Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec 2012 – The Agency Refuses to Cooperate With LAPD Investigators in the ‘Blunt Force’ Death of a Suspect in Custody. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has refused for more than two years to allow its agents to cooperate with a Los Angeles Police Department investigation into the death of a drug suspect shortly after he was arrested in a DEA operation, according to LAPD records.

New York Times, 21 Dec 2012 – LOS ANGELES – Let Colorado and Washington be the marijuana trailblazers. Let them struggle with the messy details of what it means to actually legalize the drug. Marijuana is, as a practical matter, already legal in much of California. No matter that its recreational use remains technically against the law. Marijuana has, in many parts of this state, become the equivalent of a beer in a paper bag on the streets of Greenwich Village. It is losing whatever stigma it ever had and still has in many parts of the country, including New York City, where the kind of open marijuana use that is common here would attract the attention of any passing law officer.

The Press Democrat, 20 Dec 2012 – Sheriff Promises Details About Raid On Land Owned By Family Of Sheriff’s Captain Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said Wednesday he has received the report on an internal investigation that stemmed from a marijuana raid on property owned by the family of a sheriff’s captain.

The Record, 20 Dec 2012 – Outdoor Moratorium To Continue 10 Months LODI – A 45-day ban on outdoor medical marijuana cultivation within Lodi city limits has been extended for 10 months and 15 days. The Lodi City Council on Wednesday night granted a request by the City Attorney’s Office to extend its 45-day ban, which was approved Nov. 7, with hopes that an ordinance that will govern how and where pot can be grown by licensed medical marijuana patients.

The Chico News & Review, 20 Dec 2012 – HSBC Case Shows How The Rich And Powerful Are Immune From Prosecution Currently more than 500,000 Americans are imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses, including tens of thousands of people whose only crime was simple possession of a substance the law states they shouldn’t have. And yet when Britain’s biggest bank, HSBC, was determined last week to have laundered $800 million of drug money in violation of U.S. banking laws, nobody was charged with a crime.

Sacramento News & Review, 20 Dec 2012 – A "friend" of mine has a problem: She is going through a rough divorce, and her ex is threatening to take the kids because of her medical cannabis use. Can he do that? – -Concerned "Friend" The answer used to be yes, but the times, they are a-changin’. Last year, the sheriff’s department took away the children of Daisy Bram, a young mother of two living in Butte County, after they raided her small cannabis-growing operation. They charged her with child endangerment. It took six months, but the charges were eventually dropped and her children were returned to her care.

Two Rivers Tribune, 19 Dec 2012 – Dear Editor, Legalize Cannabis, For these reasons: The Hoopa Tribe should legalize cannabis, instead of outlawing it on the reservation, because there are too many negative impacts from prohibition.

Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec 2012 – A Federal Judge Will Hold the First Hearing As Oakland Seeks to Bar Store’s Closure. SAN FRANCISCO – A showdown over the fate of the country’s largest medical marijuana dispensary heads to federal court here Thursday, and the outcome could hint at what lies ahead as a growing number of states opt for legalization.

Appeal-Democrat, 19 Dec 2012 – Now that Yuba County supervisors have amended a medical marijuana growing ordinance to make it slightly less restrictive, the onus is on those who grow it to fall in line, supervisors said. Both supervisors John Nicoletti and Mary Jane Griego said it’ll be up to groups such as the Yuba County Growers Association to get information out there before a small-scale farmer gets a knock on his door from county code enforcement.

Ventura County Star, 18 Dec 2012 – While Homeland Security and its allies are busy congratulating each other on intercepting 3,000 pounds of marijuana, do they really think they have kept all the other boats from landing? The panga boats will not stop. Marijuana use is not going down.