A concerned citizen with absolutely no sense of the value of good marijuana spotted an attended bag on the sidewalk near a Richmond District bus stop early Wednesday. Upon inspection, he saw a tear in the bag, and identified the contents as pot. What did he do? High-five the nearest stranger and high-tail it back to his man cave? No, he immediately called police. more ›

Two late-stage teenagers from Alameda are in police custody after raiding the Richmond district home of a medical marijuana distributor Saturday afternoon. According to police, 18-year-old Kevin Carey Harvell II pulled a handgun on the 24-year-old legal weed dealer after the victim showed him the product. Harvell and his accomplice, 19-year-old Aivan Eugene Acala, grabbed "three large bags" of weed and attempted to make off in their 1991 Toyota Celica. more ›

Over on the 900 block of Geary Street, around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a man was robbed of over a pound of medical marijuana while leaving a dispensary. (Presumably The Divinity Tree at 958 Geary.) "The victim, a 34-year-old man, was walking out of the dispensary when a suspect pointed a gun at his face and demanded 'weed,' " reports SF Appeal. "The victim handed over a satchel that contained 1.25 pounds of medical marijuana and cash." more ›

It goes to show you: Everybody smokes weed! A truck loaded with bags of kind bud crashed near the Oakridge Mall yesterday in South San Jose, and, not wanting to get nabbed by cops showing up at the scene, the driver fled. Meanwhile, bags of weed were spilling out of the truck and into the street near Blossom Hill Road and Playa Del Rey, and passing motorists quickly pulled over and snatched most of them up before the cops arrived. more ›

On Thursday, Marin authorities eradicated an estimated 13,000 baby marijuana plants found on Bolinas Ridge near Kent Lake. Marin Municipal Water District, National Park Service, California Department of Justice and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration all took part in the operation. Lt. Barry Heying explained why to CBS, saying, "These types of criminal enterprises result in erosion damage created by the clear-cutting of indigenous plants as well as hazardous trash left behind by the lawless operators." Well then. [CBS] more ›

The San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force conducted a coordinated raid of nine homes Monday, in both S.F. and Daly City, all of which are thought to be connected to the same "tight-knit drug trafficking organization." They arrested eight individuals, all of whom have Vietnamese-sounding names, and seized 55 pounds of the green bud along with 1,400 plants, six guns, and $47,000 in cash. more ›

During the annual ode of marijuana at 4:20 on 4/20/2011 in Golden Gate Park, hordes of stoners gathered at Sharon Meadow to partake in some kind bud. But the party turned sour after one woman was attacked during a seating area dispute. "A 47-year-old woman was bashed over the head with a portable radio and threatened to be killed in a dispute with two other women over space to sit at a National Marijuana Day celebration in Golden Gate Park Wednesday," reports The Examiner. The assailant's friend then threatened to kill her. Charming. Later in the day, a 24-year-old Citrus Heights woman was arrested for making felony threats against the victim. The basher escaped on foot. [Ex] more ›

A mischievous San Mateo teen tried and failed multiple times to extort local drivers by impersonating a police officer and threatening them with speeding tickets. 19 year old Alex Grabovetsky used a siren and flashing red lights mounted on his mother's teal pickup truck to pull over drivers in Millbrae and on the 101 near SFO in early December. more ›

In an effort to waste time, or whatever, Santa Clara County authorities on Thursday busted several medical marijuana clubs selling weed in the county. "An official with the County Special Enforcement Team said narcotics agents served warrants on two MediLeaf medical marijuana clubs in San Jose and properties in Gilroy and Morgan Hill," reports AP (via CBS 5)."Task force commander Danielle Ayers said agents shut down the clubs, seized marijuana, documents and computers." more ›

We all had a good laugh at the reporter from Texas who discovered "there's some people smokin' weed!" near McCovey Cove before the World Series, but it wouldn't be a hilarious stereotype if it weren't at least partially true. more ›

A month ago, we took you inside the Apple store of Pot Dispensaries, now The Atlantic brings us a preview of something more like the Ikea of weed growers. more ›

Alameda Country authorities are looking for Manuel Trujillo, 62, and Mohammed Kahn, 47, who allegedly kidnapped and killed 27-year-old Francisco Lopez "after mistakenly believing Lopez wanted to steal their marijuana." According to AP/CBS 5, "Lopez and his brother, Fernando, had gone to a home where Kahn and Trujillo were to buy the drug, not steal it on Feb. 26. The brothers were apparently tied up and beaten. Fernando Lopez was eventually able to get away." Lopez, however wasn't so lucky. His decomposed body was found on Aug. 26 near Niles Canyon Road. If you have any information about the case, call the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Tip Line at 510-667-3622. more ›

Although Facebook claims to have removed the pro-marijuana legalization ads so users wouldn't, you know, get baked, public health might not be the real reason. (Shocking.) As Valleywag reports, Facebook, quite possibly, wanted to keep the site "attractive to big spending, blue chip ad clients who don't like their campaigns surrounded by seedy looking pro narcotics narcotics ads." Major buzz kill. [Valleywag] more ›

