Drug warrior

​If the marijuana legalization efforts currently underway in California receive some unexpected financial support from Hollywood over the next few months, drug war opponents may be able to thank Whitney Houston. And Tony Bennett.

Mere hours after Houston was found dead in a Beverly Hilton hotel bathroom on Saturday afternoon, Bennett took the stage at a pre-Grammy Awards party that Houston, 48, was to attend. Drugs must have already been on Bennett's mind -- the next night, he would accept an award for a duo he did with Amy Winehouse, who died last summer at 27 -- for the ageless crooner used his stage time to beg the assembled glitterati to dedicate themselves to a preventative cause: outright legalization.

"I would like to have every gentleman and lady in this room to commit themselves to get our government to legalize drugs," said Bennett, to the sound of some applause.

Bennett didn't repeat this call on Sunday in front of the television cameras -- and Winehouse's parents -- but so what? It's A-listers at Clive Davis' party who have money to burn, not unwashed masses at home (where the drug that killed Winehouse is legal).

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Pot smokers getting no love from Obama this Valentine's Day

​The week doesn't often begin on Friday. But then again, it's not often Medical Marijuana Week.

That Medical Marijuana Week coincides with Valentine's Day is no mistake: It was the Compassionate Use Act that got us into this fine mess where we are today, after all. Starting today, it's this week that medical cannabis patients are asking President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) for their hearts.

Figuratively, of course. A week of protest kicks off today with a presidential visit. For pot advocates watching the federal Department of Justice chip away at state-legal medical marijuana (in the words of an Americans for Safe Access e-mail blast: "San Francisco medical cannabis is under attack!"), it is times like these that try man's soul.

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Paul Chabot Wants YOU to Call the IRS on Pot Clubs

​For Paul Chabot, the War on Drugs is personal indeed: Before he became a Navy man, a campus cop, and a former National Drug Control Policy staffer, he was in drug rehab for alcohol and marijuana addiction himself -- at the young age of 12, according to his online bio.

In his latest tactical maneuver in the marijuana war, however, San Bernardino County's Chabot is aiming not at the children or our lapsed morals -- he's going right for our checkbooks.

Californians -- and "every dad, mom and other citizen who has been affected by pot stores and drug legalization tactics" should become "IRS Pot Store Whistle-blowers," according to an e-mail Chabot sent Monday to the Coalition for a Drug Free California's e-mail list. The e-mail came under the subject line: "Call the IRS and you could earn millions!"

"By simply reporting a pot store to the IRS, average citizens who are fed up with these domestic marijuana cartels can now fill out a very simple form," wrote the proud Tea Partier. He added that, since California has "10,000 pot stores," the pickings are far from slim.

"If the IRS takes action and fines the pot store, the Whistle-blower, by law is entitled to a 30% cash award," he said.
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Close. But close enough?

​Regulate Marijuana Like Wine, a marijuana legalization measure vying to get onto the November ballot, has only $80,000 in cash on hand, according to finance records. But in a poll released this week, it had potential support from 62 percent of likely voters -- and that, ballot proponents say, is quite literally money in the bank.

"That shows funders we can win," said Steve Kubby, a South Lake Tahoe marijuana activist and member of the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine's campaign committee. "Anytime you're polling over 60 percent, you command anyone's attention."

And history just might be on RMLW's side: Those poll numbers are also close to where Proposition 215 was 16 years ago, before the nation's first medical marijuana laws were approved by a million vote margin in November 1996, Kubby noted. Those are also rosier numbers than 2010's Proposition 19 -- which earned more votes than former Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman -- enjoyed before its historic defeat.

It's still going to be an uphill climb: Organizers have 30,000 signatures thus far, a fraction of the 504,760 validated signatures from registered California voters needed to qualify Regulate Marijuana Like Wine for the ballot (closer to 750,000 or more are in reality needed, allowing for invalidated scribbles and other snafus). Nonetheless, the poll means several billionaires are at this moment crunching numbers and deciding whether to bankroll the initiatives, Kubby told SF Weekly Thursday.

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Some other time

​President Barack Obama again turned to social media to connect with voters -- and again he used it to ignore talking pot.

