Global Ganja Report

The Obama administration will be going toe-to-toe in federal court Dec. 20 at 10 AM with the City of Oakland and California's largest medical marijuana dispensary, Harborside Health Center. US Attorney Melinda Haag filed forfeiture proceedings in July against Harborside's landlords to force the dispensary to close its two locations in Oakland and San Jose. Then, in October, the City of Oakland filed its own legal action against Haag and her boss, US Attorney General Eric Holder. Harborside serves thousands of patients, pays local, state and federal taxes, and has been legally operating in Oakland since 2006.

Montana medical pot grower Chris Williams,  who was sentenced this year to a mandatory minimum of 85 to 92 years in federal prison, will have most of his convictions dropped after more than 27,000 people petitioned the White House for his clemency. On Dec. 18, federal prosecutors agreed to drop six of eight of Williamss charges and dismiss the $1,728,000 in penalties awarded to the government if he waives his right to appeal. His convictions for possessing a firearm in connection with drug trafficking and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana will stand. He faces five years on the distribution charge and a mandatory minimum of five years for the firearm-related charge.

The New York Times reports that White House and Justice Department officials are considering plans for legal action against Colorado and Washington in the wake of last month's legalization initiatives. The Obama administration declined to comment on the deliberations, but pointed to a press release the Justice Department issued on Dec. 5—the day before the initiative took effect in Washington—in the name of the US attorney in Seattle, Jenny A. Durkan.

The Mendocino Board of Supervisors and county counsel Thomas Parker are scheduled to meet in a closed-door session Dec. 4 to discuss a pending federal subpoena for records held by the Sheriff's now-defunct medical marijuana cultivation program, County Code 9.31—in which registrants were allowed to grow collectively up to 99 plants and were sold zip ties for $25 per plant to show they were being cultivated in compliance with state law. Medical marijuana patient advocates are urging the county not to comply with the subpoena and attempt to quash it. A brief public comment period is scheduled for 9 AM Tuesday just prior to the closed-door session.

Cannabis is set to become legal in Colorado and Washington after voters passed historic ballot initiatives on Nov. 6. In Washington voters approved Initiative 502, allowing possession and distribution of cannabis through a state licensing system of growers, processors and stores, where adults will be able to buy up to an ounce of dried cannabis; up to a pound of a cannabis-infused product, such as brownies; or up to 72 ounces of cannabis-infused liquids.. The Colorado initiative actually introduces Amendment 64 to the state constitution, allowing adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce and to privately grow up to six plants—although public use will be banned. In Oregon, the similar Cannabis Tax Act Initiative or Measure 80, failed by approximately 55-to-45% of the vote.

California's Fourth District Court of Appeal for California issued a unanimous ruling Oct. 24 in a landmark medical marijuana case that reverses the conviction of San Diego dispensary operator Jovan Jackson, convicted in September 2010 after being denied a defense in state court. The Fourth District ruling also reversed the lower court's finding that Jackson was not entitled to a defense, providing the elements for such a defense in future jury trials.

Less than a week after oral arguments in the landmark federal case to reclassify cannabis for medical use, the plaintiffs filed an additional brief Oct. 22 at the request of the court. In the case Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order last week seeking details on the harm sustained by plaintiff and disabled US Air Force veteran Michael Krawitz as a result of the federal government's policy on medical marijuana.

Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker and San Francisco law firm Morrison & Foerster announced Oct. 11 that the City of Oakland has filed a complaint in US District Court to stop the federal government from seizing an Oakland building used by a medical marijuana dispensary. "This lawsuit is about protecting the rights of legitimate medical patients," Parker said in a statement. "I am deeply dismayed that the federal government would seek to deny these rights and deprive thousands of seriously ill Californians of access to safe, affordable and effective medicine." The civil suit, which has City Council approval, seeks to "restrain and declare unlawful" forfeiture proceedings against the landlords of the dispensary, Harborside Health Center, stating that Oakland will "suffer irreparable harm if the dispensaries are shuttered."