AltWeeklies Wire
Weed Takes Root: Marijuana's Steady Creep Toward Legalization Nationwidenew
Oaksterdam takes its name from a bastardization of Oakland, where the university began, and pot-friendly Amsterdam. Here, new growers and dispensary operators are being trained like whole legions of Johnny Appleseeds, soon to spread pot's blessings from one coastline to the other.
New Year, New Momentum Give New Hope For Legalizing Cannabisnew
Paul Stanford, who runs a national chain of medical marijuana clinics, is making a new legalization push. And with the help of a professional signature-gathering company, and a political climate vastly more turned on to cannabis, Stanford hopes to attain his lifelong goal.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
01-06-2010 |
Drugs
The Top Ten News Stories of 2009 for Santa Fe and the Countrynew
As the economy tumbled, with it came the housing market, the job market and the public pocketbook. At the same time, lack of access to affordable health care became an intolerable political juggernaut, pay-to-play scandals unfolded here and elsewhere, and swine flu panic gripped the nation.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Santa Fe Reporter Staff |
12-31-2009 |
Commentary
Obama Entrapped Me: Medical Marijuana Provider Mounts a Novel Criminal Defensenew
More than most citizens, James Dean Stacy feels betrayed by the candidate for whom he voted for president. Stacy was arrested in September when his medical-marijuana collective, Movement in Action, was raided along with 13 others.
San Diego CityBeat |
Dave Maass |
12-28-2009 |
Drugs
When Will Medical Marijuana Get the High Sign in Monterey County?new
Daniel Maniscalco dreams of getting off the road and opening Monterey County’s first medical pot storefront. “I want to provide medical marijuana patients the medicines their doctors recommend,” he says.
Monterey County Weekly |
Robin Urevich |
12-17-2009 |
Drugs
L.A.'s Medical-Weed Warsnew
Today Los Angeles stands as the nation's pot capital, a mecca for buying and selling the drug under the guise of the medicinal use initiative California voters approved 13 years ago. The conditions are testament to a breakdown in basic governance unseen in any other major California city.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald and Christine Pelisek |
11-30-2009 |
Drugs
Recent Legal Tangles Leave Colorado's Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in a Hazenew
Owners of dispensaries around Colorado have been scrambling to expand their services -- adding everything from housekeeping to lawn-mowing -- in an effort to conform to a recent court ruling that has modified the crucial definition of the "caregiver."
Boulder Weekly |
Jeff Dodge and David Accomazzo |
11-16-2009 |
Drugs
How the Holder Memo Affects New Mexico's Groundbreaking Medical Marijuana Programnew
Doctors, growers, caregivers and patients stick their necks out under New Mexico's cannabis law. Does the AG's directive make any difference?
Weekly Alibi |
Marisa Demarco |
11-12-2009 |
Drugs
Colorado Legislator Wants University to Grow Pot for the Statenew
Al White has proposed legislation that would effectively give the state complete control over the growth, sale and distribution of medical marijuana, possibly putting an end to the gold rush of dispensaries that has emerged in Boulder and around the state.
Boulder Weekly |
Jefferson Dodge |
11-09-2009 |
Drugs
California Dopes Out Marijuana Bill as Legalization Petition Gets Passed Aroundnew
Two serious bids to legalize marijuana in California are moving forward simultaneously. And while decisions won't be made for months, both efforts have generated interest from around the world.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe |
11-04-2009 |
Drugs
Will Medical Marijuana Regulations Turn the Wild West into the Mild West?new
Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown is getting ready to give medical marijuana speculators a good, swift kick with his cowboy boot, to get them to toe whatever line the city decides to draw. Better that, he says, than kick them out of Denver altogether -- as towns across the metro area have started to do.
San Diego Pot-Raid Search-Warrant Affidavits Reveal Dubious Undercover Opsnew
California's medical-pot organizations operate in a largely untested gray area of law. Yet, the only clear crime throughout a four-month sting in San Diego was perpetrated by the police.
San Diego CityBeat |
Dave Maass |
10-29-2009 |
Crime & Justice
All Sides In L.A.'s Pot Wars Agree: City Hall is Incompetentnew
The disparate groups in the pot debate agree on one thing: Los Angeles City Hall has been almost comically inept at complying with simple state deadlines for municipalities to create rules for medicinal marijuana.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald and Jill Stewart |
10-23-2009 |
Drugs
A Year Late, L.A. Tries to Uninvite its Unvetted Pot Shopsnew
The Los Angeles City Council now faces one of its potentially most expensive legal battles ever, a war over medical pot that could draw in shady drug dealers, serious medical-marijuana activists, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown -- and even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
09-25-2009 |
Drugs
Ganjapreneurs Are Cashing in on Colorado's Booming Medical Pot Businessnew
To meet an increased demand, at least seventy new Colorado dispensaries have opened, forty in the metro area alone. Many of these are operated by what insiders are calling a "second wave" of ganjapreneurs -- savvy, experienced businesspeople and professionals.
