When it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries and their right to exist under California state law, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley doesn’t seem to want to listen.

Earlier this year, Cooley ignored the legal opinion of California’s attorney general when Cooley claimed (incorrectly) that virtually all medical marijuana dispensaries were operating illegally and should be shut down. 

Now, after two L.A. City Council committees rejected calls to ban the sale of medical marijuana, Cooley is once again making up his own rules, declaring that he will prosecute dispensaries even if the city council adopts an ordinance allowing the legal sale of medical marijuana under state law.

Perhaps someone should remind the district attorney that he is paid to uphold the law, not invent it.

There’s a fantastic article in today’s Los Angeles Times about the successful regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries in West Hollywood, where city leaders, neighbors and even school officials have learned to embrace the shops and their patients as part of the greater community:

In West Hollywood, city officials say, it’s been more than two years since a resident has complained about a dispensary. Neighborhood watch leaders say their streets are safer because the dispensary guards are required to walk nearby blocks. School officials welcome dispensaries as neighbors. And the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols the city, says there have been no recent crimes at dispensaries and no calls from agitated neighbors.

As the article goes on to explain, this positive model provides a stark contrast to cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego that do not have regulations, and consequently have witnessed more tension between community members and existing dispensaries.

The resignations keep piling on in Britain, weeks after that nation’s chief drug adviser, Prof. David Nutt, was fired for publicly criticizing several UK government drug policies, including a recent decision to strengthen marijuana penalties.

Today, three more members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs were reported to have resigned in protest after they were unhappy with explanations offered by Home Secretary Alan Johnson, the man who demanded Nutt’s resignation. The resignations of Simon Campbell, Dr. Ian Ragan and John Marsden now bring to five the number of people on the once 31-member board who have left in protest since this saga began.

Last night’s election produced two noteworthy victories for the marijuana policy reform movement.

In Maine, an estimated 58 percent of voters approved Question 5, making Maine the third state in the nation (along with Rhode Island and New Mexico) to establish state-licensed non-profit dispensaries that will provide medical marijuana to qualified patients. This is also significant because it is the first time such a system was enacted by voters. (The other two were approved by state legislatures.)

And in Colorado, more than 70 percent of voters in the tiny ski town of Breckenridge voted to remove city-level criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults over 21. While possession of any amount is still illegal under state law, the citizens of Breckenridge have undoubtedly sent a message to lawmakers in Colorado—and around the country—by taking this first and necessary step toward the end of marijuana prohibition.

Two members of Britain’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs have resigned in protest after the group’s chairman, Professor David Nutt, was fired last week for criticizing the UK government’s decision to strengthen penalties for marijuana offenses. Chemist Les King and pharmacist Marion Walker said that the government wrongly dismissed Nutt and violated his freedom of expression. [Read more →]

Professor David Nutt, chairman of Great Britain’s advisory council on the misuse of drugs, was forced to resign today after he criticized the British government’s decision to toughen penalties for marijuana possession. [Read more →]

Today, the New Hampshire General Court narrowly failed to override Gov. John Lynch’s veto of HB 648, which would have made the Granite State the 14^th in the nation to have an effective medical marijuana law.

Two-thirds majorities were needed in both the state House and Senate to override Lynch’s veto. The override passed in the House by a vote of 240-115, but came two votes shy in the Senate, which voted 14-10. [Read more →]

In news coverage of last week’s Department of Justice memo, there was a lot of confusion over exactly how many states have medical marijuana laws. Some outlets reported that 14 states have such laws. Others said 13 states. So which is it? And why the confusion? [Read more →]