tagged w/ marijuana legalization
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Riding on the wave of President Obama’s memo to end DEA interference in states’ medical marijuana laws and an unprecedented response from the media, Oregon NORML’s Cannabis Café opens at 4:20pm on November 13, 2009 at 700 NE Dekum St, Portland, OR 97211.
“The response has been overwhelming,” says Madeline Martinez, Executive Director of Oregon NORML. “We are excited to be able to provide a safe place for patients to medicate that is out of public view within the guidelines of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA).”
Many patients travel to Portland for medical care and treatment and have no place they can go to use their medicine during those often exhausting and intensive trips. “Do they go out into an alley and hide in the back of their car?” Martinez said. “There needs to be a place, much like our meetings, where people can socialize and network.”
In the week since the announcement of the café’s opening, stories have appeared in most major Oregon newspapers and television stations. Martinez appeared on OPB’s Think Out Loud talk show and attended the local neighborhood association meeting to reassure the public that the café will be operated at the highest of standards and strives to be a positive addition to the area.
Members must be registrants of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) and members of Oregon NORML to gain entrance to the café. Please contact Oregon NORML for more information on the message line 503-239-6110. Details and information will also be available at www.ornorml.org as they become available.
http://blog.norml.org/2009/11/10/oregon-normls-groundbreaking-cannabis-cafe-opening-this-friday/Riding on the wave of President Obama’s memo to end DEA interference in states’... more
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AUGUSTA, Maine- In a landmark vote, Maine voters today approved Question 5, making the state the third in the country to license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and the first ever to do so by a vote of the people.
With 49 percent of the vote tallied, the measure was cruising to an easy win with 60.2 percent voting “yes” and 39.8 percent voting “no.”
Under the measure, the state will license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and set rules for their operation. While 13 states permit medical use of marijuana, only Rhode Island and New Mexico have similar dispensary provisions, both of which were adopted by the states’ legislatures. Maine’s original medical marijuana law was passed in 1999.
“This is a dramatic step forward, the first time that any state’s voters have authorized the state government to license medical marijuana dispensaries,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., which drafted the initiative and provided start-up funding for the campaign. “Coming a decade after passage of Maine’s original marijuana law, this is a huge sign that voters are comfortable with these laws, and also a sign that the recent change of policy from the Obama administration is having a major impact.”
In October, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a formal policy indicating that federal prosecutors should not prosecute medical marijuana activities authorized by state law.
Question 5 also expands the list of medical conditions qualifying for protection under Maine’s law to include several conditions that are included in most other medical marijuana states, including intractable pain, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“Lou Gehrig’s disease”).
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/november032009/main_pot.phpAUGUSTA, Maine- In a landmark vote, Maine voters today approved Question 5, making the... more
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The End of Prohibition
"I think this would be a good time for a beer," Franklin D. Roosevelt said upon signing a bill that made 3.2-percent lager legal again, some months ahead of the full repeal of Prohibition. I hope Barack Obama will come up with some comparably witty remarks as he presides over the dismantling of our contemporary forms of prohibition—laws that prevent gay marriage, restrict cannabis as a Schedule I Controlled Substance, and ban travel to Cuba. "You may now kiss the groom," perhaps, or—a version of the comment he once made about smoking pot—"I inhaled—that was the point."
Prohibition now is different from Prohibition then. When the 18th Amendment went into effect in 1920, it was a radical social experiment challenging a custom as old as civilization. Its predictable failure—the gross insult to individual rights, the impossibility of enforcement, the spawning of organized crime—came to an end when Utah, of all places, became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment in 1933. Today prohibition is a byword for futile attempts to legislate morality and remake human nature.
Our forms of prohibition are more sins of omission than commission. Rather than trying to take away longstanding rights, they're instances of conservative laws failing to keep pace with a liberalizing society. But like Prohibition in the '20s, these restrictions have become indefensible as well as impractical, and as a result are fading fast. Within 10 years, it seems a reasonable guess that Americans will travel freely to Cuba, that all states will recognize gay unions, and that few will retain criminal penalties for marijuana use by individuals. Whether or not Democrats retain control of Congress, whether or not Obama is re-elected, and whether they happen sooner or later than expected, these reforms are inevitable—not because politics has changed but because society has.
Source: http://www.slate.com/id/2234017/The End of Prohibition
"I think this would be a good time for a beer," Franklin D.... more
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"Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."
-President Jimmy Carter: Message to Congress, August 2, 1977.
