By Eric W. Dolan

The only way to keep marijuana from growing in national parks is to legalize it and regulate production for consumer use, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) told the US House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The House was in the midst of a debate on HR 1540, a bill which declares that the cultivation of marijuana on federal lands is an “unacceptable threat to law enforcement and to the public.”
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Walter Herger (R-CA), calls on the Office on National Drug Control Policy to work with federal and state authorities to develop a strategy “to permanently dismantle Mexican drug trafficking organizations operating on federal lands.”

Read complete article here:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/congressman-polis-calls-marijuana-prohibition/

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Photo: Zazzle
​New data revealed on Thursday shows that Vermont state government spends more than $700,000 annually to pursue Vermonters for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Based on the new findings, state Rep. Jason Lorber (D-Burlington) announced plans Thursday to introduce a bill that would decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of cannabis.

Read complete article here:

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2010/12/pursuing_small_marijuana_cases_costs_vermont_700k.php#more

By William Breathes

It won’t make the body scans or perverse groping security pat-downs any easier to handle, but medical marijuana patients traveling to one of five states from DIA can now pack their cannabis openly instead of, say, hiding it in a shampoo bottle.
In the last few months, there have been several stories about TSA regulations allowing patients to fly with marijuana from states that allow it to Maine, Michigan, Montana, Rhode Island and even Arizona because laws in those states recognize out-of-state MMJ prescriptions. There is even video of an unidentified patient toking from a Volcano vaporizer in an airport terminal:

Read complete article here:

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/12/flying_tsa_medical_marijuana.php

The Fourth District Court of Appeals finalized its order that overturns a lower court’s dismissal of Qualified Patients Association’s suit against the city of Anaheim for closing it down.
The court says Anaheim can’t base its pot shop limits on the U.S. prohibition of cannabis.

“Obviously, the city is disappointed the California Supreme Court did not grant review,” Moses Johnson, an attorney representing Anaheim, said.
Does this mean that dispensaries across the Golden State can fight back against laws like the one in the city of L.A. that has put most of its pot shops out of business?
Probably not. But maybe.

Read complete article here:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2010/12/marijuana_dispensary_ban.php

By: Joseph Pisani
CNBC News Associate

When people come for dinner at Sandy Moriarty’s house they know to bring sleeping bags.
That’s because Moriarty, a chef and author, cooks with medical marijuana, and her guests may be too high to go home.
She’s been known to add cannabis to just about any dish, from sweet lemon bars topped with powdered sugar to a stuffed turkey dinner she calls the Dizzy Bird.
“It’s phenomenal,” she says about the turkey dish, which she coats and stuffs with cannabis-infused butter.
Moriarty has turned her skills into a small business, selling her lemon bars to a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco and teaching cooking classes at a marijuana trade school. Last month she published a cook book called “Aunt Sandy’s Medical Marijuana Cookbook.”

Read complete article here:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/40534741

Related News: San Jose approves Measure U marijuana tax

Voters at a Palo Alto polling place weigh in on Prop. 19. (Photo: Christina Farr)

It’s funny how elections work sometimes. On the day Californians defeated Proposition 19, voters in 10 cities authorized taxing marijuana.
Because Prop. 19 would have legalized the recreational use of pot, these new taxes will fall entirely on medicinal marijuana dispensaries in San Jose, Berkeley, Oakland, Sacramento, Stockton and the other five cities. But collecting the taxes might not be as easy as voters think.
Under U.S. law, marijuana is illegal, so to pay a tax for selling it, dispensaries must formally admit to a city that they are committing a federal crime.

Read complete article here:

http://www.penipress.com/2010/12/06/taxes-on-marijuana-may-force-a-showdown-between-state-and-federal-laws/

By Elspeth Reeve

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Former-NM-Gov-Smoked-Weed-for-Three-of-Past-Five-Years-2704/

Linford Group has lifted the top Innovation award at the Constructing Excellence National Awards for its ‘Renewable House’, which is located at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) Innovation Park in Watford.
The Renewable House was created to demonstrate that mainstream affordable homes can be constructed from renewable materials – meeting both housing demands and environmental targets. It showcases the zero carbon, thermal insulation, sound insulation and “breathable” properties of hemp and lime construction.

Read complete article here:

http://www.ecofriendnews.com/environmental_article9962.html

Jack Herer’s widow recalls the life of the cannabis movement’s most beloved icons

By Paul Rogers
Jack Herer was never an elected law-maker who could formally shape policy. Nor was he some billionaire who could buy influence. Yet his rare combination of brilliant intellect, endless curiosity, scholarly diligence and passionate people skills made him a force of nature whose impact is perhaps only just beginning to be truly felt.
All but complete Johnny-come-latelies to cannabis culture probably have some awareness of Jack “The Hemperor” Herer as perhaps the most influential figure in the modern legalization movement. Herer, who passed away in April, wrote 1985’s The Emperor Wears No Clothes, the book that ignited the campaign and remains its manifesto and devoted nearly four decades to tireless, charismatic activism. The man almost literally died trying to have hemp and marijuana legalized in America. Were it not for Herer’s work, we might not be enjoying decrim here in California (and elsewhere) or have seen nearly half the state’s voters give the nod to full legalization last month.
Yet while many may have read his book (Emperor has sold in excess of 700,000 copies over the course of 11 editions), heard him talk (he was a fixture at cannabis conventions nationwide) or even shaken his hand (as Herer was the ultimate one-mind-at-a-time, face-to-face campaigner), few knew the complete man or the breadth of his mission. In an exclusive interview, CULTURE spoke to his widow, Jeannie Herer, for insight into the husband who believed he could change the world and whose lingering influence continues to do so.
Jack Herer “had the biggest heart of anybody that I’ve ever met,” Jeannie recalls, radiating fondness. “He loved people and he loved being out and talking to people and educating people. He saw how you can change a person’s thinking very easily if you educate them. And he was an educator. He was an educator who believed that he—that we—could save the world, if we just knew all the facts about hemp.”

Read complete article here:

http://freeculturemag.com/2010/12/featuredstories/jack-here/

By Maya Rao
Inquirer Staff Writer
TRENTON – Patients could more easily qualify for medical marijuana and buy the drug from a larger number of distribution centers under a deal announced Friday by Gov. Christie, whose administration has fielded criticism for drafting rules considered too restrictive.But the compromise in New Jersey’s medical marijuana program – signed into law in January and expected to be operating by next summer – failed to address a number of patient advocates’ concerns. It also was reached without Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D., Union), chief sponsor of a resolution directing the Christie administration to rewrite the rules.
That resolution passed the lower house on Nov. 23, but its main sponsor there, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer), said at a news conference with Christie politics had been pushed aside “to focus on the truly important matter at hand, and that’s the patient’s need.”
After calling for just two growers and four treatment centers, Christie said Friday he supported allowing six centers to grow and distribute the drug.
In another compromise, the governor also said the regulations would no longer require doctors who recommend marijuana for patients to certify that all conventional treatments had failed. The law had required that provision only for several conditions, such as glaucoma.

Read complete article here:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20101204_Christie_announces_less_restrictive_medical_marijuana_plan.html#ixzz178A1mAVm
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