National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Trail Blazing: Eight Great Pioneers of Pot

Tommy ChongBy Michael Goldstein Tommy Chong is perhaps the biggest celebrity on this list, as a longtime comedian, movie star and half of the still-working duo Cheech & Chong. He is both a hero, as a longtime marijuana advocate, and a martyr, as a veteran of nine months in federal prison for ru ... More >>

Chuan W. Pang: Marijuana Grow House Suspect Arrested Following Loud Music Report

The annals of marijuana-bust history are littered with stories of suspects who bring unnecessary attention to themselves, from the traffic scofflaw with kilos in his trunk to the guy who allegedly blows his home up while making hash oil. Today we bring you Guy Who Plays Loud Music. Yeah, cops were ... More >>

Marijuana's The Next Big Wall Street Investment?

Real estate has been a dismal bust, Facebook is a disappointment, and Apple costs too much. What's an investment mogul to do? Boy, do we have a "green" opportunity for you. Marijuana is now fully legal in two states, Colorado and Washington, following last week's elections. There are opportunities ... More >>

Ann Lee, Texas Republican Octogenarian, Endorses Marijuana at L.A. Pot Confab

The marijuana movement has seen some strange bedfellows, including such decriminalization backers as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and the conservative Rev. Pat Robertson. The state NORML convention wrapped up over the weekend in L.A., but not without the appearance of Texas Republican octoge ... More >>

Marijuana Group NORML Holds Convention at Nonsmoking DTLA Hotel, Hilarity Ensues

Welcome to contemporary Los Angeles, where worlds collide. In this instance we have the Nanny State that brought us the second-hand-smoke-kills movement versus the liberal, pro-medical marijuana faction. The two have come together this week at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, where the grand ... More >>

It’s Not Just For Juvenile Delinquents Anymore

Corey Plank Arrested in Marijuana Dispensary Bust on Ventura Boulevard

Running a marijuana dispensary is like walking a tight rope these days. While the feds are cracking down, the L.A. City Council is poised to ban all pot shops in town, and a California court recently upheld the right of dispensaries to exist. What to do? Try to keep it clean. The LAPD says a Woodl ... More >>

Marijuana Advocates Want to Judge The Judges Running For Office in L.A.

In the wake of a national poll saying 56 percent of likely American voters favor legalizing marijuana, the group NORML Women's Alliance plans to hold candidates' feet to the lighter. The organization will be asking candidates for L.A. County Superior Court judge what they think of medical marijuana ... More >>

Rick Steves, Famed Travel Writer and Pot Advocate: 20 Questions

"I'm a travel writer, and for me, high is a place"

Smoking Marijuana a Month Ago Could Get You a DUI Today Under Proposed Law

Updated at the bottom: A group of current and former law enforcement officers has urged the lawmaker to withdraw this bill. First posted at 7:03 a.m. The problem with lawmakers is that they feel the need to make laws, even when they're unneeded or unfair. The pro-marijuana group NORML is up in arm ... More >>

Marijuana Laws Would Ban Employers From Firing Medical Users, Loosen Penalties For Growing: Sacramento Lobbyists Block 'Em

You know what Sacramento's about.​You, the people, are in favor of laws that make it easier for medical pot users to keep their jobs and that make growing weed a possible misdemeanor. But the reality of politics in Sacramento often has little to do with your will. Business lobbyists and polic ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensaries Could See New Law Enforcement 'Bureau' Under Proposed California Initiative

Mikey Wally​Updated at the bottom with the exact language of the proposal. First posted at 7:05 a.m. today Some of the staunchest advocates of the retail marijuana trade want to create a new statewide police department strictly to keep an eye on pot shops -- and they want you to vote yes on i ... More >>

Marijuana Prosecution Memo From Feds Indicates 999 Plants is Okay, 1,000 is Not

DEAFederally legal?​Marijuana advocates today circulated a transcript of a memo that appears to define U.S. Department of Justice guidelines for marijuana growing and possession prosecution targets. In other words they got their hands on the blueprint for what it takes to get the DOJ to crack ... More >>

Rooting for Weed

Marijuana Crackdown in California: U.S. Department of Justice Says it's Not President Obama's Fault

Don't blame this guy.​As we've noted, marijuana advocates are mad at President Obama. An Occidental College-educated lefty, Obama's supposed to be one of them. But when his U.S. Department of Justice cracked down on pot dispensaries in California, essentially saying that all weed shops are il ... More >>

Marijuana Protest During President Obama's Visit to L.A.

The Weed BlogWeed advocates want Obama to hear them.​During Monday's Obamajam on the Westside marijuana advocates will be out in force to protest the U.S. Justice Department's crackdown on cannabis dispensaries in California. California NORML is staging a demonstration outside the downtown Fe ... More >>

Marijuana Raid of Licensed Grower That Delivers to Los Angeles Area Has California Pot Advocates Worried About Federal Crackdown

northstoneorganics.comMatt Cohen.​Updated at the bottom: The DEA gives us a cryptic response. First posted at 1:02 p.m. A Northern California pot farm that delivers cannabis all the way to Los Angeles was raided by DEA agents today, according to an announcement from California NORML. NORML s ... More >>

Legalize Marijuana Across The Land Via Constitutional Amendment? Yeah, Right ...