Introduction
Since the 1970s, more than a dozen government-appointed commissions have examined the effects of marijuana, and made public policy recommendations regarding its use. Overwhelmingly, the conclusions of these expert panels have been the same: marijuana prohibition causes more social damage than marijuana use, and the possession of marijuana for personal use should no longer be a criminal offense.
Disturbingly, these findings have typically fallen on deaf ears, often being dismissed by the very governments that appointed them. Taken together, however, they exemplify the consensus that exists among the scientific community in support of liberalizing the legal status of marijuana. Conversely, their omission in the present debate reflects the unfortunate reality that marijuana prohibition is perpetuated not by science, but rather by emotion and rhetoric. We do not let these factors dictate other public policies, nor should we let them dominate the debate over marijuana-law reform.
NORML encourages the role of science in this debate, and applauds the efforts of previous commissions that have examined this issue. In an effort to better publicize this work, NORML has compiled the findings from more than a dozen government-appointed drug advisory committees, and highlighted their recommendations regarding the legal status of marijuana. Their conclusions, as well as those of several prominent private commissions, are listed chronologically.
Government Commissioned Reports
“We believe … that the continued prohibition of cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of Canadians much more than does the substance itself or the regulated marketing of the substance. In addition, we believe that the continued criminalization of cannabis undermines the fundamental values set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and confirmed in the history of a country based on diversity and tolerance.
… It is for this reason that the Committee recommends that the Government of Canada amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to create a criminal exemption scheme, under which the production and sale of cannabis would be licensed, [and] … to permit persons over the age of 16 to procure cannabis and its derivatives at duly licensed distribution centers.”
- Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. 2002. Cannabis: Summary Report: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy. Ottawa.
"We accept that cannabis can be harmful and that its use should be discouraged. However, ... we do not believe there is anything to be gained by exaggerating its harmfulness. On the contrary, exaggeration undermines the credibility of the messages that we wish to send regarding more harmful drugs. We support, therefore, ... reclassify[ing] cannabis from Class B to Class C ... [so that] possession of cannabis would cease to be an 'arrestable offense.'"
- British House of Commons Home Affairs Committee. 2002. Home Affairs Third Report. British Home Office: London
“Cannabis ... is less harmful than other substances (amphetamines, barbiturates, codeine-like compounds) within Class B of Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971. The continuing juxtaposition of cannabis with these more harmful Class B drugs erroneously (and dangerously) suggests their harmful effects are equivalent. This may lead to the belief, amongst cannabis users, that if they had no harmful effects from cannabis than other Class B substances will be equally safe. The Council therefore recommends the reclassification of all cannabis preparations to class C under the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971.”
- British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs."Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use... more
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Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana smokers. A nonprofit public-interest advocacy group, NORML represents the interests of the tens of millions of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly.
Because NORML lobbies state and federal legislators, donations to NORML are not tax deductible.
During the 1970s, NORML led the successful efforts to decriminalize minor marijuana offenses in 11 states and significantly lower marijuana penalties in all others.
Today NORML continues to lead the fight to reform state and federal marijuana laws, whether by voter initiative or through the elected legislatures. NORML serves as an informational resource to the national media on marijuana-related stories, providing a perspective to offset the anti-marijuana propaganda from the government; lobbies state and federal legislators in support of reform legislation; publishes a regular newsletter; hosts, along with the NORML Foundation, an informative web site and an annual conference; and serves as the umbrella group for a national network of citizen-activists committed to ending marijuana prohibition and legalizing marijuana.
Our sister organization, the NORML Foundation sponsors public advertising campaigns to better educate the public about marijuana and alternatives to current marijuana policy; provides legal assistance and support to victims of the current laws; and undertakes relevant research.
The oldest and largest marijuana legalization organization in the country, NORML maintains a professional staff in Washington, DC, headed by Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, and a network of volunteer state and local NORML Chapters across the country.
NORML supports the removal of all penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including cultivation for personal use, and casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts. This policy, known as decriminalization, removes the consumer -- the marijuana smoker -- from the criminal justice system, while maintaining criminal penalties against those who sell or traffic large quantities of the drug.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon's National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended that Congress adopt this policy nationally in the United States. Since then, more than a dozen government-appointed commissions in both the U.S. and abroad have recommended similar actions. None of these commissions have endorsed continuing to arrest and jail minor marijuana offenders. Summaries of these studies are available here.
