CCMA Greenbrief October 23: Plumas People Opposed to Commercial Cannabis… LA Leaders Want to Make Sure That Disadvantaged People Can Cash in On Cannabis Legalization… Kern supervisors to Decide the Best Way to Limit Legal Cannabis’s Impact…

 


Political greenBrief
Monday, October 23, 2017
“For so long, people that were black, people that were Latino, we have paid the price for this business, and as we move this into the legal realm, it is important to us that we have a piece of the action.”
City Council President Herb Wesson, Who Is African American, Said At A Recent Community Forum In Watts
 
“We can’t regulate it as long as it’s illegal, and just to say that it’s not happening does not resolve it, how do we deal with the problem that is here, and in my opinion, is not going to go away?”
Patrick Kennedy, The Supervisor Overseeing A Portion Of South Sacramento About Cannabis Grows
Complaints Of Illegal Pot Grows In Sacramento County Are Soaring, Particularly In These Neighborhoods (CA – Illegal Cannabis)
The Sacramento Bee (October 21, 2017) In a south Sacramento neighborhood dotted by industrial warehouses, a team of about 16 deputies and probation officers with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department crept toward the black iron gates blocking entrance to a house on McNie Avenue Tuesday morning. Using a speaker system, a deputy instructed anyone inside the home to come outside with their hands over their head. Two dogs barked from the other side of a high wooden fence.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/california-weed/article180116276.html

La Verne Council Prohibits Commercial Cannabis Activities, Sets Regulations For Personal Pot Cultivation (CA – Commercial Cannabis)
Daily Bulletin (October 20, 2017) Members of the La Verne City Council recently approved an ordinance banning all commercial marijuana activities in the city along with setting regulations for the personal cultivation of pot. Council members gave unanimous final approval to the ordinance, which was part of the Oct. 16 consent agenda, without discussion, City Manager Bob Russi said Friday.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/2017/10/20/la-verne-council-prohibits-commercial-cannabis-activities-sets-regulations-for-personal-pot-cultivation/

