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“We are getting closer to passing the MORE Act, which would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act,” lawmakers wrote.

U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) released a memo on behalf of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus that they co-chair. The memo lists the numerous pieces of marijuana legislation filed on Capitol Hill and explains which should be among the reform priorities for 2022, reported Marijuana Moment.

Blumenauer said “the table is set and the time is right for comprehensive cannabis reform, which will make a huge difference for people around the country. We’ve watched this issue gain more momentum than ever with the American people—almost 70 percent of whom, including a majority of Republicans, want to see federal reform.”

Priorities for 2022

Federal descheduling of marijuana remains the first priority. “We are getting closer to passing the MORE Act, which would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act,” the lawmakers wrote. The memo also states that it is “imperative that the Biden administration utilize power available to the executive to pardon and commute sentences for individuals with cannabis-related offenses.”

“It’s important that the federal government not waste resources with any state-legal interference. That means redirecting the Department of Justice must not interfere with state-legal businesses before we secure the SAFE Banking Act through the U.S. Senate,” concluded the memo.

Members of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office arrested a man in Mckinleyville on Wednesday after discovering a hash oil lab in his home, and for illegally owning an alligator.

According to HSCO, members of the marijuana enforcement team served a warrant to a residence located on Cochran Road, where an indoor lab was discovered.

The HCSO said that 42-year-old Ronnie Miller was reportedly operating the BHO. Deputies found over 509 pounds of processed cannabis, 499 pounds of bud, 364 pounds of shake, and 165 pounds of butane hash oil. Along with that, deputies also located three guns; including what the sheriff's office called a "ghost gun" assault rifle. All of this, while Miller's two children were living next to the operation.

Additionally, California Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens located an illegally-owned dwarf alligator being showcased in a tank at the residence. The CDFW is working to coordinate the safe removal and re-homing of the alligator.

Mexican drug cartels are horning in on America's burgeoning multi-billion-dollar marijuana industry, illegally growing large crops in the hills and valleys of Northern California.

The state legalized marijuana in 2016 for adult recreational use, yet the black market continues to thrive with thousands of illegal grows. Criminal syndicates, in turn, are cashing in across the U.S. on the "green gold rush."

They're undercutting prices of legalized products offered by permitted farmers who follow the rulegs and pay taxes.

Lured by America's push toward legalized cannabis, cartels have abandoned many decades-old marijuana farms in Mexico, moving their operations to Northern California where they can blend in seamlessly alongside legitimate grows, said Mike Sena, executive director of Northern California's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces.

"Why try to bring that bulk marijuana into the United States, when you can just grow it in the United States in remote locations like Mendocino County and then move it across the entire country?"

Bureau of Land Management rangers and special agents, alongside various law enforcement partners, eradicated more than one million marijuana plants and close to 180,300 pounds of processed marijuana this year from illegal grow sites statewide on BLM lands as part of the California Department of Justice’s annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, program.

In addition to marijuana and chemicals, ammunition and weapons were also seized. The trash and litter these operations leave behind also impacts public lands: almost 300 miles of waterline, 583 propane tanks were collected during these operations, as well as more than 67,000 pounds of grow site infrastructure.

“The BLM is proud of its law enforcement Rangers and Special Agents for conducting this important work,” said BLM California State Director Karen Mouritsen. 

“These illegal operations have a devastating impact on our environment and the health and safety of communities, which we cannot tolerate. The BLM looks forward to working with the Attorney General’s Office again next year on this very important effort.”

In a dramatic reversal, a 90-year-old, seriously ill federal inmate serving life in prison for a nonviolent marijuana trafficking crime will go free after a judge granted him compassionate release on Tuesday — overturning his previous order denying release.

Horacio Estrada-Elias, who was the subject of a CNN investigative story in September, is set to be freed this week after more than a dozen years behind bars.

“It’s a huge blessing for all of us,” his daughter Elizabeth Estrada said Tuesday. “We’re so excited for the whole family to finally be together.”

Estrada-Elias suffers from congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease, and also contracted the coronavirus while in prison, according to court affidavits filed by doctors. His prison doctor predicted in April 2020 that he had “less than 18 months” to live, and his warden recommended release, noting his spotless disciplinary record and writing last year that “he has been diagnosed with an incurable, progressive illness in which he will not recover.”

