What's more important than a former LAPD deputy chief questioning current federal drug policy in an open YouTube forum directed at the president? If you thought "something important," you'd be wrong unless late night munchies, wedding anniversaries and tennis counts as "important."

Despite Stephen Downing, a former deputy chief for the Los Angeles Police Department, questioning President Obama's drug policy, his question went unanswered. It not for lack of interest, as the question was a runaway hit, garnering more than twice the number of votes than any other question.

To be fair, other questions about marijuana legalization and the failed "war on drugs" were unanswered and have never been answered by the administration when it opened itself up to public questions.

At least they're consistent in their silence.

Despite medical marijuana being voted into law by the people of California, its supreme court decided employers can still test and fire employees for using legal medical marijuana.

To alleviate this catch-22, Mark Leno, a state senator, introduced a bill to override the court.

To add to the confusion, marijuana growers who are now growing a crop that's being used for medicinal purposes can be charged with a felony. Another lawmaker, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, is attempting to pass legislation that would make growing pot a misdemeanor.

California NORML director Dale Gieringer told the LA Weekly, "It's time for the legislature to catch up with public opinion. The laws against marijuana are a last-century government program to support drug cops and criminals."

Bowing to pressure from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the supervisors of Mendocino County revoked its permit program for cultivating medical marijuana.

The program allowed collectives to grow up to 99 plants. Each of the plants needed to be tagged with zip ties, bought from the county, to prove they were compliant with the permitting program. The revenue from the ties and permits went to the county's sheriff department.

However, Supervisor Dan Hamburg told The Ukiah Daily Journal the U.S. Attorney was threatening to file an injunction to invalidate the law in court and to prosecute county officials who supported the program — because it was their opinion the permitting program violated federal law.

Bowing to pressure from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the supervisors of Mendocino County revoked its permit program for cultivating medical marijuana.

The program allowed collectives to grow up to 99 plants. Each of the plants needed to be tagged with zip ties, bought from the county, to prove they were compliant with the permitting program. The revenue from the ties and permits went to the county's sheriff department.

However, Supervisor Dan Hamburg told The Ukiah Daily Journal the U.S. Attorney was threatening to file an injunction to invalidate the law in court and to prosecute county officials who supported the program — because it was their opinion the permitting program violated federal law.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has some get tough on drug ideas — which is not surprising, considering the posturing that goes on during the primaries.

But former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who is also running for president as a Libertarian, points out that Gingrich was in favor of legislation that would send anyone carrying marijuana into the country to jail for life without the possibility of parole, reports The Daily Caller. If they were able to break out and bring the devil's weed into the country again, they would be put to death.

Strangely, or not so strangely, Gingrich admitted to drug use in graduate school, calling it a "sign we were alive." He was also in favor of a bill in 1981 to allow the therapeutic use of cannabis.

Hypocrisy, thy name is politics.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced it is moving against five medical marijuana businesses in California's Orange County area, filing "asset forfeiture lawsuits" against their three property owners.

The business that were the cause of the lawsuits include three in a single building, as well as American Collective and Otherside Farms. The office also sent out letters to 36 other collectives in Costa Mesa as well as another in Newport Beach.

Your tax dollars, ladies and gentlemen, hard at work shutting down money making and tax-generating enterprises opened under the auspices of a law that the people of California voted on.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/Pressroom/2012/014.html

The Los Angeles City Attorney's office will address the Safety Committee on Jan. 13 in a closed session at 8:45 a.m. in what's expected to be a recommendation to ban all medical marijuana collectives and dispensaries.

If the city council follows the Safety Committee, the ban could be enforced within a month.

A press release from the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance states that relevant documents with regards to the matter were posted on Jan. 12, preventing the public from testifying.

"The City Attorney is moving with such haste that he cannot have possibly considered some very viable alternatives. As a result, the health and safety of the sick and dying in Los Angeles may be at risk, and that is unacceptable to us. We will be at the Security Committee Meeting tomorrow with our lawyers, in the hopes we can persuade the Safety Committee to delay a vote until this matter is fully briefed," says Yami Bolanos, President and Founder of GLACA.

The federal government prompted the recent suspension of Mendocino County's program to permit and license medical marijuana growers, PressDemocrat.com reports.

The U.S. Attorney's Office warned the county that if it continued the program, it would sue to shut it down. The warning was reportedly issued on Jan.3 during a meeting between Jeanine Nadel, counsel for Mendocino county, and representatives of the U.S. Attorney. Supervisors will review the ordinance later this month.

The stumbling block to allowing medical marijuana in the county is a court case that ruled permitting is against the law, but regulations are legal, says County Supervisor John McCowen.

Mendocino County's medical marijuana growers' permitting process, which generated over $663,000 in funds for the sheriff's department, is suspended due to the decision of a Southern California court that found county permits ran counter to federal anti-drug laws.

The permits allowed collectives to grow up to 99 plants, which were identified as legal under the program with zip ties bought for $50 each. Growers were also charged an initial application and inspection fee of $1,500, in addition to monthly inspection fees of $300 to $600.

“The intent [of the federal government] seems to be to drive medical marijuana back underground and destroy the attempts of local governments to regulate medical marijuana consistent with state law in a way that best protects public safety and the environment,” Supervisor John McCowen told the PressDemocrat.com.

Rhode Island legislators are planning to decriminalize possession of pot in their state.

State Senators Joshua Miller and John G. Edwards, both democrats, will propose that citizens of the state can possess up to one ounce of marijuana, WPRI reports. Marijuana possession is currently a misdemeanor in the state that carries up to a year in prison and a $200 to $500 criminal fine.

The bill would replace those penalties with a civil fine of $150.