Global Ganja Report

On Oct. 19, while en route to leading traditional ayahuasca ceremonies in Oregon, indigenous Colombian healer Juan Agreda Chindoy was arrested at Houston International Airport by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for possession of his traditional medicine. He is being charged as a federal criminal and faces up to 20 years in prison.

In Mexico's third mass shooting in less than a week, gunmen who arrived in SUVs opened fire Oct. 27 at a carwash in Tepic, capital of the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, killing at least 15. All but two of the victims worked at the carwash, and most were clients of the same drug treatment center, Alcance Victoria (Victory Outreach). Three victims wore matching T-shirts emblazoned with "Fe y Esperanza"— "Faith and Hope." (LAT, Oct. 28)

Will Proposition 19 really erode California's medical cannabis laws? On Saturday Oct. 30, Global Ganja Report will host a forum on Proposition 19 in Oakland, featuring leading California cannabis crusader Chris Conrad and his longtime activist wife Mikki Norris of West Coast Leaf, who will respond to the arguments of "Stoners Against Legalization."  Global Ganja Report editor Bill Weinberg will moderate.

The country's leading advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) issued voter guides Oct. 26, highlighting several important races in the upcoming elections, including ballot initiatives establishing two new statewide medical marijuana laws in Arizona and South Dakota, and an expansion of Oregon's law to include licensed cannabis dispensaries. At the local level, voters in California and Colorado will be deciding on dozens of local medical marijuana initiatives, including banning distribution and imposing new taxes on patients. The race for California attorney general, however, may represent the greatest threat to patients this November. ASA strongly opposes AG candidate Steve Cooley, Los Angeles District Attorney and a longtime adversary of the state's medical marijuana laws.

Billionaire financier George Soros has thrown his support behind California's Proposition 19 legalization measure with a $1 million donation just one week before the vote. The contribution is the single biggest donation from an individual other than Prop 19's main sponsor, Oakland medical cannabis entrepreneur Richard Lee.

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos warned Oct 25 that approval of California's Proposition 19 could force nations worldwide to rethink their anti-drug policies. He also said legalized cannabis in California would make the fight against drug cartels tougher throughout Latin America. "Tell me if there is a way to explain to a Colombian peasant that if he produces marijuana we are going to put him in jail and that the same product is legal [in California]," Santos said during a radio interview. "That's going to produce a comprehensive discussion on the approach we have taken on the fight against drug trafficking." (AHN, Oct. 25)

California's referendum on legalizing cannabis is dividing Mexico's political establishment, The Guardian reports Oct. 24. President Felipe Calderón is leading critics of Proposition 19, who see it as a dangerous experiment that would undermine efforts against the cartels. He has repeatedly accused the US of hypocrisy in pressuring Latin America to confront the cartels, while doing little to rein in stateside consumption. The Guardian fails to note that Calderón himself signed a national decriminalization bill into law last year.

At least 13 young people were shot dead and 15 wounded in an attack on a house party in Ciudad Juárez—the second such massacre in less than a week in the violence-torn Mexican city bordering Texas. Gunmen in three cars drove up to the home around 11 PM on Oct. 22 and began shooting, the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office said. The dead were 14 to 20 years old, and a 9-year-old was gravely wounded. On Oct. 17, gunmen similarly stormed two homes in Ciudad Juárez, killing nine young people. (AP, Oct. 23)