Browsing Marijuana News

What Is The Secret Cup? Despite the founders’ best efforts to keep it quiet, the first Secret Cup, last year in Denver, received a lot of public interest the moment they set a definitive date and location. Its early success led to more Secret Cups sprouting up in other legal states, and they were equally successful in Los Angeles and Seattle for good reason. “Many believe the Secret Cup is the best way to determine superior hash makers.” The Secret Cup prides itself on being a competition made by hash makers, for …

Long Beach City Council Voted To Regulate Dispensaries In a unanimous vote, members of the Long Beach City Council instructed the City Attorney to start working on a new ordinance, which would regulate the amount of collectives that are able to operate within the city’s limits. Tuesday’s vote came just one day after US District Judge Audrey Collins ruled that Long Beach officials weren’t required to add an initiative for medical marijuana in their upcoming ballot in April. Her decision was based on semantics; despite collecting over 43,000 signatures, the wording of the petition did not request consideration for general …

NJEDA Approved Loan For Compassionate Care Foundation, Inc. With a move that comes immediately after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a law changing the state’s medical cannabis policy, the Garden State is making another splash in the cannabis community. New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has agreed to grant Compassionate Care Foundation (CCF), a state-licensed collective, a $350,000 direct-term loan. Compassionate Care is a non-profit foundation launched in 2011 and their mission is simple. They will cultivate and distribute medical cannabis …

California Legislature Aims To Regulate Medical Cannabis Lawmakers in California have reacted to the directives in the recent Department of Justice memorandum. In an attempt to answer the call for effective medical cannabis regulation, two identical bills were introduced this week: AB 604 and SB 69. “Because both bills are the same, only one of them needs to pass in order to become law.” — CA NORML The first bill to surface, AB 604, was introduced by Assembly-member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). He is the Chair of …

DOJ Memo Influenced Senator Leahy To Schedule Hearings Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called for an unprecedented and historic Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday. The hearing’s primary purpose was to discuss the conflicting nature of state and federal cannabis policy.It came less than two weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memorandum instructing law enforcement agencies on how deal with cannabis in legal states. “The July raids in Washington, where recreational cannabis was passed last year, should offer clear proof of a broken promise.” Despite the publicity that the Department …

The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) announced their proposed changes to its rules for recreational cannabis businesses in the board’s meeting earlier today in Olympia. The proposed regulations will attempt to guide the production and distribution of recreational cannabis from seed to sale under the state’s Initiative 502, which was passed last November. Key talking points include freeing up more potential locations for recreational cannabis retail in areas such as Seattle, and preventing large corporations or monopolies from forming in the state. “We believe the action taken today by the federal government …

The 3rd Annual International Cannabis & Hemp Expo (INTCHE) is being held at the San Francisco Civic Center Plaza on September 7th, 2013. INTCHE’s day-long event next weekend will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. in front of City Hall. The venue will cost $20 to get in and will feature over 100 vendors as well as notable speakers such as Former Mexican President Vicente Fox. The former president will be speaking about the impact of legalizing marijuana in the war against the drug cartels. Other speakers include horticulturist, author & publisher, Ed Rosenthal, and San Francisco Assemblyman …

Just last month, Medical Jane covered a story about a new Florida petition-gathering organization called “People United For Medical Marijuana” — or PUFMM for short. The group took on the challenge of gathering the 68,314 necessary signatures to have the Florida Supreme Court review the initiative. In order to get medical marijuana on the Florida ballot in November of 2014, the group has to collect 683,149 verified voter signatures by February 1. Since their start in July, the “United For Care Campaign” has collected at least 100,000 signatures! How you ask? Craigslist. PUFMM put up an ad on Craigslist …

The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is holding their first ever Midwest Cannabusiness Symposium & Networking Reception in Chicago, IL, on August 24. The day-long event will be similar to previously held NCIA symposiums, and will be an excellent opportunity for professionals to come out and learn from and mingle with other experts in the cannabis industry. Experts in the field will be covering everything from regulatory models and business operations, to investing in ancillary businesses within the industry. Speakers will include Aaron Smith, the Executive Director of NCIA, …

The foster mother of 2-year-old Alexandria Hill was recently charged with murder after passing away in the hospital last week from a serious head injury. 54-year-old Sherill Small took custody of little Alexandria in January after the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services (DFPS) took her away from her prior foster parents that were determined to be neglecting her. Joshua Hill, Alexandria’s biological father, said that she was taken from her mother last November because the DFPS accused the parents of “neglectful supervision.” Alexandria was taken by the agency because Mr. hill admitted one time to “smoking marijuana in …