But last month, an appeals court ordered Reeves to reconsider. Two judges on a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that Reeves had “abused (his) discretion” by ignoring the fact that Estrada-Elias is unlikely to reoffend and “overly emphasizing” his nonviolent crimes. One judge dissented.

The cannabis industry has been unbanked and underserved for years, often resulting in adverse impacts on public safety in communities where cannabis is legal.

On Monday, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that New Mexico-based U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union is the first financial institution in the country to become certified for outstanding U.S. monetary banking protocols in banking cannabis and hemp operation.

The certification is part of a financial services certification program run by the Policy Center for Public Health & Safety in collaboration with state attorneys general as well as a broader certification effort being implemented by ASTM international and PH&S.

Endorsed by Safe Harbor Financial, a subsidiary of Partner Colorado Credit Union,the certification brings banking and financial transparency to ensure the safety of the monetary system for institutions banking hemp and cannabis.

“The cannabis industry has been unbanked and underserved for years, often resulting in adverse impacts on public safety in communities where cannabis is legal,” Majors added.

State and federal agencies accept the overall certification model as the standard of compliance and in implementing general risk mitigating strategies.

Initiative will appear on June 7 primary

Six weeks after Billings residents voted to ban recreational marijuana sales within city limits, Yellowstone County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to give county voters the same chance.

Chariman Don Jones, Denis Pitman, and John Ostlund, who voted against a similar resolution in August, all agreed to put the issue on the June 7 primary ballot. The move comes just 18 days before recreational marijuana sales become legal in Montana after House Bill 701 was signed into law earlier this year. Montana voters approved recreational sales on a state level in the November 2020 election.

Proponents of a re-vote at Tuesday's Yellowstone County public meeting, including Montana Rep. Bill Mercer (R-Billings), again pointed to increased crime statistics.

"It is a remarkable thing to see how many pre-sentence reports indicated that the defendant started in a life of a crime based upon the use of marijuana," said Mercer, who served as an attorney for 15 years.

The biggest emotional appeal came from Tanya Ludwig, who’s son Eric died in 2020 at the hands of a driver under the influence.

Colorado's annual marijuana tax revenue haul has already reached a new high for the seventh straight year, according to the latest data from the state Department of Revenue.
The DOR's latest monthly report on marijuana tax revenue shows that November's $32.5 million in combined marijuana taxes and fees pushed 2021's overall total past $392.8 million. That's nearly $5.4 million more than the previous record, made in 2020 — with one month left to spare.

Colorado collects four different forms of marijuana taxes and licensing fees from the legal marijuana industry: a 15 percent tax on recreational pot sales, a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale marijuana, a 2.9 percent sales tax on recreational and medical marijuana purchases, and various licensing and application fees that state-approved marijuana businesses must pay.

According to DOR records, this year's averages in each of the four marijuana tax and fee categories are higher than those in 2020. But despite 2021 already being the highest year yet for pot tax revenue, the state hasn't passed last year's sales figures, judging from DOR data.

As Mexican and U.S. forces closed in on Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera in the winter of 2014, they set out first to find the man they hoped would unlock many of the drug kingpin's secrets, and ultimately his whereabouts.

Characterized as Guzmán's personal assistant, Mario Hidalgo Arguello was intricately involved in the fugitive's comings and goings. Hidalgo's nickname in the Sinaloa cartel was "El Nariz," named for his prominent nose, which made him easily identifiable when authorities tracked him down at a party in Culiacán one night and demanded a tour of Guzmán's hideouts.

Indeed, Hidalgo led the Mexican Marines and a U.S. drug agent to the safe house where Guzmán was holed up, but he narrowly escaped through a tunnel under the bathtub.

While Hidalgo's legacy will be forever linked to the hunt for one of the world's most wanted drug lords, his official criminal record is silent on the matter and instead lists a single marijuana trafficking conviction.

On Monday, a San Diego federal judge sentenced Hidalgo to seven years in prison in the case, which involves a conspiracy to import marijuana aboard a San Diego yacht. U.S. District Court Judge William Hayes followed the joint recommendation of prosecutors and the defense in handing down the sentence — a departure from the 10-year mandatory minimum term he was facing.

Leaders in the Village of Dundee say they are willing to listen to proposals for recreational marijuana establishments in their boundaries, even as they unanimously voted to drop the sunset clause of the village's Prohibition of Marijuana Establishments Ordinance.

On December 7, village council approved the re-adoption of the ordinance with an amendment that removed the sunset clause, which required them to re-adopt the ordinance every year. Dundee had been using the sunset clause as a way to keep the opt-out temporary, but Village Council President Andrea Hickey said the decision to remove the clause was made after the village almost missed its deadline to re-adopt the ordinance last year.

"The ordinance still says that (recreational marijuana establishments) would be prohibited, but the sunset clause would be removed," Hickey said.

"The ordinance would no longer sunset; it would just be in there as prohibited. What happened last year is we almost forgot it, we had to throw it on the agenda."

“The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office (Division) moves the Deputy Secretary of State to dismiss the above-entitled Lobbyist Complaint on the grounds that Complainant failed to specifically identify violations of Colorado lobbyist laws under section 24-6-301, et seq, C.R.S.”

Belinda Sturges approached the Lamar City Council during a public meeting this past November, asking about the legitimacy of the petitions filed with the City of Lamar which placed questions 2A and 2B on the November General Election before Lamar residents.  Those ballot questions dealt with establishing levels of a tax placed on sales of recreational and medical marijuana and in the other portion, for voters to approve or reject the public sale of marijuana products, among other allowances.  Both questions passed.  Lamar Mayor Crespin and City Attorney, Lance Clark, explained at that time, that they were aware of the questions pertaining to the validity of the petitions, but as the matter was under legal review, they could not provide her at that time with any answers to her questions.

The State Elections Division noted, “On November 10, 2021, Belinda Sturges (Complainant) filed a Complaint with the Division, under Lobby Rule 5. 1.1 alleging that Cindy Sovine (Respondent) violated Colorado lobbying laws.  Specifically, Complainant alleges that (1) Respondent engaged in lobbying without reporting her income on TRACER, (2) Respondent circulated petitions that were insufficient, (3) the parties carrying the petitions were not disclosed, and (4) Respondent “represented she was working for SOCO Rocks who only held a name reservation with the SOS.”

“On November 10, 2021, Respondent submitted a response to the Complaint, what included several supporting documents including a scope of work agreement for ballot campaign management services, communications with the Secretary of State’s office, communications with the City Clerk of the City of Lamar, and messaging related to the ballot question.”

“The Division moves to dismiss the Complaint on the grounds that Complainant failed to specifically identify violations of Colorado lobbyist laws under section 24-6-301 et sec, C.R.S.”

Ordinances would permit medical marijuana but continue to prohibit adult-use

A series of ordinances that will regulate the commercial sale, growing, processing and more of medical and adult-use marijuana will now make their way to the Greenville City Council.

However, not everyone in the community — from residents to business owners both opposed and in favor of creating a commercial market of legal marijuana — is happy with the direction the city is going.

In April, the City Council sent four ordinances — two zoning ordinances and two regulatory ordinances — to the Planning Commission to be evaluated and reworked to the city’s liking for potential adoption into law.

During Thursday’s Planning Commission meeting, after months spent on reviewing and altering amendments to the city’s zoning ordinances, members of the commission reached a consensus, voting unanimously on five separate motions — on two regulatory ordinances and three ordinance amendments — to be recommended for approval by the City Council.

“The City Council has crafted these ordinances, they will enact these ordinances, but they asked the Planning Commission to review the language they created and we have done that,” Commission Chairman David Ralph said.

The city violated state law when it put the firefighter on unpaid leave for refusing to relinquish his medical cannabis card, according to a lawsuit. Several lawmakers agree.

Levi Coleman has been a firefighter for the Ogden City Fire Department for more than a decade.

But since September, Coleman has been on unpaid leave from the department, burning sick leave and vacation time, while trying to get reinstated. His offense: being prescribed medical cannabis.

He is now suing the city, trying to get his job back and recoup lost wages.

In June, Coleman was prescribed medical marijuana by a doctor. Two months later, Ogden City adopted a new drug and alcohol policy that required city employees to report if they are taking any prescription medication that might cause impairment if, by chance, they are called in from off-duty status.

Coleman, who is also a paramedic, complied, notifying Deputy Chief Michael Slater on Aug. 31 of the cannabis prescription. According to the lawsuit, he followed up two days later with a text message confirming the chief had seen the original e-mail.

The ordinance excludes retail sale of recreational marijuana.