L.A. Aims To Help Disadvantaged Communities Cash In On Marijuana Legalization (CA – Cannabis Legalization)
Los Angeles Times (October 20, 2017) The war on drugs has taken a disproportionate toll on people who are poor, black or Latino, community activists have long lamented. Now that marijuana is on the brink of legalization in California, Los Angeles leaders want to make sure that disadvantaged people can cash in.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-marijuana-equity-20171020-story.html
Kern Supervisors To Struggle Next Week With Best Way To Limit Legal Marijuana’s Impact (CA – Cannabis Legalization)
Bakersfield (October 21, 2017) The fate of commercial marijuana comes to the Kern County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The decision is going to be tough. Most of what county residents have seen of retail marijuana, since California’s Compassionate Use Act legalized the drug as a medicine in 1996, is a flood of sketchy shops that often attracted crime. So Kern County supervisors will struggle with whether to ban commercial cannabis in the unincorporated areas of the county or allow and regulate it.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/cannabis-kern-supervisors-to-struggle-next-week-with-best-way/article_701d9664-b5f6-11e7-b9cc-db9663649f96.html
Growing Jobs In Lakeview (CA – Cannabis Growth)
Herald and News (October 22, 2017) It’s been several years in the making, with various regulatory curve balls changing plans along the way, but the finishing touches are finally being placed on a commercial marijuana facility in Lakeview. The latest acquisition by the 42nd Group, a California-based property management company specializing in commercial agriculture operations, is an abandoned door manufacturing facility in Lake County Industrial Park along the southern border of Lakeview.
https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/growing-jobs-in-lakeview/article_d65e0b97-892d-5ef8-a4ea-ce38313f090d.html
Closing Cannabis Dispensaries Increases Crime, According To California Study (CA – Cannabis Dispensaries)
Straight (October 20, 2017) While NIMBYs tend to assert that cannabis dispensaries increase crime rates, a recent study is turning that notion on its head. By examining crime rates following the mass closure of 400 unregistered medical cannabis dispensaries in Los Angeles in 2010, researchers have shown that closing dispensaries is actually more likely to result in an increase in neighborhood crime.
https://www.straight.com/cannabis/984481/closing-cannabis-dispensaries-increases-crime-according-california-study
Wildfires Scorched Marijuana Crops, Possibly Complicating California’s Rollout Of Legal Sales (CA – Cannabis Industry)
The Washington Post (October 20, 2017) The deadly wildfires that ravaged communities and wineries in Northern California also severely damaged numerous marijuana farms, just before the state is expected to fully legalize the drug, in a disaster that could have far-reaching implications for a nascent industry. At least 34 marijuana farms suffered extensive damage as the wildfires tore across wine country and some of California’s prime marijuana-growing areas.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/wildfires-scorched-marijuana-crops-possibly-complicating-californias-rollout-of-legal-sales/2017/10/20/037d36a4-b41b-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?utm_term=.bd4947a35df8
Legal Marijuana Is Becoming The Norm — For Good Reason (CA – Cannabis Norm)
Standard Examiner (October 22, 2017) The war on drugs has been going on since 1971, and we have a winner: marijuana. Back then, possession of pot carried heavy penalties in many states — even life imprisonment. Today, 29 states sanction medical use of cannabis, and eight allow recreational use. Legal weed has become about as controversial as Powerball.
http://www.standard.net/National-Commentary/2017/10/22/medical-marijuana-recreational-cannabis-pot-opioid-overdoses-Colorado-Washington-column-Chapman.html
‘I Spent The Last Four Years Cooking With Cannabis For Hollywood Elite’ – Irish Chef On Working In LA (CA – Cannabis Food)
Independent (October 22, 2017) An Irish chef who works as a private chef to rock stars and celebrities in the US has spent the last four years cooking with cannabis. Aine McAteer has had a glittering career as a private chef to Hollywood stars like Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, John Cusack and Simpsons creator Matt Groening in the past. Her most recent role however, was as a private chef to another famous client whose wife was using cannabis to treat a health condition.
http://www.independent.ie/life/food-drink/i-spent-the-last-four-years-cooking-with-cannabis-for-hollywood-elite-irish-chef-on-working-in-la-36250195.html
The Benefits Of Cannabis Consumption Lounges (USA – Cannabis Consumption)
Cannabis Now (October 22, 2017) On Nov. 8, 2016 California voters decided they were ready for recreational cannabis. What many who cast their ballots in favor of legal access may not have realized is that their decision would not fully come into effect until January 2018, when licenses for recreational adult cannabis can be acquired by pre-existing as well as new dispensaries and collectives. In preparation of the impending changes in legislation and in anticipation of a growth of patronage, many dispensaries have made the necessary changes for compliance ahead of time.
https://cannabisnow.com/benefits-cannabis-consumption-lounges/
Justice Department Says Obama-Era Medical Marijuana Prosecution Wasn’t Allowed (DC – Medical Cannabis)
Washington Examiner (October 21, 2017) Federal prosecutors said this week that a high-profile Obama-era prosecution of medical marijuana growers wasn’t allowed because Congress voted to protect medical pot programs from federal interference. It’s a dramatic development in a case that pitted four family members and a friend — collectively known as the Kettle Falls Five — against federal prosecutors who won prison sentences for growers at a rural garden in Washington state.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/justice-department-says-obama-era-medical-marijuana-prosecution-wasnt-allowed/article/2638232
Confessions Of A Pro-Cannabis Republican: The Corrosive Effect Of #Fakenews (DC – Cannabis News)
Civilized (October 20, 2017) Perhaps one of the most noteworthy terms of 2017 has been the phrase #fakenews. Originally coined by then President-elect Donald Trump in response to negative approval ratings after his electoral college victory in 2016, the phrase has exploded onto the American landscape.
https://www.civilized.life/articles/confessions-of-a-pro-cannabis-republican-the-corrosive-effect-of-fakenews/
Legalizing Recreational Marijuana In Colorado Reversed A 14-Year Trend Of Rising Opioid-Related Deaths (CO – Cannabis Legalization)
Madison (October 21, 2017) The marijuana industry is, for lack of a better pun, sprouting like a weed. According to cannabis research firm ArcView, the North American legal weed market grew by 34% in 2016 and is expected to expand by a compound annual rate of 26% through 2021. By 2021, we could be talking about a market worth $21.6 billion, which has certainly caught the attention of investors.
http://host.madison.com/business/investment/markets-and-stocks/legalizing-recreational-marijuana-in-colorado-reversed-a–year-trend/article_2ed8b4d8-c54b-5d34-880f-d6729dac663e.html