Medical marijuana is now legal in the District after the Democrat-controlled Congress declined to overrule a D.C Council bill that allows the city to set up as many as eight dispensaries where chronically ill patients can purchase the drug.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said in a statement the bill become law after Congress finished its business Monday night because neither the House nor Senate opted to intervene.

The council approved the bill in May, and under Home Rule Congress had 30 legislative days to review it.

“We have faced repeated attempts to re-impose the prohibition on medical marijuana in D.C. throughout the layover period,” said Norton. “Yet, it is D.C.’s business alone to decide how to help patients who live in our city and suffer from chronic pain and incurable illnesses.”

Although the bill has now cleared Congress, patients will likely have to wait at least several months before they can obtain the drug from a city-sanctioned dispensary.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and the Department of Health now have to establish regulations outlining who can bid for a license to open a dispensary. (See how different states handle medical marijuana.)

The law allows patients with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and other chronic ailments can possess up to four ounces of the drug.

Patients will not be allowed to grow their own marijuana, but licensed companies will be able to sell the drug to people who first obtain a doctor’s prescription.

The council also approved a provision in the 2011 budget that calls for medical marijuana to be subject to the city’s 6 percent sales tax. Underprivileged residents who qualify will be eligible to purchase their drugs free or at reduced cost.

Under the legislation, sponsored by council members David A. Catania (I-At large) and Phil Mendelson (D-At large), both non-profit and for-profit organizations will be eligible to operate the dispensaries.

Even after the Department of Health licenses the dispensaries and cultivation centers, they could be delayed by a zoning process in which residents could protest where the dispensaries will be located. The legislation states the dispensaries will not be allowed to be located within 300 feet of a school.

Distributors also will be limited to growing no more than 95 marijuana plants at a given location, an apparent effort to keep dispensers within federal law that heightens penalties on anyone arrested with at least 100 plants.

The law caps a years-long struggle to act on a 1998 referendum in which 69 percent of District residents voted for to allow medical marijuana. Until last year, Congress blocked the city from enacting the referendum.

City leaders, hoping to avoid the quasi-legalization of the drug, say the District will have one of the most restrictive medical marijuana laws in the country. They fear a future Congress could reverse the law if it is abused.

- Article from The Washington Post.

A new campaign committee supporting California’s initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use is being backed by a wealthy entrepreneur in other forms of recreation – sex toys and porn.

Philip D. Harvey has donated $100,000 to the Drug Policy Action Committee to Tax and Regulate Marijuana. The committee is backing Proposition 19, the November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adults over 21, allow small residential cultivation and permit local governments to tax and regulate pot sales.

Harvey, so far the only listed donor to the committee, is president of Adam & Eve, a North Carolina mail order and retail firm that has been billed as America’s largest provider of sexual products and adult films.

Harvey is also a philanthropist involved in family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention. He is president of DKT International, which distributes condoms and contraceptives to poor countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Harvey’s website features a 2004 profile by The Economist magazine. It describes him as a “famously libertarian” man who looks “more like an academic than a sex magnate” and who has “broadened his fight for free speech and individual choice” to “America’s war on drugs.”

Source

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs will now be taking a second look at a policy that keeps veterans from using medical marijuana for pain management. As of now, 14 states allow the use of medical marijuana, but still the United States government continues to outlaw use of the plant. This has created a paradox in which some individuals are within their own state laws, but are breaking federal laws by using medical marijuana and could face federal persecution.

Under the new rules, veterans can be denied prescription painkillers if they are found to be using illegal drugs. Up until now, those drugs included marijuana in any form. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs will still not permit veterans in states that do not allow medical marijuana to use the natural painkiller, but veterans who are living in medical marijuana states will be able to use it as a painkiller and still receive other prescription painkillers if their situation calls for it.

The legalization or de-regulation of marijuana has been a hot topic in recent years in many different states. Although no state has ever come close to completely legalizing marijuana, a total of 14 states now allow the substance to be prescribed medically when the situation calls for it. The Department of Veterans Affairs shows that the federal government may be more willing to cooperate on the issue in the future.

A number of other natural painkillers are available, but are not as effective as marijuana. These substances include Capsaicin, shingles and neuropathy.

Source

If you’re going to smoke pot, for goodness’ sakes, smoke it every day, man.

Experienced marijuana consumers show virtually no changes in cognitive performance after using cannabis, according to clinical trial data published online this week in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior.

