cannabis

ACCUSATIONS OF RETALIATION CONTINUE TO HAUNT THE CITY OF LEMON GROVE

By Jessyka Heredia

May 7, 2023 (Lemon Grove)- On Tuesday, the Lemon Grove City Council approved two different dispensaries Conditional Use Permits (CUP) while at the same time hearing a prior applicant speak during public comment saying that he has been retaliated against and falsely accused of bribery.


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ADVANCING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: LEMON GROVE HANDLES CANNABIS LAW RESPONSIBLY

By David R. Shorey, East County Program Manager, Institute for Public Strategies

January 10,  2023 (Lemon Grove) -- Since the passage of Proposition 64 legalizing cannabis for recreational use, cities and counties across California have been attempting to meet the desires of the electorate while also balancing public health and safety. Local Control, the ability for cities and counties to regulate whether or how cannabis operations exist in their jurisdictions, was included in the original proposition. It often brings the fight for or against cannabis to city hall steps.


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SANTEE USES MERIT SYSTEM TO PICK CANNABIS RETAILERS

By Mike Allen

Photo: CC by ND via Bing

November 22, 2022 (Santee) -- Santee may be late to the party that other city governments have joined, allowing the sale of cannabis, yet it’s in no hurry to figure out how it will be permitted and managed.


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VOTERS PASSING CANNABIS TAX FOR UNINCORPORATED AREAS

By Miriam Raftery

November 10, 2022 (San Diego) – Measure A, which would impose a tax on all cannabis businesses in San Diego County’s unincorporated areas, is passing by a healthy margin. Funds raised would go into the county’s general fund to be used for health care, fire safety, parks, infrastructure and more, as well as to shut down illegal marijuana operations.


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SANTEE ADOPTS CANNABIS ORDINANCE

By Mike Allen

Photo:  map of permitted cannabis locations in Santee

August 1, 2022 (Santee) -- Santee is the latest city in San Diego County to permit cannabis businesses including sale of marijuana within its borders, following a 3-2 vote at its most recent City Council meeting July 27.


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SANTEE COUNCIL LOOKS TO REGULATE CANNABIS, MOVES CLOSER TOWARD BALLOT INITIATIVE

By Mike Allen

June 28, 2022 (Santee) -- While members of the Santee City Council say they adamantly oppose marijuana use, they also can’t ignore the escalating tax dollars other cities are reaping from the sale of the drug.


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SUPERVISORS MOVE FORWARD ON CANNABIS TAX INITIATIVE AND SAFETY MEASURES FOR UNINCORPORATED AREAS

By Henri Migala and Miriam Raftery

June 20, 2022 (San Diego) – San Diego County Supervisors on June 15 approved a draft resolution for a ballot initiative to tax cannabis businesses in unincorporated areas.  The measure will still need final board approval on June 28 before going before the voters on the November ballot.

Supervisors also voted to have staff report back on a proposal by Supervisor Joel Anderson aimed at reducing disproportionate impacts on unincorporated communities through 16 measures that would enhance public safety, limit locations of cannabis businesses, require education on cannabis negative impacts and drug interactions, and require funds from a cannabis tax be used to benefit communities.


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SANTEE MOVES TOWARD GIVING VOTERS A SAY ON LEGALIZING CANNABIS BUSINESSES

By Mike Allen

Photo:  Santee Vice Mayor Ronn Hall

March 11, 2022 (Santee) -- While it’s legal to use and even grow marijuana for personal use statewide, the sale of the still-federally prohibited drug is not permitted in Santee.

That could change given the path that the City Council has been on since last year, when it began exploring the potential of allowing some type of marijuana-linked business within its 16.5 square miles.


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NEWLY ORGANIZED CANNABIS WORKERS GAIN STATEWIDE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

UFCW union members at STIIIZY retail locations in California to vote on historic contract

East County News Service

Photo:  screenshot from UFSC Local 135 on Facebook

January 21, 2022 (San Diego) – Newly organized workers at STIIIZY dispensaries throughout California including San Diego County are voting on their first ever contract as members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.


