Enough said

Today, a California Congressman introduced legislation that would finally give pot clubs the smoke break they deserve.

Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) rolled out a new bill that would modify the federal Controlled Substances Act so anyone complying with state marijuana laws, (i.e. pot clubs and pot smokers with medical marijuana cards) would be immune from federal prosecution.

The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act (H.R. 1523) would clear not just marijuana consumers, but also medical and non-medical marijuana businesses operating in states where medical marijuana is legal.

And for good reason.

More »

We took their drugs

It can be hard to figure out exactly what to make of the evil, ugly specter known as Mexican drug cartels. A pair of investigative reports, conducted by the Associated Press and the Center for Investigative Reporting, have given us some conclusions to chew on -- and together, they paint an odd picture. More »

Who will give them what they want?

Gallup, Pew, straw -- whatever poll you take, the result of late is the same: a majority of Americans think marijuana should be legal.

Today's offering is from the Pew Research Center, which has been gauging the public's desire on drug policy since the 1960s. And "for the first time in more than four decades," Pew is recording a majority in favor of ending the war on the magic plant, with 52 percent of our nation's citizens in favor of legalization, to 45 percent still hanging onto Prohibition mentality.

It seems indisputable that legalization is the will of the people. So how are those legalization measures in Congress faring? (Hint: not well).

More »

The lone bad man

Our friends over at SFist today posted a reminder that it's been one year since federal agents -- mostly the IRS, though DEA and US Marshals were on scene -- raided the campus of Oakland marijuana grow college Oaksterdam University and the offices and apartment of its founder, cannabis legalization hero Richard Lee.

No one from Oaksterdam -- not the indomitable Lee, whose life savings was spent on the Proposition 19 campaign (before an irate IRS could seize it, the theory goes), and none of his student growers -- has to date been arrested or charged with a crime in connection to the raid.

But there were arrests, and a year later, exactly one person has been charged with a crime: Jose Gutierrez, a veteran radio reporter for KPFA. He's in federal court, and faces up to eight years in prison.

More »

Now you have a friend in the marijuana business

As the most powerful man in the room milled aimlessly about the bar of the United Irish Cultural Center on Friday, looking for someone who recognized him as United States Congressman, all the attention was focused where it always is whenever Gavin Newsom is in the room: right on the lieutenant governor himself.

Newsom was at the Instituto Laboral de la Raza award dinner hawking copies of his new book, Citizenville, and doing what he does best -- looking good. In addition to the labor leaders and elected officials stepping forward for a moment of his time, Gavin's ear was repeatedly bent by one of the labor movement's fastest-growing segments: the medical marijuana industry.

More »

Your guess is as good as ours

Most government agencies in California prefer to pretend that the state's medical cannabis industry doesn't exist. The state Board of Equalization is an exception -- and with good reason.

State sales taxes are due on every medical marijuana transaction, and the BOE has spent time over the past few years making sure that every dispensary with a seller's permit is well-aware -- often charging back taxes and fees. The BOE also showed a kind side last week when it proposed that sales taxes be relieved on cannabis users in hospice care (who will still be charged $50 an eighth for their preferred medicine).

Which begs the question: How much tax money does the state raked in from medical marijuana sales?

More »

And Bob's Your Uncle

You think Obama's heavy-handed for unleashing his people on our pot clubs? Well, at least he's not turning your neighbors into a bunch of narcs.

Over in the land of tea and crumpets, cops are ramping-up their campaign against marijuana, and let's just say it's much different than our campaign against marijuana.

Rather than conduct routine drug stings, the bobbies there have mailed out scratch n sniff cards to presumably law-abiding residents to give them a clear understanding of what pot smells like. The hope is that after getting a whiff of the scent, the English folks will be able to sniff out the useless knobs growing pot right under their noses.

That ought to give them something else to talk about besides the weather.

More »

Heather Donahue

Believe it or not, the term "marijuana business" is still a fresh one for vast swaths of our populace, even in a San Francisco where cash has been exchanged for cannabis -- with the state taking a cut via taxes -- for years.

And it's a sensitive one, too -- look no further than the fact that no sitting city politician would agree to be on a panel discussion of "The Business of Cannabis in San Francisco" scheduled for tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Business is good, except when it's cannabusiness, apparently.

But author Heather Donahue, known for her role in The Blair Witch Project? She'll be there, as will a cannabis policy wonk and an expert on pot botany.

More »

Not worth it?

More »

Strap in

More »