Oakland, CA — Local governments in California and other Western states have tried to clamp down on medical marijuana, but Oakland has taken a different approach. If you can’t beat ‘em, tax ‘em.
After becoming the first U.S. city to impose a special tax on medical marijuana dispensaries, Oakland soon could become the first to sanction [...]

California — Workers at three medical marijuana businesses in Oakland will announce Friday that they have unionized, another step in a concerted campaign aimed at bringing legitimacy to a once-hidden sector of the state’s economy and boosting the marijuana-legalization initiative.
Union representatives and the business owners believe it is the first time that workers in the [...]

By Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press
medical Denver — A push to regulate the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries appears to be nearing the finish line.
The Colorado Senate passed the proposed regulations in a 26-9 vote on Thursday, sending them back to the House to review changes made to the bill. The lack of controversial [...]

By Tom Greenwood, The Detroit News
Source: Detroit News
cannabis Detroit — Days after Michigan’s no-smoking law went into effect, a Detroit resident filed a petition to make it legal for Detroiters to spark up a joint. On Wednesday, registered medical marijuana user Tim Beck filed a petition with Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey seeking to legalize [...]

By Paul Schwartzman & Annys Shin, Staff Writers
Washington, D.C. — Just after 11 one morning last week, two men and two women, all in their early 20s, sat on a basketball court behind Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington and filled an empty cigar with marijuana — their first hit [...]

Posted by CN Staff on May 03, 2010 at 18:20:49 PT
By Mona Shadia
California — A federal judge on Friday threw out a lawsuit by four Orange County medical marijuana users who claimed that citywide bans on pot dispensaries in Costa Mesa and Lake Forest violate their rights under the Americans [...]

By Christopher Palmeri
Bloomberg — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed an ordinance that will shut hundreds of marijuana dispensaries in the city and impose stricter regulations on the 186 remaining stores.
The ordinance signed on April 30 caps a four-year effort by the city to address the proliferation [...]