Feature Archives

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. Prominent members of the cannabis community discussed a wide-range of topics, 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.

After the recent uprisings in Portland in response to two police murders, a call has gone out for "West Coast Days of Action April 8th and 9th, From the Bay to the Sound: No More Police Killings!" The call to action reads in part: "Organize protests and autonomous actions in your own city!" Announced actions include non-violent civil disobedience at Embarcadero BART station in San Francisco on April 8th and an Anti-Police General Assembly in Portland and a march against police brutality in Seattle on April 9th.

On March 29th, Teachers for Class War interviewed students and teachers marching up the Central Valley from Bakersfield to Sacramento. They are making their voices heard to protect funding for public education in California, from kindergarten through university. The Teachers spoke with Jenn, Manny, Clay, Naomi, and Jose about why they're marching.

On March 23rd, students from across the UC system protested the UC Regents meeting at UCSF Mission Bay and their proposal to rewrite the UC’s fee policies with little to no public input. Currently, a student can reasonably expect that the fee levels when one enters school will stay consistent throughout one’s education. However, the new policy would give the Board of Regents the right to “establish fees at any level it deems appropriate.” This new policy will have implications for the future accessibility of the UC system.

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

On March 9th at Golden Gate National Recreational Area's Fort Baker in Marin County, nearly one hundred UC service workers, students and supporters from UCB, UCSF, UCSC, and UC Davis entered the hired meeting space of Blum Capital Partnership, the Cavallo Point Lodge, and picketed the street in front. Richard Blum is a UC regent and the husband of California Senator Diane Feinstein.

On January 26th, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley ruled that the Animal Liberation Front is not a "gang." The government had tried to find two animal rights protestors guilty of being "gang members." Judge Wesley stated that the prosecution's expert Lt. Butte had "misled the grand jury. The ALF does not meet the legal requirements to be considered a gang. Their primary goal is to save animals, not commit crimes." That charge was dismissed though other charges remain.