Six members of the Board of Supervisors, along with marijuana activists, dispensary owners, and representatives from George Gascon's and Dennis Herrera's offices gathered for a rally on the steps of City Hall yesterday in protest of the federal crackdown on medical marijuana sales in California. Though the rally had been planned weeks in advance, it came just a day after a surprise raid by the feds on Oaksterdam University in Oakland. "This raid was meant to demoralize us," said the school's chancellor Dale Jones, "but it did not cripple us, it merely galvanized us." more ›

Remember Proposition 19? The 2010 California ballot initiative would have legalized marijuana for anyone of drinking age and allowed local governments to regulate pot sales themselves. The initiative failed with support from only 46% of voters, but it was heavily bankrolled by Oaksterdam University's millionaire founder Richard Lee — which some legalization advocates are saying provoked yesterday's raid by federal authorities from the IRS, DEA and U.S. Marshals service. more ›

HopeNet, S.F.'s oldest continually operating medical marijuana dispensary at 223 Ninth Street, is not going to take a threat from the federal government lying down. Owners Catherine and Steve Smith are not going to comply with a cease-and-desist order from federal prosecutor Melinda Haag which would have forced them to close on Friday, and they're hoping that a legal puzzle between a federally forced eviction having to play out in a state court where medical marijuana is legal could make for some interesting courtroom theater. more ›

Federal agents from the U.S. Marshals Service, the DEA and the IRS descended on Oaksterdam University sometime after 7 a.m. this morning, effectively shutting down the cannabis industry trade school school while carrying out a federal search warrant. Because all the paperwork for the raid is still under seal, an IRS spokeswoman on the scene could not disclose the reasons for the sudden closure other than to confirm that it is part of an ongoing joint investigation. NBC Bay Area reports that the school at 16th and Broadway, the nearby Oaksterdam gift shop and the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative were all among the four locations shut down by the feds this morning. more ›

After issuing the memo that declared all marijuana sales illegal and scared the crap out of local pot smokers last week, District Attorney Gascón would like to make it clear that his office actually supports medical cannabis sales in San Francisco. The brief that went out last week was actually a mistake on the part of Gascón's office, which apparently sent out a boilerplate document drafted up by Kamala Harris' administration three years ago. Yesterday, Gascón explained his office would no longer be pushing that position on pharmaceutical pot, telling the press "I support medical marijuana and I have said that very many times... Dealing with marijuana is not a priority for this office." more ›

SFist has been hearing rumblings from the medical marijuana community of late that that first wave of dispensary closures by the feds was just the beginning, and there were more closures to come. Now our very own DA, George Gascon, has become a turncoat in the fight as well, coming out with a memo stating that "marijuana sales are illegal," which represents an about-face from the line he toed as a candidate for DA. more ›

A federal judge in Sacramento has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a marijuana dispensary up there that argued that the federal government broke its promise in launching its recent crackdown on the medical marijuana industry across the state. Citing the 2009 Ogden memo, in which the Obama administration instructed federal prosecutors not to focus energy on marijuana enforcement, the lawsuit was one of four filed in each of CA's federal districts trying to state the same case about feds being overly mean to the pot trade. In this case, as in two others already decided in Oakland and San Diego courts, the judge was basically like, "Guys, that was just a memo." more ›

We can hardly believe the awesomeness of today's palate cleanser, which comes to us straight from the airwaves via Buzzfeed. On the latest episode of the reality show Joan & Melissa, Joan Rivers and her buddy Lynne score some medical marijuana and then, like a couple of teenagers in Lynne's Scion, go find a quiet cul de sac in which to smoke out. more ›

The California Supreme Court voted unanimously yesterday to consider both the continued conflict between state and federal authorities over medical marijuana, and whether local governments have the authority to ban dispensaries despite the passage of Prop 215 statewide. As you may recall, a SoCal appelate court recently upheld Riverside's right to do just that. more ›

The Marin Medical Alliance, which was founded in 1990 as the Hemp Renaissance Council of West Marin and opened at 6 School Street in Fairfax in 1996, was forced to close over the weekend following an eviction notice from their landlord. The dispensary is one of several in Marin County being forced to close under the recent federal crackdown on the medical marijuana trade in California, and the "School Street" address is the best clue as to why the DOJ went after this particular law-abiding, two-decade-old cannabis club. more ›

