With an 8-1 vote Tuesday, the City Council put a nine-month hold on the application and permit process for medical marijuana dispensaries, bringing everything to a standstill. City Councilman Darrell Fong was the only dissenting vote, citing concerns that proximity of dispensaries to schools and parks is not adequately addressed in the ordinance. The freeze left some dispensary operators and medical marijuana patients concerned for the future of dispensaries and of the ability to access medicine. The Sacramento Press asked people for their opinion of the current state of limbo that medical marijuana dispensaries are in. Reactions from Sacramentans ranged from mild to animated – one thin

Instead of pursuing an ordinance to allow special permits for medical marijuana dispensary operations in the county, local business owners learned Thursday that county officials are taking steps to reinforce the current ban. “The Board of Supervisors is headed in a direction to reinforce a stance that the county does not permit medical marijuana dispensaries,” Leighann Moffitt, principal planner with the Sacramento County Planning Department said Thursday. A new section of the county zoning code is being proposed that specifically prohibits activity that violates federal or state law in any way. Moffitt spoke to local business owners as a featured guest at the Arden Arcade Business Coun

Local medical marijuana dispensaries recently came under fire as the federal government began cracking down on illegal marijuana growing and dispensing operations across the nation. But wait – medical marijuana is legal in California, right? Yes and no. In the wake of a June 2011 memo sent to state attorney generals from the Department of Justice warning of the federal government’s intention to shut down illegal marijuana operations, there have been numerous raids on dispensaries in California. Some local operators have received warning letters that they may be next. “Joanne,” a dispensary operator in Sacramento who wants to remain anonymous, said Wednesday that local operators have al

Around 20 medical marijuana supporters protested Friday in front of the Sacramento Federal Courthouse. The protest started at 10 a.m. and is scheduled to end by 1 p.m.

A proposed urgency ordinance to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries within the county was voted down by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors June 22, but the issue is far from dead in the water. Representatives of dispensary owners are speaking out in support of regulation that recognizes medical cannabis as a legitimate industry that is here to stay. Max Del Real, a lobbyist for the Sacramento Alliance of County Collectives (SACC), a medical cannabis trade association, spoke at the board meeting in June in opposition to the failed ordinance. “The county had proposed an ordinance that would essentially close down all of the dispensaries in the county,” Del Real said. “They had

The atmosphere was good. Harlow’s was dim, but not dark, and the stage lighting cast a tint of green throughout the club. The Harley White Jr. Orchestra was on the floor, playing an upbeat jazz number to signal the beginning of the show (and though there ended up being a 15-minute delay, no one seemed to notice). Sizzling Sirens were running around everywhere, attractive women dotting the crowd in rhinestone and fringe, lingerie-inspired getups. “I Love You Mary Jane! Cannabis Cabaret” was performed by the Sizzling Sirens Burlesque Experience late last Friday night. The show was described on the Sirens’ website as “a one-of-a-kind tribute themed to expose a variety of Mary Jane’s manifest

Next month city leaders are expected to discuss allowing the city’s 39 medical marijuana clubs to apply for permits to run their businesses legally in Sacramento. The legal language of the draft medical marijuana ordinance was released Friday afternoon. City Council members will discuss the ordinance at their Nov. 9 meeting. The draft ordinance states that only the 39 current registered shops can apply for permits. But it leaves open the possibility that the City Council can decide to set new limits on the number of shops in the future. “City Council may choose to reevaluate at a later date,” according to the document. Medical cannabis dispensaries would have to pay several fees as part

In this Sunday’s Sacramento Bee,  Marcos Breton blasts the attempt to legalize Marijuana. Breton said, “… the point –for most users- is just getting high.” Really? I am 35 and an epileptic; I have had chronic Insomnia all my life and Marijuana has been the only thing that helped. In 2005 I smoked Marijuana for the first time and all that happened was that I was relaxed and slept? Over the last two years I have constantly complained of sever insomnia only to have doctors ignore my complaints. Mr. Breton characterizes the people using Marijuana as just stoners looking for cover. Having been on Pharmaceutical drugs for almost all my life I can tell you first hand how they zone you out

During Tuesday night's hearing, the Sacramento City Council voted unanimously to extend the citywide moratorium on medical cannabis dispensary openings and expansion for ten months and fifteen days, totaling a year of halted development. The city is now 42 days into the moratorium's original 45. In that time, city government has been collecting information on cannabis clubs and invited existing dispensaries to register themselves within 30 days, a time window that closed on August 16. The registration has ceased; the research has not. "We felt that 45 days was just too short," said City Special Projects Manager Michelle Heppner, who helped conduct the fact-finding mission. "Things moved

Regardless of the smoldering controversy cannabis stirs up in Sacramento City Hall, the state Capitol and Washington D.C., the global scientific community has examined the drug with increasing interest recently. Local patients and doctors can't say enough about the groundbreaking potential of THC as a pharmaceutical. There's a fairly large medical cannabis community in Sacramento, of patients, caregivers and researchers. Some dispensaries work directly with patients and doctors to bridge the gap between medical knowledge and social support. Sacramento resident Thomas Coy has worked with the Capitol Wellness dispensary since it opened in 2004. He's a patient, an activist and a 28-year s

As part of the fact-finding process of the cannabis dispensary moratorium, the Sacramento city government is taking a look at how, exactly, medical pot stores operate. Without many precedents to refer to, dispensaries don't have solidly established business practices. All dispensaries are somewhat similar, but none are alike. Dispensaries all have the same basic foundation. By state law, pot shops must be collectives or cooperatives of medicinal cannabis patients. After ill Californians get cannabis recommendations, they have the ability to medicate and cultivate as they see fit. Last year, California Attorney General Jerry Brown published some guidelines on how many plants (six) and how

Cloned cannabis plants at Canna Care Munching on a herbal brownie at El Camino Wellness Center, AAMC state director Ryan Landers explained how tricky and self-conflicting medicinal cannabis laws are. "In Sacramento County, publicly smoking medicinal cannabis is considered ten 10 times worse than just smoking weed," he said. Landers has been a medicinal cannabis activist for over 15 years and has worked extensively in drafting legislation and law enforcement plans for the new dimension of legal medicine. He works with patients and patients' rights groups, lobbies and national advocacy groups. If weed was legal expertise, he'd be "the guy on the corner." Regarding the legal gap between

Although the medicinal use of cannabis has been legal in California since 1996, in Sacramento there's a growing concern over the uncertainty that surrounds local cannabis clubs — nonprofit clinics that sell cannabis in various forms to qualifying patients. On Tuesday night, the Sacramento City Council voted unanimously to adopt a 45-day moratorium on the development of medical cannabis dispensaries in the city. No new dispensaries can be created and existing dispensaries will be unable to physically expand their operation, though they can still take on new clients. The moratorium is intended to investigate the current status and number of medical cannabis clubs in the city to better info