By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
Source: Los Angeles Times
California — Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana in California, is the most talked-about ballot initiative in the country. If it passes, it would revolutionize the state’s drug laws, provoke a clash with the federal government and fire up the movement [...]

By Steve Elliott
California — Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said on Friday that the voters don’t matter. His deputies’ enforcement of marijuana laws would not change even if voters approved Proposition 19, which would legalize cannabis in California, on November 2, according to the Sheriff.
“Proposition 19 is not going to pass, even if it [...]

By Steven K. Paulson, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press
medical Denver — Colorado’s new medical marijuana law hasn’t even gone into effect, and police, attorneys and lawmakers have identified dozens of problems that could hamper regulation and enforcement.
There are questions about zoning laws. Authorities say it’s hard to investigate compliance. Correct dosages are unknown. It’s [...]

Mention medicinal marijuana dispensaries and people tend to think of either the giant operations in Oakland or the hippie-tinged forests of the Emerald Triangle up north.
But sprayed throughout the state, in little towns where you wouldn’t expect such a thing, are hundreds of cannabis dispensaries that have a special challenge.
In burgs like Galt in the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

By Richard M. Evans
Source: Providence Journal
Northampton, Mass. — Now that an initiative to legalize marijuana is officially on the California ballot this November, President Obama should brace for a strong jolt from the west.
If the measure passes (the latest poll puts support at 56 percent), no longer will it [...]