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."

The results of a national survey on drug use and health were issued Sept. 15 by the federal government, noting a surge in the use of marijuana and other drugs such as ecstasy and methamphetamine. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services publishes the annual study, which is often used by the "drug czar" to highlight the status of the so-called "War on Drugs." Although the government claims that prescription drug abuse is its highest priority, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) took the opportunity to rail against medical marijuana use.

Makeda Jahnesta Marley, 29, the youngest among the late reggae superstar Bob Marley's 13 acknowledged children, admitted to having nearly a dozen large marijuana plants inside her home west of Philadelphia, Pa. She was arrested in 2008 after police say they found her removing plants from the basement when officers arrived on a domestic dispute call.

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.

The blog FireDogLake reports that Facebook ads for its pro-legalization campaign Just Say Now, which included an image of a cannabis leaf, have been banned by the social networking site. Facebook decided to ban all images of the cannabis leaf after the ad had been viewed an estimated 38 million times. FireDogLake has launched an online petition against Facebook's censorious policy.

An online petition has been launched to rescue 10 black bears found living at a rural British Columbia cannabis grow-op. The bears were discovered on July 30, when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a remote property near Christina Lake, about 540 kilometers east of Vancouver.

Children are being trafficked into the UK to work in so-called "cannabis factories," according to a new police report. The "factories" are typically located in private houses, but sometimes in agricultural and commercial properties. A study for the Association of Chief Police Officers has found children are being used to tend crops, to illegally divert electricity for the factories, and to break into rival sites.

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.