cali

Sixteen people were arraigned today on felony charges stemming from the raid of two medical marijuana businesses following an undercover investigation by Oakland County law enforcement.

Authorities said the marijuana was sold illegally at Clinical Relief in Ferndale and Everybody's Café, a restaurant in Waterford Township. The arrests and drug seizures also occurred Thursday at area homes and a warehouse in Macomb County.

In 43rd District Court in Hazel Park, Magistrate James Paterson ran through suspects in an almost assembly-line style -- some live and some through a video arraignment.

Richmond city leaders will not wait until November after all to decide how to regulate marijuana dispensaries.

City attorneys are drafting an ordinance that would determine the number and locations of permitted pot clubs, among other provisions. It is scheduled to reach the City Council on Tuesday night.

That is earlier than planned. Officials initially wanted to hold off until after the November election to see if California voters will approve an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use for people 21 and older. But the council has now decided not to wait, in part because Richmond is dealing with uses other than for recreation.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland has taken a major step toward becoming first U.S. city to issue permits to legally grow marijuana. Oakland's Public Safety Committee voted 3-1 Wednesday to approve a plan to allow and tax large indoor marijuana grow operations.

Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan co-authored the proposal.

Kaplan said the permit process would raise money while cutting down on crime and the potential for fires from illegal indoor grow operations.

"The permits for these facilities will have fire safety inspections, electrical inspections, requirements to have security guards," said Kaplan. "So it's definitely a revenue benefit. But it's also a public safety benefit."

Oakland inched toward a plan to allow industrial-scale production of medical marijuana, sparking a lively debate between supporters and opponents who filled the Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday evening.

The proposal crafted by City Councilmembers Larry Reid and Rebecca Kaplan would prompt the first major expansion six years after Oakland first authorized the distribution of medical marijuana in dispensaries.

Fresno County Supervisors will consider Tuesday putting a stop to medical marijuana dispensaries.

"Local law enforcement investigations have revealed that marijuana grown illegally on public lands has been sold in medical marijuana dispensaries. This point will be a serious factor in considering the recommended moratorium," said County Supervisor Perea.

If passed, the moratorium would be the first step in the process to prohibit marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Fresno County.

If you want to sell marijuana in San Francisco, you’re going to have to play by some new rules — and advocates for pot legalization couldn’t be happier about it.

San Francisco passed new rules last week regulating the sale and distribution of medicinal marijuana in baked goods and other edible items, taking one step closer to making pot a mainstream product in the Golden State.

With California’s budget in a state of nonexistence and unemployment looking dismal as ever, many of the state’s policymakers have been looking in a direction that seems more possible than ever before: the legalization of marijuana. California’s Proposition 19, an initiative which will be on the November ballot, would decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana for those of age 21 and older, and make it possible for the state to tax revenues gained from the sale of the drug.

Close to 40 years after Richard Nixon sparked America's "war on drugs," California voters this November get to vote on the war's biggest challenge ever.

It's a ballot proposition making it legal for any Californian 21 or older to grow or use marijuana. If passed, there will be no more requirements to prove medical need (today's law in California and 13 other states). Cannabis would be subject to taxes, potentially yielding billions of dollars in state, county and city levies.

LAKE FOREST, Calif.—Two medical marijuana dispensaries have reopened in Lake Forest after an appeals court temporarily halted a shutdown order issued by an Orange County Superior Court judge.

Care Mutual and Vale Tudo Cafe reopened Thursday, a day after the 4th District Court of Appeal issued its ruling. Last week, the appeals court struck down contempt proceedings against the Lake Forest Wellness Center and Collective and it also has reopened.

(July 7) -- Following an example set by the city of Oakland, several California municipalities are looking at taxing local marijuana sales to help bridge devastating budget deficits. And with voters set to decide on a statewide ballot initiative in November to legalize the recreational use of the drug, there could be significant money at stake, officials say.

Oakland began taxing medical marijuana in January, though the amount collected so far was not immediately available for release. On Tuesday, the city of Long Beach, near Los Angeles, took steps to adopt its own tax on local dispensaries. Sacramento, the state capital, as well as San Jose and Berkeley also are considering adding a pot tax.