Investigators at Columbia University in New York and San Francisco Brain Research Institute assessed acute marijuana-related effects on cognitive functioning in 24 volunteers who reported consuming cannabis at least 24 times per week, reports NORML.

Scientists found that participants’ overall performance accuracy on episodic memory and working memory tasks “was not significantly altered by marijuana.”

“The present findings show that smoked marijuana produced minimal effects on episodic and spatial working memory of near-daily smokers,” the researchers concluded.

“The overall response accuracy on the word recognition and working memory tasks was unaffected by marijuana, although smoked marijuana did increase the amount of time participants needed to complete these tasks,” investigators said.

“The pattern of effects is consistent with results previously reported by other researchers studying the acute effects of marijuana on cognitive performance of regular users,” the study said. “The finding… stands in contrast to previous findings in occasional smokers who showed reduced accuracy on these same tasks after marijuana.”

“The observation that frequent users’ response accuracy is not altered after marijuana smoking to the same extent it is for infrequent users… suggests that near-daily marijuana smokers may have developed tolerance to some marijuana-related behavioral effects.”

Source

You know you’re a Californian when you have to ask if the brownies someone brought to a potluck are “special” or not.

But while the casual peddler of edible marijuana on sunny days in the City’s parks still faces arrest, the City’s Department of Public Health has rules for legitimate edible cannabis treats at medical marijuana dispensaries.

For instance, anything that requires refrigeration is right out unless the dispensary applies for an exemption, so you might want to rethink your plans for a soda fountain at your dispensary.

In fact, making anything look like candy which might attract children — such as candy bars wrapped in packaging meant to mimic popular brands — is also forbidden.

The packaging does, however, have to state the amount of marijuana in the food, and whether it contains any potential allergens such as nuts.

Only members of a dispensary are allowed to make the products, and if they intend to sell them at more than one location, they need to have a food handler’s permit.

If California voters pass Proposition 19, the Tax Cannabis Act that would effectively decriminalize the recreational use of the drug, you can expect similar regulations to apply to entrepreneurs looking to bake goods that will get you baked.

In fact, it’s probably only a matter of time before you’ll be able to get full nutritional information labeled-goods — so that you can count your calories both before and after the munchies kick in.

Written by Jackson West from NBC

The medical marijuana patient and caretaker who organized a protest outside the Saginaw County Courthouse last week, says investigators raided his home Tuesday.

Thomas Township resident John Roberts organized the protest, accusing The Saginaw County Sheriff of raiding patients and caretakers. Protesters came from around the state, some holding signs reading, “Learn the Law.”

Roberts, who is vice president of the Tri-City Compassion Club, said at the protest, “Our patients had to suffer because they don’t believe in it. I don’t give a rat’s {expletive} what they believe in.”

Wednesday Roberts told NBC25 he believes investigators raided his home in retaliation. He says now he has patients who will suffer.

Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel says his department had nothing to do with the raid, and that it was part of a federal investigation.

- Article from NBC25

Read more for the video.(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

Salem-News reports on how cannabis use can reduce infant mortality. You would think that it would be equal or greater to the amount of deaths by a non-drug user. Although, the results show otherwise.

“It’s a sad little thing – an abstract of a study on the death of babies – yet vital facts can be learned from those soulless statistical studies. This one gave the infant death rates per 1,000 live births, and the drugs, if any, that the mother used during pregnancy.

A total of 2,964 babies were drug-tested at birth to see if they were positive for drugs – cocaine, opioids or cannabis were studied. 44% of the infants tested positive for all varieties of drugs, including the 3 being studied. During the first two years of their lives, 44 babies from the original group died. Since statistics are a drag to slog through, I’ll cut right to the chase – the deaths per thousand live births – the numbers tell the story.”

Some very shocking numbers are found.

“No drugs at birth” deaths……. 15.7 deaths per 1000 live births

“Cocaine positive” deaths…….17.7 deaths per 1000 live births

“Opiate positive” deaths…….18.4 deaths per 1000 live births

“Cannabis positive” deaths…. 8.9 deaths per 1000 live births

Read the full article on their website.

The California branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will release a report that it says reveals how criminalization of marijuana disproportionately harms people of color today.

The release of the report comes as part of the NAACP’s endorsement of the Tax Cannabis Act, a ballot proposition slated for November which would essentially decriminalize marijuana across the state.

According to the NAACP, African Americans are disproportionately arrested for marijuana possession — up to four times as often as whites, even though the latter is statistically more likely to be a user.

