Weed

#marijuana news: Dr. Ed Gogek commentary: Voters becoming wise to medical-marijuana ruse - Columbus Dispatch

#marijuana news: Nazis, Marijuana and Compulsives: A Summer Reading List - Bloomberg

New LA law on medical marijuana shops faces hazy future: Los Angeles voters took regulation of the city's medi...

Seattle is a step closer to setting up legal marijuana zoning. Where can it be grown, sold, baked and delivered? Every Seattle household will be allowed to grow up to 45 plants or the equivalent of 72 ounces. Big scale growing operations will be confined to industrial areas in the outskirts of the city. Seattle may be the first American city to zone for recreational marijuana. "We're a little bit in the Twilight Zone. We have federal laws that on the one hand make it illegal," says Seattle City Council Member, Nick Licata. For sales: No marijuana stores in residential neighborhoods, near schools, tourists areas or historic districts. For growing: Large scale marijuana production would be limited to 50,000-square-foot operations, restricted to industrial zones mostly south of SODO and the sports stadiums. A big problem is how to zone for recreational pot and medical pot, two different industries. "I think the customers are different. The products they want and enjoy are different," said Darby DuComb with the Seattle City Attorney's Office. Final pot zoning decisions are expected from the Seattle Council on Tuesday, but, it may still be fluid as state, federal and city marijuana laws collide. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: king5.com Author: Linda Brill Contact: KING5.com | Contact KING 5 and KING5.com Website: Seattle closer to setting up legal marijuana zoning | KING5.com Seattle

The City of La Junta must make a decision on the issue of the regulation of marijuana by July 1, said City Attorney Phil Malouff. The question is whether or not to allow the sale of recreational marijuana in the city. The electorate voted against legalizing marijuana when the question was on the ballot last, 491 yes, 652 no. Two of the Council, Bob Freidenberger and Ron Tomlin were in favor of taking the old vote as the voice of the people, but two others, Frank McKenzie and Eugene Mestas, want another vote, because people have been talking with them and times change. Malouff will prepare both alternatives for the next council meeting, when a decision must be made in time to have a second reading on the ordinance on June 17. The next meeting will be June 3. The City Council had been sent the minutes of the Urban Renewal meeting at which Lorraine Melgosa presented her proposition to use the Plaza Building for an enterprise which will offer employment to local people. Malouff sought to enlighten the audience present about the actual position of Urban Renewal as an appointed board of the City Council. No decisions are made by the Urban Renewal without the approval of the City Council, which is the true governing body through which all funds are dispensed. Therefore, no action of the City Council can be truly affected by an action of the Urban Renewal Board, although that board may make recommendations to the City Council. The process of demolition of the Plaza Building will therefore continue, but the Urban Renewal Board is free to explore other alternatives. If a viable alternative is found, such as Melgosa's proposal, the demolition can be called off at any time, up until the wrecking ball hits it, said Malouff. The Department of Local Affairs money for the grant comes to the city, but there are restrictions on its use (it must be used for projects within the tax increment district). Most people are quite pleased with Engine 1024 at its new location. City Manager Rick Klein pledged to continue to work on its surroundings. Many railroaders, active and retired, are helping. Bob Malden has located some old signals at the industrial park. They may be broken down and put together as one complete signal, or with luck, two. A wigwag has been located nearby for installation at the engine site. Also on the agenda are plans to build a fake trestle crossing to appear to be approached by the train. Klein said the grant is okayed for the Kiosk to be installed near the train. A small picnic area and parking space are also planned for the installation. As requested by retired railroader Bob Gleason, a chain link fence painted black will be added to lessen the possibility of a person being hurt by climbing on the engine. Old number 1024 was built in 1901 as a passenger train capable of climbing the three percent grades between here and Trinidad. The engine was later converted to oil from coal and the cowcatcher removed when it was used as a switch engine. The city is now searching for a cowcatcher like the one originally attached to the train. Jerry Gonzales is painting the train. Later, some of the steel panels may be replaced by making patterns from the old panels. In general, though, the engine is in good shape. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: lajuntatribunedemocrat.com Author: Bette McFarren Contact: Contact Us - LA Junta Tribune - La Junta, CO Website: Decision to be made on sale of marijuana - News - LA Junta Tribune - La Junta, CO

