Biggest Roundup EVER: Legalization & Legislation… Cops & Courts… Business, Health and more….
LEGALIZATION & LEGISLATION
“Sweeping marijuana bill” introduced in CA Senate // PressDemocrat.com “There are so many regulations governing agriculture in this state but one of our top crops has been left out and that’s marijuana,” says North Coast Senator Mike McGuire. Senate Bill 643 joins a growing number of marijuana-related bills in the State Assembly.
Budtenders, trimmers, could benefit from legalization// SFGate.com Unions actively favor California legalization, as a job creator and benefit to workers.
Jamaica includes small farmers in medical marijuana system // JamaicaObserver.com Senator says including small growers should produce “tremendous economic benefits."
President Obama continues evolving // SFgate.com “The more we treat some of these issues related to drug abuse from a public health model and not just from an incarceration model, the better off we’re going to be,” the former Choom Gang member tells CNN’s Sanjay Gupta in third “Weed” special.
And what Obama said on the subject in Jamaica // reason.com He warns against trans-national drug organizations entering the legal market. The only applause comes when he says, “We have to stop the flow of guns and cash into the Caribbean and Central America and Latin America.” Watch Rasta Man ask him the question at the beginning of this video.
COPS & COURTS
DEA chief steps down // WSJ.com “Her hold on the job has been precarious for more than a year following her apparent discomfort with the Obama administration’s acceptance of laws in some states decriminalizing marijuana.”
Berkeley playing favorites, lawsuit charges // Courthousenews.com The suit claims “The Berkeley city government allows three medical marijuana dispensaries that illegally operate for profit to monopolize the market.”
Traffic stops can’t be drug busts // LAtimes.com “The 6-3 decision limits the increasingly common practice whereby officers stop a car for a traffic violation and then call for a drug-sniffing dog to inspect the vehicle.”
Judge who upheld Schedule 1 classification explains why // SFgate.com “There are ‘disagreements among well-informed experts’ about whether the plant has any medicinal value.” [See related story in Opinion, below.]
BUSINESS
Sunset District ready to fight dispensaries again // SFweekly.com “Successful cannabis merchants are itching to open up second locations in the city's outlying neighborhoods, areas positioned near freeways with easy access to San Mateo County, the large, affluent suburban area that has no dispensaries. That includes the Sunset.”
HEALTH
Elders finding marijuana to really be medicinal // SFGate.com “I’m not doing this to get high,” say many members of the Rossmoor Medical Education & Support Club in this retirement community near Walnut Creek.
Marijuana + Alcohol = double trouble // USNews.com Consume both and you’re twice as likely to drive drunk and three times more likely to “face social troubles.”
Oral cannabis extracts perform well in study // www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Oral cannabis extracts (OCEs) have a positive impact when administered to children, according to the journal “Epilepsy & Behavior.” More research is needed, as always.
EVENT
“Weed the People” author at LitQuake event // litquake.org “Have the past 75 years of marijuana prohibition been wholly unnecessary, or are we deluding ourselves about the harm we’re about to unleash?” That’s the focus of Bruce Barcott’s book, “Weed the People.” Meet him next Tuesday in San Francisco. Click on the headline for specifics.
OPINION
Doctors see health benefits, with controls // Dailynews.com “I don’t think the government or the Federal Drug Administration can ignore the fact that it’s cheap and there is compelling evidence that it does have medical use,” says doctor at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
IT’S A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, SO KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL…
Hippie Hill trashed again // CBSlocal.com The mellow vibe created by the annual 4/20 pot party in Golden Gate Park was overshadowed once again by the mountains of trash left behind. That said, a member of the Dept. of Public Works cleanup crew who I spoke to said he didn’t mind the extra work.
“I enjoy it,” he said (not wanting to give his name, since he was new on the job). “It gives me something to do,” meaning something to do beyond routine sweeping. [This is not in any way an endorsement of littering. It’s easier to haul out your trash than to bring it in, so please do. – Ed.]
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