Global Ganja Report

Voters in more than a dozen Massachusetts legislative districts backed dramatic expansions to legal access to cannabis in the Nov. 2 elections, and advocates plan to use the results to press lawmakers. Nine of 18 advisory questions placed on the ballot queried voters on medical marijuana, while another nine backed legalizing cannabis outright, allowing the state to regulate and tax it.

Steve Cooley, Republican candidate for state attorney general in California, was a little too quick to declare victory on election night—as the count continues, he trails his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris by at least 12,000 votes. The race is so close that it will very likely take several more weeks to call a winner, because over 2.3 million late or provisional ballots must be counted by the end of the month. A backpedaling Cooley said, "It's one of those Dewey moments."

US authorities discovered a 1,800-foot tunnel linking drug warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana that led to the seizure of more than 25 tons of cannabis Nov. 2—one of the largest-ever drug seizures in San Diego. Mexican soldiers raided the warehouse at the other end of the tunnel the following day, and found about four tons of cannabis. "I can promise you there are some very unhappy people in the cartel," said John Morton, director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which leads the multi-agency San Diego Tunnel Task Force. About 75 tunnels under the US-Mexico border have been unearthed in the last four years, most in various states of construction. (LAT, Nov. 4)

Proposition 19 mastermind Richard Lee spoke to supporters in Oakland after the initiative lost by some 540,000 votes, 46-53%, the night of Nov. 2. "The fact that millions of Californians voted to legalize marijuana is a tremendous victory," Lee said, noting that the measure won 3.3 million votes. "We have broken the glass ceiling. Prop. 19 has changed the terms of the debate. And that was a major strategic goal."

With results coming in from the California elections, the media are projecting defeat for Proposition 19. Attorney General Jerry Brown is projected to become the next governor, holding a wide lead over Republican Meg Whitman. In the race for attorney general, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, a Republican who calls for the "eradication" of cannabis dispensaries, appears to have defeated Democrat Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney.

Robert Jones, a 70-year-old cancer patient in Las Vegas, NM, has been notified that he is no longer eligible to receive a federal housing subsidy because he uses medical cannabis. Jones received a letter from the local housing administrator Oct. 12 telling him even though medical marijuana has been legalized by the state, it remains illegal at the federal level. The letter told Jones he was being terminated from the Section 8 voucher program effective Nov. 30. He has filed an appeal.

Global Ganja Report interviewed veteran criminal and civil rights attorney Tony Serra about Proposition 19 by telephone a few days ago. Currently Serra works out of the Pier 5 law firm in San Francisco and is defending accused members of the the Animal and Environmental Liberation Fronts against terrorism charges. He spends most days in court defending drug dealers, murderers and activists and holds the record for the longest closing argument in California history.

The medical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) stepped up its campaign this week to oppose Steve Cooley in his bid for California attorney general. Hoping to convince Californians against voting for Cooley, ASA has launched the website www.NotCooley.com to highlight the ways in which Cooley would be bad—not only for patients and their providers but also for those who are concerned about the environment, equal rights, and criminal justice issues.