Los Angeles Times, 28 Jul 2010 - A FEDERAL-STATE LAW INCONSISTENCY SHOULDN'T STOP CALIFORNIANS FROM LEGALIZING MARIJUANA No Law Is Infallible. As It Has Done in the Past, California Can Show Leadership in Driving Needed Reforms by Passing Proposition 19.

The Malibu Times, 28 Jul 2010 - Neighboring Businesses Breath Sigh Of Relief. If the Green Angel Collective medical marijuana dispensary wants to reopen for business, it needs to find a new location. The City Council on Monday refused to adjust the medical marijuana law to allow it do business at the current location on Pacific Coast Highway near Rambla Pacifico.

Kennebec Journal, 27 Jul 2010 - AUGUSTA -- A zone change that would allow a medical marijuana dispensary to locate at a Middle Road property faces a public hearing tonight. In June, city councilors approved medical marijuana dispensary zoning rules to limit the location of such facilities to the city's medical district.

Daily Lobo, 26 Jul 2010 - New Mexico's medicinal marijuana program is running dry. The state has only 11 growers to satisfy the demand of the 2,000 patients prescribed cannabis for chronic illness. This position leaves many patients rationing medication or turning to the illegal market, while the state wants to ensure that its program for growing cannabis remains legal, said Len Goodman, executive director of NewMexicann, a nonprofit organization that grows medicinal marijuana.

The Daily Sentinel, 26 Jul 2010 - Mesa County and the city of Grand Junction may be the target of lawsuits from Front Range attorneys if either entity places a medical-marijuana-center ban on the Nov. 2 ballot and voters approve it. Both governing bodies decided last week to hold a place on this fall's ballot in case either decides to ask a question about medical marijuana. Neither has committed to ballot language or asking a question at all.

The Gazette, 26 Jul 2010 - The Colorado Springs City Council is getting impatient to implement rules that would govern the zoning of medical marijuana dispensaries and related businesses. Saying the city is turning into the Wild West of the medical marijuana industry, council members said they want to get land-use regulations on the books as soon as possible.

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.

Pueblo Chieftain, 26 Jul 2010 - Bankers Worry About Medical Pot Deposits Several Pueblo banks are among financial institutions statewide that are refusing to accept business deposits from medical marijuana dispensaries. But a local lawyer representing three such local businesses said his clients are doing business with banks, although he declined to say which ones.

The Oakland Tribune, 26 Jul 2010 - IN JULY of 2009, Oakland became the first city in the U.S. to tax the sale of medical marijuana. Now, exactly a year later, the City Council has taken another major step on the road toward outright legalization.

Sacramento Bee, 25 Jul 2010 - I've been called a prohibitionist a lot lately. It's a phrase that marijuana users hurl like a rock at opponents of Proposition 19. Sorry, but the more I learn about the November initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use in California, the more I believe statewide voters should reject it.

Baltimore Sun, 25 Jul 2010 - Footnotes In Ruling By The State's Highest Court Explain Pop Culture References The marijuana smoke filled the Baltimore rowhouse in a "haze" that "engulfed" the four people sitting around the kitchen table, all of them within arm's reach of the smoldering remains of a "blunt" in an ashtray.

South Oakland Eccentric, 25 Jul 2010 - ROYAL OAK - On a night when a public hearing was set for a request to turn a vast and vacant industrial building into a "grow room" for registered medical marijuana caregivers, a city commissioner and a prospective tenant gave a preview of what will be heard. Mayor Jim Ellison had to remind City Commissioner Chuck Semchena and David Greene, vice president of First Commercial Realty & Development Co. Inc. in Southfield, to save the discussion for Aug. 9, the date unanimously agreed to by the City Commission at its July 12 public meeting.

Detroit Free Press, 25 Jul 2010 - Ordinance Would Prohibit Dispensaries The Westland City Council is expected to vote Aug. 2 on an ordinance that would prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within the city. The council voted unanimously July 19 to introduce an amendment to the city's zoning ordinance that prohibits marijuana use for enterprise or purposes contrary to federal, state or local law.

Source: Birmingham Eccentric, 25 Jul 2010 - Joining a host of other communities around Michigan, the Beverly Hills Council voted Tuesday to place a 180-day moratorium on the establishment of any medical marijuana dispensaries within the village. "This resolution will protect the village until this matter is fully vetted by the planning board and council," Village Attorney Tom Ryan told the council. "I recommend that you approve it."

Washington Post, 25 Jul 2010 - DENVER -- When Matt Cook was coaxed out of early retirement to become Colorado's chief revenue enforcer three years ago, he assumed his time would be spent overseeing the casinos, liquor stores and car dealerships he had been keeping an eye on for much of his career. If he had hoped for a quiet few years before heading for the golf course, his timing could not have been worse.

The Times-Herald, 25 Jul 2010 - Letter writer Paul Armentano ("Pot vs. alcohol: What the experts say," June 26) is still spreading his misguided and dangerous myth that marijuana is a safe drug, and he cites two stand-up comedians to prove his point, both experts: President Nixon and Art Linkletter. Sir, when I challenged you in person, about one year ago during your presentation in the coffee shop at the ferry building, you either would not or could not answer one simple question. I asked you if it was not true that research studies had confirmed that marijuana was a "gateway" drug, which in most cases resulted in the use of more toxic drugs, often in combination. You replied by saying something to the effect that marijuana was so easy to get, you could go outside and buy some in 15 minutes. True, I am not an expert, but your reply was too innocuous, way over my head. You then called on another guest, and I walked out.

Kalamazoo Gazette, 25 Jul 2010 - KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP - Last August, Salman Ali was away on a work trip. But when he returned to his rented Kalamazoo Township home, he was greeted by an unpleasant surprise. Township police and members of the Southwest Michigan Enforcement Team, a multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement unit, had raided his home on East Main Street.

The Marshall News Messenger, 24 Jul 2010 - Known as K-2 and sold under other designer-sounding monikers, a new synthetic cannibinoid drug has arrived on the market. But it will not be available for sale in Marshall, where now it is illegal to possess, use and sell. "We applaud our city commission for stepping forward and being one of the first East Texas cities to pass this. It shows their concern for our city, our citizens and our children," said Assistant Police Chief Leland Benoit, following the city commission meeting Thursday night.

Roanoke Times, 24 Jul 2010 - Police say two Blacksburg men went to a hospital after they smoked an herbal mix. It goes by many names: K2, Cloud 9, Spice, Magic Gold, Buzz, Smoke, Skunk. The melange of herbs sprayed with a synthetic marijuana substitute is blooming in popularity, and making users sick and being outlawed as it does.

Maple Ridge News, 23 Jul 2010 - The City of Pitt Meadows is one step away from banning the growth of medical marijuana - for distribution - in residential and agricultural zones. Pitt Meadows doesn't have an industrial area, yet, so amending its land-use bylaw effectively prohibits what is legal under federal law.