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The Studio City Neighborhood Council rejected an attempt to pass a "gentle ban" on the medical marijuana dispensaries in the area.

Patch.com reports the council's vice president, Lisa Sarkin, called a special meeting to pass the measure in response to complaints against the collectives. Sarkin said, "I went to college in the '60s, I know what pot smells like."

Despite Sarkin's expertise in drug control policy, the LAPD reported no increased criminal activity around the dispensaries. Richard Adams, chairman of the organization's  crime and safety committee, spoke out against the measure and urged the council to respect the wishes of voters who legalized medical marijuana.

Denise Welvang, a board member and pharmacist, remarked, "I do not want to regulate this so that our pharmacy has to sell this. I worked in hospice and saw what people had to do to get this, it was not nice. Give these people a chance to do what they need to do."

Sarkin's proposal was voted down 5-4, with one abstention from the council president, John Walker.

Arizona legislators are proposing a law to prohibit the use and possession of medical marijuana on the state's college campuses. The law would not only apply to state colleges and universities, but private institutions are well.

The rationale of the law is that the schools take federal funds, and though Arizona has approved of medical marijuana laws the drug still violates federal statutes. Medical marijuana use would violate those laws and put that funding into jeopardy.

Not that laws have ever stopped anyone in college from buying or smoking marijuana (particularly at Arizona State).

Without an ounce of irony, Amada Reeve, the Republican state representative that drafted the proposal, told the Arizona Daily Sun:

"They're not going to be able to use or possess marijuana on campus," Reeve responded. "That's how we deal with the issue so we can stay in compliance" with federal laws.

Those federal laws have done a bang-up job in keeping all other forms of marijuana from college campuses, after all.

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."

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.