Global Ganja Report

The US Supreme Court ruled on May 23 to uphold an order requiring California to release up to 46,000 prisoners to remedy overcrowding in the state's prisons. The ruling in Brown v. Plata calls on California to reduce its prison population from more than 200% of design capacity to 137.5% of capacity within two years. The 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy finds that the extreme overcrowding of the California prison system is causing inmates to receive inadequate medical care in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

California's Fresno County has banned outdoor medical marijuana growing following the case of Phayvanh Dydouanghphan, who shot to death an intruder who tried to steal his crop. Dydouangphan, a licensed medical grower, was sentenced to life in prison for the crime, AP informs us May 16. County Judge Arlan Harrell, imposing the sentence, said that Dydouangphan "apparently valued his pot more than human life," in AP's paraphrase. A story from Sept. 8 of last year on Fresno's KFSN provides more details on the case:

The Cancare Collective in North Hollywood, one of seven targeted for closure by the city of Los Angeles, shut down May 11 rather than wage a costly legal fight. The city charges the seven dispensaries with zoning code violations. The decision to close came after a judge issued an injunction barring the dispensary from operating in North Hollywood or any other location. City lawsuits to close dispensaries on grounds they were violating California law by selling cannabis have been successful, but municipal authorities say the new zoning violation suits move through the courts more quickly. (AP, May 12)

Patients and their supporters rallied at the Justice Department in Washington DC on May 2 to protest increased federal interference in medical marijuana states. More than 200 supporters also rallied in Sacramento for medical marijuana patients Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband Dale Schafer as they surrendered to federal authorities to serve out five-year prison terms. Last week, the DEA raided several distribution centers in Spokane, Wash., as a state bill to license such facilities was vetoed the next day by Gov. Christine Gregoire. The Spokane actions are the latest in a string of more than 100 aggressive SWAT-style federal raids carried out since President Obama took office.

Evan Mills, an analyst at the US Energy Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Labs in California, recently completed a study entitled "Energy Up in Smoke: The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production"—seeking to quantify the previously undocumented energy demand of the domestic marijuana industry.

Five medical cannabis activists were arrested April 12 in the San Diego City Council chambers protesting the final vote on a local distribution ordinance, which advocates say imposes a citywide de facto ban on collectives. During the hearing, members of the Stop the Ban Campaign—a coalition of over 20 local, state, and national groups spearheaded by Canvass for a Cause and the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA)—repeatedly chanted "We demand safe access!" The action forced the council to clear the chambers, postponing a critical vote on the ordinance.

The IRS is believed to have opened audits on at least 12 medical cannabis dispensaries in California under the determination that past deductions are invalid because of a clause in the federal tax code prohibiting any enterprise that traffics in Schedule I or II drugs from making business deductions. The move could bankrupt every dispensary that it targets. The first dispensary to receive a final audit decision from the IRS is the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (MAMM) in Fairfax.

Los Angeles voters approved a new medical marijuana tax March 8 that proponents say could raise millions of dollars for the city—although the measure was opposed by advocates and opponents of medicinal cannabis alike. Measure M, which passed with 59% of the vote, allows Los Angeles to collect $50 in taxes for every thousand dollars collected by medical marijuana clinics. (KABC, LA, March 9)