CA Cities Sued Over Medical Marijuana Ordinances
May 18, 2010 Online Issue
By Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal
Source: National Law Journal 
California — Medical marijuana dispensaries have filed lawsuits against California cities, including Los Angeles, challenging ordinances that effectively threaten the existence of their businesses.
Besides the dispensaries, the plaintiffs include medical marijuana users and organizations that promote the use of medical marijuana. Vincent Howard, founding partner of Howard | Nassiri, based in Anaheim, Calif., who represents at least 10 dispensaries in Los Angeles, expects more suits to be filed.
“As long as cities want to turn a blind eye and pretend like this isn’t coming, there’s going to be a lot of lawsuits and a proliferation of dispensaries,” he said.
“We continue to see in California dispensaries trying all sorts of creative ways to try to establish their legality under cities’ municipal codes,” said Jeffrey Dunn, a partner in the Irvine, Calif., office of Best Best & Krieger. He is defending Lake Forest, Calif., in several suits. “To date, none of them has been successful.”
Tags: legalize marijuana, marijuana laws, Medical Marijuana, Medical Marijuana Policy, medicinal marijuana
Don’t Call It Pot in This Circle It’s a Profession
Apr 27, 2010 Online Issue
By Jesse McKinley
Source: New York Times 
Oakland, Calif. — Like hip-hop, health food and snowboarding, marijuana is going corporate.
As more and more states allow medical use of the drug, and California considers outright legalization, marijuana’s supporters are pushing hard to burnish the image of pot by franchising dispensaries and building brands; establishing consulting, lobbying and law firms; setting up trade shows and a seminar circuit; and constructing a range of other marijuana-related businesses.
Boosters say it is all part of a concerted effort to trade the drug’s trippy, hippie counterculture past for what they believe will inevitably be a more buttoned-up future.
“I don’t possess a Nehru jacket, I’ve never grown a goatee, I’ve never grown my hair past the nape of my neck,” Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said. “And I don’t like patchouli.”
Tags: marijuana, marijuana for medical use, Medical Marijuana Policy, medicinal marijuana
Panel Will Study Medical Marijuana
Feb 28, 2010 Online Issue
By Tony Leys
Source: Des Moines Register
Iowa — Iowa legislators plan to keep the medical marijuana issue moving forward, a leading lawmaker said Tuesday.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the Legislature intends to set up a committee of experts to consider how marijuana could safely be allowed for patients with legitimate medical needs. If that committee comes up with a workable plan, he said, legislators will give the matter serious discussion in their 2011 session.
Last week, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy unanimously recommended legislators reclassify the drug in a way that could make it legal for medical purposes. The board also recommended the state set up an expert task force, including patients, health care professionals, state regulators and law enforcement representatives, to design a system.
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Tags: marijuana bust, Medical Marijuana, Medical Marijuana Policy
AP Newsbreak: New medical marijuana policy issued
Oct 25, 2009 Online Issue
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, 
under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.
Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.
The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.
Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
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Tags: Medical Marijuana Policy
California Senate Urges New Federal Policy on Medical Marijuana
Aug 31, 2009 Online Issue
Sacramento, CA — The California Senate voted 23-15 yesterday on a resolution that urges the federal government to end medical marijuana raids and to 
“create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access to any patient that would benefit from it.” Recent federal enforcement activity underscores the need for Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14, introduced in June by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). Although President Obama has signaled a willingness to change federal policy on medical marijuana, his Administration has yet to come forward with an actual implementation plan.
In a previous statement, Senator Leno stated that, “Patients and providers in California remain at risk of arrest and prosecution by federal law enforcement and legally established medical marijuana cooperatives continue to be the subjects of federal raids.” Once passed, “this resolution will clearly state the Legislature’s opposition to federal interference with California’s medical marijuana law and support for expanded federal reform and medical research,” continued Leno.
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