It’s list time

Hey, it’s the end of the year. You wanna do a recap of the highs and lows? A top 10 list?

—Softball Sammie

You got it, Sammie. But 10 seems like a lot of work. How about a few top three lists? Let’s start with the lows:

1. All these bans on growing medical cannabis in your own backyard. Sacramento may have a workable ordinance, but Fresno and Butte counties and a few other places do not. Prohibiting medical-cannabis users from growing their own medicine in their own backyard is no way to show compassion.

2. The harassment of law-abiding, politically active medical-cannabis dispensaries by the feds. El Camino Wellness Center in Sacramento was raided and shut down. Harborside Health Center in Oakland is fighting it out in federal court as I write this column. These two clubs have done everything right under California law: They had or have the support of the city they are in, and they provide good jobs and pay taxes to the state and the federal government. Oh, yeah, and they help sick people! This ridiculousness has got to stop.

3. The continued recalcitrance of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. I don’t even want to talk about it. These people are costing their county money and jobs. Most of them need to be voted out.

And then, the mids:

1. The re-election of Barack Obama. While he was a better choice than Mitt Romney, his support of cannabis-law reform has been tepid. He paid lip service to respecting state law, but U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Drug Enforcement Administration have been going after law-abiding California cannabis collectives with a vengeance over the past two years.

2. Oregon and Arkansas. They came so close. Oregon almost legalized recreational cannabis this year. Arkansas was the first southern state to get a medical-cannabis initiative on the ballot. It didn’t pass, but it’s a step in the right direction.

3. I don’t really have a third one for this segment.

And the highs:

1. Washington and Colorado. Hell to the yes! Legal weed is here! And, barring any federal interference, weed stores are on the way. This is so exciting! It remains to be seen how these two states will regulate cannabis sales, but people can no longer be arrested for possessing up to 1 ounce of weed. Woo-hoo!

2. The rise of “sun-grown” cannabis. That’s the new brand name for outdoor pot. Whatever. I don’t care what you call it, I just enjoy it. Well-grown outdoor weed is the best. You indoor people can talk all the smack you want, but plants should grow in real sunlight with real dirt. The growers in southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley could give Mendocino and Humboldt counties a run for their money. This year’s Emerald Cup cannabis competition had more than 200 entries, and all of them were top-shelf. Sun, rain and dirt for the win.

3. 3 Kings. This is my favorite new strain of 2012. It’s a mix of Trainwreck, Diesel and Headband, I think—growers like to keep their secrets. Mostly sativa, but with a great Kush-y flavor and a smooth, mellow-but-not-dopey high. It’s kinda hard to find, but well worth the hunt.