Global Ganja Report

Arrests for low-level pot possession dropped in the weeks after New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly warned officers not to make arrests for small quantities found in pockets or bags, according to new data released Dec. 7. Kelly issued the internal order Sept. 19 after claims from civil rights groups that officers were wrongly arresting people in a state where personal possession is punishable with a fine. There are more arrests on cannabis charges—about 50,000 a year—than any other crime in New York City. Pot cases account for about one of every seven that turn up in criminal courts.

The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax—California's oldest cannabis dispensary—is preparing to close its doors  following a Dec. 2 ruling by Marin County Superior Court Judge Roy Chernus, who refused to stop the club's pending eviction. Chernus found that the dispensary's lease requires compliance with federal law, which forbids selling cannabis. MAMM founder Lynnette Shaw told Global Ganja Report by e-mail Dec. 5: "We are moving ourselves shortly to an unspecified location for storage. Maybe even today. Sigh..."

Governors Christine Gregoire (D-WA) and Lincoln Chafee (I-RI) announced at a press conference in Olympia Nov. 30 that they are jointly filing a federal petition to reclassify cannabis for medical use. Under the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government considers cannabis a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value. The rescheduling petition filed by governors Gregoire and Chafee comes after their administrations were sent letters threatening medical marijuana producers and distributors and the implementation of state laws.

An internal Justice Department memo containing guidelines for federal cannabis enforcement in California, issued in February, has been leaked to California NORML, and is now on the website of the California Cannabis Coalition. It was issued jointly by the four California US attorneys to DEA agents in the state, the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task-forces, and "Federal task force partners in California." Marked "Not for public use or circulation," it outlines criteria for federal involvement in cannabis cases, such as "Distribution of significant quantities," "Provable ties to an international drug cartel," "Marijuana 'inventory' obtained from cultivation on federal or tribal land," "Store operations in conjunction with other federal crimes," etc.

Scores of cannabis dispensaries in San Diego County have closed following the federal crackdown announced in October. As of the end of November, 139 of 222 medical cannabis outlets—or 62%—have shut down since the US Attorney's office in San Diego began sending letters to the dispensaries and their landlords. About a third of those targeted are still operating, but some 20 more outlets are expected to close within the next two weeks, according to federal authorities. Another round of letters from the US Attorney's Office—some hand-delivered by DEA agents—were sent within the past week to dispensaries that remain open.

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association (MTCIA) says it has received information that the Justice Department has issued a memo with guidelines for the acceptable operation of dispensaries in California, and wants to know if similar guidelines were issued for their own state. Said MTCIA spokesman Ed Docter: "If the federal government wants to propose guidelines fine, we're all for that, we would really enjoy that, we would invite the help but basically we would just like to know what our US Attorney get. What did [Montana US Attorney Michael] Cotter get? I mean we don't know if he got a similar memo." The MTCIA says it will write to Gov. Brain Schweitzer seeking clarification on the guidelines, and what the Montana industry needs to do to prevent more raids. (KPAX, Missoula, Nov. 29)

The 2011 Hempcon medical marijuana convention in Denver in October prompted local fears of a "green rush" in the Centennial State. Sixteen states now allow some form of legalized medical marijuana, but only Colorado explicitly allows cannabis businesses to operate as such—making it the first for-profit marijuana marketplace in the United States. Between 2000—when voters approved the state's medical marijuana initiative—and 2008, Colorado issued roughly 2,000 medical marijuana cards to patients living in the state. By 2011, that number had jumped to more than 127,000 paying customers, according to the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry—with at least 25,000 more have applications pending.

Medical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) on Nov. 22 appealed the September 2010 conviction of San Diego dispensary operator Jovan Jackson in a case that has become a symbol of the effort by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to criminalize storefront dispensaries. California Attorney General Kamala Harris—who served as San Francisco DA when that city established the state's first dispensaries—will now defend Jackson's appeal rather than Dumanis, who originally tried him. The ASA appeal contests Jackson's denial of a medical defense, and challenges the prosecution's assertion that "sales" of medical marijuana are illegal under state law.