in line with opinion polls that show driving under the influence of marijuana is a major public concern.

Opponents have lined up the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which stated, “we are deeply concerned (the initiative) will result in more impaired driving and thus more injuries and fatalities.”

Fortunately, however, a careful review of the scientific evidence shows that fears about marijuana’s impact on road safety are unwarranted.…

Cal NORML Release – July 21, 2010
CONTACT: Dale Gieringer, Director (415) 563-5858 mailto:[email protected]

CAL NORML Joins Coalition Opposing President Obama’s Pick To Head The Drug Enforcement Administration
DEA raid on Mendocino licensed MMJ grower shows agency out of control

Citing the raid by DEA agents on Joy Greenfield, the first patient to register in Mendocino’s path-breaking licensing program for medical marijuana growers, Cal NORML joins a national coalition of groups calling on the administration to withdraw the re-appointment of Michele Leonhart to head the DEA.…

UPDATE: July 19, 2010

Oakland City Council Weighs Industrial Grows, Big Tax Hike for MMJ

Oakland’s contentious cultivation ordinance to license four industrial-size grows will be up for a vote before the full City Council this Tuesday, July 20th. Opponents will be arguing for modifications to permit smaller-scale grows along the line proposed in Berkeley, which envisions ten different facilities of 30,000 square feet or less.

On Thursday, the City Council will consider a controversial ballot measure by Councilmembers Reid and Kaplan that would impose a steep hike of the city’s cannabis business tax from 1.8% to 8% (or possibly 10 or 12%).…

UPDATE June 22 – Sen. Calderon has withdrawn his Marijuana Tax Bill SBX6 – 16 from consideration by the Senate Revenue & Taxation committee, where it had been scheduled for hearings tomorrow (Wed Jun 23rd). The bill was aimed at levying a 41% tax on all medical marijuana sales and had attracted strong opposition from the MMJ community. Hopefully, the bill has been put to rest permanently for this session.

SACRAMENTO, June 20 – A bill to tax medical marijuana like tobacco is scheduled for hearings by the State Senate Revenue & Taxation Comittee on Wednesday, June 23rd.…

January 26 – President Obama signaled more of the same in drug policy by nominating Bush appointee Michele Leonhart as DEA administrator. Leonhart is unfondly regarded by medical marijuana advocates for having denied a cultivation permit to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, further impeding research into the medical uses of cannabis. Her nomination indicates that the administration has no interest in overruling the present indefensible policy.

Californians should make their views known to Sen. Feinstein, who sits on the Judiciary Committee that will oversee Leonhart’s nomination.…

January 21 – The California Supreme Court released its long-awaited ruling in People v. Kelly today.

As expected, the court struck down the so-called SB 420 quantity limits in Ca Health & Safety code 11362.77 as applied to patients’ right to grow, but upheld their application for other purposes, e.g. as a “safe harbor” guideline for protecting patients from arrest.

Read the opinion

Excerpt:
“We conclude, consistently with the decision of the Court of Appeal below (and with the position of both parties in the present litigation), that insofar as section 11362.77 burdens a defense under the CUA to a criminal charge of possessing or cultivating marijuana, it impermissibly amends the CUA and in that respect is invalid under article II, section 10, subdivision (c).…

To all NORML supporters in California:

We are kicking off 2010 with a major legalization blitz in Sacramento.

The California legislature will be hearing Tom Ammiano’s landmark legalization bill AB 390 on Jan. 12th. We are asking all California activists to start the new year by contacting their Assembly members in support of AB 390. The legislature is returning into session on Jan 4th, so we have just one week to do this.

Californians can send e-mails to their Assembly members via NORML’s CapWiz.…

The California Assembly will be hearing AB390, Tom Ammiano’s landmark bill to legalize and regulate marijuana in early January, 2010. Please tell your assembly member that it’s time to stop wasting money on marijuana prohibition and to reap the benefits of a legally regulated market.

See this flyer for key legislators.…

November 11 – The California Medical Association has adopted a resolution declaring criminalization of marijuana to be a “failed public health policy”:

Resolution 704a-09 CRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA
RESOLVED: That CMA consider the criminalization of marijuana to be a failed public health policy; and be it further

RESOLVED: That CMA encourage and participate in debate and education regarding the health aspects of changing current policy regarding cannabis use.

Sources say the resolution was intended to be a call for debate, not outright legalization.…

California NORML Release – Oct 26, 2009

A medical marijuana regulation ordinance proposed to the L.A. City Council by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich would cost $36 – $74 million in lost tax revenues plus untold additional enforcement costs, according to an analysis by California NORML.
The hastily written ordinance, which is being rushed for an early vote in November, would effectively shut down the city’s medical marijuana distribution system by banning all sales of marijuana and sharply curtailing collectives’ ability to grow and obtain medicine.…

October 19 – While it is certainly encouraging that the Obama administration has committed to writing the AG’s declared policy of respecting state medical marijuana laws, the proof will be in the pudding.

Just a week ago, federal prosecutors in San Diego appeared to violate the policy by filing charges against a pair of San Diego dispensary operators, James Dean Stacy of Movement in Action in Vista and Joesph Nunes of Green Kross. In both cases, DEA agents with doctor’s recommendations made small controlled buys of a few grams of medical marijuana.…

LA’s District Attorney Steve Cooley is threatening a citywide crackdown on the city’s medical cannabis dispensaries. Speaking on Oct 8th, Cooley told reporters that “about 100%” of the
dispensaries are illegal, and that he intends to close them.

Cooley and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich have been erroneously claiming that sales of medical marijuana are illegal, citing the State Supreme Court’s Mentch decision that effectively prevents dispensaries from claiming to be primary caregivers.

However, state law SB 420 specifically authorizes sales by non-profit collectives
and coops in Health & Safety Cod 11362.775.…

Two marijuana legalization initiatives are currently collecting signatures for the 2010 ballot in California.
(1) The California Cannabis Initiative, sponsored by Joe Rogoway, Omar Figueroa and James J. Clark, (Withdrawn 2/4/2010) and
(2) The Tax and Regulate Cannabis California Initiative, sponsored by Richard Lee, Jeff Jones, and Oaksterdam University.
(A third initiative, the Common Sense Act of 2010, sponsored by Californians for Common Sense in Long Beach, has also been submitted but is not presently circulating.)
The CCI is pursuing a volunteer grass-roots campaign, while the Tax and Regulate Cannabis 2010 initiative says it expects to qualify for the ballot with the assistance of paid signature-gatherers.…

Fresno is taking legal action against landlords of Medical Marijuana Collectives.
Fresno Bee story
CBS47 TV news story
ABC story

The Madera County Board of Supervisors will be meeting next Tuesday to pass an emergency ordinance to ban the 4 dispensaries in the County. The public is asked to attend next BOS meeting on 9/22 at 9:00am at 200 W. Fourth Street, Madera. People who cannot attend this event should e-mail the BOS. Here is the website that has the BOS e-mail link.…