Since 1973, 13 state legislatures -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon -- have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization. In November 2008, Massachusetts voters passed a statewide initiative making the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana an infraction punishable by no more than a $100 fine. The law took effect on January 2, 2009. In each of these states, marijuana users no longer face jail time (nor in most cases, arrest or criminal records) for the possession or use of small amounts of marijuana. According to national polls, voters overwhelmingly support these policies. In Oregon, voters recently reaffirmed their state's decriminalization law by a 2-1 margin in a statewide referendum.
More than 30 percent of the U.S. population lives under some form of marijuana decriminalization, and according to government and academic studies, these laws have not contributed to an increase in marijuana consumption nor negatively impacted adolescent attitudes toward drug use. Summaries of these findings are available here.
Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually and results in the arrest of more than 829,000 individuals per year -- far more than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. This policy is a tremendous waste of national and state criminal justice resources that should be focused on combating serious and violent crime. In addition, it invites government unnecessarily into areas of our private lives, and needlessly damages the lives and careers of hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens. NORML believes now, as former President Jimmy Carter told Congress in 1977, that: "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."
Responsible Use
Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 100 million Americans. According to government surveys, some 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly despite harsh laws against its use. Our public policies should reflect this reality, not deny it.
Marijuana is far less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. Around 50,000 people die each year from alcohol poisoning. Similarly, more than 400,000 deaths each year are attributed to tobacco smoking. By comparison, marijuana is nontoxic and cannot cause death by overdose. According to the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet, "The smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health. ... It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat ... than alcohol or tobacco."
As with alcohol consumption, marijuana smoking can never be an excuse for misconduct or other improper behavior. For example, driving or operating heavy equipment while impaired from marijuana should be prohibited.
Most importantly, marijuana smoking is for adults only, and is inappropriate for children. There are many activities in our society that are permissible for adults, but forbidden for children, such as motorcycle riding, skydiving, signing contracts, getting married, drinking alcohol or smoking tobacco. However, we do not condone arresting adults who responsibly engage in these activities in order to dissuade our children from doing so. Nor can we justify arresting adult marijuana smokers on the grounds of sending a "message" to children. Our expectation and hope for young people is that they grow up to be responsible adults, and our obligation to them is to demonstrate what that means. Further information regarding the responsible use of marijuana is available here.
Legalization
NORML supports the eventual development of a legally controlled market for marijuana, where consumers could buy marijuana for personal use from a safe legal source. This policy, generally known as legalization, exists on various levels in a handful of European countries like The Netherlands and Switzerland, both of which enjoy lower rates of adolescent marijuana use than the U.S. Such a system would reduce many of the problems presently associated with the prohibition of marijuana, including the crime, corruption and violence associated with a "black market."Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice in the public policy debate for... more
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Voters in this Rocky Mountain resort town will decide next week whether to legalize pot for all adults at a time when the movement to allow medical marijuana is gaining steam around the country.
A measure before Breckenridge voters in Tuesday's municipal election would legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana along with bongs, pipes and other pot paraphernalia. Supporters of the measure say it would inch the whole state closer to full legalization.
Other cities around the country have taken similar action in recent years, including a measure in Denver that decriminalized possession.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/breckenridge-pushes-to-le_n_340634.htmlVoters in this Rocky Mountain resort town will decide next week whether to legalize... more
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Stephen Gutwillig from the Drug Policy Alliance on FOX News; A discussion into why ending criminal conviction of medical marijuana patients is not all the needs to be done.Stephen Gutwillig from the Drug Policy Alliance on FOX News; A discussion into why... more
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California state lawmakers are scheduled to hear testimony today in support of taxing and regulating the commercial production and distribution of marijuana for adults age 21 and older.
Members of the California Assembly Committee on Public Safety have called for the hearing, entitled “Examining the Fiscal and Legal Implication of the Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana.” The hearing will be chaired by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), sponsor of Assembly Bill 390, the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act. It will take place at 10am in room 126 of the State Capitol.
A press conference will take place prior to the hearing at 9 am in Capitol Room 317.
California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer is scheduled to testify before the Committee at noon. [Editor's note: Read Dale's written testimony here.] NORML has also submitted prepared testimony to the Committee, which is available online here.
Several representatives from law enforcement, including the California Police Chiefs Association and the Office of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, are scheduled to testify in opposition to the bill.
“The criminal prohibition of marijuana provides law enforcement and state regulators with no legitimate market controls,” states NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano in prepared testimony. “This absence of state and local government controls jeopardizes rather than promotes public safety. I urge this Committee to move forward with the enactment of sensible regulations for legalizing marijuana.”
Today’s hearing marks one of the first times since 1913 that the California legislature has debated ending criminal prohibition.
