Global Ganja Report

California's Legislative Analyst's Office released a status report on Aug. 5 concluding that California is unlikely to meet the US Supreme Court's two-year deadline to reduce the state's prison population by 34,000 inmates. California's prisoner realignment plan, which entails shifting thousands of low-level offenders to county jails, could reduce the prison population by 32,000 inmates—still a few thousand inmates short of decreasing the 180% prison capacity to the mandated 137.5% capacity, by June 27, 2013.

Cannabis coffeeshops in the Dutch city of Maastricht have agreed to bar French, Italian and Spanish tourists, reserving access to Dutch, German and Belgian nationals—ostensibly to cut back on noise, traffic and other disturbances associated with cannabis tourism. The idea seems to be that tourists from neighboring countries are better behaved and do not bring their cars. "The authorities have signalled that the coffee shops will be shut if the problems do not ease," said Marc Josemans, president of the Maastricht Association of Coffee Shops.

Arrested last August in San Francisco for possessing marijuana, meth and child porn, Dennis Peron had his day in court Aug. 3, and scored a win when the DA dropped the case because the "burden of proof" was not "beyond a reasonable doubt." Peron immediately declared, "They dragged my name through the mud for a year. I'm going to sue [the San Francisco Police Department] for a million dollars. They soiled my name for no reason."

The US Coast Guard announced the interception of a so-called “narco submarine," while in a joint patrol of Caribbean waters with the Honduran armed forces. On July 13, the crew of the Coast cutter Seneca, interdicted the craft, called a self-propelled semi-submersible or SPSS, off the coast of Honduras near the Nicaraguan border. The Coast Guard says the vessel sank during the interdiction, but that nearly 7.5 tons of cocaine was later recovered. Four crew members—three Colombians and a Honduran—were detained and brought by the Coast Guard to Miami to face federal charges. (La Tribuna, El Heraldo, Tegucigalpa, Aug. 2; CBS Miami, Aug. 1; Notimex, July 30)

In Colorado, signature gatherers have already hit the streets to get the "Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act" on the 2012 ballot. Despite the failure of California's Proposition 19 last year, activists think that Colorado may have a better shot of becoming the first state to legalize cannabis. "I think why it would be seen as a better investment here in Colorado is based on how things are going with medical marijuana regulations," said Mason Tvert, a  Colorado  organizer. "Also the size of the state is just smaller. Everything about California is far more expensive." (The Bay Citizen, San Francisco, Aug. 1)

Montana's Medical Marijuana Act does not allow for cannabis transactions between caregivers, Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart Stadler ruled July 21. Ruling in a civil lawsuit brought against the Flathead County Attorney, Stadler said state law limits registered caregivers to providing marijuana only to "qualifying patients." The plaintiffs were identified in court documents as the Medical Marijuana Growers Association, two anonymous couriers and three anonymous caregivers. Stadler granted the county attorney’s motion for summary judgment. (Hungry Horse News, July 26)

Park rangers announced the seizure in late July of more than 3,500 cannabis plants over a nine-acre swath in the heart of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The National Park Service said the plots were scattered across an area near Zuma and Trancas canyons, south of Mulholland Highway. Earlier in the month, Ventura County Sheriff's officials announced the largest single seizure of cannabis plants in their jurisdiction, from an outdoor grow operation in the Pine Mountain area of Los Padres National Forest. The raid  in the rugged mountains north of Ojai netted 68,500 plants valued at $205.46 million, according to a sheriff's statement. No suspects were arrested. The season total for seized cannabis in Ventura County is over 100,000 plants. (Thousand Oaks Acorn, July 28; LAT, July 18; KEYT, Santa Barbara, July 15; LAT, July 14)

The Ohio Patient Network has turned over of a petition with 2,143 signatures in the first step toward putting medical marijuana before voters. The proposed "Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment" would amend the state constitution to allow patients with qualifying ailments to possess up to 3.5 ounces of cannabis, or up to 12 plants. If 1,000 signatures are validated and the language of the proposed amendment is approved, it will be before Buckeye voters on the November 2012 ballot. (WLWT, Cincinnati, Aug. 1; The Other Paper, Columbus, July 28)