Email Author Chris Roberts

2011 Stories by Chris Roberts

• Medical Marijuana Bills Killed by Odd Bedfellows -- Labor and Business Groups

  published Jun 08, 2011

  Public safety and jobs. To a California politician, they are the bread and butter -- if bread and butter means getting elected, that is. There are fewer worse labels for a politician than "job-killer"... More >>

• Medical Marijuana Booth Shut Out of Union Street Fair

  published Jun 03, 2011

  Alcohol is legal, but you won't be seeing any of it this weekend at the now-dry Union Street Fair. Medical marijuana, too, is legal, but you won't be seeing any evidence of that, either. Not after the... More >>

• Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General, Says It's Time to Legalize Marijuana

  published Jun 02, 2011

  An endless parade of low-level drug offenders, advocates, and faceless bloggers like us could ask for an end to the War on Drugs, but who's going to listen to such nonentitiesr Who can get attention o... More >>

• California Has 1.1 Million Medical Marijuana Users, NORML Says

  published May 31, 2011

  California is the most populous state in the Union. It's where the nation's medical marijuana movement was birthed, and the Golden State is also where the rest of the country gets most of its illegal ... More >>

• Congressman Pete Stark Aims to Save Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Big Bucks

  published May 26, 2011

  As if raids from gun-toting Drug Enforcement Agency agents weren't enough to make stoners paranoid, California's medical marijuana clubs can also be shut down real fast by the IRS. That's because the ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Must Release Names, Addresses of Pot Growers, City Says

  published May 25, 2011

  Medical marijuana patients don't seem to care where exactly their cannabis is grown. As long as the pot has been lab-tested and is free of mold and pesticides, they're satisfied. But that information... More >>

• Medical Marijuana Patients Sue Federal Government

  published May 23, 2011

  We all know that the wheels of government move slowly -- but nine years slowlyr That pace is too lazy for Americans for Safe Access, which just wants answers. So it's going to court to force the feder... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Phil Ting Is a Buzz Kill, Talks About Extra Tax on Medical Marijuana

  published May 20, 2011

  Taxes are Phil Ting's business -- when the assessor-recorder isn't campaigning for San Francisco mayor, that is. But when Ting recently took stock of the Bay Area tax scene on medical marijuana, he r... More >>

• California DA's Association Is Fighting Bill to Make Pot Growing a Misdemeanor

  published May 19, 2011

  You don't need to tell David Eyster about marijuana crime. As Mendocino County district attorney, he deals with pot crimes more than anyone else in the state. Yet the prosecutors in California's "Emer... More >>

• Will Ed Lee Run for Mayor?

  published May 18, 2011

  Running for mayor is no small feat. It takes endless time, hordes of volunteers, and enormous piles of cash. Just ask Bevan Dufty, who has... More >>

• Joseph Erich Pearson, S.F. Dispensary Cofounder, Arrested After Marijuana Grow Burns in Sonoma

  published May 13, 2011

  The cofounder of San Francisco's slickest medical cannabis dispensary and a member of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force has been charged with multiple felonies stemming from a Sonoma Count... More >>

• Mysterious Phone Call, the Chronicle's C.W. Nevius Works to Derail SOMA Pot Club

  published May 12, 2011

  Not just anyone can open up a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco. Aside from the $8,500 dispensary permit fee and consultant, lawyer, and contractor costs, someone has to pay the rent while... More >>

• Medical Marijuana: Dad Says It Saved Two-Year-Old Son with Cancer

  published May 05, 2011

  There are many ways to look at the story of two-year-old brain-tumor survivor Cash Michael Hyde, whose father, Michael, secretly slipped him medical marijuana oil in his feeding tube during chemothera... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Marijuana Prohibition Turns 100 Today. What Is There to Celebrater

  published Apr 29, 2011

  Alcohol prohibition did little to stop Americans from guzzling booze, though it helped make gangsters rich, cops and courts busy, and encouraged foreign imports of "medicinal whiskey" (sound familiarr... More >>

• Medical Marijuana Providers Go to Prison. Will President Obama Intervener

  published Apr 28, 2011

  Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband, Dale Schafer, are ill. Fry is a breast-cancer survivor with severe mental-health issues, and Schafer's hemophilia means he is frequently bedridden. So he will have to b... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  A Brief Guide to 4/20 in San Francisco

  published Apr 20, 2011

  Like buying a gift for the rich person who has everything, celebrating 4/20 in San Francisco presents a bit of a conundrum -- of privilege. Tokers will seep out of the woodwork in many cities across t... More >>

• Candlestick Park Will Likely Sack the City for Millions

  published April 20, 2011

  Sports fans have long had a litany of reasons to loathe Candlestick Park. Bad for baseball, merely acceptable for football, the 'Stick is old,... More >>

• UPDATE: Obama in SF Marijuana Protest Moved to 4/21

  published Apr 13, 2011

  UPDATE 4/16 -- The marijuana-related protests have been pushed to 7:30 A.M. Thursday, 4/21. More info on Monday.For his promises not to use federal resources on raiding legal dispensaries, many medica... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Busted: San Francisco's Biggest Marijuana Grow to Date

  published Apr 11, 2011

  Aside from a January raid of a licensed growhouse -- and a very angry law professor's threats to sue the SFPD -- it's been a quiet year for marijuana busts in San Francisco. Until now.Police said toda... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Pot Busts Are a High Priority for Cops -- But They Shouldn't Be

  published Apr 07, 2011

  It's long been the desire of voters and San Francisco lawmakers that the city's peace officers enforce all other crimes before busting adults smoking pot. In light of this, it's hard for pot advocates... More >>

• 

  COVER STORY

  Blowing Smoke: Obama Promises One Thing, Does Another on Medical Marijuana

  published April 6, 2011

  That familiar odor wafting from San Francisco street corners, storefronts, and... More >>

• David Douglas, MMA Fighter, Uses Medical Cannabis

  published Mar 31, 2011

  At a fighting gym in Pleasant Hill, there's a gallon of ointment that was originally developed for horses, although David Douglas uses it to fight.It's called Xternal and it's his sponsor, which means... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  National Cancer Institute Says Marijuana Is a Cancer-Fighter, Then Backpedals

  published Mar 30, 2011

  So you think the federal government prevaricates over what to do in Libyar As mixed as many of the government's messages are, the feds really can't take a solid stance when it comes to marijuana.Earli... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  California: 100 Million Marijuana Plants

  published Mar 24, 2011

  Seizures Rise Under Obama Administration as Cops Bust More Plants Than Ever.The marijuana-related headlines on Wednesday were hogged by a report, issued by a private "cannabusiness" company, that says... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Medical Marijuana: Is it Good for the Taxman or Is it Good for the Doctorr

  published Mar 22, 2011

  Operating a medical pot farm is no small feat --  especially when we know there are plenty of police and prosecutors who aren't, ahem, kind to the industry.  But growing this cash crop could... More >>