If you like drama and marijuana together, then 2012 was the year for you: It was jam-packed with topsy-turvy cannabis news.

As the Obama administration cracked down on medical marijuana
dispensaries in California, the president himself said pot users in
marijuana-legal states shouldn’t be prosecuted. Come again?

Here’s our list of top pot stories for 2012. Hold on to your bongs:

Dave H / Flickr

10. Pot prices drop.
After the U.S. Department of Justice’s crackdown on state-legal medical
marijuana in California, you would think that the Golden State would
have become a Mojave Desert of weed. Quite the contrary: Prices
plummeted in spring because big growers in the northern half of the
state had a surplus crop they couldn’t sell to legit outlets that either
closed or were afraid to operate. Oops? And, yay (for consumers).

401(K) 2012 / Flickr

9. Marijuana for profit?
The crux of the debate over the legality of marijuana dispensaries
often comes down to whether the law allows profit-taking in the
distribution of such medicine. The likes of L.A.’s own City Attorney,
Carmen Trutanich, says it doesn’t. The guy who wrote the law, SB 420,
made a stand: Former state Sen. John Vasconcellos said the law was
indeed intended to allow for retail-style, for-profit sales of pot.
However: Trutanich’s office says California courts have ruled that
notion out of existence. Today, it’s still up in the air, sort of like
what you just exhaled.

sanduskylegalfund.com

8. Unluckiest pot proponent ever.
Southern California pot shop operator Aaron Sandusky bravely fought the
law. And the law won. He stood up to federal prosecutors who
essentially said he was a drug dealer for operating G3 Holistics
dispensaries in the Inland Empire. Sure medical marijuana is legal in
California. But feds don’t recognize that. Now Sandusky faces life
behind bars.

Zen Healing

7. Marijuana as medicine.
President Obama himself has said there’s not much he can do about the
illegality of marijuana. It’s a law. Not his law. But decriminalization
advocates have been pushing his administration on that point — all the
way to federal court. The group Americans for Safe Access has challenged
the DEA regarding its "scheduling" of pot as an outlaw drug with no
medical benefits. That’s not law, it’s policy. In fact, ASA, argues,
there is evidence of medicinal qualities for weed. If the group wins, it
might be harder for feds to prosecute pot shops in medical marijuana
states like California. Results are pending.

Dominic Simpson / Flickr

6. Pot shops and crime. Despite our victory dance last year when RAND withdrew a study that said local dispensaries seem to reduce neighborhood crime
after we had some serious questions about the data, it’s nice to see
that your friendly neighborhood weed retailer is indeed not much more
dangerous than Trader Joe’s. UCLA researchers concluded "the density of
medical marijuana dispensaries may not be associated with crime rates
… " Good ’cause that stuff makes us paranoid.

Nightlife of Revelry / Flickr

5. Call 911.
A sad part of modern drug law means that some of you party people are
afraid to call for help when your friend passes out from too much
chronic and/or whatever else you’re doing. A new law by state
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano should put a stop to this madness. It provides
immunity to people with small amounts of drugs on them who want to call
paramedics when a friend overdoses.

That_Dude69 / Flickr

4. You like your pot.
Despite repeated attempts by the city of Los Angeles to choke out the
medical marijuana business, the people have spoken: According to
November exit polling by Loyola Marymount University 56 percent of
Angeleno voters support "the cultivation, prescription (recommendation),
and distribution of medical marijuana." So why was the city trying to
ban dispensaries again?

ABC News

3. Obama says smoke ’em if you got ’em.
Sort of. Strange days, though, when the Obama administration’s
Department of Justice is going after medical marijuana dispensaries in
L.A. and the president is saying that small-time pot users shouldn’t be
prosecuted in medical-legal states. Obama told Barbara Walters recently
that federal authorities "have bigger fish to fry," adding: "It would
not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational
users in states that have determined that it’s legal." Um. Okay.

