On August 28th, the new Santa Cruz County chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) held a fundraiser in Felton. It was the local chapter's first public event.

Americans for Safe Access, based in Oakland, is the largest member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens working to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research. ASA works in partnership with state, local and national legislators to create policies that improve access to medicinal marijuana for both patients and researchers. ASA claims to have over 30,000 active members with chapters and affiliates in more than 40 states.

Gail, a member of the Wo/Man's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) who was born with glaucoma and is blind, was grateful for the opportunity to meet and socialize with others who benefit, physically and mentally, from cannabis. As an eighteen year old student at UC Santa Cruz, Gail was passed a joint for the first time. That is when she discovered that marijuana eases the pain she experiences from glaucoma. Read more and view photos

Rick Morse and his son Brandon operate the MedMar medical marijuana dispensary in the Tower District in Fresno. The City of Fresno has been trying to shut them down for several months now. The city is using a zoning ordinance that says medical marijuana dispensaries must comply with both state and federal law. While medical marijuana is legal under state law, it is illegal under federal law.

The Morse's held a press conference on June 22nd to explain the latest news about the City of Fresno’s attempt to close their medical marijuana dispensary. They say that the city has put pressure on their landlord to have them evicted from the location where their dispensary is located.

Around the first of the year, there were over 10 medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the Fresno area. When the city filed a lawsuit to shut down the dispensaries, they were given a court order to close them down, until the legality of the city zoning ordinance could be decided.

All of the dispensaries, except MedMar shut down. Rick Morse defied the judges order and was arrested and jailed on contempt of court charges. Because of jail overcrowding he was released. He was re-arrested, jailed, and released again. Morse says he has now been arrested and released three times.

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Northern California’s status as the home of high-quality marijuana didn’t need much reinforcement, but the region dominated the competition at the first High Times Medical Cannabis Cup on the weekend of June 19th and 20th at Terra in San Francisco.

The two-day event featured a presentation by internationally renowned, best-selling author Jorge Cervantes during his first U.S. appearance. There was also an expo, cultivation seminars, an activism session with leaders of the medical marijuana movement and much more.

Read more and view photos | Photos and Results | The HIGH TIMES Medical Cannabis Cup Blasts San Francisco

The world premiere screening of La Vie en Verte: The WAMM Movie will take place on Wednesday, May 12th, 6:30pm at the Riverfront Theater, as part of the Santa Cruz Film Festival. La Vie en Verte documents the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a "collective of patients and caregivers [who have been] providing hope, building community and offering medical marijuana on a donation basis” for over a decade. In the film, we meet Valerie and Mike Corral, and follow their journey as they dedicate their lives to offering compassionate care despite the antagonism of the brutal federal government.

Arrested in 1992 for using marijuana to alleviate symptoms resulting from a devastating car accident, Val later won a major legal victory, a first for the medically necessary use of marijuana. She began offering small amounts of it locally to folks who benefitted from its healing properties. This ultimately evolved into the formation of WAMM with her husband, Mike. When their garden was violently raided by the DEA in 2002, the community rallied, marching downtown and staging rallies on the steps of City Hall. WAMM has since transitioned and now offers support and resources for patients to grow their own medicine – and is still an important community organization.

Valerie and Mike Corral will be at the screening, in addition to directors Charlie Hall and Bevin-Bell Hall.

The International Cannabis and Hemp Exposition took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City on April 17th and 18th. The expo, which had the first permitted area for the use of medical marijuana, was the largest event of its kind to hit Northern California.

Established activist organizations dished out information to prospective members, and hundreds of vendors pitched their freshest accessories to thousands of medical marijuana patients and connoisseurs. At the same time, prominent members of the cannabis community discussed a wide-range of topics, including marijuana cultivation, medication and prohibition. However the main buzz, on and off stage, was the initiative to "legalize, control, and tax cannabis in California," which is to be decided by voters in the state during the November 2010 elections.

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Roger Mentch, founding member of The Hemporium, a medical marijuana collective in Felton, says that protection for Santa Cruz patients, growers, caregivers, and collectives is long over due. He is helping to form a new chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in Santa Cruz County to help bring together like minded people to have a voice regarding safe access to medical marijuana. Everyone is welcome to get involved and attend the first meeting on Thursday, April 22nd from 7:15-8:45 at the Louden Nelson Center in Santa Cruz.

Americans for Safe Access is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA has over 30,000 active members with chapters and affiliates in more than 40 states.

Medical cannabis patients and current Executive Director Steph Sherer founded ASA in 2002 in response to federal raids on patients in California. Ever since then, ASA has been instrumental in shaping the political and legal landscape of medical cannabis.

