President Obama made news this month when he declared pot to be less dangerous than alcohol and called the experiments with legal weed in Washington and Colorado “important.” His statements, captured in an interview with David Remnick of The New Yorker, carry great weight in plenty of places, from those two states to the 19 others where medical marijuana is ...

Fresno County is shutting the door on the last option for residents who want to grow pot under California’s medical marijuana law. The county’s planning commission voted 5-1 Jan. 9 to ban cannabis cultivation in the last place it was still allowed, manufacturing sites. None of these locations had ever been zoned for marijuana use, but the possibility remained even ...

Two men were sentenced Dec. 21 for their ties to several medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento and Stockton. Lynn Farrell Smith, 63, of Stockton was sentenced to 42 months in prison for cannabis cultivation and sale. His co-defendant, Robert Duncan, 30, of Oakland was sentenced to 24 months in prison for similar crimes. Both men were sentenced in federal court ...

A prominent MMJ businessman who ran several dispensaries in Central California was sentenced to five years in prison this month, according to the Associated Press. Matthew Davies, 35, reached a plea deal with prosecutors that spared him a possible 15 year sentence. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, manufacturing marijuana, and distributing marijuana through his businesses ...

Taking a decided step backward, the City of Napa has shut the door on pot. The Napa City Council voted 3-2 Dec. 4 to ban medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits. Council members voted to repeal a 3-year-old ordinance that, had it been implemented, would have allowed a single dispensary in Napa. The vote went against a recommendation by the ...

Leaders in San Jose are trying again to crack down on a still-thriving dispensary industry, though marijuana advocates have promised to put the issue before voters. The new regulations would make it much harder for patients in many parts of town to get their medical weed, advocates say, and could cause new problems for the neighborhoods where dispensaries would be ...

In what is apparently a first in the nation, the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary has been appointed mayor of a small town north of the Bay Area. Sebastapol, CA in Sonoma County, population 7,500, is known for its left-leaning politics, its commitment to the environment and, now, its fearlessness in choosing a mayor whose life’s work is an ...

The announcement was clear, and it brought joy to the hearts of medical marijuana supporters and tokers everywhere: The federal government would no longer interfere with states that legalize marijuana and would no longer go after cannabis businesses that follow state law. Yet some high-ranking government officials responsible for enforcing this new policy don’t seem willing to acknowledge it. Case ...

The Obama administration has promised not to interfere with state and local regulation of legal marijuana. Now officials in the Bay Area are asking the president to make good on his word. In early November the Alameda County supervisors adopted a resolution that asks federal law enforcement to stop harassing lawful dispensaries in the county. The resolution recognizes the benefits ...

California has cleared the way for pot proponents to gather signatures so they can put legalization on the ballot in 2014. Secretary of State Debra Bowen has authorized the backers of a legalization petition to begin collecting the 504,760 signatures they will need to certify the legalization question for next year’s election. They have until Feb. 24, 2014 to do ...