Executive Director, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' Los Angeles Chapter
Criminal defense attorney, specializing in marijuana cases; Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, he helped write Proposition 215 which legalized medical marijuana
US Attorneys Told to Go after Pot Traffickers, Not Patients Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but 15 states, including California, have legalized it for medicinal use. Today US Attorney General Eric Holder reversed national policy and ordered federal authorities not to arrest or charge suppliers or users who conform to state laws. Los Angeles has more marijuana dispensaries than any place else, between 800 and 1000 — more than there are public schools. District Attorney Steve Cooley, who's up for re-election next year, says "about 100 percent…are operating illegally." That's because, he insists, they are making money. Cooley declined to appear tonight on WWLA?, as did City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who agrees with Cooley's conclusion.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.