“We have empirical proof that the application of the marijuana laws has been unfairly applied to our young people of color,” State NAACP President Alice Huffman wrote in an official statement.

A conviction for even misdemeanor drug possession is a permanent scar on employment applications, in child custody disputes and bars one from eligibility for federal college loan programs.

Under the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, as it’s formally known, it would remain illegal for people under the age of 21 to possess marijuana, akin to underage drinking laws.

The report will be released at a press conference in Sacramento, where the NAACP will be joined by fellow supporters of the initiative including Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization representing current and former law enforcement officials from across the country which advocates for drug policy reform.

Written by NBC

Hollywood – An employee at a marijuana dispensary in Hollywood was killed Thursday night during an apparent robbery, police said. The death was reported about 9:05 p.m. in the 1600 block of North El Centro Avenue, just north of the Hollywood Palladium, according to Los Angeles police.

“It is a homicide,” Officer Karen Rayner of Los Angeles police Media Relations said, adding she did not how the person died. “It appears to be a robbery.”

It was not clear if the apparent robbery and killing were related to an earlier armed robbery at an Echo Park marijuana dispensary where one employee was shot dead and another was critically injured, Rayner said.

“The sole employee in the store was found dead by the owner of the store,” Los Angeles police Sgt. Don Lawrence of the Hollywood Station said.

Lawrence said he did not know whether the person was shot, or how he or she died.

An investigation was under way at the scene, Lawrence said.

Capt. Kevin McClure of the LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Unit was en route to the Hollywood dispensary, Rayner said.

Source

These comments from Sarah Palin last week are continuing to generate discussion:

“If we’re talking about pot, I’m not for the legalization of pot, because I think that would just encourage our young people to think that it was OK to go ahead and use it and I’m not an advocate for that. However, I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts. And if somebody is going to smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody else any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and clean up some of the other problems we have in society that are appropriate for law enforcement to do and not concentrate on such a, relatively speaking, minimal problem that we have in the country.”

Mike Huckabee responded with a bizarre joke about Palin doing cocaine on TV, and Ryan McNeely has a good piece addressing the absurdity of defending marijuana laws while simultaneously asking that they not be enforced. Unfortunately, The Economist departed from its typically superb drug policy coverage with a strange defense of Palin’s remarks:

Basically, while Sarah Palin’s position on this issue, as on many others, is semi-deliberately incoherent, it is in this case a semi-deliberate incoherence that has proven to be effective policy in many countries, and I’m not even sure it’s the wrong stance on the issue.

The full argument is too rambling to quote (see for yourself), but the author’s point is that marijuana isn’t really even legal in the Netherlands, so maybe there’s no need to legalize here either. It might make sense if we didn’t have a massive blood-thirsty drug war army literally occupying our cities. Prohibition is a for-profit industry in America. It sustains itself through a vast campaign of propaganda and intimidation, and I doubt the solution is as simple as asking these guys to please calm down.

The warriors who invade private homes in bulletproof bodysuits and murder small dogs for having the audacity to bark at them are not responsive to pleas for a more measured enforcement model. That the law authorizes their actions is the go-to excuse when their machine guns go off prematurely, and until that changes, neither will anything else.

Nevertheless, the fact that Palin was able to create such a flurry of dialogue with a few casual comments is testament to her potency as an advocate for whatever half-measures she’s willing to stand for. And the fact that FOX News is now employing people who will keep posing these questions to prominent political figures is pretty cool, too.

Click “Read More” for the video. You also can read the article at CBSNews.

Frederico Moreno, 35, of Lyons, has been charged with manufacturing and delivery of cannabis, a Class X felony. (Cook County sheriff's office)

Describing it as one of the largest marijuana busts in its history, the Cook County sheriff’s police has seized 5,525 pounds of the drug with an estimated street value of more than $20 million.

Charged with manufacturing and delivering cannabis, a Class X felony, is 35-year-old Frederico Moreno, whom authorities described as a “high-level importer” and part of a drug-trafficking organization.

The sheriff’s police, acting on a tip, conducted surveillance on Moreno at a house in the 7800 block of West 47th Street in west suburban Lyons, the agency said. Officers saw Moreno meet with various people, at one point exchanging a package “indicative of drug dealing,” the sheriff’s office said.

Police followed Moreno back to the home on 47th Street, then saw him leaving in his car with a Tupperware container, the office said. Investigators stopped Moreno and arrested him, allegedly finding marijuana in his car.

Officers returned to the house, where they saw another person flee out the back, the office stated, leaving the door ajar.

