Rob Kampia is no longer employed by the Marijuana Policy Project, labor unions are eyeing California's cannabis workforce as a recruiting bonanza, and more.

[image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana Policy

Rob Kampia Out at Marijuana Policy Project. Longtime MPP leader Rob Kampia is no longer employed by the organization he founded. The move comes just weeks after Kampia stepped down as executive director just before Thanksgiving but continued on staff. Marijuana Moment reports that "several sources" say a major newspaper is working on a story about previously unreported allegations of sexual misconduct against Kampia, who initially drew media scrutiny over an incident in 2010, causing him to take a temporary hiatus from running the group. In a memo shared with Marijuana Moment, and an accompanying interview with the site, Kampia said he was starting a new group called the Marijuana Leadership Campaign and that he had left MPP after a unanimous decision by the group's board of directors on December 20.

Labor Unions See Gold in California's Marijuana Workforce. At least three national labor unions -- the United Farm Workers, the Teamsters, and the United Food and Commercial Workers -- are eying the state's 100,000+ plus workers in the marijuana industry  in a bid to boost organized labor's membership. The UFCW has already unionized some pot workers in the state and has announced plans to organize them across the country, but UFW says it is well suited to organize agricultural workers, and the Teamsters say there is room for all three unions.

Medical Marijuana

Hawaii Approves Medical Marijuana for ALS Patients. State Department of Health officials announced last Friday that they have added Amyothropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, to the state's list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. Hawaii now joins 18 of the 29 medical marijuana states that recognize ALS as a qualifying condition.

Nearly 50 Lansing, Michigan, Dispensaries Could Have to Close. City Attorney Jim Smiertka said Tuesday that his office has identified 48 businesses that may be dispensaries operating in violation of city ordinances and state law. He sent each a cease and desist order last Friday, warning them they faced a $1,000 a day fine if they don't close their doors. December 15 was the last day the city accepted applications for dispensary licenses and also the last day the state offered license applications for those businesses. Under an executive order issued by Mayor Virg Bernero, dispensaries that didn't apply for licenses by that date must shut down.