Edited for Oct 28, 2009
C.D.
http://www.calchannel.com/channel/live/4California state lawmakers are scheduled to hear testimony today in support of taxing... more
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Rep. Steve Cohen discusses the harms of drug prohibition with other members of Congress.
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Hello Current.com..and Facebook.... Marijuana Legalization is often popular talk on this site, with little or nothing said on how this can be achieved. What we can do make it legal... here is the bill to do just that. Call your Senator or congressmen (202)224-3121 or Barack Obama (202)456-1414
Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009 - Prohibits the imposition of any penalty under an Act of Congress for the possession of marijuana for personal use or for the not-for-profit transfer between adults of marijuana for personal use. Deems the possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana as personal use (one ounce or less for a not-for-profit transfer between adults). Allows the imposition of a civil penalty under the Controlled Substances Act for the public use of marijuana if such penalty does not exceed $100.
Call AND write your congressmen, or women... message me i will gladly provide you with address and phone numbers
For my my friends in Hartford,CT that is Rep.John Larson (202)225-2265Hello Current.com..and Facebook.... Marijuana Legalization is often popular talk on... more
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Retired Baltimore cop Peter Moskos debates former Clinton "drug czar" Barry McCaffrey about the Obama administration's new approach to medical marijuana. Peter is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which any citizen can join for free at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com. Also featured is Tim Lynch from the Cato Institute.Retired Baltimore cop Peter Moskos debates former Clinton "drug czar" Barry McCaffrey... more
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Lets hope so, and stop the insanity
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Does this Mean The Potus says that Marijuana Has Medicinal Value ?
We would have to change it from schedule one !Does this Mean The Potus says that Marijuana Has Medicinal Value ?
We would have to... more
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With Support for Cannabis Growing Everyday. Its Time We Put a New Face on Todays Cannabis User. Lets show America that Reefer Madness is Not what Happens when Responsible Citizens Enjoy Cannabis. Whats your story; current cannabis culture ? We have given Billions of Dollars to norml and mpp and leap and all the other ones. But nobody hears our Story. NOBODY tells our Story....except current....Lets tell the world our story. while we still can........nobody will do this for us. if you support cannabis for medicine, for pleasure, or for justice....tell your story....how much time have you spent here trying to get the word out..
that was just practice>>>>>>the world will see us this time. .........!With Support for Cannabis Growing Everyday. Its Time We Put a New Face on Todays... more
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As more states debate medical marijuana policies, research at LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans offers new insights into how marijuana may affect people who suffer with HIV and AIDS.
The study looks at how long-term use of THC, the primary active chemical in marijuana, affects the progression of an animal disease similar to HIV in the immune system as well as appetite and behavior in animals affected with the disease. The animals receive THC injections twice a day for up to a year.
"Early findings suggest that, as far as the immune system is concerned, (THC) does not accelerate disease progression," said Dr. Patricia Molina, a professor and head of the physiology department at LSUHSC-New Orleans.
Researchers will publish more complete results in the next few months. They plan to begin studying the same issues in humans if they can repeat their findings in animals and get more money for clinical research in humans.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the U.S. government's National Institutes of Health, funded the LSUHSC-New Orleans. Similar research is going on in China, Molina said.
Since the mid-1990s, 13 states have allowed people to grow, buy and possess marijuana for medical purposes. California was the first to allow medical marijuana. Michigan, which started a medical marijuana registry in April, is the most recent. Other states, including Iowa, are studying the issue.
An herbal alternative
Brett Malone, of Shreveport, saw people suffering from AIDS complications and other chronic illnesses turn to marijuana for relief while he lived and worked in California.
Malone, now director of the Philadelphia Center in Shreveport, headed a residential program for homeless people with AIDS for four years. Every person in the program had a prescription for marijuana. Malone registered with California health officials as a caregiver, which allowed him to pick up the residents' marijuana prescriptions if they were too ill to leave the house.
"In California, people consulted with their doctors, who gave them a prescription," Malone said. "It was a health care decision. I look at it as similar to other herbal remedies. We saw three things: People stopped losing weight, their appetites improved and their moods improved and they didn't have to take as many pain medications."
(2 of 3)
However, marijuana isn't an option for HIV-positive residents of a similar program operated by the Philadelphia Center. The drug remains illegal in Louisiana despite medical marijuana laws passed in 1978 and 1991.
In 1978, Louisiana lawmakers approved a bill, later signed by then-Gov. Edwin W. Edwards, that allowed marijuana prescriptions for glaucoma and cancer patients. An amendment in 1991 extended the provision to paralysis patients.
