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On Tuesday, March 9th, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-0 to support a recommendation from the city staff which bans the opening of an additional medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Cruz. This was the first reading of the vote and there will be a second vote in two weeks to finalize the ruling. Under the new ordinance, the two existing medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted to operate a cultivation facility up to 3,000 square feet, which must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

On Tuesday, February 9, police arrested Rick Morse, the owner of Med Mar, the last medical marijuana dispensary in the City of Fresno. Morse was arrested for violating a court order which closed about one dozen dispensaries in January.

The Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a collective providing cannabis under California’s 1996 Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215), along with the city and county of Santa Cruz, have reached a settlement in their unprecedented lawsuit against the federal government. WAMM's case was prompted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration's raid of their medicinal garden in Davenport on September 5, 2002, in which armed agents terrorized residents and patients, and seized more than 160 cannabis plants.

The Santa Cruz Planning Commission passed a new medical marijuana dispensary ban recommendation in mid-November, essentially rubber-stamping the staff's proposal. It mirrors the 'Reefer Madness' hysteria of other cities, eager to demonize and limit marijuana sales.

For reasons unknown, Cannabis Culture Magazine's Facebook page has been disabled by the popular social networking site. The page, which had over 25,000 fans, disappeared on December 23, 2009. Shortly afterward, administrators of the page received an email notification stating that the page violated Facebook's terms of use. According to Cheryl Shuman, Executive Director of Beverly Hills NORML 90210, her Facebook account was removed the same day.

In a hearing on Thursday, November 19th at 7pm at Santa Cruz City Hall Chambers, the Planning Commission will continue consideration of a staff-concocted ban on all additional marijuana clubs and growhouses in Santa Cruz. The meeting will be open to the public.

The Santa Cruz, CA collective Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) won a major award in August from The Society for the Study of Social Problems, a national organization of sociologists. The SSSP’s "Social Action" award and a check for $1,000 are given each year to a not-for-profit organization which embodies and enacts the social justice goals of the SSSP.