Chuck Coker / Flickr

2. L.A. crack down. So Obama is like, Blah-blah-blah smoking weed is no big deal I used to do it.
Then his administration targets every pot shop in downtown and Eagle
Rock and tells them to shut their doors or be prosecuted like common
drug dealers? That’s exactly what happened in September. Each and
everyone one of those shops got warning letters and then follow-up
visits by federal agents. Wisely, some if not many closed their doors.

Jennie Warren for the Weekly.

1. Dispensaries live!
After the L.A. City Council banned all pot shops in town, dispensaries
organized and fought back with a referendum that forced the council to
either bring the matter to voters or overturn its own ban. It did the
latter. Pot shops remain and, perhaps, thrive (except for those in
downtown and Eagle Rock), although there are now two ballot initiatives
aiming for May that would regulate and even shut down many shops,
depending on how you vote. Your weed is safe for now.

USA — The Berlin Wall of pot prohibition seems to be crumbling before our eyes.

By fully legalizing marijuana through direct democracy, Colorado and Washington have fundamentally changed the national conversation about cannabis. As many as 58 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be legal. And our political establishment is catching on. Former president Jimmy Carter came out this month and endorsed taxed-and-regulated weed. “I’m in favor of it,” Carter said. “I think it’s OK.” In a December 5th letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) suggested it might be possible “to amend the Federal Controlled Substances Act to allow possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, at least in jurisdictions where it is legal under state law.” Even President Obama hinted at a more flexible approach to prohibition, telling 20/20′s Barbara Walters that the federal government was unlikely to crack down on recreational users in states where pot is legal, adding, “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

Encouraged by the example of Colorado and Oregon, states across the country are debating the merits of treating marijuana less like crystal meth and more like Jim Beam. Here are the next seven states most likely to legalize it:

1) Oregon

Oregon could have produced a trifecta for pot legalization on election day. Like Washington and Colorado, the state had a marijuana legalization bid on the ballot in 2012, but it failed 54-46. The pro-cannabis cause was dogged by poor organization: Advocates barely qualified the initiative for the ballot, and could not attract billionaire backers like George Soros and Peter Lewis, who helped bankroll the legalization bit in Washington.

But given that Oregon’s biggest city, Portland, will be just across the Columbia River from prevalent, legal marijuana, the state legislature will be under pressure to create a framework for the drug’s legal use in Oregon – in particular if the revenue provisions of Washington’s law are permitted to kick in and lawmakers begin to watch Washington profit from the “sin taxes” on Oregon potheads. If lawmakers stall, state voters will likely have the last word soon enough. Consider that even cannabis-crazy Colorado failed in its first legalization bid back in 2006.

“We have decades of evidence that says prohibition does not work and it’s counterproductive,” said Peter Buckley, co-chair of the Oregon state legislature’s budget committee. For Buckley, it’s a matter of dollars and common sense: “There’s a source of revenue that’s reasonable that is rational that is the right policy choice for our state,” he said. “We are going to get there on legalization.”

2) California

California is unaccustomed to being a follower on marijuana liberalization. Its landmark medical marijuana initiative in 1996 sparked a revolution that has reached 18 states and the District of Columbia. And the artful ambiguity of that statute has guaranteed easy access to the drug — even among Californians with minor aches and pains.

In 2010, the state appeared to be on track to fully legalize and tax pot with Proposition 19. The Obama administration warned of a crackdown, and the state legislature beat voters to the punch with a sweeping decriminalization of pot that treats possession not as a misdemeanor but an infraction, like a parking ticket, with just a $100 fine. In a stunningly progressive move, that law also applies to underage smokers. And removing normal teenage behavior from the criminal justice system has contributed to a staggering decline in youth “crime” in California of nearly 20 percent in 2011.

The grandaddy of less-prohibited pot is again a top candidate to fully legalize cannabis. Prop 19 failed 53-47, and pot advocates are determined not to run another initiative in an “off-year” election, likely putting ballot-box legalization off for four years. “2016 is a presidential election year, which brings out more of the youth vote we need,” said Amanda Reiman, who heads up the Drug Policy Alliance’s marijuana reform in California.

