tagged w/ MMJ
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A state lawmaker in Florida filed a joint resolution this week that would allow Floridians to decide for themselves in the 2012 election whether they want to legalize medical marijuana with a constitutional amendment. At this point, the Republican-controlled Legislature is all that stands in the way.
The resolution, HJR 353, "Medical Use of Cannabis," filed by state Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), would create an article in the state constitution that would "allow medical use of cannabis by citizens and allow Legislature to implement these provisions by general law," reports Ashley Lopez at The Florida Independent.
"That's a compassion issue," Clemens said, reports Whitney Ray at Capitol News Service. "It's an issue of people in this state that are going through tough times and a lot of physical pain and if they want to use this particular drug as opposed to a more heavy prescription narcotic I don't think there's any reason why we shouldn't let them."
"With 81 percent of Americans supporting allowing medical marijuana, it's time Florida stops jailing its most vulnerable citizens for possessing and using a relatively harmless substance recommended to them by their physicians," the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said in an August statement about the proposed constitutional amendment.
In March, a poll found that a big majority of Florida residents -- 57 percent -- support the legalization of medical marijuana. The survey was done by Republican pollster Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, the same firm that conducted polls for Florida Gov. Rick Scott's campaign.
The problem, as pointed out by Matthew Hendley at the Broward Palm Beach New Times, is that both the Senate and the House have to pass the resolution by a three-fifths majority for the amendment to make it to the ballot.
Once it clears those two huge hurdles, the measure would still have a tough fight. Under Florida's election rules, such a referendum would require 60 percent of the state's voters to approve it before it became law.
If the issue does make it to the ballot and is approved by Florida's voters (who, according to the polls, are friendly to medical marijuana), it would take effect on July 1, 2013.
Clemens' eight-page resolution gets into some of the details of how Florida's proposed medical marijuana program would work. Its language says that a patient must have been diagnosed with a "debilitating medical condition" by two doctors and can't have more cannabis that "legislatively presumed to be medically necessary," without explicitly setting that limit.
Patients aren't allowed to "affect another person's health or well-being" with their cannabis smoking, and patients would be prohibited from medicating in public. Workplaces would not be required to accommodate medical marijuana patients as employees, and patients would have to be at least 18 to participate, unless parental consent is given.
Patients with children wouldn't have their kids taken away just for using medical marijuana -- unless their "behavior creates an unreasonable danger" to them.
Caregivers would not face arrest, prosecution or disciplinary action from any professional licensing board for assisting with a patient's use of medical marijuana.
If state or local law enforcement officials confiscate medical marijuana in the event of an arrest, the weed would have to be kept safe and never destroyed, and must be returned to the patient "immediately" if the person isn't prosecuted, the charges are dismissed, or the defendant is acquitted.
A reality check is in order: The Florida Legislature is controlled by Republicans who aren't very good at listening to the wishes of their constituents when it comes to medical marijuana.
Clements already introduced the resolution a few months ago during the 2011 session of the Legislature, but the bill failed to get a hearing, according to the MPP.
To read HJR 353 in its entirety, click here.
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/10/resolution_introduced_to_legalize_medical_marijuan.phpA state lawmaker in Florida filed a joint resolution this week that would allow... more
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A group of local mothers who believe legalizing marijuana will help end the war on drugs rallied outside San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' office on Tuesday to encourage her to support Prop 19.
"Prohibition has failed, and the war on drugs is really a war waged against individuals and their families, so mothers are leading the charge once again to end drug prohibition -- marijuana prohibition -- just as a group of mothers did in the 1930s to end alcohol prohibition, not because they loved drugs and alcohol but because we love our children," said Gretchen Burns Bergman, a co-Founder and executive director of A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment and Healing).
Regulating marijuana would mean that children would not have as much access to the drug and that police would be able to focus on other criminal matters, according to A New PATH.
"Marijuana prohibition has utterly failed," Bergman said. "Tens of thousands of Californians are arrested every year, too many of them young men of color, but marijuana remains widely available to young people."
Reverend Canon Mary Moreno Richardson, with St. Paul's Cathedral in Banker's Hill, supports the New Path and rallied with them. Richardson says she works with undocumented youth and they tell her they run from their villages because of all the corruption and power the drug cartels hold over their towns.
"So much of this power is coming from the money they are making with guns and with marijuana," Richardon said.
The Reverend believes people of faith cannot ignore their human family.