The officers saw 224 taped bales of marijuana stacked inside the home, the office stated. Moreno allegedly loaded the marijuana at the 47th Street house at night through a printing company warehouse attached to the back of the home.

An associate of Moreno had access to the warehouse after hours and rented the house from the printing company. Neither that associate nor anyone from the printing company is charged in this case.

The marijuana came from Mexico, the office said. The packages were to be sold wholesale to mid-level distributors before being broken down for street-level sales.

If convicted of the Class X felony, Moreno faces between 6 to 30 years in prison. He will appear for a bond hearing Saturday in Cook County Criminal Court in Bridgeview.

Source

A campaign for a system of medical marijuana supply systems in Oregon turned in enough signatures to put the measure on the November ballot – if the signatures are valid. According to an early turn-in, the initiative for a medical marijuana supply system has gathered 115,404 signatures. It needs 82,769 verified names of registered voters to make the ballot.

The preliminary total only reflects the signatures gathered by paid petitioners through May. The campaign will continue to gather signatures up to the July 2 deadline to give them a cushion for names that have to be thrown out.

Also, a Detroit City Council committee passed today on amending a city ordinance to allow adults in the city to legally possess a small amount of marijuana. Instead voters will get to decide in November.

Brought to you by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit – the same group that successfully got medical marijuana placed on the ballot in 2004 which passed – the ordinance amendment would allow anyone 21-years-old or older to legally possess less than an ounce of marijuana on private property, amending Chapter 38 of the city code regulating controlled substances.

Tim Beck, a registered medical marijuana user who filed the petitions, says the amended ordinance would “free up the police department to pursue crimes with actual victims.”

Dennis Mazurek, assistant corporation counsel with the city Law Department, told the council’s Internal Operations Committee that the ordinance amendment violates state law, specifically, the Michigan Public Health Code, and cannot be enacted. The state only allows registered medical marijuana use.

According to the City Clerk’s Office, the Coalition submitted 5,750 signatures in May; 3,895 were required and 4,598 were validated.

Beck is confident voters will pass the ordinance, as they passed the medical marijuana ordinance in 2004.

“It’s going to win,” he said. “I have no doubt about that.”

Written by: The Weed Blog

The wife of Canadian cannabis activist and BC Marijuana Party Leader Marc Emery expressed disgust and shock upon finding Twitter comments from Prime Minister Harper’s ex-communications director Kory Teneycke implying her husband should be raped in US prison.

The first post, made on May 11th (the day after Justice Minister Rob Nicholson ordered Emery extradited to the US) reads: “Bon Voyage, Marc Emery. May your vacation at Club Fed be a lengthy one.”

The next one, which was re-published in the June 14th Canadian Press article “Tory insiders and behind-scenes lobbying pave path to new ‘Fox North’ launch”, was posted on May 14th and reads: “To the pot heads who keep sending me crazy, profane emails: I hope Marc Emery enjoys group showers as much as he enjoys pot. Three cheers for the DEA.”

Jodie Emery condemns these comments as grossly inappropriate and offensive.

“My husband has never hurt another human being, yet our Prime Minister’s ex-communications director openly hopes for Marc to be physically harmed while in US prison,” she said. “It’s a common perception that prison rape happens in ‘group showers’, so this suggestion that Marc should enjoy being subjected to sexual abuse and humiliation is absolutely disgusting and offensive, and should be condemned by any decent, civilized person. Teneycke should apologize to me and Marc for this horrendously cruel comment.”

Written by CANNABIS CULTURE. Read more on their site.

Written by myFOXla – Los Angeles’s new medical marijuana ordinance has a loophole that allows dealers to sell pot over the internet and deliver it to their customers, and a city council member wants to put a stop to that.

Councilman Jose Huizar filed a motion on Tuesday that would ban so-called mobile dispensaries.

“The city has received dozens of complaints regarding this new ruse that has arisen in an attempt to circumvent city and state regulations governing the city’s collectives,” Huizar said in the motion.

“As such, it will be in the best interest of the city, and provide clarification to the public, if the council were to explicitly prohibit any delivery service unless it operates in full compliance with the (ordinance) and existing state law, both of which prohibit the transportation of medical marijuana to a qualified patient except by his/her primary caregiver.”

Huizar urged the council to have the city attorney amend the ordinance “on an emergency basis,” so it can be enacted quickly.

“If we remain silent, who knows? This booming business can get out of control,” Huizar said.

