Thomas Liberty lost nearly everything in September 2015, when the disastrous Butte fire swept his property in Northern California’s interior. But the worst loss may have been his marijuana garden. “It just hurts to see it,” Liberty told The Sacramento Bee while surveying his homestead. The fire, the seventh largest in California history, burned 71,000 acres, incinerated 860 structures – ...

Marijuana legalization just picked up a major supporter. Long-shot presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke in the Bay Area in May and said he was 100 percent behind the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. That measure is the leading contender to legalize the drug in November. The AUMA has already been cleared to appear on the ballot. Sanders endorsed the proposed ...

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 ...

Late last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to create a new system of rules governing medical marijuana in the state. The same regulations could play a part in full legalization, should voters approve it in November. Now, the newly appointed head of the agency lawmakers created, the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, says she thinks “there is a ...

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 ...

It’s no secret California is a great place to smoke marijuana. The state produces 60 percent of the nation’s pot supply, and medical cannabis laws have long been notoriously lax, so at least a few California cities should appear on any serious list of the best places for stoners. Indeed, a study from 2014 ranked the top 10 cities for ...

Medical marijuana regulation is taking effect in California, and with it comes Lori Ajax, the state’s new “weed czar.” Ajax could soon become the deputy director of the new Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation thanks to rules signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown late last year. Surprisingly, she is a Republican. Brown nominated Ajax for the job in February, ...

Communities across California are moving quickly to ban marijuana cultivation as new medical cannabis regulations take effect. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the new rules last year, and they are set to go into effect soon. The legislation came 20 years after California became the first state to allow medicinal marijuana. The regulations allow local governments to limit or ban cultivation, ...

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 ...

Not everyone is ready for legalization. That includes America’s advertising industry, which has long been reluctant to help sell legal weed. But things may be changing, slowly. The Bay Area, for example, recently saw its very first medical marijuana billboard, posted above Interstate 580 in Oakland. Magnolia Wellness, a dispensary with outlets in Oakland and Sacramento, is behind the ad ...