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A struggling desert town in Riverside County, long a hostile place for medical marijuana patients, is turning to an unlikely ally in the fight to keep its police department alive: MMJ. Leaders of the City of Desert Hot Springs, located in the Coachella Valley two hours east of Los Angeles, could move to re-legalize medical weed dispensaries so they could ...

While the rest of California continues to adopt tight restrictions or bans on medical marijuana, the City of Berkeley is headed in the opposite direction. The Berkeley City Council voted July 1 to require that medical weed dispensaries provide free pot to low-income patients. Under the new policy, dispensaries will be required to dedicate at least 2 percent of their ...

The High Times Cannabis Cup event blew into the Bay Area in late June, attracting thousands of eager tokers and industry players. The Cannabis Cup was held June 28 and 29 at the Sonoma County Fairground in Santa Rosa. As many as 10,000 people showed up to sample a wide array of weed and bask in the glow of changing ...

A pot bust in Nevada County in June ended with sheriff’s deputies seizing weed, butane containers, weapons, and thousands of dollars in cash. Two people were arrested at the scene of the raid. Eric Paul Normart, 45, and Jillian Rose Terzian, 26, were charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy, and committing a felony while armed. The Nevada County ...

Police raided a suspected marijuana network in Fremont, Union City, and Hayward in June. They arrested four people and seized hundreds of plants, cash, and other drugs, authorities said. The investigation lasted almost a month, and police confiscated nearly 700 plants, processed weed, cocaine, cash, and a car, according to the Southern Alameda County Major Crimes Task Force. The operation ...

A man suspected of trying to rob a medical marijuana dispensary in Southern California was shot dead by a security guard June 25, authorities said. According to witnesses and police, two men entered a dispensary on Century Boulevard in Los Angeles shortly after noon and opened fire. The shop, “Nature’s Cure,” is located near LAX. The two men were met ...

Voters in Santa Ana will decide in November whether they want to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Now, thanks to a proposal before the city council, voters could face two ballot items with that goal – one proposed by the city, the other by MMJ advocates. The latest proposed ballot initiative was introduced to council members by city ...

Officials in Santa Clara County are moving to ban medical weed providers in unincorporated areas. The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously June 24 to impose an immediate moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries and other providers. It could be the precursor to a permanent ban. “The immediate moratorium allows us time to create a permanent ordinance, and at the same ...

Los Angelenos will soon have a novel way to buy their medical weed. The city’s first medical marijuana farmers market is coming to town over the Fourth of July weekend. The event will take place July 4 to July 6 and is expected to attract as many as 50 vendors selling almost everything with weed in it, including ordinary weed. ...

While many other California cities limit or outlaw medical marijuana dispensaries, Berkeley is allowing an expansion. The city will license a new dispensary by 2015, bringing the total number of legitimate pot shops in Berkeley to four. The city council voted to allow the new shop at a meeting June 17. That vote was preliminary, and the council will vote ...