Latest News from California

  • Driving, Worker Safety Not Affected by Legalization
    July 27 - A a careful review of the scientific evidence shows that fears about marijuana’s impact on road safety are unwarranted. There is no good scientific evidence that drug testing improves workplace safety.
  • CAL NORML Joins Coalition Opposing President Obama's Pick To Head The Drug Enforcement Administration
    July 21 - Citing the raid by DEA agents on Joy Greenfield, the first patient to register in Mendocino's path-breaking licensing program for medical marijuana growers, Cal NORML joins a national coalition of groups calling on the administration to withdraw the re-appointment of Michele Leonhart to head the DEA.
  • PROPOSED OAKLAND CULTIVATION ORDINANCE WOULD UNDULY RESTRICT SMALL-SCALE CULTIVATION
    July 12 - The Oakland City Council Public Safety Committee will be hearing an ordinance to regulate and license marijuana cultivation facilities at city hall Tuesday, July 13 at 6 PM.
  • DEA Flouts Mendocino Medical Marijuana Ordinance by Raiding First Grow Permit Applicant
    July 7 - The DEA flouted Mendocino County's newly enacted medical marijuana cultivation ordinance by raiding the first collective that had applied to the sheriff's cultivation permit program
  • Leno Decriminalization Bill Passes Public Safety Committee
    June 23 - The California Assembly Public Safety Committee approved Sen. Mark Leno's bill SB 1449 to downgrade petty marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction.
  • UPDATE: Medical Marijuana Taxation Bill Withdrawn
    June 22 - A California bill to tax medical marijuana like tobacco is has been withdrawn by its sponsor.
  • Patients Challenge Tehama County Anti-Cultivation Ordinance
    June 7 - In a lawsuit supported by California NORML, Tehama County patients have filed suit against a county ordinance that limits their right to grow marijuana at home.
  • Watered-Down Dispensary Bill Passes Assembly
    June 4 - The California Assembly has passed a bill, AB 2650, that bans dispensaries within 600 feet of schools.
  • California Collects $100 Million in Cannabis Sales Taxes
    The California Board of Equalization reports that the state is collecting $50 - $100 million in sales taxes from medical marijuana, confirming the estimate previously published in an economic analysis by California NORML.