Yes, it’s stupidly short notice, but if you’re available and so inclined, how about heading over to the Community Meeting on Medical Marijuana Dispensary Regulations and Enforcement?

It’s TODAY – Tuesday, September 14

6:30 – 7:30pm

Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock

2225 Colorado Blvd.

Los Angeles CA 90041

Sorry, no fancy pictures or links (beyond this kinda crummy one) for you – but your support is critical and I’m just seeing this.

The 1960s may have had its Summer of Love, but in certain neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles, this has been the Summer of Pot. Based on my observations and conversations with friends, the herb has been a-permeatin’.

I can’t recall all the times that I have smelled or seen open weed smoking lately. Venice Beach (where I took the photo) is probably Ground Zero — no surprise there.   Last time I was on Venice Beach, I was in a shop that had a corner window facing South, and, through the window, the smell of chronic was mighty powerful.  I  also notice plenty of 420 in Santa Monica, such as at a recent concert on the Pier.  A friend also tells me that the bud is sprouting a-mighty in West Hollywood.

The little I think I know of the situation is that Read the rest of this entry →

Yesterday I posted asking for calls to object to Dianne Feinstein’s latest hamfisted, wrongthink “Won’t Somebody think of the CHILDREN” legislation that set manditory 10-year minimum sentences for people making edibles for medical marijuana patients..

Thanks to all of you that called! We were very successful in getting ourselves heard.

Through our calls we were able to get a postponement on the resolution vote. This is a very good sign that it may either be thrown out entirely or rewritten to exclude patients and their providers from legal ramifications resulting from the production or use of medicinal cannabis edibles.

Anderson Cooper ventured into a medicinal marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles recently and brought along a camera crew to capture him ogling the goods for sale. It was one segment of a circumspect, comprehensive (for MSM, anyway) report about the movement to legalize the weed that I watched last night on his CNN news program, Anderson Cooper 360. By turns balanced and illuminating, it examined perceived pros and cons to consider in the march to legalization.

Cooper was drolly amusing as he perused the LA pot store, pausing to consider the different pot-laced goodies– brownies, cakes, sodas, biscotti, gelato (!) and of course, the dried weed itself. At one point, he paused to open a jar and took a whiff. “Smells like marijuana,” he said dryly, his blue eyes twinkling. Read the rest of this entry →

But what about the competition?

A friend of mine on a recent visit to Los Angeles was surprised to see so many medical marijuana dispensaries as I chauffeured her around the city to see the sights. I explained to her the ease of getting documentation from a doctor to purchase pot legally. Living in Pennsylvania, where even buying alcohol is severely restricted compared to CA, needless to say she was amazed. But maybe PA could learn something from CA.

Yesterday, CA’s Board of Equalization said the state could see as much as a $1.4 billion per year increase in revenue, thanks to a bill introduced in the Assembly that would further legalize marijuana and impose on buyers a $50 per ounce tax, in addition to sales tax. With CA in dire financial condition, the tax is seen as  a much needed revenue generator.

Fun facts: Federal authorities consider CA to be the top pot-producing state in the country and say the 8.6 million pounds grown here make it one of our largest agricultural crops.

But a $50 tax on an ounce of pot if CA legalizes it? Won’t this spur buying it outside of legally sanctioned outlets, say via Mexican drug cartels, to avoid the tax? Would it affect prices of illegal pot or lead to competitive pricing?

Despite impassioned pleas from advocates of medical marijuana, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to close a “hardship” loophole in a 2007 moratorium temporarily banning any new pot dispensaries from opening in the city and to extend the ban for six months.

The moratorium, intended to control the proliferation of dispensaries while the city develops permanent regulations for medical marijuana use, was due to expire in September.

The easily-applied-for hardship exemption has been invoked by hundreds of pot dispensaries that opened in LA after the ban went to effect in November 2007, preventing the city attorney’s office from prosecuting any violators.

Public comments during today’s council session (which is viewable on LA Cityview Channel 35) ranged from the ill and their supporters who spoke of improved quality of life benefits derived from access to marijuana for medical purposes to irate residents living near allegedly shady, fly-by-night dispensaries to obvious recreational users hoping to maintain their supply– not that there’s anything wrong with that.