Global Ganja Report

Arrests for low-level pot possession dropped in the weeks after New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly warned officers not to make arrests for small quantities found in pockets or bags, according to new data released Dec. 7. Kelly issued the internal order Sept. 19 after claims from civil rights groups that officers were wrongly arresting people in a state where personal possession is punishable with a fine. There are more arrests on cannabis charges—about 50,000 a year—than any other crime in New York City. Pot cases account for about one of every seven that turn up in criminal courts.

The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax—California's oldest cannabis dispensary—is preparing to close its doors  following a Dec. 2 ruling by Marin County Superior Court Judge Roy Chernus, who refused to stop the club's pending eviction. Chernus found that the dispensary's lease requires compliance with federal law, which forbids selling cannabis. MAMM founder Lynnette Shaw told Global Ganja Report by e-mail Dec. 5: "We are moving ourselves shortly to an unspecified location for storage. Maybe even today. Sigh..."

Copenhagen's city council voted on Nov. 17 to empower its social affairs committee to draw up a detailed plan to legalize cannabis. If the plan is approved by Denmark's new left-of-center parliament next year, the city could become the first to legalize the herb—rather than simply tolerate it, as police do in the Netherlands. Under the concept, approved by a vote of 39-9, the city would grant licenses to individual growers, and city-owned shops would then sell their crop to the public.

A little-known office of the US Defense Department is now taking bids from private security firms on a $3 billion contract for US-funded anti-narcotics operations in Mexico, Colombia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries. According to a report in Wired News, the Pentagon's Counter Narco-Terrorism Program Office (CNTPO) announced a "mega-contract" on Nov. 9 for as much as $950 million for "operations, logistics and minor construction," up to $975 million for training foreign forces, $875 million for "Information" tasks, and $240 million for "program and program support." The cash will start flowing next August, and the contractors may be able to extend the jobs for three more years.

Governors Christine Gregoire (D-WA) and Lincoln Chafee (I-RI) announced at a press conference in Olympia Nov. 30 that they are jointly filing a federal petition to reclassify cannabis for medical use. Under the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government considers cannabis a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value. The rescheduling petition filed by governors Gregoire and Chafee comes after their administrations were sent letters threatening medical marijuana producers and distributors and the implementation of state laws.

An internal Justice Department memo containing guidelines for federal cannabis enforcement in California, issued in February, has been leaked to California NORML, and is now on the website of the California Cannabis Coalition. It was issued jointly by the four California US attorneys to DEA agents in the state, the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task-forces, and "Federal task force partners in California." Marked "Not for public use or circulation," it outlines criteria for federal involvement in cannabis cases, such as "Distribution of significant quantities," "Provable ties to an international drug cartel," "Marijuana 'inventory' obtained from cultivation on federal or tribal land," "Store operations in conjunction with other federal crimes," etc.

Scores of cannabis dispensaries in San Diego County have closed following the federal crackdown announced in October. As of the end of November, 139 of 222 medical cannabis outlets—or 62%—have shut down since the US Attorney's office in San Diego began sending letters to the dispensaries and their landlords. About a third of those targeted are still operating, but some 20 more outlets are expected to close within the next two weeks, according to federal authorities. Another round of letters from the US Attorney's Office—some hand-delivered by DEA agents—were sent within the past week to dispensaries that remain open.

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association (MTCIA) says it has received information that the Justice Department has issued a memo with guidelines for the acceptable operation of dispensaries in California, and wants to know if similar guidelines were issued for their own state. Said MTCIA spokesman Ed Docter: "If the federal government wants to propose guidelines fine, we're all for that, we would really enjoy that, we would invite the help but basically we would just like to know what our US Attorney get. What did [Montana US Attorney Michael] Cotter get? I mean we don't know if he got a similar memo." The MTCIA says it will write to Gov. Brain Schweitzer seeking clarification on the guidelines, and what the Montana industry needs to do to prevent more raids. (KPAX, Missoula, Nov. 29)