A marijuana dispensary near Sacramento, under pressure from the federal government during the current crackdown on medical marijuana in California, is hosting a going-out-of-business party of sorts Friday complete with pot giveaways for loyal customers. Only medical marijuana card-holders will be eligible of course. more ›

"No really," attorney general Eric Holder seems to be saying. "We still don't care that much about medical marijuana enforcement. But California's got their own stuff to deal with." In a House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, in response to questioning from a congressman about the medical marijuana crackdown in California that has succeeded in closing hundreds of dispensaries in the last two months, Holder reiterated that the Justice Department remains firmly behind the Ogden memo — the 2009 document which declared that the sale and use of medical marijuana in states where it's legal are a low priority for federal prosecutors. However, in the case of California he got more equivocal. more ›

Three San Francisco medical marijuana dispensaries -- Divinity Tree, Medithrive, and Mr. Nice Guy -- closed over the weekend after receiving threatening letters from federal prosecutors, due to their proximity to schools and parks where children play. The closings are the first wave of the earlier announced federal crackdown on the California medical marijuana industry, which the Department of Justice -- with President Obama's blessing -- says has gotten out of control and "corrupted the intent of the first state referendum to decriminalize pot for medical purposes." more ›

The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Riverside, California has ruled in favor of the City of Riverside, upholding its right to enforce a citywide ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. The case stems from a threatened closure of one dispensary in particular, and marijuana advocacy lawyers have been fighting the city's ban, which it established in 2009. Riverside is one of a number of Southern California cities which assume a sort of Reefer Madness-esque panic over the pot boom, despite the state of California's overall position of "What's your deal, man? Just chill." more ›

Two late-stage teenagers from Alameda are in police custody after raiding the Richmond district home of a medical marijuana distributor Saturday afternoon. According to police, 18-year-old Kevin Carey Harvell II pulled a handgun on the 24-year-old legal weed dealer after the victim showed him the product. Harvell and his accomplice, 19-year-old Aivan Eugene Acala, grabbed "three large bags" of weed and attempted to make off in their 1991 Toyota Celica. more ›

Well, the opening volley by the Justice Department going after the medical marijuana trade in California was met first with an over-net return in the form of a letter from a group of pot-friendly Congresspeople, and now a strong back-hand from the industry itself in the form of a lawsuit, announced today, seeking an immediate order from a federal judge to stop the crackdown on dispensaries and property owners. more ›

Nine House representatives, including Alameda County Democrat Barbara Lee, penned a letter to President Barack Obama last week condemning the Justice Department's recently announced crackdown on the medical marijuana industry in California. They cite Attorney General Eric Holder's earlier promise to be more hands-off with dispensaries who were complying with state law. Signers of the letter included seven California Democrats, a CA Republican (Rep. Dana Rohrabacher) and Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen. more ›

Fast on the heels of the statewide federal crackdown on the medical marijuana industry, the Orange County Register finds not one but TWO reasons to remain up-in-arms over the rampant abuses of the illegal drug. First off, some innocent senior citizens, all in their 70s and 80s, were trying to enjoy a nice funeral in Huntington Beach and each partook of some brownies being passed around the room. The brownies were pot brownies, in tribute to the deceased, who had been an avid medical marijuana user, however the funeral guests claimed not to have known the brownies were laced (wtvr). more ›

For those naysayers who want to believe that this new round of letters to a few S.F. pot clubs and the IRS audit of a huge dispensary in Oakland are isolated incidents, then hear ye now: Federal prosecutors held a press conference in Sacramento today to explain that OH YES, they are bringing their hammer down on the medical marijuana trade in California. more ›

Just days after we hear about a federal crackdown, via the IRS, on several large California marijuana dispensaries, we learn that three Mission-based pot club landlords received strongly worded letters from the Department of Justice stating that their property could be forfeited and rent monies seized by the government because their buildings were centers of drug activity within 1,000 feet of schools. San Francisco has its own law that prohibits dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, however several dispensaries -- like the ones which received these letters -- were grandfathered in and exempted. more ›

