The Record, 14 Oct 2012 – LODI – The Lodi City Council on Tuesday will discuss its options for regulating the cultivation of medical marijuana and likely direct the City Attorney’s Office to draft an ordinance for what isn’t allowable. Deputy District Attorney Janice Magdich said the city Police Department has heard complaints from residents where neighbors have been growing marijuana in their backyards and the plant odor has caused a stench in the neighborhood.

The Press Democrat, 12 Oct 2012 – More students carrying medical marijuana cards has led to a dramatic decline in drug-related arrests at Sonoma State University, newly released statistics show. The number of such arrests dropped from 35 in 2009 to 27 in 2010 and zero last year, the last period for which statistics are available.

Wall Street Journal, 11 Oct 2012 – OAKLAND, Calif.-This Northern California city is fighting to protect its biggest medical-marijuana dispensary-which generates more than a $1 million in local tax revenue annually-from a federal crackdown on pot shops. Oakland sued U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and San Francisco U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag on Wednesday in response to a Justice Department civil-forfeiture complaint aiming to seize the building where the Harborside Health Center, a medical-marijuana dispensary, rents space. The pot shop’s owner says it sells more than $20 million of marijuana annually.

Daily Press, 13 Oct 2012 – APPLE VALLEY * After prescription pain medication did not bring relief to her 64-year-old mother, Sandy McKay decided it was time for her mom to try another method: cannabis. "She took a bad fall while she was a bus driver, and she was in a lot of pain from multiple surgeries," McKay said. "Conventional pain medication just wasn’t effective."

New York Times, 12 Oct 2012 – SAN FRANCISCO – The City of Oakland has filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent the Department of Justice from seizing property leased to the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the country. "This lawsuit is about protecting the rights of legitimate medical patients," City Attorney Barbara Parker said in a statement on Wednesday, when the suit was filed. "I am deeply dismayed that the federal government would seek to deny these rights and deprive thousands of seriously ill Californians of access to safe, affordable and effective medicine."

Palo Alto Weekly, 12 Oct 2012 – City, marijuana advocates clash over whether legalized dispensaries are a ‘humane’ solution or a misguided one After wafting through Los Angeles, San Jose and Oakland, California’s cloudy debate over marijuana law will drift into Palo Alto next month, when voters consider whether to allow three dispensaries to open shop in the city.

DrugSense

New Times, 10 Oct 2012 – In light of an ambiguous grand jury report, the city of Arroyo Grande is playing it safe and cracking down on medical marijuana delivery services within its city limits. On Oct. 9, the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to its ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries; the new language includes mobile dispensaries or collectives in the ban, following a San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury report that makes sweeping suggestions for local municipalities to rein in the services, which the report said operate in a "gray" market.

Merced Sun-Star, 10 Oct 2012 – In recent weeks, law enforcement has stepped up efforts to eradicate large marijuana-growing operations not just in Merced County, but up and down the San Joaquin Valley. Agencies are targeting those who are hiding behind the state’s medical marijuana law to produce and process far more than an individual or group would need to meet their health care needs.

Grunion Gazette, 11 Oct 2012 – Law enforcement officials Wednesday raided and shut down seven different medical marijuana dispensaries that were operating illegally in the city. According to officials, the seven dispensaries were chosen based on the most total number of community complaints that the Long Beach Police Department had received. The LBPD, Drug Enforcement Administration, State of California Franchise Tax Board, Long Beach Fire Department and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office conducted the joint operation. Dispensaries and large-scale cultivation sites have been banned in the city since Aug. 12.