"We cannot continue to stand by while increasingly violent criminal syndicates make huge profits off of illegal marijuana sales on this side of the border and wreak havoc in Mexico," Richardson said. "Prop. 19 will help begin to take those profits away and undermine those cartels - before the violence spills over to San Diego."
New path's campaign is called Moms United to End the War on Drugs.
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Bonnie Dumanis, recently got a $10,000 raise. Her primary function is to shut down dispensaries, lock up free citizens and spit 1940s, "Reefer Madness" government propaganda.A group of local mothers who believe legalizing marijuana will help end the war on... more
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My Morning Jacket singer and guitarist Jim James took a nasty spill off the stage at the University of Iowa Recreation Building Tuesday night, cutting short the band's concert seven songs into its set and forcing the band to cancel three remaining tour dates in Chicago this week.
James apparently misjudged the stagefront at the end of playing "Off the Record" and collapsed onto a row of speakers set up in front of the stage.
Well wishes to camp MMJ -- Obama + Biden 2008.My Morning Jacket singer and guitarist Jim James took a nasty spill off the stage at... more
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MMJ took the stage at midnight and treated us to the show of the festival. Hands down.
A two-hour first set saw a number of rockin' tunes and balanced new material and old. Here's a quick vid of the glowstick war near the start. There were also jaw-dropping covers, "Hot Fun"(Sly&The Family Stone), "Hit It and Quit It"(Parliment), and "Tyrone"(Erykah Badu). They closed the set with "One Big Holiday" with Kirk Hammett of Metallica. He and Jim were shredding so hard that they were laughing at each other! Maybe the best single live song I've seen all year. Jim was all class, walking off stage so that Hammett could command the crowd for a moment on his own. A monsoon, had started about an hour into that first set.
"It's all being washed away", Jim said. He also dubbed the performance "Return to Thunderdome Pt.2" in reference to the band's 2004 Bonnnaroo show. Another rainsoaked rager of mythical proportion.
The second set is when things really got outta-hand. The first three songs might give you an idea, but the mp3's will kick that ass for sure. A freakin' disco party opened the second set with "Cold Sweat"(James Brown), featuring Jim James in a cape and top-hat, shufflin' feet like The Godfather of Soul himself; followed by a super funked-out "Get Down On It"(Kool and the Gang); and a from-left-field "Across 110th Street"(Bobby Womack). Now, the latter song is a 70's r&b favorite of mine. It's also featured in the Tarantino film Jackie Brown. Shit is unreal. The rest of the set was pure psyched-out MMJ bliss with a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Oh, Sweet Nothin'" that was on-point! And here's a good vid of "Wordless Chorus".
But the finale really had us spun. Jim began looking confused asking the crowd, "Has anybody seen Little Orphan Annie? Anyone?" It was at that point that my brains scrambled and Zach Galafanakis entered the stage in a way-too-tight "Orphan Annie" dress. He had a Budweiser and a sheet of notebook paper, and proceeded to karaoke Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" with Jim. Then he flashed us all.
Over the course of this show we rocked out, arms locked, with the most amazing group of people we may never be amidst again. It felt like everyone's ego had vanished leaving no worry of preception or judegment of others; an inherent, understood brotherhood. 3 days removed already, and I can't get past the feeling that it was and is so easy to connect with other human beings when pretense is checked at the door. The same people was pass in the street, never making eye contact, God-forbid a smile or a wave. After the show, those of us in front were hugging each other like, "So great to have shared this with y'all, man!". Some were in tears. It was the best crowd for a show I have ever been a part of. WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL! WE ARE ALL SO DIFFERENT! WE ARE ALL THE SAME!
So, if you've read this far, you deserve to hear what all that gushing is about. Here is the show in total. There are three discs, and they're only about 65MB apiece, so they won't take long to download. The sound quality is very good. If you have never seen My Morning Jacket or have never been to Bonnaroo, get this show. Even among the greatest of festivals, Bonnaroo is amazingly unique. And, to hear perhaps the best live band in the world in such a setting ain't too far from experiencing a miracle.
Enjoy.MMJ took the stage at midnight and treated us to the show of the festival. Hands down.... more
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My Morning Jacket give Current an exclusive look at the making of their new album "Evil Urges" and their Texas tour playing new tracks from the record.My Morning Jacket give Current an exclusive look at the making of their new album... more
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