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ADVANCING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY ON THE SCIENCE AND IMPACT OF CANNABIS

By David R. Shorey, East County Program Manager, Institute for Public Strategies

July 7, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) -- A group of doctors from around the world recently formed a new and unique medical organization that aims to take the politics out of cannabis and focus solely on research regarding the short- and long-term effects of its use. The Marijuana Prevention Initiative (MPI) of San Diego County hosted a news conference in May to introduce the International Academy on the Science and Impact of Cannabis (IASIC). The non-partisan nonprofit is a medical organization of doctors who educate on cannabis based on the scientific and medical literature. The group was created to facilitate informed decisions when considering cannabis policy and law.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: GETTING HEALTHY IN 2021 SHOULD INCLUDE REDUCING EXPOSURE TO SECONDHAND SMOKE

By Dana Stevens
 
Photo authorized for use to CASA
 
March 24, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) -- After a long difficult year that forced us all to alter our daily lives just to stay well, our priority for 2021 should be to continue protecting our health. As we look to improve our diets, start exercise routines, wear our masks, and get vaccinated, let’s make sure we also give equal attention to the air we breathe.
 
Tobacco and marijuana smoke and the aerosol expelled from electronic smoking devices damage the lungs and other organs of users as well as everyone around them. 
 
In 2006, the U.S. Surgeon General reported that there is  “no safe level of exposure to  secondhand smoke.” That same year, the California Air Resources Board designated secondhand smoke as a  “toxic air contaminant.”

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DISTRICT ATTORNEY SEEKS TO DISMISS OR REDUCE PENALTIES FOR THOUSANDS OF MARIJUANA CONVICTIONS

By Miriam Raftery
 
Photo: cc via Bing
 
February 26, 2020 (San Diego)—San Diego’s District Attorney has filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss 1,000 misdemeanor marijuana (cannabis) convictions and reduce 25,000 felony marijuana convictions to misdemeanors.  The office indicates it has reviewed convictions as far back as 1968.
 
The motions are pending, awaiting a judicial decision.
 
Proposition 64, which California voters approved in 2016, legalized recreational use of marijuana and gave prosecutors the ability to seek sentencing reductions for felony convictions of growing, transportation, or possessing cannabis for sale. It also allowed dismissal of misdemeanor convictions on cannabis charges. To date, the San Diego D.A. has reduced or dismissed over 1,600 marijuana convictions.
 

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STATE ISSUES WARNING ON DANGEROUS VAPING PRODUCTS SEIZED FROM UNLICENSED CANNABIS SHOPS

Officials Urge Californians to Avoid Unlicensed Cannabis Retailers, as More Than 10,000 Illegal Vape Pens Seized

Source: Calif. Bureau of Cannabis Control

Image: Creative Commons

January 29, 2020 (Sacramento)-- A random sampling of the cannabis products seized from unlicensed retailers during a major enforcement operation in Los Angeles last month were found to contain undisclosed additives, some of them potentially dangerous, and significantly lower amounts of THC than claimed on the label.  Vaping pens containing ingredients linked to sudden respiratory illnesses and deaths were among those seized. 


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REAL ESTATE REALTY: GROWING CANNABIS WHILE HOLDING AN ACTIVE DUTY STATUS

 

 

By Maryanne Jackson Real Estate Broker CNE, CPRES.

 

February 28, 2019 (San Diego’s East County)

 

Dear Maryanne,

 

My husband and I purchased a home last year in East County. My husband is currently Active Duty Military and we used his VA benefits to purchase the home. We have a large area in our fenced in rear yard that has been perfect for growing vegetables.

 

I have an honorable discharge from the military due to an injury, because of this injury I am subject to constant pain. I have been managing the inflammation and pain flare ups with my medical marijuana license that enables me to purchase the amount of vapor inserts that I need. The cost has become staggering to buy the medical marijuana that I need as it is not covered under my TRI CARE health insurance.

 

Last spring, I decided to take matters into my own hands and planted several marijuana plants. I have a green thumb to say the least. The plants are getting huge and I am planning on using the dried leaves to offset my cost. Upon my husband’s last visit home from sea he was mowing the grass and noticed the plants. He is concerned that he could get arrested or kicked out of the military for the plants growing on our private property.