Economics could also force the issue sooner. Eager for new tax revenue, the state legislature could seek to normalize the marijuana trade. There’s no Republican impediment: Democrats now have a supermajority in Sacramento, and Governor Brown has forcefully defended the right of states to legalize without the interference of federal “gendarmes.”

3) Nevada

Whether it’s gambling or prostitution, Nevada is famous for regulating that which other states prohibit. When it comes to pot, the state has already taken one swing at legalization in 2006, with an initiative that failed 56-44. “They got closer than we did in Colorado that year,” says Mason Tvert, who co-chaired Colorado’s initiative this year and whose first statewide effort garnered just 41 percent of the vote.

For prominent state politicians, the full legalization, taxation and regulation of weed feels all but inevitable. “Thinking we’re not going to have it is unrealistic,” assemblyman Tick Segerblom of Las Vegas said in November. “It’s just a question of how and when.”

4) Rhode Island

Pot watchers believe little Rhode Island may be the first state to legalize through the state legislature instead of a popular referendum. ”I’m hoping this goes nowhere,” one prominent opponent in the state House told the Boston Globe. ”But I think we’re getting closer and closer to doing this.”

Back in June 2012, lawmakers in Providence jumped on the decriminalization bandwagon, replacing misdemeanor charges for adult recreational use with a civil fine of $150. (Youth pay the same fine but also have to attend a drug education class and perform community service.)

In the wake of Colorado and Washington’s new state laws, Rhode Island has joined a slate of New England states that are vowing to vote on tax-and-regulate bills. A regulated marijuana market in Rhode Island could reap the state nearly $30 million in new tax revenue and reduced law enforcement costs. ”Our prohibition has failed,” said Rep. Edith Ajello of Providence, who is sponsoring the bill. ”Legalizing and taxing it, just as we did to alcohol, is the way to do it.”

5) Maine

Maine’s legislature has recently expanded decriminalization and is moving on a legalization-and-regulation bill that could bring the state $8 million a year in new revenue. ”The people are far ahead of the politicians on this,” said Rep. Diane Russell of Portland. ”Just in the past few weeks we’ve seen the culture shift dramatically.”

State legislators in Maine, as in other direct-democracy states, are actually wary of the ballot initiative process and may work to preempt the voters. A legalization scheme devised by lawmakers, after all, is likely to produce tighter regulation and more revenue than a bill dreamed up by pot consumers themselves.

6) Alaska

Alaska is already a pothead’s paradise, and the state could move quickly to bring order to its ambiguous marijuana law. Cannabis has been effectively legal in Alaska since 1975, when the state supreme court, drawing on the unique privacy protections of the Alaska constitution, declared that authorities can’t prohibit modest amounts of marijuana in the home of state residents.

That gave Alaskans the right to have up to four ounces – and 24 plants – in their homes. Following a failed bid to fully legalize pot at the ballot box in 2004 (the measure fell 56-44), the state legislature attempted to enforce prohibition, outlawing all weed in 2006. But citing the 1975 precedent, a judge later ruled the home exemption must be respected, though she sought to limit legal possession to a single ounce.

If taxation and regulation take root in nearby Washington, and perhaps more important in neighboring British Columbia (where legalization is also being considered), a ballot initiative in Alaska could win in an avalanche.

7) Vermont

Last year, Vermont finally normalized its medical marijuana law, establishing a system of government-sanctioned dispensaries. In November, the state’s Democratic governor, Peter Shumlin, just cruised to re-election while strongly backing marijuana decriminalization. The city of Burlington, meanwhile, passed a nonbinding resolution in November calling for an end to prohibition – with 70 percent support. The Green Mountain State has already embraced single-payer universal health care. Legal pot cannot be far behind.

Source: Rolling Stone (US)
Author: Tim Dickinson
Published: December 18, 2012
Copyright: 2012 Straight Arrow Publishers Company, L.P.
Contact: letters@rollingstone.com
Website: http://www.rollingstone.com/

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.

