People convicted of distributing fentanyl will face stiffer criminal penalties in the coming year under a new law shaped by rising overdose deaths. The law increases the penalty for selling or distributing more than 1 kilogram of fentanyl by an automatic addition of three years to the original sentence. The penalties continue to increase with […]
Law
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Universities Can’t Yank Financial Aid from Students Who Get Private Scholarships, New Law Says
As Dixie Samaniego prepared for her first semester at California State University Fullerton, she had one focus: finding a way to pay. “I knew that my family wasn’t going to be able to pay, or help in any way financially,” said Samaniego, now a senior, “so I started applying to scholarships everywhere.” As a low-income […]
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New Laws with New Protections Ring in the New Year
With the new year come new laws and 2020 has a bevy of changes going into effect on everything from California’s minimum wage and the classification of independent contractors to protections for nursing mothers and a ban on smoking at state parks and beaches. Here’s a glance at a few of the ones that may […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Attorney: Cannabis Church Lawsuit Could Have Far-Reaching Effects
I read “A Sack of Sacrament” in the July 4 North Coast Journal with interest, as you might imagine since the Redwood Spiritual Healing Ministry’s lawsuit against Humboldt County raises issues that have long interested me in my legal dealings on behalf of cannabis growers. You brought up some interesting facts, but I think the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Canna-count the Votes
Lost amid all the talk of a looming red or blue wave coming on Election Day, depending on who you ask on what particular day, is the likelihood that a green wave will continue to sweep over the country. A total of 30 states across the country have already legalized or decriminalized cannabis for medical […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Happy Birthday, Prohibition!
On Aug. 2, 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act passed. Although later laws would codify punishment for cannabis smokers, sellers and cultivators, House Resolution 6385, drafted by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics, is regarded as the first time the federal government laid its heavy hand on the plant. The […]
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Deadline for Marijuana Laws Lifted, Two Days After Supes Cram Through Ordinance
Two days after the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors passed a comprehensive outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance — an effort of superbureaucratic speed — state lawmakers lifted the deadline that led to the county’s mad rush. Assemblyman Jim Wood announced this morning that his emergency legislation, lifting a March 1 deadline for local jurisdictions to […]
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Humboldt County Releases a Draft Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance
Just weeks after the board of supervisors agreed to take on the creation of an outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance, county staff has released a detailed draft ordinance that would create a strict permitting plan for the county’s cannabis cultivators. It’s a remarkably fast turnaround for a staff that shared concerns that it would be […]
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The Justice Bus is Coming
The Justice Bus Project (2013) from OneJustice on Vimeo. Free legal support will soon be available for those affected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program for undocumented youth who entered the United States before the age of 16. On March 27 and 28 representatives from OneJustice will be holding clinics to […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Boring Stuff about Banks and Laws
Industrial sites are the hot real estate commodities in Colorado, as would-be pot barons are snatching up warehouses and other properties suitable for indoor marijuana growing. A Bloomberg news story this week led with an anecdote about a Denver broker who offloaded a leaky, 40,000-square-foot warehouse in less than a day to a cash-paying client […]
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4th Amendment Rights and SCOTUS SWAG
When the United States Supreme Court took up the only criminal case on its calendar this year, a local attorney was at counsel table. Arcata attorney Jeffrey Schwartz — husband to the North Coast Journal’s Media Maven, Marcy Burstiner — didn’t argue the petitioner’s case, but was asked to sit in and advise by appellate […]
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Top 10 Stories of 2013
Summing up the tumult and transformations of a year in Humboldt County with only 10 stories is impossible. Collected here are some — definitely not all — of the events that stayed with us. For more on these stories, go to northcoastjournal.com. The Fires The communities tucked along the rivers in our mountains know fire. […]