Another State Appellate Court Holds That the Police Must Return Medical Marijuana That Was Seized from a Qualified Patient Paul Marini | January 18, 2013 Although the case of Arizona v. Okun arises out of Arizona, the patient whose marijuana was seized is from California. While driving across the California-Arizona boarder at Yuma, qualified California medical marijuana patient Valerie Okun was stopped at a border... Read more
California Supreme Court Deems Legality of Storefront Medical Marijuana Dispensaries “Final” Paul Marini | January 18, 2013 "The matter is now final," according to the California Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court denied requests from the League of California Cities, the San Diego District Attorney's Office, the Sacramento District Attorney's Office, the Sonoma District Attorney's... Read more
LA City Council moves to write a third medical cannabis initiative Paul Marini | January 17, 2013 Voters in Los Angeles will have three medical cannabis measures from which to choose when they go to the polls in May. The City Council approved a motion (11-1) by Council Member Paul Koretz on Wednesday instructing the City Attorney... Read more
California Supreme Court picks February 5th for oral arguments to decide whether municipalities can ban local distribution of medical marijuana Paul Marini | January 11, 2013 The California Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments this week in a case that has received widespread attention inside and outside of the medical marijuana community. The appellate court ruling in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness... Read more
ASA's Year in Review 2012 Paul Marini | December 31, 2012 This is the time of year when I take some time to reflect over the past twelve months and prepare myself for the opportunities that lay ahead in the New Year.2012 was bittersweet. On one hand, we moved the fight... Read more
ASA Comments on CA Sales Tax Exemption Proposal Paul Marini | December 13, 2012 Recently, the California State Board of Equalization asked for comments on a conceptual proposal to exempt terminally ill patients from paying sales tax on cannabis provided by dispensaries. In California, as in many other states, medications prescribed by doctors are... Read more
LA advocates submit 70,000 initiative signatures Paul Marini | December 11, 2012 A coalition of medical cannabis patients, providers, and organized labor submitted 70,000 signatures on Friday to qualify a voter initiative for the May ballot in Los Angeles. The Committee to Protect Patients and Neighborhoods (CPPN), which includes Americans for Safe... Read more
Massachusetts becomes the 18th medical marijuana state; now comes the difficult work of implementation Paul Marini | November 28, 2012 Earlier this month, an overwhelming sixty-three percent of Massachusetts voters approved Ballot Question 3 and, in so doing, became the country’s 18th state to pass a medical marijuana law. Massachusetts is now the latest in a growing number of states... Read more
Feds Continue to Undermine Mendocino's Local Law by Violating Patient Privacy Paul Marini | November 26, 2012 It wasn’t enough for the Justice Department to conduct aggressive raids on state-compliant cultivators in Mendocino County in 2010 and 2011, then earlier this year threaten local officials with litigation if the highly successful cultivation program continued. Now, according to... Read more
Congressional Medical Cannabis Champions Win Big in Reelection & Senate Bids Paul Marini | November 09, 2012 One of the least reported stories coming out of this year's Election Day results was the strong showing that medical cannabis champions had in their reelection bids this year. Even better for medical cannabis patients, 2013 will mark the first... Read more