This fall, Oakland became the first municipality to sue federal
prosecutors in an attempt to block them from shuttering a medical
cannabis facility. Harborside Health Center, with facilities in Oakland
and San Jose, has more than 108,000 members in its patient collective.

The first hearing in the high-profile case comes a month after
Colorado and Washington voters legalized the use and sale of small
amounts of recreational marijuana

Some local medical
marijuana advocates see good things coming from President Barack Obama’s
comments that prosecuting recreational marijuana users in Colorado and
Washington state should not be a "top priority" of federal law
enforcement.

Obama told ABC News’ Barbara Walters last week that law
enforcement has "bigger fish to fry" than the recreational users in the
two states, which legalized marijuana on Election Day.

The attorney for Aaron Sandusky, who was convicted in October
of operating medical marijuana dispensaries in the Inland Empire, said
he will use the president’s words at his client’s sentencing on Jan. 7
in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

"I will get a copy or try to record the interview tonight and
show to the judge that federal policy is not pursuing medical marijuana
or marijuana that’s been legalized in certain states," said attorney
Roger Jon Diamond.

Obama didn’t comment on how the federal government would
respond to new laws that officials from the two states are tasked with
creating to regulate commercial pot sales.

"It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view"
to focus on drug use in states where it is now legal, Obama told
Walters.

Sandusky opened G3 Holistic in Upland in November 2009, six
months after Obama, in a well-publicized interview with the Oregon
Mail-Tribune, said the federal government would not aggressively pursue
medical marijuana cases in states that had legalized it.

"I’m not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to
circumvent state laws on this issue," Obama said in March 2009.

Despite his statements, the Obama administration increased its
enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, which makes it illegal to
sell or possess marijuana. This includes states that have legalized
marijuana.

Sandusky was president of Upland-based G3 Holistic, a medical
marijuana dispensary, which, in California, is legal. But in October,
however, Sandusky was convicted in federal court of eight counts related
to growing, possessing and intending to sell marijuana for profit.

Obama’s statement "should have an impact, a positive impact, for both medical marijuana and also Aaron," Diamond said.

Diamond said Judge Percy Anderson will be given Obama’s statement during Sandusky’s sentencing hearing.

Anderson would not allow Diamond to introduce evidence in
support of Sandusky related to Obama’s past statements about legalized
medical marijuana. Sandusky was also barred from even mentioning the
president in his testimony.

"In fact, the president made that statement the first time in 2008, and Aaron relied on that," Diamond said.

"Hopefully, the judge will consider his position once we show
him the interview that will be shown to all the viewers of the country.
It’s just not fair to single out people arbitrarily for prosecution,
especially when a nationwide announcement is made."

Christopher Kenner, a former patient at G3 Holistic Inc. in
Upland, said he is wary of Obama’s statement to Walters, but remains
hopeful that it will have an effect on Sandusky’s sentencing.

"I’m hoping he’s being truthful this time and is going to stop
these prosecutions," Kenner said. "I’m hopeful that he understands that
by arresting these people he is messing with patients."

Kris Hermes, spokesman for Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access, said he had heard this type of political rhetoric before.

"It’s incumbent on the Obama administration to show good faith
in this regard and not say one thing and do another, as we heard both
before and after the 2008 election," Hermes said.

"In other words, he can say all he wants at this point, but
what’s going to matter most is what the U.S. attorneys do and what the
Drug Enforcement Administration does."

Paul Chabot, founder of Rancho Cucamonga-based Inland Valley
Drug Free Community Coalition, said the statement by Obama speaks
volumes about his true feelings.

"I think the bottom line is we are really concerned because
Obama has said on social issues that his opinions have evolved," Chabot
said.

"For example, gay marriage. We hope that the president isn’t
going to evolve his opinion and say that drugs should be legalized."

Amanda Reiman, the California policy manager for the Drug
Policy Alliance, said that if the Obama administration does respect
voters’ rights in Colorado and Washington and allows them to use
marijuana, it has a positive effect on California medical marijuana
cases.

