Sacramento Bee, 12 Mar 2010 - Sacramento officials Thursday night presented a plan to cap the number of marijuana dispensaries in the city at a dozen and impose strict requirements for their operations. Faced with a packed room of pot shop owners and medical marijuana advocates, City Manager Gus Vina asked for measured input on "an emotional issue."

Seattle Times, 12 Mar 2010 - The bill allowing patients to get medical-marijuana authorizations from a wider range of health-care professionals came a step closer to becoming law as it passed in the Legislature Thursday. Senate Bill 5798 extends the ability to authorize medical pot to a variety of other licensed health professionals in addition to MDs and osteopaths - including naturopaths, advanced registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Burlington Times-News, 11 Mar 2010 - Who knew that when North Carolina and Duplin County authorities cited members of country music legend Willie Nelson's band on marijuana and alcohol charges in January that it would turn into an uproar that began in Eastern North Carolina and has swept the state. Heck, there's even a song about it that's getting some notice in Tennessee.

Sacramento News & Review, 11 Mar 2010 - Possession of Hashish Is Legal for State's Medical-Marijuana Patients, Not That Law Enforcement Seems to Know American puffers have always had to deal with the fact that law-enforcement officials traditionally make a distinction between marijuana in plant form and concentrated derivatives such as hash and kief. Now that California has legalized marijuana for medicinal use, that distinction continues to send innocent patients to jail for possession of hash and other concentrates, despite the fact that they are clearly authorized by Proposition 215, according to former state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Honolulu Advertiser, 10 Mar 2010 - As if this state wasn't swimming in a sea of troubles already, some lawmakers are seriously contemplating various strategies for loosening state curbs on marijuana use, beyond the current allowances for medical purposes. Have none of them been paying attention to what has happened in other communities once this particular Pandora's box has been opened?

The Gazette, 10 Mar 2010 - Dear Attorney General Holder: The Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado's second largest daily newspaper, respectfully joins four Colorado politicians who wrote to ask that you rein in your Drug Enforcement Administration officers in Colorado. They've acted with disrespect for the voters of Colorado to undermine our state's constitutional right to buy, sell, produce and consume medical marijuana. Their actions have undermined sincere efforts by state and local politicians to achieve responsible medical marijuana regulation

Grand Rapids Press, 10 Mar 2010 - GRAND RAPIDS -- City commissioners adopted an ordinance Tuesday requiring medical marijuana caregivers to register as a home occupation. Before the vote, the commission amended the plan to remove a provision that would have required the caregiver's premises to be open for inspection upon request without a warrant, saying warrants would always be issued for any searches.

Times Argus, 09 Mar 2010 - MONTPELIER - A legislative effort to provide eligible patients with safe and legal access to medical marijuana could inch forward this week when a Senate committee decides whether to create state-sanctioned dispensaries for the drug. The Senate Committee on Government Operations is scheduled to vote Thursday on a bill that would establish up to five so-called "compassion centers" at which patients could obtain medical marijuana.

USA Today, 09 Mar 2010 - States' Moves Reflect 'New Era' of Acceptance LOS ANGELES -- James Gray once saw himself as a drug warrior, a former federal prosecutor and county judge who sent people to prison for dealing pot and other drug offenses. Gradually, though, he became convinced that the ban on marijuana was making it more accessible to young people, not less.

Denver Post, 08 Mar 2010 - We question whether state lawmakers have the authority to create a dispensary system. Why not put it before the voters? Medical marijuana legislation pending in the state legislature could legitimize hundreds of dispensaries, and we don't think that honors the intent of voters who approved narrowly drawn access for sick people. While state lawmakers may believe they have the authority to create a dispensary system for medical marijuana - that is, we think, a debatable legal question - we don't think they should. That is an issue voters ought to decide.

Denver Post, 08 Mar 2010 - The divisions between the pro- and anti-marijuana crowds at the state House Judiciary Committee meeting were already clear last week when the young man who described himself as a recovering heroin addict approached the microphone. As the man spoke about marijuana use leading kids to harder drugs and fears that medical marijuana from dispensaries would make it into teenage hands, the lines became even clearer.

The Daily Sentinel, 08 Mar 2010 - Some people in Colorado, including Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, want the state Legislature to stuff the medical marijuana genie back in the hookah. Yes, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20 a decade ago to legalize medical marijuana, they say. But voters never envisioned the system that has sprung up, with medical marijuana dispensaries on seemingly every corner in many municipalities.

Summit Daily News, 08 Mar 2010 - DENVER (AP) - Colorado lawmakers trying to regulate marijuana dispensaries are asking the U.S. attorney general to stop raids of medical marijuana operations. The group e-mailed the request to Eric Holder on Monday, following up on a letter sent last week.

The Providence Journal, 08 Mar 2010 - Why decriminalize marijuana when drugs are central to many of the problems relating to gangs, teenage suicide, teenage violence and low academic achievement? Anyone close to the issue -- teachers, police officers, counselors, and parents -- can speak to this with certainty: Kids have been reaching out for guidance and direction for decades, and as a nation, we have not been able to provide an answer to the confused and sometimes hypocritical and contradictory environment they have grown up in.

Southeast Missourian, 07 Mar 2010 - I am grateful to Cape Girardeau lawyer John L. Cook for his op-ed piece against drug prohibition. It takes courage and clarity of vision. I have much respect for the Teen Challenge program and the individuals who are taking advantage of its help, as well as Dr. Jack Smart for directing the program. It takes gumption and faith. In his rebuttal to Mr. Cook, Dr. Smart was, however, substantively wrong in his assertion that this country has never been without drug prohibition.

Detroit Free Press, 07 Mar 2010 - LOS ANGELES - With a 13-year head start on Michigan, California's efforts to transform marijuana from illicit to prescription drug offers a clear lesson: It ain't easy. The conflict has flared in recent weeks with a new Los Angeles ordinance aimed at hundreds of marijuana dispensaries, many that operate more like drug dens than pharmacies. Michigan prohibits dispensaries under its 2008 voter-passed law, but communities are struggling with limits on the medical pot business.

DrugSense Weekly, 05 Mar 2010 - ************ NAO DRUGS REPORT - NO FRAMEWORK TO EVALUATE VALUE FOR MONEY. AGAIN. A report by the NAO into government action to tackle problem drug use published today has concluded that:

Seattle Times, 05 Mar 2010 - Patients who qualify for medical marijuana will be able to get prescriptions for it from a wider range of health-care professionals, under a bill that appears headed to the governor's desk. Under Senate Bill 5798, it won't just be doctors who can get sick people access to pot.

Denver Post, 05 Mar 2010 - Marijuana activists and law enforcement officials sparred Thursday as the bell rang on the fight over medical-marijuana dispensary regulations at the state Capitol. The first committee hearing on House Bill 1284 -- which would require dispensaries to be licensed by both state and local governments and is the more controversial of the two medical-marijuana bills at the Capitol -- stretched into the evening. Lawmakers said late Thursday that they would not vote on the measure until another date.

The Daily Times-Call, 04 Mar 2010 - BOULDER -- More than half of Boulder County's cities and towns have enacted moratoriums on approving any more medical marijuana businesses, as local governments wait for guidance from the Legislature. They're not alone, according to Michelle Krezek, the county commissioners' intergovernmental relations coordinator.