Pages tagged "Dispensaries"

San Diego prosecutor to try dispensary operator for third time

| March 22, 2013 |

Third time’s a charm? Not in the case of Navy veteran and former San Diego dispensary operator Jovan Jackson.San Diego Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Chris Lindberg decided this week to try Jackson for a third time in as many years....

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If you want to break federal law, it’s better to be a banker than a medical marijuana provider

| March 04, 2013 |

      According to Matt Taibbi, in his latest Rolling Stone exposé on the banking and financial industry “Too Big to Jail,” HSBC “helped to wash hundreds of millions of dollars for drug mobs, including Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel,” and also “moved...

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Why I am Attending the National Unity Conference

| February 15, 2013 |

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) opened the eyes of this thirty-three year law enforcement veteran. Caught in the whirlpool of drug prohibition policy, prohibitionist law enforcement folks as I once was, forget the importance of maintaining an open mind. Unfortunately,...

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Medical Marijuana Patients Missing from California Supreme Court Oral Arguments

| February 06, 2013 |

In a highly-publicized and widely-watched medical marijuana case, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday on whether municipalities should be able to ban local medical marijuana distribution, an activity deemed legal under state law. For all of the controversy...

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Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Slowly Moving in the Right Direction

| February 04, 2013 |

As most of you know, Massachusetts passed a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana (MMJ) last November 6.  Although we were optimistic it would pass, we were very pleased when 63% of the voters, nearly 1.9 million people voted for...

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California Supreme Court Deems Legality of Storefront Medical Marijuana Dispensaries “Final”

| 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...

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LA City Council moves to write a third medical cannabis initiative

| 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...

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California Supreme Court picks February 5th for oral arguments to decide whether municipalities can ban local distribution of medical marijuana

| 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...

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ASA's Year in Review 2012

| 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...

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ASA Comments on CA Sales Tax Exemption Proposal

| 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...

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