Read more | Americans for Safe Access | Santa Cruz City Council Bans Additional Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Four-Twenty (including 4:20, 420 and 4/20) has long been associated with marijuana use and marijuana activism. 4:20 is a time of day when people smoke marijuana. April 20th has evolved into a counterculture holiday, known for large gatherings of people celebrating and consuming marijuana, a.k.a. cannabis. Thousands of people gather annually in Boston, Boulder, New York, Santa Cruz, Seattle and many other cities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere around the world.

Most reports about the origins of 4/20 trace back to 'The Waldos,' a small group of students at San Rafael High School in 1971. The teens would meet after school at 4:20, next to a statue of Louis Pasteur, and smoke marijuana. Four Twenty passed from those high school students, into the 70's Grateful Dead culture where it spread all across the United States.

The 4/20 smoke-outs are a series of cannabis rallies that demonstrate the impracticability of enforcing the current marijuana laws. Drug peace activists invite all herb enthusiasts to join them in defiant solidarity.

On April 26th, the CSU Monterey Bay chapter of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) presented the second annual Cannabis Legalization Rally in the main quad of CSUMB. The rally featured live music from campus bands. Photos

Photos: Four Twenty is a Smoking Good Time for Thousands at UC Santa Cruz

Annual 420 Celebration at UC Santa Cruz! | International Cannabis Smoker's Day at Hippie Hill, San Francisco | 4/20: Smoke Out The Globe | Don't Just Smoke a Joint on 4/20 - Take Action Against Marijuana Prohibition | 2007 and 2008: 420 at UCSC | 2009: 420 at UCSC "Gets Bigger Every Year" | Cannabis Culture

Roger Mentch, founding member of The Hemporium, a Santa Cruz County medical marijuana collective located in Felton, has been met with more resistance. Santa Clara County recently incarcerated Mentch, as well as Laura Eldridge, a disabled patient. Mentch spent five months behind bars at Elmwood Jail in Milpitas. Once bail was finally granted, it was set at the exorbitant price of $105,000, and then reduced to $55,000 after petitioning.

Mentch argues that he has been the victim of entrapment by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. He has been out of state custody since August 2009, and his next court date is scheduled on Friday, March 19th in San Jose.

Writing about the situation, Mentch says, "It really angers me that this government has been spending OUR money, OUR TAX dollars to destroy family units, destroying the pursuit of happiness, destroy our freedoms, making vague laws and making felons out of otherwise law abiding citizens. I imagine it has cost the state somewhere near $500,000 to a million dollars prosecuting this Vietnam veteran, father of two and a very supportive individual to others.

"After three raids in 2003, 2005 and 2009, they have broke me financially, to the point I can't even pay for bankruptcy. They haven’t broken my fighting spirit though!" Donations are needed and can be made to: Roger Mentch 7500 HWY 9 #2 Felton CA. 95018. Read more and view photos

Previous coverage: Medical Marijuana Provider and In-Home Caregiver on Trial in Santa Cruz || May 2 - Rally For Roger Mentch at County Courthouse || Letter to Judge Samuel Stevens Concerning Roger Mentch || Roger Mentch will continue the Hemporium, LLC. a Professional Caregiving Service || Rockin' the Boat: Medical Pot Provider Gets Leniency || Medical Marijuana Forum Thursday; Roger Mentch on Trial Again || The Hemporium, LLC... Medical Marijuana Conviction Overturned || Updates from Attorney Ben Rice || Unwanted Raid yet again on Medical Marijuana

On Tuesday, March 9th, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-0 to support a recommendation from the city staff which bans the opening of an additional medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Cruz. This was the first reading of the vote and there will be a second vote in two weeks to finalize the ruling.

Under the new ordinance, Greenway Compassionate Relief and Santa Cruz Patients Collective (SCPC), the two existing medical marijuana dispensaries, will be permitted to operate a cultivation facility up to 3,000 square feet, which must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The new ordinance specifically bans any new dispensaries from opening, and it also specifies that the entire city is off-limits for dispensaries, except for two industrial zones in the Westside and Harvey West area.

Read more with photos | Additional information

Previous coverage: New Medical Marijuana Dispensary Ban Likely at Santa Cruz City Council Meeting

On Tuesday, February 9, police arrested Rick Morse, the owner of Med Mar, the last medical marijuana dispensary in the City of Fresno. Morse was arrested for violating a court order which closed about one dozen dispensaries in January.

The City of Fresno's ordinance on medical marijuana dispensaries severely restricts their ability to operate legally. The ordinance says that dispensaries must comply with both state and federal law. Medical marijuana is legal under state law, but illegal under federal statutes. In January a judge issued a preliminary injunction, closing the dispensaries until the issue could be heard in court.

All but one dispensary, Med Mar, shut down. Med Mar owner Rick Morse explained why: "it appears there is some confusion in the ordinance. It says medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed as long as they comply with state and federal law. I assert that we are complying with state and federal law."