Under the new ordinance, only the 186 dispensaries that were operating when the moratorium was imposed on Nov. 13, 2007 can remain open. Because some of those have ceased operating, the City Attorney’s office estimates there are about 130 pot shops that are “grandfathered” and not banned by the new ordinance.

The operators of 439 pot shops were issued cease-and-desist letters a month ago, instructing them to shut down by June 7. Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney, warned those who defy that order could face jail time, fines or eviction.

He said criminal charges could carry penalties of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, while civil penalties could include fines up to $2,500.

Written by CANNABIS CULTURE – A “Free Marc” campaign organizer was arrested Thursday, June 10th at the Niagara Falls office of Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson in what activists are calling “assault and police intimidation.”

Jacob Hunter, Policy Director of the Beyond Prohibition Foundation and organizer of recent Conservative MP office occupation protests, was accosted by a police officer while attempting to walk through the front door of the Member of Parliament’s constituency office in Ontario. Hunter was there as part of a continuing series of protests being held at the offices of Conservative Members of Parliament by supporters of Marc Emery, and was joined by a group of activists including Jodie Emery.

Hunter was reportedly arrested for “assaulting a police officer”. Activists said another individual was also arrested at the scene.

Several other activists gathered around Hunter as officers prepared to put him in a police vehicle. Activist Eric Compton attempted to use the “hug power” technique by wrapping his arms around Hunter, but police aggressively grabbed him and slammed him on the hood of one of their cars.”

Shocking video after the break. Read more at Cannabis Culture

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

Written by Jodie Emery:

On Thursday night, June 3rd, Marc was put into solitary confinement, or “SHU”, (Security Housing Unit) at SeaTac Federal Detention Centre (SeaTac FDC) while he awaits his sentencing in September. The reason? For unknowingly breaking an unwritten rule. I haven’t heard from him since… Here’s what happened.

On Thursday afternoon, Marc had me record a phone call that was meant as his first US Prison Podcast, similar to the ones he did last fall while imprisoned here in BC and posted on iTunes and our website. That evening, as he was writing me an “email” through the Corrlinks prison messaging system, he mentioned that a guard had just given him a citation, said his phone access was suspended for “at least three days” and that there would be a disciplinary hearing in “a few days”.

Read more at Cannabis Culture and FREE MARC EMERY!

"That's a Lot of Pot" (CBS/WBZ)

Wouldn’t it be great to have a ton of pot (literally)? High Times reports on a police investigation:

“Police found 2,000 pounds of pot in a Boston-area apartment earlier this week. Prosecutors are calling the ton of cannabis “the single largest seizure of marijuana in Boston’s recent memory.”

However, despite the 40 plastic wrapped packages stacked to the ceiling of a third floor apartment, Edgar Gonzalez, the man accused of possessing all the pot, claims he had no idea it was there.

Police originally came to the building to execute an unrelated search warrant. However, when Gonzalez saw the officers, he ran. After being caught, Gonzalez explained to the police that he ran because “he thought they were looking for him.”

This aroused officers’ suspicion and a search warrant for Gonzalez’s apartment was obtained. Inside, cops found the stash with an estimated street value of $4 million.

More @ cbsnews.com“

Meet the latest marijuana martyr. ​A 30-year-old Nevada man on Wednesday chose a month in jail instead of probation which would have meant he couldn’t use medical marijuana for one year.

Charles Ray Balzer of Gardnerville, Nev., told East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl he was unwilling to give up pot for a year, and he would do 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to harassment, reports The Record-Courier.

Balzer has a legal medical marijuana card from the Nevada State Health Division. He told EnEarl he smokes cannabis and takes a prescription painkiller for a back injury.

If Balzer had accepted probation, he could have avoided the jail term, but one condition would have been that he not use “drugs or alcohol” for one year.

In an unaccountable quirk of the law, use of doctor-recommended medical marijuana is considered violation of probation, despite the fact that it is legal in Nevada.

​After serving 30 days in jail, hemp hero Balzer won’t have any probation restrictions.

Judge EnEarl seemed to be totally oblivious to the fact that Balzer’s marijuana use is legal; beyond that, the judge seemed completely unsympathetic to the patient’s medical plight.

“You’d rather do 30 days in jail than have me tell you you can’t smoke dope?” the ignorant judge fumed. “Doesn’t that sound a little sick?” the judge asked, seemingly too dumb to get the irony of his dumbassery.

“No, sir,” Balzer said. “It’s what the marijuana does for me.”