Indoor pot-growing operations as large as a football field would be allowed in some Seattle industrial areas under new zoning rules approved by a City Council committee. There?s been little opposition to the proposal. Indoor pot-growing operations as large as a football field would be allowed in some Seattle industrial areas under new zoning approved Wednesday by a City Council committee. The proposed rules would prohibit large indoor farms in the industrial sanctuaries closest to the Port of Seattle and maritime businesses, which represent 46 percent of Seattle?s industrial land. But over the objections of the North Seattle Industrial Association, council members voted to permit growing operations of up to 50,000 square feet in the city?s other workhorse zones for industry. The association doesn?t want to see growing operations drive up property values and rents for existing businesses, said Eugene Wasserman, the group?s president. ?Our members are afraid of being priced out,? he said. ?We have nothing against marijuana.? Council members reasoned that growing operations as big as 50,000 square feet ? slightly bigger than a football field without end zones ? are warranted because the real estate needed to have many smaller indoor farms is scarce, and economies of scale achieved by larger farms might lower production costs and pot prices. Big farms might be easier to secure, as well. At the same time, Councilmember Nick Licata acknowledged the city is in a ?bit of the Twilight Zone,? trying to help a young industry amid a confusing regulatory landscape. Rules for the state?s new legal recreational pot market haven?t yet been written. Medical marijuana is largely unregulated. And the federal government considers all forms of marijuana illegal. ?This is a fluid situation. I don?t pretend to have all the answers,? Licata said. Licata, along with Councilmembers Sally Clark and Bruce Harrell, voted for large indoor farms in all industrial lands except the Industrial General 1 zone, the most protective of the sanctuaries for manufacturing and maritime-related business. Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who voted no, wanted to bar pot growing in the IG1 zone, and limit it to 10,000 square feet ? roughly the size of a drugstore ? in the other industrial areas. ?Substituting urban agriculture for industrial uses doesn?t make a lot of sense,? Bagshaw said. That?s particularly the case, she said, when pot can be grown under the sun in Eastern Washington according to some activists, and the maritime industries are limited in where they can go. The full council is expected to take up the issue June 3. Licata suggested adding a provision that would call for the council to revisit the rules after a year, and again after two years. ?This is certainly not a land grab,? said Philip Dawdy, representing two pot businesses. The industrial areas were the only places, Dawdy said, where growing would be allowed by the city and not run afoul of the state?s 1,000-foot buffer between pot businesses and sites frequented by minors, such as schools and parks. The proposed city rules would bar large growing operations in residential, historic and small neighborhood commercial areas. But the rules ? in borrowing from medical-marijuana regulations ? would permit growing as many as 45 pot plants in homes throughout the city. The idea, explained Darby DuComb of the City Attorney?s Office, is to make Seattle?s rules compatible with both the medical and recreational systems. The medical system allows patients to form collectives and grow as many as 45 plants. The state?s new recreational system does not allow home cultivation. The city?s home-growing rules could undercut the state?s recreational system. Instead of going to state-taxed stores to buy pot, Seattle residents could grow their own. It would be up to the state to enforce its rules, said DuComb, chief of staff for City Attorney Pete Holmes.

#marijuana news: Newsom Turns a New Leaf on Marijuana - Town Hall

Verity Credit Union has backed away from helping marijuana businesses open checking accounts. The move is a major setback for pot businesses as the Seattle credit union had been the only financial institution in the state openly providing banking to those shops. Medical marijuana businesses have struggled to find a place to keep their cash. They also need checking accounts to pay vendors, workers, and state business taxes. Banks have been refusing to let them open accounts, but Verity was different. That changed a few weeks ago after banking regulators in Olympia "invited" Verity executives to come have a chat. "They drove down here and met with the division director," says Scott Jarvis, director of Washington?s Department of Financial Institutions, the top local regulator for banks and credit unions. He says the conversations were purely educational; they just wanted to talk to Verity about how they were interpreting federal banking laws. "My general counsel listed various federal laws ? the Bank Secrecy Act, the need to file SARS [suspicious activity] reports, money laundering issues," says Jarvis. Since the federal government still classifies marijuana as an illegal drug, Jarvis says anyone who handles the money could be seen as laundering drug money. Verity had been operating under its own interpretation of federal rules. Soon after that meeting, Verity apparently notified all of its medical marijuana clients (approximately 15 businesses) that it was closing their accounts. Credit union executives declined to comment. One of those closed accounts belonged to Cale Burkhart of Seattle, who is hoping to win a state marijuana license for his business making cannabis lotions and edibles. "We have to order lot of packaging materials, a lot of labels, and most of those things are all purchased online," he says, so he needs a check-card or credit card. "And also being able to do payroll and pay our taxes, moving forward," is a lot simpler if you have a checking account. For now, Burkhart says most marijuana businesses have to use their personal bank accounts, or else try operating under a name that might slip under the radar. Banking is one of the lingering challenges for the marijuana industry. State lawmakers, regulators, bankers, and marijuana businesses have been meeting to look for other ways meet the banking needs, as they attempt to implement Initiative 502, which establishes a growing and retailing system for marijuana. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: kplu.org Author: Keith Seinfeld Contact: About us | KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest Website: Cash only for marijuana businesses after credit union backs away | KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest

Los Angeles voters decided Tuesday to back a City Council plan to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries and cap their number at 135, while rejecting two competing proposals from outside groups. Proposition D would also increase the tax on medical marijuana sales to 6 percent. It was developed by the City Council after an initiative measure qualified for the ballot that would have overturned the city's plan to ban all dispensaries. Ordinance F, written by dispensaries that would be shut out of the 135 cap, would have allowed a virtually unlimited number of dispensaries as long as they maintained a distance from schools, parks and churches and followed other restriction. A third measure, Ordinance E, caps the number at 135, but does not have a tax increase or other restrictions. Its main supporters decided to shift their backing to Prop. D. Both E and F were being rejected by voters, while D was garnering strong support. If all three had passed the 50 percent support mark, only the one with the most votes would take effect. As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, D had 63 percent yes to 37 percent against; E had 65 percent against to 35 percent yes; F tallied 59 percent against to 41 percent yes. The vote on the marijuana measures was seen as a key test by the medical cannabis community in California, coming after the recent state Supreme Court decision upholding the power of local government to place an outright ban on the dispensaries. Proposition D supporters, which included most of the City Council, argued their measure offers the most protection and stands a more solid chance of being upheld because it changes the City Charter and would require another public vote to make any changes in the future. Ordinance F backers said their proposal contains more restrictions on testing of the marijuana, employee background checks and auditing of records to make sure only qualified patients are receiving the marijuana. They say it also would allow a more realistic number of dispensaries around the city to meet the need of medical marijuana patients. News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ? Source: dailybulletin.com Author: Rick Orlov Contact: Contact Us - DailyBulletin.com Website: Medical marijuana measures: L.A. voters backing council on plan to regulate dispensaries - DailyBulletin.com

Medicinal pot is coming. Why it's not time to worry: One indication of that is that none of the states that ha...