Global Ganja Report

In a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly Committees on Public Safety in Sacramento Sept. 21, proponents and opponents weighed in on California's Proposition 19. In the latter category was, surprisingly, the California Cannabis Association, an alliance of medical users which has launched a website called Keep Cannabis Medical. "Proposition 19 is a direct assault on medical marijuana patients," Cap Radio quoted George Mull, the group's president. "Prop 19 is deeply flawed, and creates a chaotic, local, 'you figure it out' approach to marijuana regulation. That won't work."

On Aug. 25, the Los Angeles Times ran an opinion piece, "Why California should just say no to Prop. 19." jointly written by Gil Kerlikowske, John Walters, Barry McCaffrey, Lee Brown, Bob Martinez and William Bennett, directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under presidents Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. On Narco News, Al Giordano responds with "Six American Zeroes: Reason Enough to Support California Prop 19." Here are some excerpts:

Opening arguments began Sept. 20 for the second trial in less than a year against Jovan Jackson, a San Diego medical marijuana patient and dispensary operator who was arrested in a multi-agency raid in September 2009. A jury acquitted Jackson in December of possession and distribution charges stemming from a 2008 arrest. This time, however, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis convinced Superior Court Judge Howard H. Shore to deny Jackson a medical defense, seriously limiting his chances of a second acquittal.

Americans for Safe Access, the country's leading medical marijuana patient advocacy group, issued letters Sept. 1 to more than 140 localities across California with bans on distribution, demanding that they come into compliance with state law. The letters were sent two weeks after California's Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a long-awaited decision rejecting the argument that local or state dispensary laws are preempted by federal law. The case of Qualified Patients Association v. City of Anaheim was sent back to Superior Court for further factual development and eventual trial.

Despite being acquitted by a jury late last year of charges stemming from a 2008 arrest on marijuana possession and distribution, medicinal cannabis patient and provider Jovan Jackson is being tried by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis for a second time in less than a year. However, for the second trial Dumanis is trying to deny Jackson, the former operator of Answerdam Alternative Care Collective (AACC), a medical marijuana defense—based on the claim that "sales" are illegal under state law. Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's leading medical marijuana patient advocacy group, filed an amicus ("friend of the court") brief in support of Jackson's defense, refuting the District Attorney's allegations.

On Aug. 12, the California Chamber of Commerce held a press conference bashing Prop 19, claiming employers would have to permit employees to smoke marijuana at work. But First Amendment lawyer and Prop 19 author James Wheaton says the Chamber is lying. Employees don't have to let workers come to work drunk, and they wouldn't have to let them come to work high. Furthermore, employers can already fire employees at will, as well as if they fail a drug test, and that will not change if Prop 19 passes.

Reports are breaking that Dennis Peron, longtime San Francisco cannabis activist and co-author of California's 1996 medical marijuana initiative,  was raided at his home Aug. 4. Citing posts on Facebook, a report on Examiner.com says that Peron, who was recovering from a stroke, suffered a seizure as city police broke down his door.

Medical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) filed a legal brief July 28 in a Ninth Circuit case aiming to correct statements by the federal government that "marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." The ASA legal filing points to a policy directive issued last week by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), recognizing medical marijuana and distinguishing it from other illegal controlled substances. In its brief, ASA contends that the VHA directive bolsters advocates' arguments that cannabis does indeed have medical value.