Hundreds of people turned out at San Francisco City Hall on Friday, June 17th, to participate in the "Communities Rising to End the Drug War and Mass Incarceration" rally and march to protest the 40 year "war on drugs" and continued criminalization of the poor, the addicted and communities of color.

The protest then marched to the state and federal buildings nearby. Working and poor people struggling with addiction fill the prisons and jails of the US. This country has the dubious distinction of having the largest per capita incarcerated population in the world. Protesters called for drug policy reform that would emphasize rehabilitation versus the current policy based on punitive measures. They also demanded human rights for prisoners isolated in the notorious Pelican Bay Prison in Northern California.

Photos: 1 | 2 | SF Bay View coverage | DrugPolicyReform.org

A new film, Medical Cannabis and Its Impact on Human Health, exposes the lies about the medical use of marijuana that led the San Diego City Council to enact a virtual ban on dispensaries in the city. Director James Schmachtenberger, who works at a local dispensary, appeared with the film on April 30th at a showing sponsored by Activist San Diego. The film is a bit dry, and even Schmachtenberger describes it as not especially entertaining, but it lays out the facts about marijuana's medical uses and makes the case for allowing the substance to be used to treat disease and preserve health.

The aim of the film was to counteract the claims of dumb politicians and so-called “prevention experts” who pounce on all uses of cannabis as evil — and make wildly false claims to do so.

“Our approach was to talk to the experts … traveling up and down the state for interviews with the professionals,” explained Schmachtenberger.

“We released it only two months ago, and it has gone viral, seen in 62 countries,” he reported.

Read more | MarijuanaMovie.org

April 20, aka 420, is the international day to gather with friends and strangers to celebrate cannabis. The year is 2011 and more people than ever are stepping out of the "Cannabis Closet" to reduce cultural stigmas around the use of cannabis, and to promote all of its many positive uses for food, fuel, fiber and medicine.

Thousands of people converged on Porter Meadow at UC Santa Cruz. People adapted to the drizzle throughout the afternoon and took shelter in the woodlands and under redwoods surrounding the meadow. As in past years, UCSC police and administration restricted access by only allowing people with UCSC identification to drive onto campus.

Photos: Thousands Celebrate Four Twenty in the Forest at UC Santa Cruz

Announcement: 420 at UCSC | 420 in People's Park, Berkeley | 420 with Ed Rosenthal in S.F. | A year later... we still miss Jack Herer... R.I.P. Old Friend | 2010 coverage: Gatherings on 4/20, International Day of Marijuana Celebration

The San Diego City Council spent nearly six hours on Monday, March 28th listening to public input and debating a proposed permit process for medical marijuana dispensaries — and passed, with only slight changes, a measure that dispensary members and their supporters say amounts to a virtual ban. Though public speakers in support of giving medical marijuana users safe access to the substance through collectives far outnumbered opponents at each stage of the process — at the Planning Commission and the City Council’s committees as well as the Council itself — the Council listened to the voices of advocates of the so-called "war on drugs" and enacted an ordinance that would make it virtually impossible for dispensaries to locate anywhere in the city of San Diego.

Medical marijuana supporters — including patients who use dispensaries as well as their managers and attorneys, as well as volunteer activists — organized a massive campaign they called "Stop the Ban" to try to get the Council to adopt a looser regulation along the lines suggested by the Council's Medical Marijuana Task Force. They packed the hearings before the Planning Commission and Council committees. They got constituents to write up to 3,000 letters to Councilmembers — the largest letter-writing campaign directed at the Council, according to organizer Ben Cisneros. And they staged a demonstration on the day of the Council meeting that drew up to 500 people, beginning at the Federal Building downtown and moving to the outside of San Diego City Hall.

Read more and view photos | San Diego Chapter of Americans for Safe Access

A new poll released Thursday by the Public Policy Institute of California shows Proposition 19 — the statewide initiative to control and tax cannabis (marijuana) — leading 52-41, with just 7 percent of likely voters still undecided.

"Controlling and taxing cannabis is polling higher than anything else on California's ballot, including the gubernatorial and Senate candidates, as well as all the other initiatives," said Richard Lee, a proponent of Prop. 19. "If anyone needed more proof that the voters are way ahead of the politicians on this issue, they just got it. This should serve as a real wake up call to those politicians who still think they can somehow score political points by supporting continued prohibition." Read more

See also: Proposition 19 - Yes, Yes! | Bud’s Blog: Cannabis standards, self-regulation urged at INTCHE | Special 4:20 Cafe on La Onda Bajita: Vote Yes on Prop 19! | Legalize It 2010 Prop 19 | Chronicle editorial suffers from chronic lapses in logic | Bud’s Blog: Stoner stereotypes hamper Prop. 19 debate | Marijuana Initiative Could Generate $1.4 Billion | Jack Herer would Support Prop 19

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.

Read more with audio

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.

Read more and view photos

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