City Council accepted the first reading of a recreational marijuana ordinance that excludes retail sales at its Dec. 7 meeting. Last summer Origins Cannabis approached the city about opening a cultivation facility at the old Moss Tent building.

The Planning Board drafted the ordinance in five separate meetings from September to November, including an October public hearing prompted by a request from the council in August. The state’s Marijuana Legalization Act requires towns to opt into the legislation. Towns can choose to opt in without an ordinance of their own or can create their own ordinance building on the legislation.

The city has identified zoning districts where cultivation, testing and manufacturing are allowed. Tier 1, Tier 2 and nursery operations, which the city refers to as small-scale, will be allowed in almost all districts outside the bypass. Tier 3 and 4 operations, which the city refers to as large-scale, will only be allowed in two zones — Route 1 South and Searsport Avenue Commercial.

Testing and manufacturing are allowed in all areas that allow cultivation, but there will be no adult use marijuana activity allowed for districts inside the bypass. Cultivation will also be barred in certain smaller districts on the south side of the city near Route 1 outside the bypass.

Large-scale operations are limited to just two districts because the board had concerns about odors associated with marijuana, City Planner Jon Boynton said in an interview after the meeting. The board wants the city to be able to address any issues that might come up regarding odor before possibly expanding those operations into other districts.

San Francisco is trying to fight back against the illicit cannabis market with a bold, new move—suspension of cannabis taxes.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week unanimously approved a measure to temporarily suspend the city’s Cannabis Business Tax, citing strong competition from the illicit cannabis market and a crime wave that has plagued the regulated industry.

The tax was approved by San Francisco voters in 2018 and was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2022. Under terms of the ballot measure, a tax of from one percent to five percent would be levied on the gross receipts of the city’s licensed cannabis businesses.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said in a statement that suspending the tax would allow businesses in the city to better compete with unlicensed operators, who pay no taxes and are not subject to other costs mandated by regulations such as licensing fees and lab testing expenses.

“Cannabis businesses create good jobs for San Franciscans and provide safe, regulated products to their customers,” Mandelman said in a statement.

“Sadly, the illegal market is flourishing by undercutting the prices of legal businesses, which is bad for our economy as illegal businesses pay no taxes while subjecting workers to dangerous conditions and consumers to dangerous products. Now is not the time to impose a new tax on small businesses that are just getting established and trying to compete with illicit operators.”

City attorney asked to analyze current guidelines

Upon returning to its cannabis business ordinance Tuesday, the Chico City Council made the decision to ask City Attorney Vince Ewing to analyze what is currently in place and return with some new ideas.

The item was brought forward by Mayor Andrew Coolidge as a way to look beyond dispensaries toward manufacturing and production.

There are currently 24 proposed cannabis dispensaries going forward in the application process in Chico.

Ewing suggested to the council that it directs staff to look at all the options for potentially expanding the ordinance if desired.

“Dispensaries will capture the revenue of funds that are being spent by local people that are buying these retail products in and around the city,” Petersen said.

Oklahoma County authorities found two moonshine stills and a marijuana grow in the home of a Harrah man after a four-hour standoff Wednesday afternoon.

The negotiator KFOR spoke with, Michael Davenport, said the call started out as a suicidal person. After some time on the phone with the man, it came to a peaceful end.

“I don’t know if he’s a good guy, bad guy or any other guy, he’s a person in crisis and he needs some help and we’re all human beings,” said Davenport, a 10-year veteran negotiator with the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.

There was a massive police presence in Harrah Wednesday afternoon during a standoff with 42-year-old Bryant Hodges. Hodges was barricaded inside his home where authorities would later find the moonshine stills and marijuana grow. Davenport said the original call came in from a family member who reported a suicidal man armed with a pistol.

At one point, Hodges allegedly opened fire at officers and nearly hit them. He struck two Luther police vehicles. Davenport worked to calm the situation down over the phone.

Brookfield Township Police confirmed a driver was arrested after a traffic stop lead to officers finding various suspected drugs on Dec. 9.

BTPD stated officers pulled over a vehicle driving from Farrell to Warren for a marked lanes violation.

Officers detected criminal indicators and a probable search cause was conducted on the vehicle, according to BTPD.

BTPD said the following were found inside the vehicle:

The driver was arrested for drug paraphernalia, BTPD confirmed.