“I think if I sat around smoking dope all day, it would probably help me out, too,” the proudly ignorant judge replied.

Balzer said he only smoked marijuana at night, to ease his pain.

Balzer’s lawyer, Richard Davies, reasonably pointed out that his client was legally entitled to have the medical marijuana card.

“It’s the will of the people and the Legislature recognizes that,” Davies said.

“Some people marijuana probably does help,” Judge EnEarl said, not bothering to mention how he suddenly became a medical expert. “I am not necessarily convinced Mr. Balzer is one of them.”

Balzer agreed to turn himself in at 8 a.m. on June 11. EnEarl advised him he could have no alcohol or drugs in his system when he checks in. (Or what — they’ll put him in jail? Sheesh.)

When Balzer was arrested for harassing an acquaintance, officers discovered a marijuana grow system in his home, but he produced his Nevada medical marijuana card.

How much longer must seriously ill and suffering medical marijuana patients suffer indignities and insults from dim-witted, self-righteous judges like EnEarl who make medical decisions for which they are completely unqualified? Stay tuned.

Written by Toke of the Town

An initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed will appear on the November ballot, state election officials announced Wednesday, triggering what will probably be a much-watched campaign that once again puts California on the forefront of the nation’s debate over whether to soften drug laws.

The number of valid signatures reported by Los Angeles County, submitted minutes before Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline, put the measure well beyond the 433,971 it needed to be certified. Supporters turned in 694,248 signatures, collecting them in every county except Alpine. County election officials estimated that 523,531 were valid.

The measure’s main advocate, Richard Lee, an Oakland marijuana entrepreneur, savored the chance to press his case with voters that the state’s decades-old ban on marijuana is a failed policy.

“We’re one step closer to ending cannabis prohibition and the unjust laws that lock people up for cannabis while alcohol is not only sold openly but advertised on television to kids every day,” he said.

Lee, tapping $1.3 million from his businesses, has put together a highly organized campaign that he emphasized Wednesday would be led by a team of experienced political consultants, including Chris Lehane, a veteran operative who has worked in the White House and on presidential campaigns.

“There’s all kinds of big professional politicos who are coming on board now to take it to the next level,” Lee said.

Opponents have also started to put together their campaign. “There’s going to be a very broad coalition opposing this that will include law enforcement,” said John Lovell, a Sacramento lobbyist who represents the California Police Chiefs Assn. and other law enforcement groups. “We’ll educate people as to what this measure really entails.”

The measure, like the medical marijuana initiative, could put California on a collision course with the federal government. The possession and sale of marijuana remain a federal crime.

This month, President Obama’s drug czar, R. Gil Kerlikowske, decried legalization in a speech to police chiefs in San Jose.

The initiative would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce for personal use.

Possession of an ounce or less has been a misdemeanor with a $100 fine since 1975, when Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who was then governor, signed a law that reduced tough marijuana penalties that had allowed judges to impose 10-year sentences.

Written by John Hoeffel from LATimes.

​A 90-year-old grandmother suspected of selling cannabis was arrested Friday after police raided her home and found more than 170 pounds of marijuana.

A squad of armed South African police officers with drug dogs stormed the elderly woman’s home and discovered the pot stashed in multiple bags, according to the Daily Mail.

“This lady was quiet, old and looked like an angel sent from God,” said the rather poetically inclined Police Inspector Kobeli Mokheseng.

“But we received a tip-off two weeks ago that a lot of people were going into her house and coming out looking happy,” Mokheseng said.

Wow, happy people? That will not do! Obviously, law enforcement was called for, don’t you think?

“We sent in a drugs team who were prepared for a shootout, but they soon realized there was nobody to fight,” Mokheseng said.

Police found three types of marijuana, locally known as dagga, stashed in the pensioner’s garden shed.

The elderly lady, who said she lived alone in the four-room home east of Johnannesburg, South Africa, was arrested and taken into custody.

“She will spend the weekend behind bars, educating the police officers on what she was doing,” Inspector Mokheseng said.

“This was quite an extensive operation going on, with three types of the drug — called Swazi, Local and Skans,” Mokheseng said.

Wow, three separate strains? Granny’s got it goin’ on.

“We found money in plastic bags ready for the bank,” Mokheseng said. “She was making quite a lot of cash.”

“We understand she has many children and grandchildren, and we are trying to contact them,” the police inspector said.

The woman is scheduld to appear before Alberton Magistrates’ Court on Monday. She is charged with possession of illegal substances and selling cannabis.

Written by Steve Elliot