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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …