United States

US tilting to Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico's narco wars?

Posted on September 22nd, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

MexicoThe US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Sept. 21 imposed Kingpin Act sanctions on four Colombian nationals and 12 companies said to be linked to Joaquín Guzmán Loera AKA "El Chapo"—head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán faces charges in the US, but remains at large. (WSJ Corruption Currents blog, Sept. 20) The move comes amid increasing charges that US law enforcement—as well as the Mexican government is favoring the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico's bloody narco wars.

RAND study dispels link between dispensaries, crime

Posted on September 20th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

medical marijuanaThe RAND Corporation issued a report Sept. 20 dispelling the myth that there are inherent links between medical marijuana dispensaries and crime. The study found that crime is as much as 60% greater where dispensaries had been shut down by the City of Los Angeles compared to those areas with open dispensaries. "[W]e found no evidence that medical marijuana dispensaries in general cause crime to rise," said Mireille Jacobson, the study’s lead author and a senior economist at RAND.

Washington state battle over medicinal gardens, dispensaries

Posted on September 19th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

cannabisMunicipalities in Washington state are maintaining bans on medicinal cannabis gardens and dispensaries, as efforts to clarify state law on this question are stalled in Olympia. A state law enacted July 22 allows for up to 10 people to grow up to 45 plants in collective gardens. But several cities—notably excluding Seattle—declared temporary bans on collective gardens, citing the need to study the impacts. Washougal's city council voted Sept. 9 to extend the six-month ban passed in July for a full year. On Sept. 14, the Sammamish city council also voted to extend its ban.

Court cases test Nevada medical law

Posted on September 19th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

medical marijuanaMultiple court cases in Nevada are prompting a second look at the state's medical marijuana law. In a sometimes heated courtroom session, Clark County District Judge Douglas Smith heard arguments Sept. 16 in the case of six defendants arrested last November in a raid of Jolly Green Meds co-op on Las Vegas' famed Sahara Ave. On Sept. 12, the county's Judge Donald Mosley threw out a grand jury indictment in a case concerning the Sin City Co-Op, also of Las Vegas, and also shut down in a raid. Mosley ruled that the grand jury wasn't shown enough evidence to indicate that an undercover officer illegally obtained cannabis at the co-op. (Las Vegas Sun, Sept. 16)

White House expands drug watch list to include all Central America

Posted on September 17th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , .

President Barack Obama has included El Salvador and Belize on the list of 22 countries ranked as "Major Illicit Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2012"—for the first time placing all seven Central American nations on the annual list that identifies countries that "significantly affect the United States" through their role in the drug trade.

Tulare County judge bars uprooting of medicinal crops

Posted on September 16th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

medical marijuanaFor the second time in less than a week, a judge issued a restraining order to prevent officials in California's Tulare County from pulling medicinal cannabis plants from a farm just north of Visalia. The order by Tulare County Superior Court Judge Paul Vortmann will remain in effect at least until Oct. 6, when another hearing on the case is scheduled. The ruling came in response to an application for a restraining order filed by Richard Daleman, who runs a business leasing small plots to about 40 clients to grow medicinal cannabis. All have doctors' recommendations to grow and smoke.

Feds want to bar medical references in Montana trials

Posted on September 16th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

cannabisFederal prosecutors pursuing drug charges against Montana medical marijuana operators want to keep jurors from hearing any evidence at trial about the state law approving such operations, or whether the defendants were complying with it. US Justice Department attorneys have made motions in at least two cases stemming from federal raids on dozens of medicinal cannabis operations this spring, asking judges to bar any testimony or evidence about medical marijuana.

Michigan medical marijuana crackdown widens

Posted on September 16th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

cannabisThe Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team raided sites Sept. 14 in Michigan's Commerce Township, where defense attorneys said 34 caregivers grew cannabis in 34 leased and locked units. No arrests were made in raids on properties associated with Absolute Herbal Remedies, but 500 plants and tens of thousands of dollars in growing equipment were seized.

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