Global Ganja Report

Municipalities in Washington state are maintaining bans on medicinal cannabis gardens and dispensaries, as efforts to clarify state law on this question are stalled in Olympia. A state law enacted July 22 allows for up to 10 people to grow up to 45 plants in collective gardens. But several cities—notably excluding Seattle—declared temporary bans on collective gardens, citing the need to study the impacts. Washougal's city council voted Sept. 9 to extend the six-month ban passed in July for a full year. On Sept. 14, the Sammamish city council also voted to extend its ban.

The 20th annual Seattle Hempfest drew an estimated 300,000 the weekend of Aug. 19-21—including some big-name politicians. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) exhorted from the stage, in an apparent reference to the 1999 World Trade Organization protests: "Seattle you shook the world once; can you shake it again, I ask you!" He urged support for such issues as withdrawal of US military troops from around the world, gay rights and universal health care, as well as an end to the war on drugs. Mike McGinn became the first Seattle mayor to address the Hempfest crowd. Other speakers included state representatives Roger Goodman and Mary Lou Dickerson, and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes.

The DEA conducted aggressive SWAT-style raids April 29 on three distribution facilities in Spokane, Wash., that provided medical cannabis to qualified patients. Earlier this month, numerous facilities shut down after US Attorney Michael Ormsby threatened  landlords in Spokane with seizure of their property if they continue to let their tenants provide medical cannabis. These actions come as the state is trying to pass Senate Bill 5073, which modifies its current medical marijuana law to set up a licensed distribution system.

In the past seven months, cannabis dispensaries have sprouted across Washington state, exploiting a loophole in the state's medical marijuana law that neither explicitly allows nor prohibits them. State tax officials estimate at least 120 are open, mostly in the Puget Sound area. Dozens more likely remain underground. Under pressure from all sides to "clear the haze," the Legislature is considering a bill, SB 5073, that would legalize, regulate and tax dispensaries and create the state's first authorized commercial cannabis farms. (Seattle Times, Jan. 29)

Proposition 19 mastermind Richard Lee spoke to supporters in Oakland after the initiative lost by some 540,000 votes, 46-53%, the night of Nov. 2. "The fact that millions of Californians voted to legalize marijuana is a tremendous victory," Lee said, noting that the measure won 3.3 million votes. "We have broken the glass ceiling. Prop. 19 has changed the terms of the debate. And that was a major strategic goal."

An online petition has been launched to rescue 10 black bears found living at a rural British Columbia cannabis grow-op. The bears were discovered on July 30, when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a remote property near Christina Lake, about 540 kilometers east of Vancouver.

Oregon on June 16 became the latest state and the first in many years to officially reclassify cannabis from its status as a dangerous drug with no medical value. The Oregon Board of Pharmacy (BoP) voted 4-1 to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II. The Oregon BoP decision comes after many months of deliberation and input from the public.

Vancouver's "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, extradited from his native Canada, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Seattle on May 24 to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. As part of a plea bargain, Emery, 52, must serve five years in prison for selling seeds to US customers through his business, Marc Emery Direct. He will remain in custody at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac until sentencing.