Sacramento News & Review, 28 Mar 2013 – I haven’t done any smoking for more than 40 years. I do, however, have an old cane that converts into a pipe/hash pipe. Due to the residues and my lack of knowledge of paraphernalia laws, I would be afraid to offer it on eBay or even keep it in my house anymore. Any suggestions? – -Model Citizen Cane

Sacramento News & Review, 21 Mar 2013 – Colorado and Washington have legalized marijuana for adults. How is that going? – -Sara It’s going quite well, actually. The Colorado task force assigned to come up with recommendations for marijuana regulation has just ended, and the recommendations are now in committee. There should be a bill on the floor in a few months. Washington is still looking for a "marijuana czar," but the delay has been because it has received a ton of applications for the position.

Sacramento News & Review, 14 Mar 2013 – Proposition 215 allows medical-cannabis users to consume their medicine anywhere cigarette smoking is allowed. Why aren’t we all enjoying a medical-cannabis spliff on the patio at Old Soul at Weatherstone with all the cigarette smokers or on the patios of other coffeehouses and bars? – -Midtown Lalo

Sacramento News & Review, 07 Mar 2013 – Thank you so much for your column. As a stoner who loves to read, The 420 combines my favorite pastimes. I’ve had a question about dispensaries for a while, and maybe you can help: The other day, I stopped at a dispensary in Sacramento (don’t want to get anyone in trouble), and I was surprised to find they had a tax on their weed. They had plenty of signs that informed of the tax, and they even listed the price before the tax and after the tax. The weed was great, and it was only a $1.20-per-gram tax, so it wasn’t too much of a big deal, but is it allowed? This has been the only dispensary to ever tax me. I know the laws are already pretty confusing, but I thought that the only reason dispensaries were allowed to operate was because they don’t explicitly say they sell weed, but rather that they exchange weed for a "donation." It is through this loophole that they are able to slip through the federal law that prohibits selling weed. Or am I completely mistaken about everything?

Sacramento News & Review, 28 Feb 2013 – What are "dabs"? How do you use them? – -Curious Charley It’s pretty simple. A dab is a blob of "errl," as in "Ermahgarrd! Errl dabs!" I hope that clears it up.

Sacramento News & Review, 21 Feb 2013 – Do you think California will ever have a comprehensive statewide medical-cannabis law? – -Wonky Willie The short answer is yes. The long answer is no one knows what kind of legislation we will see. I was just talking to Don Duncan, the California director of Americans for Safe Access, and he told me that State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg really wants to do something, but no one really knows what that something will be. Many of the bigger dispensaries have teamed up with the lobbying pros at California Strategies and are pushing for the state to take a stronger hand in regulation. But there are no serious proposals yet. Last year, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill that would have allowed statewide sales, but he withdrew the bill after it sat around for a few months.

Sacramento News & Review, 14 Feb 2013 – Do you think the federal government will legalize marijuana in our lifetime? – -Choom Gang They are probably going to have to do something, seeing as we are a representative democracy. Don’t expect anything major to happen for a while. But all signs point to yes. Earlier this month, Congressional Representatives Jared Polis (D-Colorado) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) introduced a bill to legalize marijuana and impose a federal excise tax, but all the real action is taking place on a statewide level.

Sacramento News & Review, 07 Feb 2013 – I heard the Sacramento City Council is making all the pot clubs move. Is that true? – -420 U-Haul Not true. At least not yet. The city council met last week to discuss changing Sacto’s medical-marijuana ordinance so that clubs would have to be 1,000 feet from "sensitive use" areas like parks and schools and churches. City staff claims that doing so would make the clubs more compliant with federal guidelines for medical marijuana, even though California state law says that clubs only have to be at least 600 feet away from sensitive-use areas. The problem is, there are virtually no spots in Sac that fit the 1,000-foot rule, so changing that law would amount to a de facto ban.

Sacramento News & Review, 31 Jan 2013 – Last year, there were so many shops selling medical marijuana. Now it seems they all have been shut down. If I want to open a shop, what should I do, where should I get a permit, what are the laws? Where and how can I get info about this? – -Alex

Sacramento News & Review, 24 Jan 2013 – It’s cold and flu season, and I still want to smoke big with my friends, but I don’t want any icky germs. What to do? – -Johnny Germaphobe Yeah, passing joints and pipes and bongs and whatnot is an incredibly easy way to pick up all kinds of influenza. I recommend using a one-hitter pipe and not sharing. If that’s impossible, hit the blunt "chillum" style: Place the jay between your fingers, make a fist and use your hand as a sort of pipe stem, so you don’t actually put your mouth on that germ-encrusted doobie. Your hands will reek of weed, but you should be a little safer that way.