You might have noticed that every time President Obama takes to the series of interactive intertubes, the unwashed masses want to talk, not taxes, and not turkey, but the good herb. Last year, POTUS employed YouTube and Twitter to walk among the people, and on Monday, Obama connected with his fellow Americans using "Hangout" on Google+.

Just like the last two times, viewers/voters submitted questions to the president for consideration via YouTube. And just like the last two times, a question about marijuana legalization was the top draw.

And, just like the last time, the question from a retired cop about failed drug policy and a reexamination of law enforcement priorities was not forwarded to the president.

Yet again, Obama is blameless: The White House says Google+ moderators selected the questions.
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​San Francisco city officials indefinitely suspended the city's medical marijuana dispensary permitting program on Wednesday, according to the Department of Public Health.

Pending permits had been on hold since December, after a ruling in a state appeals court case halted similar permitting programs across California. That case was appealed to the state Supreme Court, and during the appeal, the city could resume processing permits, a spokesman for the City Attorney told SF Weekly last week.

But the city reversed its decision today. All medical cannabis dispensary permit applications are on hold indefinitely, according to Jim Soos, an assistant director of policy and planning with the S.F. Department of Public Health, until the city can "receive assurance that it is in compliance with state and federal law."

DPH staff made the decision to put all permits on hold in consultation with the City Attorney's Office, which provides legal advice to all city departments, he said.

"We're waiting for more clarity from the state on our ability to issue permits," said Soos, who added that the federal Department of Justice's recent closure of five permitted dispensaries also weighed on the city's decision. "Until the Health Department can sort out the criteria driving the [Justice Department]'s actions, it will not be issuing permits."

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It's a go -- for now.

​San Francisco has begun issuing medical marijuana dispensary licenses again, following a recent state Supreme court decision that will allow local pot dispensaries to do business -- for now.

The city's Medical Cannabis Act permitting process had been on hold for several months, following a state appeals court ruling in Pack vs. Long Beach. The ruling said that city or county laws regulating medical marijuana violated federal law; the decision led cities and counties throughout the state to suspend, reconsider, or repeal their regulatory schemes.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal, and while that's being considered, the lower court's ruling has become invalidated, a spokesman for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said Friday. That means the Department of Public Health's medical marijuana permits can continue as normal, and several proposed San Francisco dispensaries waiting in the wings can finally receive city approval to do business.

But there's rumors that the Justice Department is considering suing cities that regulate state-legal marijuana. If that happens, it could be game over -- again.
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A nice idea, but...

​As if the promise to dismantle most of the Washington-based government wasn't enough, Texas Congressman Ron Paul has also made waves in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination with his maverick stance on drug policy.

During his 30 years in the House of Representatives, Paul has authored and co-authored multiple marijuana-friendly bills. He's proposed laws to decriminalize marijuana, permit industrial hemp farming, and constitutionally delegate to states how to enforce extant medical marijuana.

None of these bills have ever been heard in committee. Nonetheless, Paul's drug war bona fides are earning him admirers among liberals who note that Paul is the only candidate to remotely approach the two points necessary to end the Drug War: Repealing, or at least amending, the Controlled Substances Act, and a rescheduling of marijuana within the DEA's pantheon of forbidden fruits.
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The "Burn One Down" jokes are not funny

​The SOMA building that caught fire late Tuesday also houses the city's only licensed medical marijuana delivery service, which has, fortunately, been able to continue operations.

Firefighters responded to a two-alarm blaze at a four-story building on 11th Street at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The fire displaced 20 people, including some employees at The Green Cross, according to spokeswoman Caren Woodson. However, pot deliveries continued unabated Wednesday -- and it will be business as usual unless city authorities deem the building uninhabitable.

Woodson, who also lives in the building, said her apartment, as well as the Green Cross's first-floor offices, are unscathed, and that the fire -- which authorities are still investigating -- started on an outside balcony.
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Not pot's fault

​Tobacco smoke and marijuana smoke have some things in common. For example, they are both "smoke." Yet it appears there are some significant differences between the two, according to a study conducted by University of California San Francisco researchers. 

For starters, one causes lung problems and the other doesn't.

Researchers found no link between marijuana smoke and emphysema, or any of the other pulmonary problems associated with cigarettes. In fact, some light marijuana users had higher lung function that nonsmokers.

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