Highland Community News, 30 Oct 2012 – Controversial Store in San Bernardino Is Closed; Operators Arrested Federal Drug Enforcement Agency officers descended in force on the A.S.P.C marijuana shop at Palm and Highland avenues Tuesday morning, making arrests and confiscating evidence from the store.

Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct 2012 – A Florida Case Involving the Use of a Police Dog Will Test the Limits of the 4th Amendment. The Supreme Court has said that at the "very core of the 4th Amendment stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion." The court’s commitment to the sanctity of the home will be tested Wednesday by a case featuring as familiar a symbol of domestic life as the family home itself – a dog. Only in this case, the dog was not the householder’s best friend but the police officer’s.

The Ukiah Daily Journal, 28 Oct 2012 – To the Editor: I haven’t lived in Mendocino County long, but I have lived here long enough to know that we are in the season of "The Harvest." The gathering for the Pumpkinfest, the familiar sounds of black helicopters, the smells of our youths clothing inundated with the dust and sap of local greenery being processed, and the smoke which dreams are made of begins rising in the air. You don’t pay taxes on your crops, and even though many of you claim to be "Humanists" (and so was Jesus and Buddha, by the way), in truth you’re probably too paranoid to belong to any church, so chances are you don’t pay tithing either.

The Daily Californian, 26 Oct 2012 – CITY AFFAIRS: Local officials should act quickly to resolve concern in South Berkeley over a medical marijuana outfit that may be illegal. South Berkeley residents have waited too long for the city to resolve their concerns about a potentially illegal medical marijuana operation.

DrugSense

DrugSense

DrugSense

North County Times, 27 Oct 2012 – In November, voters in Del Mar and Solana Beach face initiatives seeking to locate marijuana dispensaries within their city limits, despite numerous public-safety concerns. Despite everything we know about the negative results of marijuana smoking – a known carcinogen that attacks the respiratory system – we still see a concerted effort to normalize its use.

Daily Trojan, 25 Oct 2012 – Federal authorities closed a number of medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Downtown Los Angeles in September as part of an effort to cut down on the sale and use of the drug, which is legal in California for medical purposes but still considered illegal by the federal government. This month, the Drug Enforcement Administration followed up by sending warning letters and revisiting several dispensaries. This series of shutdowns was not only unnecessary, but it was also a violation of state rights and an indication of broken promises on the part of President Barack Obama. As marijuana regulation is becoming a hot button issue in the presidential race, such an infringement on an individual state’s rights is unacceptable.

San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Oct 2012 – Thanks for publishing "U.S. attorney targets fraud" (Open Forum, Oct. 23). It’s a vital issue that deserves more exposure. It’s also reassuring to know that U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag is devoting attention to issues other than the fraudulent one of medical marijuana dispensaries.