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:
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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?
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
