Steven Short

Marijuana is legal for medical use under California law, but sale and possession are still federal crimes. Raids on growers and dispensaries – and a general climate of uncertainty – are increasingly creating problems for the industry.

Last week, the company that processes most dispesary credit card transactions nationally announced that starting in July, it would no longer do so. This means businesses will now have to conduct most of their business in cash.

Today we are featuring Bay Area rockers, Dirty Ghosts. They played Shoreline Amphitheater at the beginning of this month, then did some shows in Calgary, and will be back in San Francisco on Wednesday (06.27) at the Brick & Mortar Music Hall. Doors open at 8pm; music is at 9pm.

Today we are featuring The Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble. Jones is a noted percussionist, who has performed and recorded with everyone from Larry Coryell to Zion-I. You can actually hear him twice in San Francisco this Saturday, June 23, 2012. He’s at the free Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, starting at 1pm. Then he’s playing again at the 850 Cigar Bar, beginning about 10pm. 

For today's local music we are featuring La Pena Community Chorus of Berkeley. While their songs use folk traditions, the lyrics are usually about contemporary social injustice throughout Latin America. The chorus is performing a benefit concert at La Pena Cultural Center on Saturday (06.23) at 8pm, marking the center’s 37th anniversary.

(Medical Marijuana Business Daily) // Patients will need greenbacks to purchase their green bud at cannabis dispensaries throughout the US starting next month – unless they have a Discover card. Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS), the main national credit card clearinghouse working with dispensaries, notified them by email that  the company will stop processing Visa and Mastercard transactions as of July 1…