The branches of government.​We told you recently about how President Obama will have to face the question of legalizing marijuana nationwide after his own initiative to let Americans petition him online with their most-pressing issues brought weed to his desk. The top vote-getter in this effo ... More >>

Marijuana Grower Susan Soares Can't Have Her Pot Back Because L.A. Doc Didn't Indicate Exactly How Much She Needed

Your buds.​Marijuana advocates are fuming -- and not the good kind of fuming, either -- after an L.A. judge said a medical pot grower couldn't have her seized weed back. Now, normally that might be a big deal: Confiscated pot is sometimes the cost of doing business in a country where cannabis ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensaries Near Homes Could be Outlawed Under Proposed California Law

​Marijuana supporters say a California bill that would ban pot shops from residential areas is a buzz kill. SB 847 faces a crucial vote in the state assembly's Health Committee on Tuesday and the activists are reaching out to supporters in hopes they'll call key legislators and urge them to b ... More >>

Medical Marijuana From Sea to Shining Sea? A Lawsuit Wants to Force Feds to Say Yes to Pot

1ncognito​Marijuana advocates filed a suit in a U.S. Circuit Court today to force the Obama administration to answer a petition that seeks to have the federal government recognize cannabis as a drug with acceptable medical uses. The suit wants the court to order the administration to answer t ... More >>

Prop. 19 Organizers Push For 2012 Marijuana Legalization Initiative in California: Pot Shop Owner Richard Lee Sidelined

1ncognitoAnother legalization effort likely in 2012.​Full legalization for marijuana in California was voted down in November. But it was close enough to give pot backers hope for another try. And that try is officially coming in 2012, at least by all appearances. The Coalition for Cannabis P ... More >>

Marijuana Legalization Supporters to Meet Up in Hollywood This Weekend in Effort to Get California Reform Back on Track

Troy HoldenCalifornia's pot jar is half full.​After California's effort to fully legalize pot failed in November, we told you that marijuana backers were already anticipating their next shot. Well, it's March, and they're not backing off. Cannabis supporters say there was a strong showing in ... More >>

Marijuana: SoCal Man Who Told Cops Someone Stole His Weed Can Keep His Dope

This is legal, maybe.​Oops. We had a little too much fun with the story when we learned that an Orange County man reported earlier this month that someone had burgled his bud -- 25 pounds worth. Really? Just tell 'em nothing was taken was our advice. As it happens, Newport Beach police tell t ... More >>

Grow Marijuana in California? Look Out For the Tax Man: Proposal to License, Regulate and Tax Weed Cultivation in the Works

Soon to be a taxable crop in California?​Taxing marijuana has been a big deal in California in recent weeks. The city of L.A. wants to impose an extra 5 percent tax on pot shops, and you'll get to vote on that idea March 8. And the California Board of Equalization (BOE) ruled Thursday that ma ... More >>

California's Shira Monet Garfinkel Fights For Her Right To Drive High, Takes Case To Nevada Supreme Court

A privilege not a right.​Updated with response from the defendant. First posted at 9:02 a.m. Leave it to a medical-marijuana-impaired -inspired driver to challenge this: But a Nevada Supreme Court had to actually rule on a California woman's claim that she had the right to drive under the inf ... More >>

What Killed Prop. 19?

Historic effort to legalize marijuana returns in 2012

Proposition 19 Dreams of Legal Weed

Bruce Margolin has defended 25,000 pot cases and Timothy Leary. Now he's primed for ganja tourists and sensimilla spas

Beer Lobby Gives $10,000 To 'No' On Proposition 19 Pot Legalization

Beer​Update: We got an email from Tom McCormick of the California Small Brewers Association -- they're the ones who make good beers. He says, whoa, we got nothing to do with this effort to beat Prop. 19. Text of the email appear at the end, after the jump. A political action committee of the ... More >>

Marijuana Advocates Want Michele Leonhart Out At DEA Following California Pot Shop Raids

Leonhart with Attorney General Eric Holder.​Despite an Obama administration directive meant to put a halt to federal raids of pot shops in states where medical marijuana has been legalized, recent dispensary busts, including one in Southern California, have prompted a group of cannabis advocat ... More >>

Walmart Fires Employee For Off-The-Job Medical Marijuana Use

​This could give those long-opposed to Walmart's planned expansion in the city of Los Angeles more ammunition: The retail giant is catching heat for its recent firing of an employee who used medical marijuana off-the-job to treat his cancer-related pain. Joseph Casias has a tumor pressing aga ... More >>

Pot Smoking On The Increase For Older Americans

​Maybe the kind of laissez faire environment you find regarding medical marijuana in Southern California has spread across the country: Older folks are using pot a lot more these days, according to recent data from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Recreation ... More >>

Marijuana Activists Stunned Over Obama's Bush-Era Pick For DEA

Michele M. Leonhart.​The administration of President Obama has told federal law enforcement to stand down when it comes to raiding legitimate pot dispensaries in states where medical marijuana is legal. But last week the president quietly nominated Bush-era Drug Enforcement Administration offi ... More >>

Weed mags sprout across LOS ANGELES

Publications reap windfall from pot ads

Pot-Shop Advocates Likely To Sue City Over New Law

​Final approval hasn't even been given to the city of Los Angeles' sweeping medical marijuana dispensary law and already pot-shop advocates say court-challenges are very likely. The council on Tuesday approved an ordinance that would eventually close 475 of the 545 dispensaries operating in t ... More >>

Weed Takes Root

Marijuana's steady march toward legalization nationwide

L.A.'s Medical-Weed Wars

How the potheads outwitted Antonio Villaraigosa and the L.A. City Council

SXSW Day 5-The Triumph of the Blogosphere...High Times at High Times...Why in God's Name Am I At The Perez Hilton Party?

Bloggers are every journalist's favorite whipping boy. If a shitty band gets too popular, blame the bloggers. If the standards of professional journalism have eroded too much, blame the bloggers. If by 2010, Vampire Weekend has inspired legions of college freshmen to dress as ironic yachters, bla ... More >>

Sketchers, Hair Wars and Courting Venus

Letters

Tainted Thinking

Drug tests: A class ritual

Magic Marker Dragoon

Student Union

Cannabis Connection

Clinton's campaign against California's California's medical-marijuana movement