The largest of the medical marijuana operations in Oakland — one of the largest in the world, and the largest on the West Coast, in fact — is Harborside Health Center, which posted $22 million in revenue last year. But now the IRS has come a-callin, asking for $2.5 million in back taxes for the years 2007 and 2008, citing a 1982 federal law that prohibits "businesses that traffic in illegal drugs" from deducting things like payroll, rent, insurance, and other expenses like a normal business. Harborside executive director Steve DeAngelo, while saying, "We're happy to pay our taxes," sees this new tactic by the feds as an effort to shut them down, and he's probably right. more ›

Over on the 900 block of Geary Street, around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a man was robbed of over a pound of medical marijuana while leaving a dispensary. (Presumably The Divinity Tree at 958 Geary.) "The victim, a 34-year-old man, was walking out of the dispensary when a suspect pointed a gun at his face and demanded 'weed,' " reports SF Appeal. "The victim handed over a satchel that contained 1.25 pounds of medical marijuana and cash." more ›

The Planning Commission has a pile of pending applications for new medical marijuana dispensaries, and the president of the commission, Christine Olague, is putting pressure on the Board of Supervisors to relax rules about where they can open in order to avoid "clustering." At the moment, because of the "green zones" that have been created where dispensaries can operate nowhere near schools or youth rec buildings, there's already a concentration of clubs in the western part of SoMa, and along Valencia near Market. more ›

It shouldn't come as a shock that Oakland's recently enacted ordinance allowing for large-scale medical marijuana grow-houses violates federal law, but now a U.S. attorney has written the City a strongly worded letter to that effect, calling into question whether the government plans some sort of crackdown down the road. more ›

In an effort to waste time, or whatever, Santa Clara County authorities on Thursday busted several medical marijuana clubs selling weed in the county. "An official with the County Special Enforcement Team said narcotics agents served warrants on two MediLeaf medical marijuana clubs in San Jose and properties in Gilroy and Morgan Hill," reports AP (via CBS 5)."Task force commander Danielle Ayers said agents shut down the clubs, seized marijuana, documents and computers." more ›

Oh, this is amusing: CNN does some hard-hitting reporting today on the topic of how easy it is get a medical marijuana card, and whether we should all be outraged that "90 to 95%" of people who have them aren't really sick. They talk to Justin and John, a couple of twentysomething dudes buying from a dispensary in Oakland, who clearly admit they just prefer buying from there because it's safer and easier than finding a dealer. more ›

A couple of weeks ago, a new medical marijuana dispensary swung open its doors in SoMa, and with its sleek design and unique retail experience will undoubtedly be a game-changer for the local pot market. SPARC (SanFrancisco Patient and Resource Center, 1256 Mission St. between 7th & 8th) is the latest project from medical marijuana grower and advocate, Erich Pearson. Pearson co-founded the Cannabis Collective in 2001, which was formed to provide free medical marijuana to low-income, terminally ill patients in San Francisco, and he's been a grower now for twelve years. "We cut out the middle-man by growing all our own stuff," Pearson says, "Which brings down the costs for patients and takes the profit out of pot." Within two weeks of opening, other dispensaries around town began lower their prices to match SPARC, which sells 1/8 ounces for between $35 and $55, with a daily $28 special — today it's Hindu Skunk. more ›

As efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use are underway in Sacramento and possibly on the ballot, a large gathering of student activists from... more ›

The fine folks in the Walnut Creek City Council scheduled an emergency meeting (!) this morning to deal with their very first permit request to open a medical marijuana dispensary. It seems their city doesn't yet have any laws permitting, regulating, or disallowing pot clubs, so the intent of the meeting is to pass a 45-day moratorium, renewable up to two years, while they figure out what the fuck they're going to do about these quickly encroaching marijuana maniacs! more ›

While not all out advocating the legalization of marijuana, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said it's time for California to "study whether to legalize and tax marijuana for recreational use." today, according to the Sacramento Bee. When asked about a Field Poll showing that a majority of Californians support legalizing and taxing mary jane to raise revenues for economically-strapped California, Arnold had this to say: more ›