Politics

Medical cannabis could soon reach a corner of California where many would consider it out of place among the tourists, seaside cottages, and salt breezes: Santa Catalina Island. The resort island, three square miles and just 3,800 residents, is one of the Channel Islands located off Los Angeles. Just an hour from the mainland, it’s a favorite Southern California vacation ...

The likelihood seems to be increasing by the day that California voters will legalize marijuana in the November election. A legalization referendum is already slated to appear on the ballot, and most observers believe it will pass. That would make California by far the largest market for legal cannabis anywhere on Earth. The state already dominates on the black and ...

A petition to legalize marijuana in California, which will appear on the statewide ballot in November, has broad public support. But some surprising groups are skeptical of the idea. Strangely enough, they include the famously Democratic Teamsters, a union that represents 1.4 million members, most of them truck drivers and loaders. The union has announced it’s donating to a lobbying ...

Californians are big supporters of legalizing marijuana – most of them, anyway. But it turns out there are two big groups fighting to stop it from happening, groups with a vested interest in the issue. Most of the opposition to cannabis reform is coming from the state’s police officers and prison guards, who stand to lose millions of dollars in ...

If there’s one thing both marijuana advocates and their opponents agree on, it’s that stoned driving is a bad idea. But they don’t always agree on how to deal with the problem. A California lawmaker has introduced legislation that would crack down on high driving by allowing a sort of saliva-based Breathalyzer for cannabis. The idea, says GOP state Sen. ...

A new report suggests California should impose tight regulations on cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana should voters legalize the drug in November. The Public Policy Institute of California published the report in April, saying the state will need to draft “robust licensing and tracking systems” for a legal cannabis industry. The rules should reflect those adopted in Colorado and ...

There was a time, not long ago, when California’s medical marijuana industry was viewed as a death trap for career lobbyists. For example: When Amy Jenkins, a young lobbyist in Sacramento, took a job representing the California Cannabis Industry Association two years ago, longtime lobbyists told her she was crazy. It would ruin her future, they said. “I was warned ...

Wanted: a professional candidate with a graduate degree, lobbying experience, and at least a passing interest in marijuana law. Also required, strong communication skills and the innate ability to manage large government agencies under the skeptical eye of the public. The State of California is looking for a marijuana czar, a man or woman to run the new state Bureau ...

A federal judge handed an important victory to medical marijuana advocates in October. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer lifted a temporary injunction that blocked a Bay Area medical weed dispensary from selling pot to patients. The ruling means the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana and its founder, Lynette Shaw, may resume their business. More importantly, the decision applied a ...

If you thought marijuana, gay rights, and religious tolerance had nothing to do with each other, think again. As civil libertarians and Christian conservatives battle over recent anti-gay “religious liberty” laws in Indiana and Arkansas, the laws themselves have opened a legal door to an unexpected player: a church devoted to cannabis. Bill Levin, an Indiana marijuana activist, has launched ...