Cannabis

New York, San Francisco and Palm Springs, California, are among the cities labeling dispensaries “essential” businesses that can remain open during virus lockdowns, in some cases with limitations.

As people hunker down and stock-up on essentials, many are also stocking up on marijuana. 

San Francisco city officials said on Tuesday that marijuana dispensaries could reopen after their closure due to the shelter-in-place order.

Marin County is poised to approve its latest cannabis delivery service against the wishes of one of its biggest school districts. 

The Board approved licenses in July for two delivery-only cannabis businesses located in Lucas Valley and Santa Venetia, but neither one has opened yet.

The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office discovered more than 1,400 marijuana plants in the West Point grow house, about 70 miles southeast of Sacramento, on Thursday, according to a statement.

Officials also found that the illegal vapes confiscated in the December raids typically were not as potent as advertised, and sometimes contained just a fraction of the THC claimed on the labels, according to state testing results.

A jury in November had convicted Sierra of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the case. Sierra was sentenced to an additional 25 years to life due to firearm enhancements.

Despite the school district's opposition, Martinez City Council voted on Wednesday to approve an operating permit for a cannabis dispensary near a Alhambra High School. 

Oakland police have arrested one person at a multi-story commercial building believed to be a marijuana grow site.

The 19-year-old was in possession of a concealed loaded handgun, and the 22-year-old was in possession of more than a pound of marijuana and was on parole, police said.

An alarm at the business in the 900 block of Piner Place notified police at 3:36 a.m. and officers found six men in their 20s loading cars with stolen marijuana, police said in a notice.

Millbrae resident Queenie Qi, 47, was pulled over shortly after 10 p.m. on El Camino Real at Jenevein Avenue in San Bruno.

Leaders with San Francisco's African American community want the board of supervisors to use tax revenue from hotels and the cannabis industry to fund reparations.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf says a tax break city council is poised to give large cannabis businesses is a "reckless giveaway."