The International Cannabis and Hemp Exposition took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City on April 17th and 18th. The expo, which had the first permitted area for the use of medical marijuana, was the largest event of its kind to hit Northern California.
Established activist organizations dished out information to prospective members, and hundreds of vendors pitched their freshest accessories to thousands of medical marijuana patients and connoisseurs. At the same time, prominent members of the cannabis community discussed a wide-range of topics, including marijuana cultivation, medication and prohibition. However the main buzz, on and off stage, was the initiative to “legalize, control, and tax cannabis in California,” which is to be decided by voters in the state during the November 2010 elections. Read More and View Photos
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.
Staying true to tradition, thousands of people celebrated Four Twenty in and around Porter Meadow at UC Santa Cruz on April 20th, 2009. Four Twenty (420) is a time of day when people smoke cannabis together. For that reason, April 20th has evolved into a counterculture holiday where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis. Porter Meadow at UCSC has traditionally been the largest 420 gathering point around. Despite the restrictions established by the UCSC administration and police to curtail the unorganized convergence, people showed they were determined to celebrate Four Twenty, with friends and strangers, in the Porter Meadow. 
Thousands of students from around the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas participated in a 
