Santa Cruz Sentinel, 26 Jul 2010 - SANTA CRUZ - After the last several WAMMFests encountered challenges, organizers of Santa Cruz's annual medical marijuana awareness event appear to be in for an easier time getting the city's nod of approval. Today, the City Council will consider lifting a smoking ban at San Lorenzo Park for five hours Sept. 25 to allow authorized pot users to medicate inside open-air tents designed to create privacy. The item is on the council's consent agenda, indicating that it may not be as controversial as in years past.

Ottawa Citizen, 24 Jul 2010 - Hemp, Vodka Mix First Of Its Kind In North America, Say Alberta Entrepreneurs It's always 4:20 somewhere, and two women in Grande Prairie, Alta., figure the best way to celebrate is with a nice, cold shot of hemp-infused vodka.

Marin Independent Journal, 22 Jul 2010 - Marin County's doyen of medical marijuana, Lynette Shaw, said she was pleased when she read recently on the Web that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had created a new trademark category for medical marijuana. But the patent office backpedaled last week and eliminated the category, which was established April 1, after an inquiry by the Wall Street Journal.

Arcata Eye, 21 Jul 2010 - I am continually being asked by the press, my patients, and community members how I feel about California's Proposition 19, also known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. The questions range from: How will it affect medical marijuana? Will it save California's incredible budget woes? How will it impact our county? Will it get rid of cartels? Will it be dangerous for my children? What are the pros and cons of this initiative? How should I vote? These are all valid questions and concerns. My first suggestion always is for anyone interested in this complex subject to read Proposition 19. Know that this is a voter-driven initiative which cannot instantly or easily be changed without a vote from the people or by statute passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. so, in other words, know who the shareholders are and where personal agendas lie, read between the lines, review your own values and concerns, be careful what you vote for, and in short, become informed.

Lewiston Sun Journal, 17 Jul 2010 - He wants the new medical marijuana dispensary law yanked, to legalize pot for the 19-plus crowd in Maine and to give voters a chance to do both on the November 2011 ballot. Don Christen said the signature campaign for his two referendum questions is still getting off the ground, relying on 60 volunteers. On Friday, he couldn't estimate how many they had collected.

Toronto Sun, 17 Jul 2010 - The first whiff was getting out of the car in the parking lot. Then it seemed to be on the breath of almost every attendee. Marijuana filled the air at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre Friday as the Treating Yourself Medical Marijuana and Hemp Expo opened.

The Journal Standard, 16 Jul 2010 - I'm glad to read that I'm in such good company with so many optimists. I have my ups and downs just like everyone else. If I can't solve a problem myself I reach out to others and work together to find the best solutions.

Toronto Star, 16 Jul 2010 - There were loud oohs, aahs and congratulatory hugs as people - some young, some old, a few in wheelchairs - went around dozens of kiosks at the first Medical Marijuana and Hemp Expo at the Metro Convention Centre on Friday. There was literature, there were documentaries and there was even marijuana-themed art and clothing. But no marijuana.

Toronto Sun, 16 Jul 2010 - But Weekend Expo Would Shock Him My old man lives on as a god in the world of hemp, a sainted king of cannabis. Not a ganja god like Bob Marley or Cheech and Chong.

The Province, 16 Jul 2010 - A three-day expo, which kicks off Friday in Toronto, is being billed as the first convention in Canada to promote the use of medical marijuana, with organizers expecting as many as 30,000 people from around the world to attend. The Medical Marijuana and Hemp Show will be held at the Metro Convention Centre, the same downtown location where leaders from the G20 countries met just three weeks ago.

Birmingham Weekly, 15 Jul 2010 - Marijuana goes Mainstream in Amaerica The casual use of marijuana is becoming increasingly accepted, or at least tolerated, in the United States. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, 100 million Americans have used weed, with 15 million smoking in the last month and two million more people trying it each year.

Los Angeles Times, 15 Jul 2010 - The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Endorses Proposition 19 Proponents of the marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot won the endorsement Wednesday of the council that oversees the political work of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in California, as well as one of the union's major locals, giving proponents a significant boost to their campaign.

Delta County Independent, 14 Jul 2010 - The ultimate justification for action by government is protection of the public "health, safety, and welfare." But when it comes to the current issue of retail businesses that sell marijuana, local government decisions are being driven by fear - the fear of getting sued.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 13 Jul 2010 - In November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on a ballot initiative legalizing all marijuana use, whether medicinal or not. According to the latest poll of likely California voters, Proposition 19 will pass. This will put the Obama administration in an awkward position.

Los Angeles Business Journal, 12 Jul 2010 - Indoor Crops Thrive Thanks to Favorable Law. Despite L.A.'s recent and well-publicized crackdown on pot shops, another side of the industry is thriving: the growers. With state law encouraging shops to grow their own marijuana rather than get supplies on the black market - often from Northern California - demand is rising for pot grown in small indoor facilities across Los Angeles County.

Omaha World-Herald, 12 Jul 2010 - LINCOLN -- As his wife was slowly dying from cancer, Craig, Neb., farmer DeJay Monson turned to something that had helped him overcome seizures and migraine headaches arising from a childhood school-bus accident. Feeding his wife, Dana, marijuana, baked in foods or infused in liquids, returned some function to her life, Monson said Monday, fighting back tears.

Washington Post, 10 Jul 2010 - In the small backroom of Capitol Hemp, a head shop in Adams Morgan, a worker dutifully arranges an array of ceramic pipes displayed in a well-lit glass case. Another clerk helps a couple of customers as they peruse a selection of bongs and vaporizers. Stored behind the counter is another amply stocked product whose popularity is booming: "spice," the generic name for a legal "synthetic marijuana." Capitol Hemp owner Adam Eidinger said that in the 18 months since he began stocking spice, demand has doubled each month, and its sales now represent a third of his revenue. On some Fridays, he said, his two District stores can bring in $10,000 from the sale of spice alone.

Idaho Mountain Express, 07 Jul 2010 - Lowest Police Priority Ranks Private Use Below Jay-Walking Hailey police officers won't be trying to bust anyone for smoking marijuana in the privacy of their own home from now on-not since the City Council adopted three weeks ago a lowest-police-priority ordinance with regard to misdemeanor marijuana offenses.

Asheville Citizen-Times, 02 Jul 2010 - This week, I helped form a new North Carolina non-profit-- The North Carolina National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NC NORML). Yes, that's right. Weed, dope, pot, ganja, reefer, cannabis. Everyone knows it illegal, but when asked, nobody really knows why. Alcohol, which leads directly to violence and death, is perfectly fine so long as you are of age. Ask any police officer if someone being arrested for marijuana without alcohol has ever resisted, or ask any domestic violence victim if marijuana led to a battering? Anyone who knows the history laughs at the federal government's original basis for the prohibition back in 1937 that "marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind," claimed to be even more dangerous than heroin or cocaine. The false news reports that black men, most notably those insidious jazz-musicians, raped, murdered and assaulted white women after smoking marijuana cigarettes were clear race-baiting. The problem, however, is that law and policy remains the same, with the same effect.

New York Times, 27 Jun 2010 - BOULDER, Colo. -- ANYONE who thinks it would be easy to get rich selling marijuana in a state where it's legal should spend an hour with Ravi Respeto, manager of the Farmacy, an upscale dispensary here that offers Strawberry Haze, Hawaiian Skunk and other strains of Cannabis sativa at up to $16 a gram. She will harsh your mellow.