Global Ganja Report

We recently reported claims that the DEA has granted unnamed private pharmaceutical companies license to grow cannabis for experimental purposes. Now, the Sacramento News & Review on Dec. 19 cites a report from the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients to the effect that the United States government holds a patent on the use of cannabinoids as "antioxidants and neuroprotectants"—specifically, the Department of Health & Human Services holds Patent #6630507, as documented at the US Patent & Trademark Office.

The Colorado Independent reported Dec. 8 that Colorado is joining Rhode Island and Washington state in petitioning the federal government to "change the schedule of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act." Colorado is required by state law to file its own such request before the end of the year. The Centennial State legalized medical marijuana in 2000 through voter approval of Amendment 20, which was itself later amended by three enabling laws. One such law passed last year, HB 10-1284, requires:

Medical marijuana advocates in San Diego have unveiled a proposed ballot measure to end the current municipal crackdown on dispensaries. The proposed initiative would set a 2.5% sales tax for the storefront dispensaries and prohibit them within 600 feet of schools and playgrounds, as well as laying out security and inspection requirements. "Our intent is to bring back safe access to medical cannabis for qualified patients," said Jessica McElfresh of the Patient Care Association of California, which helped draft the proposal. "Voters have almost always overwhelmingly supported medical marijuana responsible regulation." Proponents need to collect about 62,000 voter signatures to qualify the measure for the 2012 November ballot.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris urged state lawmakers in a Dec. 21 letter to clarify the Golden State's 1996 medical marijuana law, saying numerous holes in the statute have left law enforcement and legitimate patients in a state of uncertainty. In the letter to state legislature leaders, Harris said lawmakers need to make clear if the hundreds of storefront dispensaries and delivery services that sell cannabis—ostensibly for medical use—are legal, or if the only legal means of procuring the herb are patient collectives in which all members jointly grow their own supply.

A coalition of cannabis advocates led by Americans for Safe Access and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) has proposed a 2012  California ballot initiative that would create a Board of Medical Marijuana Enforcement to oversee a statewide system for licensing, regulating and taxing the industry.

The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax officially closes this weekend in the face of federal threats to the dispensary's landlord. Additionally, the Marin Independent Journal reports Dec. 16 that one and possibly two more of Marin County's six dispensaries will be following suit. The Marin Wellness Center in Kentfield, also will cease operations by Jan. 1. Scot Candell, a San Rafael lawyer who represents the center, said its landlord had likewise received a threatening letter from federal prosecutors.

New legislation to ban non-Dutch residents from cannabis cafes in the southern Netherlands should be enforced no later than May 1, the Dutch justice ministry said Dec. 16. The law is set to be amended on Jan. 1, but there will be a grace period until May for coffee shops to set up a "new administrative system." The centre-right government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte plans to instate a "cannabis card," reserved for residents only and obligatory when visiting one of the country's 670 licensed coffee shops.

Cannabis use among teens is rising, despite declines in smoking and alcohol use, according to new findings of the Monitoring the Future survey, conducted by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The study reports that one in every 15 high school seniors said they used marijuana almost every day, the highest rate since 1981. And the Drug Czar is blaming the medical marijuana movement.