Medical Marijuana Information

Police: 2 dead in pot dispensary robbery attempts

2010-06-25T02:45:12Z

Police: 2 dead after robbery attempts at 2 Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries

Police say robbery appeared to be the motive in killings at two medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles that occurred within hours of each other. Police say an employee of the Hollywood Holistic store was found dead at the scene Thursday night following an apparent robbery attempt. Police would not say how the worker was...

Police say man killed in LA pot dispensary

2010-06-24T18:45:17Z

Police say man dead, 1 wounded in shooting at Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary

Police in Los Angeles say a man has been killed and another wounded in a shooting at a medical marijuana dispensary. The police department said Thursday that an unknown number of suspects burst into the Sunset Boulevard store in the Echo Park neighborhood around 4:15 p.m. and opened fire. Police set up a perimeter as they sea...

Medical pot can cost parents in custody disputes

2010-06-21T02:45:27Z

Nicholas Pouch runs an organic farm and a glassblowing studio on a 20-acre spread in southwest Washington's timber country. Spicy mustard greens, tomatoes and corn sprout in humid greenhouses as chickens and sheep roam nearby. It would be an ideal place for children to romp, Pouch thinks. But his children can't be there because he's a medical marijuana patient. A drug task force acting on a tip from his former partner raided his grow op...

Oregon court: Handgun permit OK with medical pot

2010-06-17T12:00:26Z

Oregon Court of Appeals rules concealed handgun permit OK for medical marijuana patient

The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that a medical marijuana patient can have a concealed handgun permit. The court on Wednesday said Jackson County Sheriff Bill would legalize medical marijuana in US territory of Guam

A measure to legalize the use of marijuana for medical reasons is being considered in the U.S. territory of Guam. The bill by Sen. Rory Respicio was introduced Tuesday to allow licensed physicians to prescribe marijuana to qualified patients. It woul...

Montana gov. agrees change needed in marijuana law

2010-06-10T13:31:01Z

Montana gov. says voters didn't envision today's medical marijuana issues, advocates changes

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says legalization of medical marijuana has not worked out as voters planned, and agrees the state needs a legislative fix. Schweitzer says he is watching proposals as they come forward and expects lawmakers, convening in January, will have a lot of options. The governor says one o...

Some 440 medical pot shops ordered to close in L.A.

2010-06-07T14:00:38Z

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Around 440 self-described medical marijuana dispensaries across Los Angeles were under orders to close on Monday, nearly five months after city officials voted to shut most of them down. An estimated 135 dispensaries may remain legally open as of Monday as a new city law formally takes effect. City leaders hope to eventually whittle that number d...

Ritter signs medical marijuana regulations

2010-06-07T13:00:28Z

Ritter signs medical marijuana regulations; law allows cities and counties to ban dispensaries

Colorado has enacted statewide regulations for the medical marijuana industry which could potentially allow hundreds of dispensaries to continue operating. Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday signed two bills passed by lawmakers this session to rein in the estimated 1,100 medical marijuana dispensaries that have cropped up aro...

Judge denies bid to stop closure of LA pot shops

2010-06-04T12:00:57Z

Judge denies last-minute attempt to stop shutdown of LA pot dispensaries

A judge has decided against coming to the aid of medical marijuana dispensaries threatened with closure under a new city ordinance. Superior Court Judge James Chalfant rejected a bid Friday for a temporary restraining order that would prevent officials from enforcing the law. A group of 12 patients has sued the city, saying the ordin...

Cannabis caravans fuel medical pot boom in Montana

2010-06-03T11:30:20Z

Going to pot: `Cannabis caravans' give Montanans permission to smoke medical marijuana

As Bob Marley music wailed in the next room, the makeshift clinic hummed along like an assembly line: Patients went in to see a doctor, paid $150 and walked out with permission to buy and smoke medical marijuana. So it went, all day, at a hotel just blocks from the state Capitol that was the latest stop of the so-called cannabi...

High hopes for business folk planning NJ pot sales

2010-05-29T12:30:09Z

After careers in human resources and business consulting, Marianne Bays is tired of the corporate world. The 57-year-old's choice for a change: trying to become one of New Jersey's first legal pot dealers. In January, New Jersey became the 14th state to allow the sale and use of medical marijuana. The law goes into effect July 1, but it's expected to take several months before th...

Oakland to license, tax indoor marijuana growers

2010-05-28T00:30:17Z

Pot-friendly Oakland looks to bring in money by licensing, taxing medical marijuana growers

Local governments in California and other Western states have tried to clamp down on medical marijuana, but Oakland has taken a different approach. If you can't beat 'em, tax 'em. After becoming the first U.S. city to im...

