Global Ganja Report

The Second District Court of Appeal in California issued a landmark decision July 2 in County of Los Angeles v. Alternative Medicinal Cannabis Collective (AMCC), affirming the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries under state law, rejecting bans imposed by municipalities. In particular, the court held that Los Angeles County's "complete ban" on medical marijuana is "preempted" by state law and therefore void. The AMCC decision reverses a preliminary injunction granted to the county by the Los Angeles Superior Court in May 2011.

A Marijuana Eradication Team found 3,400 cannabis plants ("estimated street value": $10 million) growing in a remote area near Madonna County Park, outside of Gilroy, on June 28, and staked out the site waiting for the growers to return. Two men armed with rifles shortly approached the camp, and one reportedly raised his weapon when he saw the police; he was immediately shot by a member of the team. Identified as Alvaro Sanchez, 24, of Morgan Hill, he is now hospitalized with injuries that are not said to be life-threatening. The other man escaped.

California Assembly member Tom Ammiano on June 24 withdrew his bill to regulate the state medical marijuana industry, AB 2312. The bill had already cleared the Assembly, and the state Senate planned to debate it this week—but it had been catching flak from both sides of the debate in recent weeks. Medical marijuana advocacy groups opposed late amendments to the bill that would allow for city councils and county boards to ban dispensaries. Proposed measures for taxation of cannabis also generated controversy. "Many good bills take more than a year to pass," wrote Don Duncan of Americans for Safe Access. "We need to make sure that taxation, if necessary, is limited; and we have to make it difficult for cities and counties to ban patients' associations outright." (Legalization Nation, June 25)

Medical marijuana patients and their supporters will rally in front of the federal building in Sacramento June 20 at 1:30 PM to protest a raid last week on the city's first permitted dispensary. On June 11, El Camino Wellness Center was raided by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and shut down, after having served thousands of Sacramento patients since 2008. Though no charges have been filed against the dispensary operators, the Internal Revenue Service has seized the facility's bank accounts. 

A mother from California's Butte County appeared in court for a preliminary hearing June 11 to determine whether she should stand trial for breastfeeding her children while being a user of medical cannabis. Advocates have rallied around the case of Daisy Bram, 30, contending that she faces excessive prosecution on charges of felony child abuse and misdemeanor child endangerment stemming from a raid by county authorities on her home garden.  

Patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has discovered that a second patient at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been denied a transplant in the past year because of medical marijuana use. In response, ASA sent a letter June 11 to the Cedars-Sinai Transplant Center on behalf of Toni Trujillo, a qualified medical marijuana patient who was removed from the kidney transplant list earlier this year. Trujillo has had kidney problems for most of her life and has been on dialysis for the past five years, since an existing kidney transplant began failing. The letter urges the world-renowned hospital to promptly re-list Trujillo and change its policy on medical marijuana.

In a 41-28 vote, the California State Assembly passed a bill May 31 to regulate the production and distribution of medical marijuana for qualified patients. Responding to calls from local officials, the State Supreme Court, and Attorney General Kamala Harris, the state legislature took a significant step toward clarifying the often-confusing terrain of medical marijuana distribution in California. AB 2312, the Medical Marijuana Regulate, Control and Tax Act, was introduced earlier this year by Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and others.

Thanks to last year's redistricting, California now has a new Second Congressional District that some call the "Emerald Triangle District"—running from the Golden Gate to the Oregon border, through the cannabis counties of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity. The primary is in five days, and under California's new open-primary system, the two leading vote-getters will move on to the November general election, regardless of party. In the field of 12, the most outspoken herbal advocate is Garberville's veteran Earth First! tree-hugger Andy Caffrey.