Email Author Chris Roberts

2012 Stories by Chris Roberts

• Harborside Health Center Patients Talk About Buying Marijuana on the Street (Video)

  published Aug 15, 2012

  There isn't much agreement over who uses medical marijuana, and why. There's dispute over even the nomenclature: cannabis users refer to themselves as "patients," as do some state and local laws; some... More >>

• Marijuana Crackdown Staged to Distract From "Fast and Furious" Scandal, Author Says

  published Aug 13, 2012

  Turns out the federal Justice Department's almost-yearlong crackdown on state-legal medical cannabis has nothing to do with hard-line drug warriors, forfeiture numbers, President Barack Obama's reelec... More >>

• Medical Marijuana: Feds Show Little Interest in San Jose, Where Dispensaries Are Illegal

  published Aug 10, 2012

  Aside from strikes at the medical marijuana industry's most vocal, visible, and influential leaders, little rhyme or reason has accompanied the federal Justice Department's crackdown on California can... More >>

• Marijuana Is Career Poison for Olympic Athletes Who Are Not Named Michael Phelps

  published Aug 07, 2012

  While he never raced against Jim Thorpe in the decathlon and never competed against the color barrier, American swimmer Michael Phelps can nonetheless lay claim to the title of most decorated Olympian... More >>

• Medical Marijuana Crackdown: Rep. Barbara Lee Tells Feds to Back Off

  published Aug 06, 2012

  Last week was one of the the darkest for the medical marijuana movement, with the federal Justice Department picking two of San Francisco's best-known and best-behaving licensed medical cannabis dispe... More >>

• LA Times Fooled by Fake Press Release; Pro-Marijuana Groups Claim Responsibility

  published Aug 02, 2012

  If only the War on Drugs had extended to all drugs -- including the makers of Viagra, Xanax, and whatever other pills people pop these days.Many a pro-marijuana, anti-prohibition argument abide by thi... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Medical Marijuana Advocates to Argue DEA in Federal Court

  published Jul 31, 2012

  Is marijuana a medicine, or is it a vitality-sucking, life-destroying devil weedr Cannabis advocates and law enforcement don't exactly see eye-to-eye on this crucial point -- but for the first time, a... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Obama's Oakland Visit: Marijuana Lovers Promise To Be There

  published Jul 20, 2012

  President Barack Obama's reelection campaign picked office space in downtown Oakland (of which there is plenty available) to house its Bay Area headquarters. The East Bay city has put in the work, and... More >>

• Justice Department Closes Two More S.F. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

  published Jul 18, 2012

  The number of medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco will dip to a nearly 10-year low on Aug. 1, when two more permitted pot clubs will close under pressure from the federal Justice Departmen... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Feds Move to Close Harborside Health Center, California's Biggest Marijuana Dispensary

  published Jul 12, 2012

  The federal Justice Department's crackdown on California's medical marijuana industry escalated Monday when the government moved to shut down the state's largest cannabis dispensary.U.S. Attorney Meli... More >>

• Cash-Only Pot: Credit Cards No Longer Accepted at Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

  published Jul 06, 2012

  High FICO score be damned: Your credit is no longer any good at California medical marijuana dispensaries, whose accounts with credit card processors have been canceled, thanks to pressure from the fe... More >>

• California Appeals Court Strikes Down Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bans

  published Jul 03, 2012

  Medical marijuana dispensaries are protected under California state law, and cities and counties have no right to ban cannabis collectives outright, according to a state Court of Appeals ruling releas... More >>

• Pot Use Is "Double" in States Where Medical Marijuana Is Legal

  published Jun 29, 2012

  Here's something you can file under "you don't say": The rate of marijuana use in states that allow medical marijuana is nearly double that of states that don't allow medical marijuana, according to a... More >>

• Medical Marijuana Activists Add to Attorney General Eric Holder's List of Woes

  published Jun 28, 2012

  Attorney General Eric Holder is an embattled man. For refusing to release documents related to the Fast and the Furious "gun-walking" scandal, Congress on Thursday voted to hold the country's top law ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Assemblyman Tom Ammiano Pulls Plug on Medical Marijuana Reform Bill

  published Jun 26, 2012

  Attempts to reform California's often confusing and always contentious medical marijuana industry have been put on hold until next year -- at the earliest.Assemblyman Tom Ammiano on Monday withdrew fr... More >>

• Organized Labor Flexes Muscle for Medical Marijuana Dispensary

  published Jun 22, 2012

  Support from UFCW Helps Mission Organics Win PermitSan Francisco's reputation as a union town was hard-won on the docks and picket lines of the 1930s. Less violence accompanied the city being known as... More >>

• Oaksterdam Marijuana and Hemp Museum Moving, Seeking Sponsors

  published Jun 19, 2012

  For those corporations or philanthropists who always wanted to attach their names to the country's self-described most expansive and storied collection of marijuana-related artifacts, the time is now.... More >>

• City Attorney Dennis Herrera Defends Medical Marijuana Permitting

  published Jun 18, 2012

  Medical marijuana does not grow on trees (pot plants are much smaller). And cannabis does not fall from the sky: In order for marijuana users to access their preferred medicine -- and in order for the... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Medical Marijuana Is Still Too Expensive

  published Jun 15, 2012

  Being poor is not so bad. Not in San Francisco at least, where in addition to free housing, city officials are now also handing out taxpayer-subsidized puppies to panhandlers. The disabled, terminally... More >>

• Hemp Farming Still Illegal, Obama Provides Convenient Scapegoat

  published Jun 12, 2012

  If and when Tea Party hero Sen. Rand Paul visits San Francisco and goes shopping, he'll find friendly faces in the aisles of Rainbow Grocery more quickly than he will any Safeway (especially the Castr... More >>

• NORML: Attorney General Eric Holder Lied to Congress About Marijuana Crackdown

  published Jun 08, 2012

  Attorney General Eric Holder "lied" to members of Congress when he insisted that the only targets of the federal Justice Department's medical marijuana crackdown were breaking state law, cannabis advo... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Medical Marijuana Clubs Still Don't Cause Crime, Study Says

  published Jun 08, 2012

  Whenever a new medical marijuana dispensary applies for a San Francisco permit, a troop of naysayers is ready with a predictable script: dispensaries cause crime, harm children, and destroy neighborho... More >>

• Marijuana Legalization Support May Have Plateaued in California, Poll Says

  published Jun 06, 2012

  Things are said to come in threes. If so, "things" are not polls showing a majority support for marijuana legalization. After pot-friendly polls conducted by Gallup and Rasmussen gave cannabis a littl... More >>

• Fire, Not Obama Crackdown, Shuts Mission Medical Marijuana Dispensary

  published May 31, 2012

  Prior to the four-alarm fire next door, the coffee shop behind the nameless awning and signless storefront at 208 Valencia St. was notable not for what was behind the white door opposite the barista -... More >>

• Medical Marijuana Users Don't Need to Be Marijuana Farmers, Court Says

  published May 25, 2012

  It doesn't take much to join a collective or cooperative in California, be it a grocery store or a medical cannabis dispensary. In the former, perhaps all you need is a small fee; in the latter, a doc... More >>