"You could say why are you respecting state law in Washington and you’re not respecting state law in California? Reiman said.

"Right now, we don’t have that. The administration doesn’t respect state law anywhere."

President Barack Obama says he won’t go after pot users in Colorado
and Washington, two states that just legalized the drug for recreational
use. But advocates argue the president said the same thing about
medical marijuana

I’ve been organizing and advocating for marijuana policy reform in New Hampshire since 2007, and some of the successes have been very gratifying. After two near-victories on the medical marijuana issue (the governor vetoed bills in both 2009 and 2012), it now appears very likely that New Hampshire will pass an effective medical marijuana law in 2013.

However, I have often wished I could do something to help seriously ill patients in my home state of West Virginia. Sadly, medical marijuana legislation hasn’t been seriously considered in the Mountain State, despite the best efforts of Delegate Mike Manypenny (D-Taylor), who introduced bills in both 2011 and 2012.

The situation in West Virginia changed dramatically for the better this week, as Delegate Manypenny hosted a successful public forum Tuesday in the House of Delegates chamber. The forum was called “Should West Virginia Reform its Marijuana Laws?” and generated positive media coverage, including this article in the Charleston Gazette.

Featured speakers included an emergency room physician, the president-elect of the West Virginia Nurses’ Association, and a retired police lieutenant and FBI unit chief. This impressive line-up laid to rest once and for all the notion that marijuana policy reform supporters are merely self-interested marijuana users rather than conscientious, civic-minded advocates interested in improving public policy.

I was truly honored to be included in this forum and given the opportunity to speak about marijuana policy in the House chamber — a chamber I had last visited in the 1980’s as a student in the Wood County school system.

With strong, credible advocates like these supporting medical marijuana in West Virginia, patients in the Mountain State finally have reason to be optimistic about the future.

In New Hampshire, I’ve often argued that decision-makers should consider the state’s motto — Live Free or Die — when considering whether patients should be free to follow their doctors’ advice without fear of arrest. West Virginia’s state motto — Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers Are Always Free) — seems equally relevant to this issue.

May both states live up to their mottos by passing effective medical marijuana laws, and may they do so soon!

In an interview released today, President Obama said that going after marijuana consumers will not be a priority of the federal government in states such as Colorado and Washington, where voters approved ballot measures this November making marijuana legal for adults. He also highlighted the need for a conversation about how to reconcile state and federal marijuana laws.

Marijuana officially became legal in Colorado on Monday after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the voter-approved initiative into law. The measure adopted by voters in Washington went into effect last week. The initiatives also direct the legislatures of both states to create regulations in order to establish a legal market for businesses to cultivate and sell marijuana to adults.

While it is heartening to see Obama reiterating his position on not spending federal resources going after individuals, this does not represent a significant change in policy. Federal policy has not focused on them for some time, as most possession cases are dealt with at the state and local level.

The question is how the implementation of market regulations will be treated. It is time for the Obama administration and the governments of Colorado and Washington to determine how to work together to advance those state-based systems without frustrating legitimate federal interests. We look forward to having this conversation with White House and Department of Justice officials.

It seems like such a conversation is more possible than ever before, and supporters of reform should be cautiously optimistic. As Dominic Holden at The Stranger put it:

Obama is, if nothing else, encouraging more conversation about marijuana legalization instead of promising to shut it down. And the more people talk about this issue, the more it wins.

I remember one of the clients I had on internship. He’d been drinking a fifth of bourbon a day for years. As you’d guess, his liver was a mess, and his thinking was clearly impaired. I couldn’t help but wonder how much better his health would have been (and how much money he could have saved) if he’d used cannabis instead. Of course, if I’d suggested that he switch to a safer drug, my supervisor would have berated me so loudly that everyone in the clinic would have had to cover his ears. There was little evidence to support this practice, no matter how much I thought it might help.

