Global Ganja Report

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced Aug. 11 that six suspects—five Mexican nationals and one US citizen—were arrested in connection with a large-scale cannabis cultivation operation in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Officers from federal, state and local enforcement agencies eradicated some 10,000 plants over several acres about 25 miles northwest of Park Falls. Law enforcement was alerted by a hunter’s tip last November. About 175 agents were involved in the operation, which uncovered the crops and a campsite used by the growers, where loaded firearms were reportedly found. Ashland County residents have been warned not to pick up hitchhikers as agents continue to search for four suspects.

Federal prosecutors in Dayton are wrapping up a case against 11 immigrant men charged with cultivating thousands of cannabis plants. All have pleaded guilty and seven have received sentences ranging from a year to 18 months in prison. When the arrests were announced in the fall, state Attorney General Richard Cordray said the case was further evidence of what he called "cartel-sponsored mega-marijuana farms taking root in Ohio." But defense attorneys say the defendants were poor day laborers trying to earn money for their families with no idea about what they were being hired to do.

The Ohio Patient Network has turned over of a petition with 2,143 signatures in the first step toward putting medical marijuana before voters. The proposed "Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment" would amend the state constitution to allow patients with qualifying ailments to possess up to 3.5 ounces of cannabis, or up to 12 plants. If 1,000 signatures are validated and the language of the proposed amendment is approved, it will be before Buckeye voters on the November 2012 ballot. (WLWT, Cincinnati, Aug. 1; The Other Paper, Columbus, July 28)

Residents of Lansing, Mich., who register to vote could get free cannabis from the city's Your Healthy Choice Clinic. The dispensary is offering half a gram or a free "medible" as a thank you for registering—a move that has generated much controversy. "It wasn't ever to lure patients or try to buy their votes—no, not at all," said dispensary owner Shekina Pena. "We let them know how we feel, we don't tell them who to vote for."

Starting July 6, the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) will hold its 21st annual symposium in St. Charles, Ill., just outside of Chicago. Notably, this year's symposium is sponsored by an array of pharmaceutical companies, the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and ElSohly Laboratories of Oxford, Miss., the federal government's only licensed source of research-grade cannabis.

Veteran Yippie activist and cannabis crusader Ben Masel died April 27 at his home in Madison, Wisc. He had been suffering from terminal lung cancer. Known for founding the Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival, the Bronx-born Masel moved to Madison in 1971 and was a fixture in politics there ever since. He frequently ran for public office—including sheriff of Dane County—on a pro-legalization platform, and sometimes on the Republican ticket, just to tweak the local GOP establishment.

Representatives in the Minnesota legislature have proposed a bill to allow farmers to grow medical cannabis for resale to dispensaries in states that have legalized use and sale of marijuana for medical conditions. The House bill, HF0662, was introduced by members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL).

A federal judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan on Feb. 11 ruled that Wal-Mart did not wrongly fire an employee who had been using medical marijuana to treat a brain tumor. In dismissing plaintiff Joseph Casias' lawsuit, Judge Robert Jonker determined that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA) is in place to protect licensed medical marijuana users, but employers are not prohibited from adopting policies that ban marijuana use regardless of cause. Casias was administered a drug test per Wal-Mart policy, tested positive, and was subsequently notified of the termination of his at-will employment. (Jurist, Feb. 12)