Global Ganja Report

California Beer & Beverage Distributors, an industry lobbying group, is sinking money into the campaign to oppose Proposition 19, the November ballot initiative that would legalize cannabis in the state. "[I]t donated $10,000 to Public Safety First, a committee organized to oppose the proposition, on Sept. 7, 2010, though the contribution was only recently made public," reports The Huffington Post "The alcohol industry has long seen illicit drugs as a threat to sales, as consumers may substitute pot for booze. A night spent on the couch smoking marijuana and watching television is a night not spent at the bar."

Washington DC police arrested Orly Azoulay, veteran correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Achronoth on charges of intention to distribute marijuana Oct. 2. Also arrested was Azoulay's husband, Howard Arenstein, a correspondent for CBS radio news. Police reportedly found 11 plants and six two-ounce marijuana bags in the home in northwest Washington, acting on a neighbor's tip.

San Diego area medical marijuana dispensary operator Jovan Jackson was convicted by a jury Sept. 28 on all three counts of possession and sales. The conviction came after San Diego Superior Court Judge Howard H. Shore refused to allow Jackson a medical defense at trial. The jury took less than 24 hours to reach a verdict. Jackson is likely to appeal the conviction and his inability to use a medical defense. Leading medical marijuana patients' rights group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) had previously submitted a brief in Jackson's case supporting his right to a medical defense and is considering assisting with an appeal.

The Obama administration opposes legalizing marijuana and views medical marijuana dubiously as well, said Kevin Sabet, special adviser for policy at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Marijuana cannot be the one exception in history of the world that doesn’t go through a scientific process to be approved as medicine," Sabet told the Montana Supreme Court Administrator's annual drug court conference in Helena. “It doesn’t make any sense. “How can we imagine that a dangerous, illegal drug like marijuana should be voted on by the people? That’s not how we do medicine in this country.”

Nearly 4,000 attended the 11th annual Cannabis Revival in Joplin, Mo., on Sept. 25. Among the speakers advocating for legalization of marijuana was former Republican New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (1995-2002). Kelly Maddy, director of the Joplin chapter of the NORML and organizer of the Cannabis Revival, said the weekend event was held as a way to encourage public involvement in marijuana law reform. Johnson, who has toured the country speaking on the issue, says the drug should be regulated and taxed like alcohol. (AP, The Fuse, Joplin, Sept. 26)

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.