Montana doctor fined over medical marijuana clinic

2010-05-25T17:45:07Z

A Montana physician who saw about 150 patients over 14 1/2 hours during a medical marijuana clinic last year will be fined $2,000 for providing substandard care, the first time a doctor in the state has been disciplined in a marijuana case. The state Board of Medical Examiners' action follows a stern warning issued by the board to doctors who participate in th...

Drug overdose: Medical marijuana facing a backlash

2010-05-21T14:45:53Z

Medical marijuana is facing a backlash; civic leaders complain of an overdose of pot shops

The vandals struck in the middle of the night, hurling Molotov cocktails through the windows of two medical marijuana businesses and spray-painting "NOT IN OUR TOWN" just before the Billings City Council was supposed to take up a ban on any new pot shops. Montana and other states that have legalized me...

Boulder requires medical pot growers to go green

2010-05-18T21:45:26Z

Boulder city officials requiring medical marijuana growers to go green in energy usage

Boulder has approved regulations for the medical marijuana industry with a twist in keeping with the sensibility of this liberal-leaning, Colorado university town. The regulations unanimously passed Tuesday will require growing operations to offset 100 percent of their electricity use with wind or solar power. Other rules limit dis...

Los Angeles prepared to smoke out pot dispensaries

2010-05-10T09:45:16Z

Eric Matuschek has had his share of bumps and bruises as a Hollywood stuntman, but he hasn't quite felt the pain he faces right now. Matuschek stands to lose his livelihood — albeit a more risky one — as the owner of a pot dispensary. He and hundreds of other business owners across Los Angeles have until June 7 to close their clinics or they may be confronted with civil fines and even jail time. City officials are attempti...

Firebomb thrown at marijuana business in Montana

2010-05-10T09:15:54Z

Someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the window of a Billings medical marijuana business early Monday and "NOT IN OUR TOWN" was spray-painted on its storefront, the second such act in as many days, authorities said. The attempted arsons come as the Billings City Council is scheduled to vote Monday night on whether to place a moratorium on medical marijuana businesses operating in the city. A rock was used to br...

Calif city tries to shut down pot-on-wheels

2010-05-09T15:16:04Z

A rolling marijuana dispensary has hit a bump in the road after seven months of selling chocolate-covered cookies, brownies, pretzels and other marijuana-laced items outside a clinic. The Riverside County city of Norco has asked a court to permanently shut down the Lakeview Collective-on-Wheels, a 1985 Pace Arrow motor home outfitted with display cases. Stewart Hauptman and his wife,...

Colo. Senate OKs state pot dispensary regulations

2010-06-26T03:50:49Z

Colo. Senate OKs medical marijuana regulations with changes; bill returns to House for vote

A push to regulate the state's medical marijuana dispensaries appears to be nearing the finish line. The Colorado Senate passed the proposed regulations in a 26-9 vote on Thursday, sending them back to the House to review changes made to the bill. The lack of controversial changes makes it likely that...

US capital okays medical marijuana

2010-05-04T16:15:35Z

City councillors in Washington voted unanimously on Tuesday to allow the US capital to join 14 states in allowing medical marijuana to be used to treat certain chronically ill patients. Under the new law, which has to be signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty and then survive a 30-day period of review by Congress before taking effect, physicians will be able to prescribe medical ma...

DC passes medical marijuana, bill goes to mayor

2010-05-04T14:45:16Z

DC Council passes medical marijuana legislation, sends bill to mayor before Congress reviews

The D.C. Council has passed a measure to legalize medical marijuana, sending the bill to Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty. Under the measure passed Tuesday, the nation's capital would join 14 states that allow medical ma...

LA begins process of closing hundreds of pot shops

2010-05-03T15:46:48Z

LA begins laborious task of closing hundreds of pot dispensaries

Hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries are being told they must shut down to comply with a recently approved city ordinance in Los Angeles. More than 500 letters were expected to be mailed Tuesday to collectives across the city, where dispensaries had been multiplying in recent years as city officials struggled to approve a local law.

Rolling pot dispensary targeted in Calif.

2010-04-26T07:30:41Z

Rolling marijuana dispensary targeted in California, police say it's illegal

A California couple have converted a motor home into a rolling medical marijuana dispensary that has become the target of police. Stewart Hauptman and Helen Cherry have been on the road with their Lakeview Collective for seven months, serving about 700 members from Southern Californ...

Court: Ore. medical marijuana can lead to firing

2010-06-26T03:37:01Z

Oregon Supreme Court: Workers can be fired for using medical marijuana

An employer is not required to accommodate the use of medical marijuana, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that cost a worker his job, saying state law is trumped by federal law that classifies pot as an illegal drug. A legal expert called the divided 5-2 ruling "a shot across the bow" of those who support m...

