Pakistan, Medical Marijuana and the Rights of Reporters
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With more dispensaries than there are schools, will the City of LA finally provide some guidelines for medical marijuana? Plus, the founder of the celebrity gossip site TMZ says the LA Sheriff violated his legal right to protect his sources. On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, Pakistan's army is finally taking on the Taliban in South Waziristan. Will the much-delayed offensive help the US and NATO against the Taliban in Afghanistan? Is Pakistan more interested in its historic conflict with India?
Banner image: Composite from the TMZ website
Main Topic
Pakistan and the Taliban ()
Twenty-eight thousand Pakistani soldiers are in the fourth day of an offensive in South Waziristan, a province in western Pakistan where some 10,000 Taliban provide a base for al Qaeda and training for foreign jihadis.
Guests:
- Zahid Hussain: Journalist, Wall Street Journal and London Times
- Najam Sethi: Editor, Friday Times
- Hassan Abbas: Senior Advisor, Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
- Karl Inderfurth: former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs
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Making News
LA City Attorney's Plan to Regulate Medical Marijuana ()
Since voters approved its use 13 years ago, many California cities have established rules for prescribing and dispensing medical marijuana. They're based on Attorney General Jerry Brown's official opinion that over-the-counter sales for medicinal purposes are legal for nonprofit operations. In Los Angeles, law enforcement officials disagree and the lack of specific guidelines has led to an explosion of marijuana dispensaries. Today, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich submitted an ordinance to the City Council.
Guests:
- Carmen Trutanich: Los Angeles City Attorney
Links:
Main Topic
Did the Sheriff's Department Illegally Search Reporter's Records? ()
When actor Mel Gibson was arrested in 2006, the LA County Sheriff's Department played it as a routine stop for drunk driving. Then TMZ, the website renowned for celebrity gossip, reported that Gibson had attempted to escape and made statements that were loudly profane and anti-Semitic. Moreover, the arresting officer had been ordered to lie. That all turned out to be accurate and, two weeks ago, The LA Times revealed that the Sheriff's department tried to find the source of the leak by obtaining a search warrant for the telephone records of TMZ founder Harvey Levin. Media law experts and reporters' groups accused the Sheriff of violating state and federal laws protecting journalists and their sources. Levin himself wasn't talking, until last night at a meeting of the Radio & Television News Association.
Guests:
- Harvey Levin: Founder and Executive Producer, TMZ
- Mike Gennaco: Chief Attorney, LA County Office of Independent Review
- Terry Francke: General Counsel, Californians Aware
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Underwriters
Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.
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