Global Ganja Report

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a press conference July 19 to announce his plans to "begin work immediately" on his state's pending medical marijuana program. "We're moving forward with the program as it was set up," said Christie, with the expectation that licensed Alternative Treatment Centers could be up and operating as early as the end of 2011. Christie said he believed "the need to provide compassionate pain relief to these citizens of our state outweighs the risk we are taking in moving forward with the program." Christie's announcement comes in spite of threats from US Attorneys on the issue and a June 29 memorandum from Deputy Attorney General James Cole.

Mexican soldiers patrolling a remote desert area of Ensenada municipality in Baja California discovered a massive cannabis plantation, which authorities say is the largest yet found in the country. The plantation, full of rows of 8-foot plants, was being tended by dozens of men, who were operating an irrigation system, pumping water through hoses from a well they had dug. Most of them escaped, with six being caught later at a military checkpoint. 

The East Bay Express' Legalization Nation blog reports July 13 that organizers expect up to 30,000 to pack Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall on Sept 3-4 for the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo 2011—dubbed "Mardi Grass" by blogger David Downs. Tickets for the event just went on sale for $18, marking the first time Oakland has turned over public space for a a paid cannabis-oriented event. Plans call for three entertainment stages, some 400 industry vendors, dozens of food trucks, guest celebrities, and heavy hitters from the movement. The expo will also feature an open-air "215" area for medical cannabis patients.

We have noted before that the cannabis industry has a huge carbon footprint—something of a dirty little secret for the legalization movement. David Downs in the July 13 issue of East Bay Express has a fascinating cover-story, "How Green Is Your Pot?" Traveling to backwoods Humboldt County, Downs finds: "A new collective is trying to sell sustainable, organically grown marijuana, but patients are hooked on indoor weed that wastes energy and pollutes the planet."

Less than two months after patient advocates filed a lawsuit compelling the federal government to answer a nine-year-old petition to reschedule medical marijuana, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on July 8 made official its denial of the petition in the Federal Register. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC), which includes patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA), filed the petition in 2002 seeking to reclassify cannabis from its current status as a dangerous drug with no medical value, but never heard from the federal government until it received the denial.

During his much-hyped Twitter Town Hall on July 6, President Barack Obama neglected to answer 4,911 questions about his marijuana policy—making it the most-asked question of the online forum. "Would you consider legalizing marijuana to increase revenue and save tax dollars by freeing up crowded prisons, court rooms?" was retweeted that many times, according to the analytics service. A question about letting the Bush tax cuts expire came in second place, with only 1,800 retweets. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who moderated the online town hall, focused on questions pertaining to the economy, education and space exploration. (Raw Story, July 6)

In three separate incidents in 24 hours July 6, Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector seized more than 3,000 pounds of cannabis, claiming an estimated value of $1.5 million. In the first bust, a canine unit alerted to a vehicle during an inspection at the Hwy. 80 checkpoint, turning up 88 small bundles of cannabis concealed in the vehicle's compartments. The driver, a US citizen, is facing federal charges.

Starting July 6, the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) will hold its 21st annual symposium in St. Charles, Ill., just outside of Chicago. Notably, this year's symposium is sponsored by an array of pharmaceutical companies, the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and ElSohly Laboratories of Oxford, Miss., the federal government's only licensed source of research-grade cannabis.