Global Ganja Report

The Rhode Island Senate passed compromise legislation May 9 intended to revive a stalled effort to open medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, with new limits on quantities the facilities may possess. If the measure passes the House, the dispensaries could be open within months. The vote represents progress for dispensaries that were poised to open last year, when Gov. Lincoln Chafee held up their permits citing the threat of federal prosecution.

Federal agents from the DEA and IRS, backed up with Santa Barbara police, served search warrants at a medical marijuana dispensary and a grow house on May 2 and 3. No arrests were made, but search warrants were executed at the Pacific Coast Collective dispensary and, the next morning, at 305 E. Haley St., which was named as a grow house. Agents and detectives also searched the residences of PCC operator Charles Jeff Restivo in Carpinteria, who is already facing local felony charges related to the dispensary; and Steven Kessler in Santa Barbara, who was said to operate the cultivation site.

Connecticut's Senate on May 5 passed HB 5389, which will allow citizens to obtain cannabis for medicinal use under defined conditions. The bill cleared the Democrat-controlled Senate in a 21-13 vote. The new law will make Connecticut the USA's 17th medical marijuana state. Opponents of the law raised the usual concerns that those who do not qualify under the act might be able to purchase cannabis with faulty prescriptions. The Connecticut law, however, seeks to eliminate this problem by requiring that qualified patients purchase only from licensed pharmacists who also must obtain a permit to dispense cannabis. The bill has already been passed by the state's House and now only needs to be signed by Gov. Dannel Malloy (D), who has already expressed support for the measure. (Journal Inquirer, Manchester, CT, May 7; Jurist, May 6)

On May 5, the flagship New York City event in the Global Marijuana March movement returned to its traditional home of Washington Square Park after an absence of several years, with revelers gathering there at "high" noon—and then marching up to Union Square for a rally. Union Square has been since the start of spring a focal point for the Occupy Wall Street movement, so marijuana marchers and Occupy activists merged and mingled there. Among their common demands was an end to the NYPD's aggressive stop-and-frisk policy which has resulted in hundreds of illegal cannabis arrests. One slogan written on the pavement in multi-colored chalk read: "Occupy Justice, Stop Stop-and-Frisk." Speakers also demanded freedom for Dana Beal, the mastermind of the Global Marijuana March who is now serving time on a cannabis charge in Nebraska. (Global Ganja Report on the scene)

A May 5 report in the Sacramento Bee portrays an Emerald Triangle hard-hit by the federal crackdown on medical marijuana in California. Cultivators who sought legitimacy through the medical market are fleeing to the black market, leading to a glut—which is now ironically hurting the remnant medicinal market. With cheap weed getting dumped in the college town of Arcata, some local dispensaries say business is down 75%. The price of top-line bud has dropped from around $5,000 to under $1,000. "Last I heard, a pound of marijuana is $800 for outdoor grown," gloated Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman. "That's plummeting. You might do better with tomatoes."

A UC San Diego student left in a federal holding cell for days without food and water has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the government. Daniel Chong, 23, was picked up in a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raid April 21. After questioning him, agents told him that he would not be charged and to wait in the holding cell until they finished the paperwork to release him. He spent four days alone in the cell, apparently forgotten.

US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued a statement May 2 condemning the escalated attacks on state-compliant medical marijuana businesses in her state. Responding to the recent federal crackdown on California dispensaries, Pelosi said she has "long supported" and will "continue to strongly support" efforts to "advocate federal policies that recognize the scientific evidence and clinical research demonstrating the medical benefits of medicinal marijuana, that respects the wishes of the states in providing relief to ill individuals, and that prevents the federal government from acting to harm the safe access of medicinal marijuana provided under state law."*

The 21st annual Extravaganja festival was held April 28 on the town common of Amherst, Mass. Sponsored by the UMass Amherst Cannabis Reform Coalition, the event featured six live bands and several speakers in addition to many vendors selling everything from glass pipes to hemp food products. Police said 33 people were cited for possession of under an ounce of marijuana, a civil offense that carries a $100 fine in Massachusetts. Town authorities turned down organizers' request for a permit for a two-day event, which had been granted last year on an experimental basis for the festival's 20th anniversary. (The Republican, Springfield, April 28; The Republican, April 12)