Kern County voters to decide on sales tax increase, lifting marijuana ban
The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to put a sales tax increase and two measures regarding marijuana dispensaries before voters in unincorporated Kern County this November. The first measure will ask voters to raise the sales tax rate by 1 percent in the unincorporated county areas, from 7.25 percent... Read more
U.S. Attorney won’t seek death against alleged pot traffickers accused of murder
OAKLAND — The U.S. Attorney’s office in Northern California has officially taken the death penalty off the table for two men charged in a multi-state marijuana trafficking ring that authorities say involved multiple murder conspiracies. In a court document filed Tuesday, federal prosecutors gave notice they will not seek... Read more
Hemet City Council members are now unsure if they will put an initiative on the November ballot that would allow some cannabis businesses. They are pondering asking voters if they want to lift the ban on such businesses in an effort to counteract a citizen-created initiative that has already... Read more
Marijuana bills increasingly focus on social justice
WASHINGTON — State lawmakers and advocates pushing to legalize marijuana this year aren’t just touting legalization as a way to raise tax revenue and regulate an underground pot market. They’re also talking about fixing a broken criminal justice system and reinvesting in poor and minority communities that have been... Read more
Sheriff: Dispute over marijuana fueled slaying of missing Cloverdale man
A marijuana deal gone bad fueled an escalating dispute between a Healdsburg man and the one-time business partner he is suspected of killing before burying his body deep beneath a pot patch west of town, according to Sonoma County sheriff’s officials. New details emerged Friday about the slaying of... Read more
Councilman wants committee member ousted for not supporting marijuana ban
Riverside City Councilman Steve Adams is demanding the removal of Planning Commission Chairman Maartin Rossouw after Rossouw refused to vote for a ban on most marijuana uses. Adams strongly supports the city’s ban on marijuana uses — including outdoor grows and dispensaries — that the City Council approved July... Read more
Does legal marijuana make police more effective?
Marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington state has “produced some demonstrable and persistent benefit” to police departments’ ability to solve other types of crime, according to researchers at Washington State University. “Our models show no negative effects of legalization and, instead, indicate that crime clearance rates for at least... Read more
Man sentenced to 4 life terms in kidnap, torture and mutilation of marijuana dispensary owner
SANTA ANA – A Fountain Valley man was sentenced Friday to four life terms in prison, two without the possibility of parole, for his role in kidnapping, torturing and sexually mutilating a marijuana-dispensary owner in 2012 and abducting a woman as well. Orange County Superior Court jurors earlier this... Read more
Is Now The Time to Invest in Marijuana Stocks?
The changing tide of legislation in the marijuana industry has made the future of the market continue to look bright for investors as we look ahead to the next few years. With new laws going into place in the U.S. and abroad in places such as Canada and Germany,... Read more
Canadian marijuana company has first US marijuana IPO
SEATTLE (AP) — A Canadian company is the first marijuana business to complete an initial public offering on a major U.S. stock exchange, raising $153 million to expand its operations as Canada prepares to legalize the drug nationwide. British Columbia-based Tilray Inc.’s shares began trading Thursday on the Nasdaq... Read more
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