California

California controversies over 'social equity' licenses

Posted on August 3rd, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , .

CaliforniaEquity programs for the legal cannabis industry in California are supposed to address the racial and social iniquities that were associated with cannabis prohibition. But finding the right implementation model has proved tricky. And as a recent controversy in Los Angeles indicates, the failure of such programs can have impacts that go beyond who is getting licenses for dispensaries.

The cannabis industry and the Black Lives Matter uprising

leafProtests have spread across the country in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police—a haunting crystallization of institutionalized racism in law enforcement. The protests have been punctuated by looting in many cities, and cannabis businesses have not been spared. How the industry reacts at this moment will reveal much about the soul of America's cannabis community.

Cannabis shortages spur new interest in homegrown

Posted on March 26th, 2020 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , , .
cannabisLockdowns and economic paralysis imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak are spurring a new emphasis on self-sufficiency. Even before the crisis, medicinal cannabis users facing shortages at local dispensaries were turning to home cultivation.

Tod Mikuriya: grandfather of medical marijuana

Posted on March 3rd, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , .

Dr TodIf there is one person with a claim to reviving the pharmacopoeia of cannabis in the post-prohibition age—and thereby undermining prohibition's pseudo-scientific foundations—that person was Tod Mikuriya. The Berkeley psychiatrist, who died in 2007, was hailed as the grandfather of the medical marijuana movement, backing up the activists with unimpeachable scholarly chops—to the rage of the Drug War establishment.

Pebbles Trippet: the cannabis activist with her own legal 'standard'

Posted on February 20th, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , .

Pebbles TrippetOne longtime California cannabis activist actually has a legal standard named in her honor. Pebbles Trippet established in the state's courts that the 1996 medical marijuana law implies a right to transport cannabis—a precedent-setting case. And this was but the most notable of her many legal battles.

Jack Herer legacy lives on in California Cannabis Hemp Initiative

Posted on February 19th, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

Jack HerrerThe legendary hemp crusader Jack Herer drew up a California ballot initiative for a cannabis economy based on maximum freedom. He did not live to see its passage. But amid growing disillusionment with the Prop 64 legalization model, his heirs believe that in 2020, his hour has posthumously arrived.

Sister Somayah Kambui: early visionary of cannabis equity

Posted on February 4th, 2020 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

Sister SomayahToday equity is a watchword in the cannabis legalization movement, with state and local governments intentionally crafting models for an adult-use market designed to correct the social harms of prohibition and the war on drugs. But this consciousness is due to the work of many who pushed the issue long before doing so was entirely socially acceptable. Sister Somayah Kambui, a veteran Black Panther turned cannabis advocate, was one of those. And before her untimely death, she won  a groundbreaking "jury nullification" victory, upholding her right to provide cannabis to treat sickle-cell anemia.

Cannabis in hospitals: coming soon?

medical marijuanaGrowing numbers around the United States and the world are using cannabis to treat a wide spectrum of medical conditions, and legal space is widening for them to do so. So it's a particular irony that hospitals as a rule bar cannabis from their premises. More voices in the medical industry are now grappling with this dilemma.

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