Global Ganja Report

Scores of cannabis dispensaries in San Diego County have closed following the federal crackdown announced in October. As of the end of November, 139 of 222 medical cannabis outlets—or 62%—have shut down since the US Attorney's office in San Diego began sending letters to the dispensaries and their landlords. About a third of those targeted are still operating, but some 20 more outlets are expected to close within the next two weeks, according to federal authorities. Another round of letters from the US Attorney's Office—some hand-delivered by DEA agents—were sent within the past week to dispensaries that remain open.

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association (MTCIA) says it has received information that the Justice Department has issued a memo with guidelines for the acceptable operation of dispensaries in California, and wants to know if similar guidelines were issued for their own state. Said MTCIA spokesman Ed Docter: "If the federal government wants to propose guidelines fine, we're all for that, we would really enjoy that, we would invite the help but basically we would just like to know what our US Attorney get. What did [Montana US Attorney Michael] Cotter get? I mean we don't know if he got a similar memo." The MTCIA says it will write to Gov. Brain Schweitzer seeking clarification on the guidelines, and what the Montana industry needs to do to prevent more raids. (KPAX, Missoula, Nov. 29)

The 2011 Hempcon medical marijuana convention in Denver in October prompted local fears of a "green rush" in the Centennial State. Sixteen states now allow some form of legalized medical marijuana, but only Colorado explicitly allows cannabis businesses to operate as such—making it the first for-profit marijuana marketplace in the United States. Between 2000—when voters approved the state's medical marijuana initiative—and 2008, Colorado issued roughly 2,000 medical marijuana cards to patients living in the state. By 2011, that number had jumped to more than 127,000 paying customers, according to the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry—with at least 25,000 more have applications pending.

Medical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) on Nov. 22 appealed the September 2010 conviction of San Diego dispensary operator Jovan Jackson in a case that has become a symbol of the effort by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to criminalize storefront dispensaries. California Attorney General Kamala Harris—who served as San Francisco DA when that city established the state's first dispensaries—will now defend Jackson's appeal rather than Dumanis, who originally tried him. The ASA appeal contests Jackson's denial of a medical defense, and challenges the prosecution's assertion that "sales" of medical marijuana are illegal under state law.

Advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) issued a letter Nov. 17 urging that Los Angeles' prestigious Cedars-Sinai Medical Center promptly re-list 63-year-old patient Norman B. Smith for a liver transplant. Smith was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer in 2009 and became eligible for a transplant at Cedars-Sinai the following year. Smith's oncologist at Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Steven Miles, approved of his cannabis use to deal with the effects of chemotherapy and pain from an unrelated back surgery. But in February he was removed from the transplant list after testing positive for cannabis use.

A Nov. 9 rally in Sacramento to protest the US Department of Justice crackdown on California's medical marijuana industry brought out some 500 people, who gathered outside the Federal building to hear speakers from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Americans for Safe Access (ASA), and other organizations before marching through the downtown area.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette issued an opinion Nov. 10 finding that law enforcement officers are not required to return confiscated medical marijuana to a patient or caregiver—even though a state law prohibits such seizures. Schuette said the provision in the state's 2008 medical marijuana statute is pre-empted by federal law.

California's Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled Nov. 11 that state law allows cities and counties to ban cannabis dispensaries. Other courts have upheld local government authority to restrict the location of dispensaries or declare a temporary moratorium, but the new ruling, in a case from Riverside, was the first to address a citywide ban. Riverside banned dispensaries in 2009 and sought to shut down the Inland Empire Patients' Health and Wellness Center, in May 2010. A Superior Court judge ruled in the city's favor six months later, but the center has stayed open during its appeal. The appeals court ruling found that state law allows medical patients to use cannabis and form collectives to supply it, but does not exempt them from local government authority to regulate land use. (LAT, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11)