Global Ganja Report

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.

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).

The lower house of Montana's legislature on Feb. 21 voted up the repeal of the state's medical cannabis law. The repeal bill now goes to the senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to work on a new bill to put in place a licensing and regulatory system for the medical cannabis industry, paid for by new licensing fees.

A New Zealand cancer patient facing a jail term for growing cannabis he uses to alleviate pain pledges to go on a hunger strike if he is imprisoned. Peter Davy, 51, of Timaru, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis, but says he uses the herb only for medicinal purposes for himself and his partner, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

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.

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)

Dr. Jean Colombera, Green party deputy in Luxembourg, has launched a campaign to legalize cannabis in the European statelet after discovering that it can be used to treat tumors. Colombera, a well-known supporter of medicinal cannabis, said that his research team can demonstrate that an extract from a non-psychoactive variety grown in Luxembourg helps to dissolve brain tumor cells.