Although the idea remains controversial, substituting cannabis for drugs that cause more harm has a ton of advantages. It can certainly be cheaper, easier on the body, and less impairing. Harvard professor Lester Grinspoon mentioned this idea decades ago. I must get two e-mails a week from people who swear by the practice, but individual cases hardly count as compelling evidence. Fortunately, real people with real problems do everything that they can to tackle their troubles, no matter what the published research might say.

Years after I left internship, Dr. Amanda Reiman showed that many patrons of the Berkeley Patients’ Group used the plant to decrease or stop their consumption of other substances. The obvious next step would be a randomized clinical trial. Folks with drug problems would be randomly assigned to receive treatment as usual or to use cannabis exclusively instead. We’d follow up with them later and see how they were doing. Then we’d know if the treatment was helpful. It would take some money to give them the treatment they needed, but no matter how the experiment turned out, we’d know something very valuable.

If I’d called the National Institute of Health to pitch this idea, they’d probably have laughed their heads off. They’d have said that everybody knows that you can’t treat alcoholism with cannabis. I’d have mentioned Dr. Reiman’s study. They would have said that it was just one sample, and they were all from the same place, so no dice.

For this reason, we wanted to know if more medical cannabis patients made comparable claims. My esteemed colleagues contacted over 400 medical cannabis patients who were patrons of four different dispensaries in British Columbia. (I was just the data monkey on this project. Once New York state becomes more enlightened about medical cannabis, I’ll be more help.) Over 75% of these folks said that they used cannabis in place of some other drug. Replacing prescription drugs was the most common practice (68%), but many used the plant instead of alcohol (41%) and illicit drugs (36%). (Participants could report more than one drug for substitution, so the totals don’t equal 100%.)

We now have literally hundreds of people reporting that they can use cannabis instead of drugs that cause more harm. People who use alcohol or other drugs problematically often balk at treatments that demand complete abstinence. Who might show up for treatment if patients knew that they could use cannabis as part of the program? Maybe they’d run into trouble with the plant. But maybe they’d have healthy, productive, fun lives. They’d certainly have fewer problems if they laid off stimulants, alcohol, or opiates. So, how about it? What will it take to get a harm reduction program going where folks can use cannabis instead of hard drugs? I hate to think that the world might never know.

The Pittsburg Planning Commission will consider a staff recommendation to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.

If
commissioners on Tuesday approve the staff recommendation, the matter
will go to the City Council as an ordinance for a vote.

In April
of 2011, council members adopted a moratorium, which expires in April,
that prohibited dispensaries from operating while staff studied whether
to develop regulations to allow them to operate. The recommendation
calls for making it official city policy to ban them outright.

Before
the moratorium went into effect, East Bay Collective operated a
dispensary without a permit, but it didn’t stay open because the city
got a court injunction to shut it down.

There are no requests
before the city to operate a dispensary, and when the city considered
the initial moratorium and two later extensions, no one showed up to
protest the action.

If approved, the ban on dispensaries would not
prevent a qualified patient from growing medical marijuana in his or
her own home for personal use, City Attorney Ruthann Ziegler said in an
email.

A staff report said the ban was needed in the interest of
public safety and that the use of medical marijuana is prohibited under
federal law, even though its medical use was approved by California
voters in 1996. The report cited a white paper by the California Police
Chiefs Association that said many violent crimes, including armed
robbery and murder, have been associated with dispensaries.

Antioch has a moratorium on dispensaries, while Oakley and Brentwood have banned them.

"Unfortunately,
(a ban) is not all that unusual," said Kris Hermes, spokesman for
Americans for Safe Access, a national organization advocating for safe
and legal use of medical marijuana. "While there are dozens of
municipalities that have recognized their patients’ needs for medical
marijuana and regulate their activities, there are more than three times
the number that have banned it outright."

Statewide, more than 50
cities and counties allow dispensaries, more than 70 cities have
moratoriums against them, and 170 cities have banned them, according to
Americans for Safe Access.

"California is still a patchwork of
bans and regulatory ordinances," Hermes said. "That is still very
problematic for a large number of patients who don’t live anywhere near
an operating dispensary."