Global Ganja Report

Evan Mills, an analyst at the US Energy Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Labs in California, recently completed a study entitled "Energy Up in Smoke: The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production"—seeking to quantify the previously undocumented energy demand of the domestic marijuana industry.

Five medical cannabis activists were arrested April 12 in the San Diego City Council chambers protesting the final vote on a local distribution ordinance, which advocates say imposes a citywide de facto ban on collectives. During the hearing, members of the Stop the Ban Campaign—a coalition of over 20 local, state, and national groups spearheaded by Canvass for a Cause and the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA)—repeatedly chanted "We demand safe access!" The action forced the council to clear the chambers, postponing a critical vote on the ordinance.

The IRS is believed to have opened audits on at least 12 medical cannabis dispensaries in California under the determination that past deductions are invalid because of a clause in the federal tax code prohibiting any enterprise that traffics in Schedule I or II drugs from making business deductions. The move could bankrupt every dispensary that it targets. The first dispensary to receive a final audit decision from the IRS is the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (MAMM) in Fairfax.

Los Angeles voters approved a new medical marijuana tax March 8 that proponents say could raise millions of dollars for the city—although the measure was opposed by advocates and opponents of medicinal cannabis alike. Measure M, which passed with 59% of the vote, allows Los Angeles to collect $50 in taxes for every thousand dollars collected by medical marijuana clinics. (KABC, LA, March 9)

A vote to be held in Los Angeles Tuesday March 8 threatens to increase the cost of an already expensive treatment for medical marijuana patients in the city. Measure M, one of 10 ballot measures facing LA voters, would increase taxes on medical cannabis by 5%, above the nearly 10% patients already pay in sales tax. Patient advocates have come out in opposition to the measure, asking the city to find other sources of revenue and to remove the tax burden from medicinal users.

Dubbed the "Wal-Mart of Weed," the 10,000-square-foot weGrow store, set to open this weekend at 1537 Fulton Ave. in Sacramento, is the first franchise for a company that calls itself a supply and training destination for legal cannabis cultivators. The enterprise started in Oakland last year as a warehouse store called iGrow. Now the Oakland location is being reorganized as a distribution hub for a network of retail hydroponics outlets. The Sacramento store—billed as "the first honest hydro store"—is to be followed by weGrow stores in Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey and Oregon in coming months.

Oakland's Harborside Health Center, the self-proclaimed world's largest cannabis dispensary—handling an annual $22 million in transactions—is being audited by the US Internal Revenue Service. Since late last year, the IRS has been auditing 2008 and 2009 federal tax returns for the Oakland location, one of two outlets Harborside operates for 70,000 medical cannabis users. The other facility is in San Jose.

Oakland City Attorney John Russo has withdrawn his legal counsel from plans to tax and license large-scale cannabis farms, and told the City Council to hire their own attorney.

The city's original cannabis cultivation ordinance set no limits on the size of the cultivation facilities, which would operate as stand-alone businesses separate from dispensaries. The council had hoped to start licensing the farms as early as last month, but suspended action on the licenses in December so the ordinance could be revised to more closely comply with state law.