Colo. pot case highlights growers' worries

2010-06-26T03:36:53Z

Federal pot case in Colorado highlights worry among growers of medical marijuana

Pot smoker Chris Bartkowicz thought he had hit pay dirt, bragging to a local television station he would make $400,000 off a basement medical marijuana operation in a well-heeled Denver suburb where neighbors had no idea what he was growing. A day after KUSA-TV aired a tease...

Court: Calif. medical marijuana not legal in Ore.

2010-04-19T15:17:11Z

Ore. Appeals Court: Medical marijuana from California not legal in Oregon, conviction stands

The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that medical marijuana authorized in California should stay in California. Joel Berringer was convicted in Oregon of possessing of two pounds of marijuana. He was ...

Ariz. medical marijuana supporters aim for ballot

2010-04-19T15:16:48Z

Medical marijuana supporters submit signatures for Arizona ballot measure in November

Arizona voters may get to decide in November whether to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. Supporters of a medical marijuana initiative submitted petition signatures Wednesday to the secretary of state's office to qualify the proposal for the general election ballot. The measure would allow people with certain medical conditions...

In Colorado town, voters tax pot before it arrives

2010-04-06T21:30:06Z

A small western Colorado town has become the first in the state to levy a city tax on medical marijuana, even though it doesn't yet have a dispensary. Voters in Fruita, a town of about 11,000 at the foot of the Colorado National Monument, decided Tuesday to impose a 5 percent sales tax on marijuana. One application to sell medical marijuana is pending, and c...

Wash. justices to hear case of fired pot patient

2010-04-02T11:30:08Z

Wash. Supreme Court accepts case of medical marijuana patient fired for failing drug test

The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a medical marijuana patient who was fired for failing a drug test. The woman is identified as Jane Roe to protect her identity. When she applied for a job in Kitsap County<...

Hawaii kills medical marijuana dispensary measure

2010-04-01T18:00:09Z

A proposal to create medical marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii has gone up in smoke. The idea is dead because the House Judiciary Committee refused to consider the measure before a legislative deadline Thursday. Committee Chairman Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu says he was worried ...

VA doctors prohibited from prescribing medical pot

2010-03-31T01:16:55Z

Even in states where it's legal, Veterans Affairs doctors can't prescribe medical marijuana

When Paul Culkin came home to New Mexico after serving with an Army bomb squad in Iraq, he tried counseling and medications offered by the San Jose City Council members vote to draft ordinance regulating medical marijuana collectives

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday approved drawing up guidelines for the operation of medical marijuana collectives as a way to regulate the businesses and possibly bring in much-needed revenue to the nation's 10th largest city. After more than two hours of debate, city leaders voted to draft an...

No guns for Wash. pot activist after shootout

2010-03-30T16:00:29Z

After shootout with intruders, Wash. medical marijuana activist told he can't buy guns

A Washington state medical marijuana activist who nearly killed an intruder in his home this month has been barred from buying guns, even though he says he has no criminal record. Steve Sarich says he tried to buy a shotgun and a pistol a few days after the March 15 shootout to replace ones that were seized by investi...

Marijuana Grow Your Own

2010-09-01T22:28:12Z

Don Boring talks about Colorado's new marijuana laws at his dispensary in Central City, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 30, 2010. Boring owns a grocery store, a liquor store and a medical marijuana dispensary all under one roof. The main difference between them is that for his pot business, he has to produce the inventory himself. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Pot For The Poor

2010-08-04T15:47:15Z

In this Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010 photo, 1 1/2 gram 'care packages' of medical marijuana are displayed at the Harborside Health Center in Oakland, Calif., where, until recently, the center had a program that gave out free weekly "care packages" to about 600 patients on unemployment or pensions. Part of a new medical marijuan...

Medical Marijuana Crime

2010-07-29T13:15:51Z

Marijuana plants thrive under a grow light at The Releaf marijuana dispensary in Denver on Thursday, July 29, 2010. Nearly a fifth of Colorado's medical marijuana dispensary operators could be forced out of business in coming weeks because of new state rules barring some convicted felons from the pot business, federal drug authorities say. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Veterans Medical Marijuana

2010-07-24T12:16:03Z

FILE - This Sept. 15, 2009 file photo shows marijuana plants in Seattle. Patients treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics will be able to use medical marijuana in the 14 states where it's legal, according to new federal guidelines. The directive from the Veterans Affairs Department in the coming week is intended to clarify current policy th...

Pot Shortage

2010-07-16T12:45:28Z

Len Goodman points to the part of the marijuana plant that will eventually flower near Santa Fe, N.M., on Thursday, July 15, 2010. He is one of just 11 growers approved by New Mexico to produce pot for all of the state's 2,000 registered medical marijuana patients, and his customers routinely exhaust his supply. (AP Photo/Susan