The kind of event that can only be dreamed of in many parts of America was just another Saturday in San Francisco’s busy holiday season.

Pungent, flavorful, artisanal, small-batch, high-THC, eco-friendly bud from Berkeley swept the City’s annual, patient-judged medical cannabis contest Saturday — the 9th Annual San Francisco Patients’ Choice. 

Bend man joins growing secondary marijuana industry

REDMOND —Kelly Martin believes you don’t have to grow or sell marijuana to make money in the marijuana business.

He launched two companies in the past year that capitalize on legal, recreational marijuana in the Pacific Northwest. The oldest is DaKine 420 , a purveyor of fertilizers and processed coconut husks, in which marijuana is grown. Just finishing its first year, the company, which employs five in a 9,000-square-foot warehouse off SW Veterans Way, is set to clear about $700,000 in gross sales, Martin, 54, said recently.

The California Adult Use of Marijuana Act, the so-called “Sean Parker Initiative”, is gathering more support, with Drug Policy Alliance and Marijuana Policy Project now considering backing it, and the recent bombshell news of ReformCA board member Richard Lee openly supporting it.

I’ve spent the holiday weekend going through every word of the 60-page initiative. To make understanding it easier, I’ve created the Hyperlinked Text of the California Adult Use of Marijuana Act which you can download for free as a PDF. It contains my notes on understanding the sections of text cannabis consumers most want to know about, including:

SAN JOSE -- With just weeks to go before a December deadline for compliance, medical marijuana providers are still balking at some of San Jose's rules and city officials are offering to ease them.

Nineteen pot providers have been seeking to meet San Jose's regulatory requirements by December 18. The rules, adopted in June 2014, restrict pot stores to select industrial and commercial areas away from schools and parks and impose a host of security, tax payment and other requirements. Dispensaries that fail to meet the requirements by the deadline face closure.

Some of the medical marijuana sold at A2C2 The All American Cannabis Club in Campbell was photographed on Oct. 2, 2015. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) ( Dai Sugano )

SAN DIEGO – Authorities said 16 people have been sickened in downtown San Diego after taking the synthetic marijuana drug spice.

Fire officials treated the patients during numerous calls on Saturday, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Fire spokesman Lee Swanson said the patients, mostly in their late teens to early 20s, had symptoms ranging from nausea and fast heartbeats to breathing difficulties and even unconsciousness.

Eleven of the 16 were taken to hospitals, three in serious condition, but Swanson said none of the problems were life-threatening.

Police are trying to discover the source of the spice.

The City of Ukiah is evaluating its current regulations on growing medical marijuana, and will likely have more discussions and perhaps recommended actions for the City Council soon, City Manager Sage Sangiacomo said at the board’s most recent meeting earlier this month.

“I know that the marijuana ad-hoc committee (which includes Council members Jim Brown and Maureen Mulheren) is working diligently reviewing the regulations and determining possible actions for the Ukiah City Council, and they may be brought forward for further discussion,” Sangiacomo said, responding to a city resident who urged the council to review its medical marijuana regulations in light of a regulatory package signed into law in October that requires state oversight of the entire industry.

Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes thus far. Many more states are considering doing the same in the Nov. 2016 elections. One of the most consequential of those states is California. Its sheer size and population would drastically change the marijuana game if legalized outright.

Consider this: The total combined population of all four states where marijuana is already legal is approximately 17.21 million people, according to United States Census data. California’s population, at approximately 38.8 million, is more than double that.

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 27, 2015/ PRNewswire/– In October, California took a significant step towards regulating and accrediting the medical cannabis industry by passing three costs under the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA). For California growers, manufacturers and dispensaries that mean to run legal, for-profit businesses in 2018, the licensing procedure begins now.

Green Rush Consulting (GRC), a Bay Location cannabis consulting firm, is prompting medical cannabis groups to begin preparing company techniques and compliance plans now, in order to get concern licensing when the brand-new policies work in 2018.

The Moorpark Planning Commission this week recommended approval of a zoning ordinance banning both medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation in the city.

The planning commission voted 3-0, with Commissioners Daniel Groff and Kipp Landis absent, to make the recommendation to the Moorpark City Council, which will make a final decision on the matter at a future meeting.

Cities throughout the state, including Moorpark, are looking at their own local laws and regulations on the heels of a new state law — the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act — which established statewide regulations for the growing, distribution and sale of medical marijuana in California.