While we head over to Spear and Mission to check out the authenticity of this apparent marijuana plant, please read what a tipster sent to us: more ›

Telegraph Hill resident Bruce Rossignol thought it would be a grand idea to liven things up on North Beach's ho-hum Broadway strip. Bruce Rossignol planned to open up a pot dispensary on near numerous strip joints and bars. Bruce Rossignol wanted to call it The Joynt Collective. Bruce Rossignol wanted The Joynt Collective to feature live jazz and good food. Bruce Rossignol had a phenomenal idea. But, Bruce Rossignol was wrong. See, the city turned down Rossignol's plan to convert the old North Beach Theatre (a former strip club across the street from Larry Flynt's House of Vagina) into a marijuana joint because pot clubs, unlike boobie and booze bars, cannot be located near elementary schools. more ›

Young, twentysomething Californians with advanced degrees are figuring out what Nancy Botwin has known since her husband died: growing and selling marijuana on the black market in a down economy is a swell idea. J.B. Powell (who used to write for the Bay Guardian) penned an article about regular Bay Area folks growing pot in order to stave off eviction, hunger, and creditor calls. more ›

Rincon Hill will get a bit more mellow soon (which is a good thing for some people in the area) when the tony San Francisco neighborhood gets its very own pot club. A new cannabis dispensary has -- at last! -- been approved to open in Rincon Hill at 527 Howard Street (across from Temple nightclub, next door toe Eve) under the name of Igzactly Health Center, according to the Rincon Hill Neighborhood Association. more ›

The medicinal, confounding, self-righteous, and needlessly macho world of ardent pot smoking had some sort of award ceremony this past weekend. The High Times San Francisco Medical Cannabis Cup held their first-ever competition on getting high, or whatnot, as Bay Area weed dispensaries competed for best product. more ›

A house fire was reported a little before 7 a.m. this morning at a house on the 3900 block of Angelo Avenue in Oakland. During the blaze, neighbors and firefighters learned that the delightful plumes of smoke emitting from the roasting building "led to the discovery of an indoor marijuana growing operation." Sweet. CBS 5 notes, "Eyewitnesses reported a strong smell of marijuana at the site." The fire was under control in about an hour. more ›

CBS and SurveyUSA conducted a poll on April 20 (get it?), asking 500 voters across California for their views on legal weed. The results? It discovered that "56 percent of Californians support legalization and just 42 percent oppose it. Only three percent were unsure." Younger voters, of course, were highly in favor of legalizing the kind bud. more ›

We received two queries today regarding pot, asking us if we knew of any safe bars/clubs in San Francisco in which smoke mary jane. To which we say, The Fillmore circa 1972. How the hell would we know? We don't do that kind of drug. more ›

Oh no! Tom Sienstra, cherished Chronicle writer and host of the much-loved Great Outdoors With Tom Stienstra, was pinched last week by the fuzz for growing marijuana for sale. Over 60 pot plants, 11.1 pounds of weed, "scales, packaging materials and other paraphernalia" were taken from his residence. The Chronicle reports: "Siskiyou County sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said deputies found 'a sophisticated marijuana cultivation operation in the barn' at Stienstra's home in Weed, a small town 30 miles south of Yreka, when they searched it March 25." Stienstra and his wife, Stephani Cruickshank, were arrested and booked on suspicion of possession of drugs for sale. They were later released "with no charges filed pending an investigation" more ›

The LA Times is reporting that the "legalize pot" initiative unleashed by local pot baron, Richard Lee (proud owner and operator of nearby correspondence school, Oaksterdam University), may qualify for the ballot today. At last count, the measure still needed 15,000 signatures. Los Angeles County, which collected signatures from more than 140,000 stoned lay-abouts, is required to hand them over to the state today. It's expected this will more than likely push the measure past the 433,971 signature threshold needed to bring it to the ballot. more ›

"Not at the Same Time, Anyway" by Generik11. more ›

by Rachel Brodsky more ›

San Francisco Giants great Tim Lincecum reaches to shake the hand of Bill Neukom, left, Giants managing partner, while making an appearance at the Clark County Courthouse on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 , in Vancouver, Wash., on mary jane charges. Lincecum agreed to pay $513 to resolve marijuana charges. (AP Photo/The Columbian, Troy Wayrynen) more ›

by Rachel Brodsky The age of Prohibition (1920-1933) was a relatively unsuccessful period in American history where the American government sought to ban all alcoholic beverages from being exported, imported or sold. And though the 20's are remembered for paving the way of the Jazz Age, Women's Suffrage and the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the government's Prohibition of alcohol catalyzed a seedy underbelly of organized crime, speakeasies and liquor smuggling. more ›

Oh gee, this is rich. A "tense" four hour standoff in the city of Richmond last night led to the destruction of some dude's bong. more ›

Just your average man taking his bong out for a stroll on 16th Street in the Mission. more ›

Enough signatures have been collected to put marijuana on the 2010 ballot. The effort to get enough John Hancocks, SF Chron reports, "cost more than $1 million." The proposal? Glad you asked. It would make possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older legal. What's more, you could "cultivate marijuana gardens up to 25 square feet." more ›