 

Do you know where we stand on this? After all, marijuana has been legalized now in California and I do have a medical marijuana license.

 

A.J. Lakeside, CA.

 


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MARIJUANA PRODUCT DELIVERIES MUST BE ALLOWED STATEWIDE, REGULATORY AGENCY RULES

 

 

East County News Service

December 10, 2018 (San Diego) – Cities and counties throughout California must allow marijuana deliveries, even in jurisdictions where dispensary sales are banned. Thats the ruling issued last week by the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control.


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STATE CONTROLLER: CANNABIS INDUSTRY NEEDS TO CONFRONT STONED DRIVING PROBLEM

 

By Judy Lin, CALmatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Caltrans billboard warns of the dangers of drug use while driving. Courtesy Caltrans

August 27, 2018 (San Diego) - California Controller Betty Yee, injured last month in an auto collision suspected to have been caused by a 25-year-old driver under the influence of marijuana, used sharp language last week to demand  that the state’s nascent cannabis industry “step up” and address pot-related traffic accidents.


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HERE’S THE BUZZ: LEGAL POT DRAWS CROWDS IN SAN DIEGO

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Rebecca Jefferis-Williamson

January 2, 2018 (San Diego)—Customers lined up before dawn at several of San Diego’s eight legal recreational marijuana shops that opened their doors January 1st.  The city was among the first places in California to permit recreational cannabis sales under Prop 64, which voters approved in 2016 and which is now in effect.

ECM reporter Rebecca Jefferis-Williamson visited the Apothekare in Mission Valley on New Year’s Day.  “No, I do not smoke, but I am a writer and always curious,” she posted on Facebook. 

She found a line wrapped around the building outside and snaking through the dispensary’s interior as well.  To gain access, customers had to be “buzzed” in through two areas with security guards.


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CITY COUNCIL APPROVES MARIJUANA GROWING AND MANUFACTURING IN SAN DIEGO

 

By Miriam Raftery

September 12, 2017 (San Diego) — San Diego’s City Council has voted 6 to 3 in favor of legalizing marijuana growing, manufacturing and testing operations to supply storefronts selling both medical and recreational pot products.


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LOS COYOTES TRIBE FORGING AGREEMENT WITH GB SCIENCES FOR COMMERCIAL CANNABIS VENTURE

 

By Miriam Raftery

Image: Pixabay

August 6, 2017 (Los Coyotes Reservation) – An agreement to grow, manufacture and distribute commercial cannabis products has been reached between GB Science, Inc. and the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeña Indians. The Los Coyotes reservation is located in a mountainous area near Warner Springs in San Diego’s East County.


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NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS GROUP IN COURT OVER QUEST TO SELL CANNABIS IN EAST COUNTY

 

By Miriam Raftery

June 14, 2017 (San Diego) -- A Native American religious group is heading to court over a dispute with a landlord in El Cajon over sale of marijuana for use in hallucinogenic sacraments.


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BILL TO REGULATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA HEADS TO GOVERNOR’S DESK

 

 

East County News Service

September 12, 2015 (Sacramento)—A trio of bills to regulate medical marijuana in California have passed the Legislature and now await Governor Jerry Brown’s signature. 

The measures cover the full gamut of the billion dollar cannabis industry, from farming to dispensaries, all to be licensed for transportation and distribution under a new Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation in the Department of Consumer Affairs. In addition to state licenses, local city or county licensing will also be required, so jurisdictions with bans or restrictions can keep them and voters can also weigh in on issues such as taxing the growing or sale of medical marijuana.


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CRAFT CANNABIS?

 

East County News Service

April 18, 2015 (Sacramento)—First came craft beer, a booming business in California. Could craft cannabis be next?


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DEATHS FROM OPIATE PAIN KILLERS FELL 33.7% WHERE MEDICAL POT IS LEGAL

 

Landmark study funded by National Institute of Health yields dramatic results

By Miriam Raftery

August 26, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Arguments in favor of medical marijuana just got a big shot in the arm.

A new study in the prestigious Journal of Internal Medicine, which is published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, has found that in 13 states where medical marijuana is legal, fatal overdoses from prescription pain medications dropped dramatically.


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