Global Ganja Report

A federal judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan on Feb. 11 ruled that Wal-Mart did not wrongly fire an employee who had been using medical marijuana to treat a brain tumor. In dismissing plaintiff Joseph Casias' lawsuit, Judge Robert Jonker determined that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA) is in place to protect licensed medical marijuana users, but employers are not prohibited from adopting policies that ban marijuana use regardless of cause. Casias was administered a drug test per Wal-Mart policy, tested positive, and was subsequently notified of the termination of his at-will employment. (Jurist, Feb. 12)

Authorities have uncovered a marijuana "megafarm" hidden in northern Wisconsin's Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Oconto County Sheriff Mike Jansen estimated officers seized some 50,000 plants, but state Attorney General JB Van Hollen cautioned that authorities are still counting and the number currently stood closer to 10,000. Authorities are said to believe that a Mexican cartel, wanting to grow the product to closer to US markets, is responsible. Eight Latino men were reportedly arrested. (AP, Aug. 12)

The City Commission in Royal Oak, Mich., unanimously rejected a request Aug. 9 to suspend the city's moratorium on commercial facilities involving medical marijuana, blocking an effort by warehouse owner James Canner to turn his building into what could have become the state's largest cannabis growing facility.

A "Medical Marijuana University" is now open for students in central Michigan's Genesee township. The California-based trade school Oaksterdam University is holding weekend seminars hosted by the Genesee County Compassion Club, featuring a horticulture lab. Director of the Genesee County Compassion Club, Jeremy Rupinski, says students learn how to cultivate medical marijuana within the law. (ConnectMidMichigan, Aug. 1)

The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Michigan, in partnership with the law firm of Daniel W. Grow, PLLC, has filed a lawsuit  against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the manager of its Battle Creek store for wrongfully firing an employee for using medicinal marijuana in accordance with state law to treat the painful symptoms of an inoperable brain tumor and cancer.

Local law enforcement, following a year-long investigation dubbed "Operation Chicago Haze," arrested a dozen people alleged to be members of one of the region's largest marijuana dealing rings on May 21. The suspects were charged with crimes including cannabis trafficking, delivery of cannabis, and money laundering.

The DEA is said to be preparing a new crackdown on khat, the mildly psychoactive leaf grown in Yemen and the Horn of Africa, in response to a boom in domestic demand as more Somali, Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants arrive in the US. In a joint raid with local police, US Customs and Border Patrol intercepted a 22-pound package of the leaf in Wisconsin's La Crosse County March 13. It was apparently bound for the Twin Cities area. (La Crosse Tribune, March 13)