Morse's son Brandon spoke to the media about his fathers arrest. He said "This morning my father was illegally arrested by the City of Fresno. They executed an unconstitutionally void warrant for his arrest. Today, my father peacefully went with the authorities and as of 12 Noon he has started a fast for justice. I have joined him in this fast and we are asking people from across the city to pray for him."

Indymedia journalist Mike Rhodes spoke with several medical marijuana patients outside Med Mar who talked about the arrest. The first person, who preferred to remain anonymous said “this makes it to where people that are sick, that have been proven to be sick by their doctors, they can’t get their medicine. So, how does that help the City of Fresno, keeping people that are sick and that are in pain from getting their medicine?”

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The Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a collective providing cannabis under California’s 1996 Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215), along with the city and county of Santa Cruz, have reached a settlement in their unprecedented lawsuit against the federal government. The suit, Santa Cruz v. Holder (previously Santa Cruz v. Gonzales and originally Santa Cruz v. Ashcroft), began in 2002 and aimed to halt the Bush Administration's interference with state medical marijuana laws.

WAMM's case was prompted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration's raid of their medicinal garden in Davenport on September 5, 2002, in which armed agents terrorized residents and patients, and seized more than 160 cannabis plants.

On January 22, 2010, Valerie and Michael Corral presented a statement to the US District Court in San Jose on behalf of themselves and other members of WAMM. In conclusion, they assert:

"We hope that over time the federal government will recognize its senseless position on medical marijuana and will formally codify protections for sick, dying and marginalized patients who have the right to use whatever substances their physicians recommend to ease suffering. We are nonetheless, heartened by the federal government's newly declared position suggesting deference to state medical marijuana laws and we are extraordinarily proud of our Collective's role in effecting this change in policy. However, should our government break their word and again pursue their senseless assault on the sick and dying, we stand at the ready and we promise to hold them accountable in a court of law."

Read the Full Statement | Previous coverage: WAMM Collective Wins Prestigious Award, Survives Wildfire

The Santa Cruz Planning Commission passed a new medical marijuana dispensary ban recommendation in mid-November, essentially rubber-stamping the staff's proposal. It mirrors the 'Reefer Madness' hysteria of other cities, eager to demonize and limit marijuana sales.

A local attorney interested in supporting a small medical marijuana dispensing service advised Robert Norse that the Planning Commission and City Council planned to put the new medical marijuana dispensary ban on the first agenda of the New Year (Jan. 12). However, the City Council agenda, released January 7th, indicates that the dispensary ban will not be on the agenda. The dispensary ban might be placed on the January 26th agenda, but it is not clear at this point. Read more

Previous coverage: Planning Commission Hearing May Seal Fate of New Medical Marijuana Clubs in Santa Cruz | Prohibition on New Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Passed by Santa Cruz City Council

For reasons unknown, Cannabis Culture Magazine's Facebook page has been disabled by the popular social networking site. The page, which had over 25,000 fans, disappeared on December 23, 2009.

Shortly afterward, administrators of the page received an email notification stating that the page violated Facebook's terms of use. Cannabis Culture editors contacted Facebook and hope to have the page reinstated soon. They are still trying to figure out how the page violated Facebook's terms, and are hopeful that Facebook does not consider discussion of cannabis to be "obscene."

According to Cheryl Shuman, Executive Director of Beverly Hills NORML 90210, her Facebook account was also removed on December 23, 2009. Shuman reports that, "Within 24 hours of me updating my posts to include that I'm beginning a national media campaign for Beverly Hills NORML, my account was just pulled!"

Read More | Cannabis Culture Magazine | Beverly Hills NORML 90210

Canadian authorities, acting at the behest of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials, arrested seed distributor, activist and magazine publisher Marc Emery, often referred to as the "Prince of Pot", and two associates on July 29th, 2005 on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering, following an 18-month investigation.

Emery and supporters spent years fighting extradition, but on January 14th, 2008, he agreed to a tentative plea-bargain with US authorities. The terms of the agreement were a 5-year prison term to be served in both Canadian and U.S. prisons. In return, he demanded the charges against his friends be dropped. On March 27th, 2008 the plea-bargain deal collapsed because of the refusal of the Canadian government to approve its side of the arrangement. On September 21st, 2009, he pleaded guilty to a charge of manufacturing marijuana. Emery surrendered into the custody of the British Columbia Supreme Court on September 28th, 2009 and is awaiting extradition to a US federal prison. He will try to get a transfer to a Canadian prison once he begins his term.

The arrest of Marc Emery was politically motivated. The US Drug Enforcement Administration stated in a press release from Administrator Karen Tandy that his July 29th, 2005 arrest was based on drug legalization efforts:

"Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group -- is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement. His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today. Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General's most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets -- one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on."

Read more | Facts About Marc Emery | Cannabis Culture | NoExtradition.net | WhyProhibition.ca | Pot TV