The original law set up the Marijuana Prescription Review Board, which was supposed to consider doctors' applications to treat patients with marijuana. However, the law didn't include a way for doctors or patients to get marijuana, and federal drug laws made it available only for research programs.
Medical marijuana use never got off the ground in Louisiana, and state officials dissolved the review board in 1989. Since 1991, there's been no public discussion in Louisiana about medical marijuana.
"No one has ever introduced any legislation or resolution," said state Rep. Richard Burford, R-Stonewall, a member of the House Health and Welfare Committee. "I would have to say there's no verbal interest. My first impression is I would not be in favor of that."
Louisiana officials take their cue from federal drug laws, which in 1970 classified marijuana as a drug with no medical purposes.
Malone noted that Louisiana isn't a direct-democracy state, meaning residents can't put up issues for a statewide vote. Only state lawmakers can propose law changes. Nine of the states that legalized medical marijuana are direct-democracy states and allow residents to prop CON'T>As more states debate medical marijuana policies, research at LSU Health Sciences... more
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Massachusetts Joint Revenue Committee Hearing on Marijuana Legalization, Regulation, Taxation, and the right to grow your own for personal, non commercial use with Keith Stroup (NORML), Bill Downing, Steven Epstein, State Reps and Senators.
Talking seriously about marijuana legalization. Legalize and tax it for commercial use. Allow individuals to grow for personal use tax free. More videos to be posted. Also check out
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-26... and Subscribe! The more subscribers we get on Examiner.com the more views or this cause.Massachusetts Joint Revenue Committee Hearing on Marijuana Legalization, Regulation,... more
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A regulated, taxed marijuana trade could help bolster the state’s economy, advocates for legal marijuana said today at a Revenue Committee hearing.
"Whether you like it or you hate it ... it is undeniable in 2009 that marijuana has become inextricably embedded in our culture," said Richard Evans, a Northampton attorney. "It is ubiquitous and it is ineradicable."
Evans urged the committee to "put on your green eye shades and give close scrutiny to marijuana prohibition." He asserted that the revenue the state could reap from a legalized marijuana industry could be comparable to the effect of introducing casinos, although he offered no supporting data.
During the hearing, lawmakers heard from a long line of lawyers, professors and young people who argued in favor of legalization, pointing to Massachusetts’s history as a leader on social issues and describing its potential to ease symptoms of Crohn’s disease or migraine headaches. Their testimony dominated the hearing, which also included on the docket bills to raise the alcohol excise tax and to reimburse cities and towns for tax exempt properties owned by non-profits.
Backers of legalization spoke on behalf of a bill (H 2929), filed by Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst) at Evans’s request. The proposal would prevent "possession or cultivation of cannabis," "gratuitous distribution of cannabis to an adult," and "possession or distribution of cannabis under a valid license" from being considered violations of the law.
A preamble to the proposal states that the goal of the bill is "the reduction of cannabis abuse, the elimination of marijuana-related crime and the raising of public revenue." The bill would establish a council to set up a grading system for marijuana quality and would ban additives, which supporters argued would ensure the health and safety of users.
The bill would impose various rates of excise taxes on marijuana retail sales, depending on the concentration of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Marijuana with the highest concentration of THC would be taxed at $250 an ounce, while lower concentrations would range from $150 to $200 in taxes. In addition, licenses to sell marijuana would cost $2,000 a year. Marijuana vending machine sales would be prohibited.
Lawmakers on the committee expressed skepticism but offered little in the way of opposition or support. Rep. Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) wondered whether any other nations have a system of taxation and regulations of marijuana, and Rep. Jay Barrows (R-Mansfield) asked advocates whether they would be confident in the government’s ability to set up a regulatory system.
Committee co-chair Rep. Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington) said he was surprised by one aspect of the arguments.
"This is probably the only hearing this committee has ever had or will ever have with this number of people asking to be taxed," he said.
The discussion came nearly a year after Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, replacing the threat of arrest with a $100 fine.
But advocates for legalization say decriminalizing possession still leaves open the question of where users would obtain marijuana, which they say is now done on an unregulated, often dangerous black market. They also highlighted the potential medical uses of marijuana and noted that California and Rhode Island were exploring issues surrounding legalization.
Rep. William Breault, a member of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety, a Worcester-area organization that advocates for various public safety measures, said legalizing marijuana would be giving political validation to a dangerous drug that is often the cause of impaired driving accidents. He said that in California, where some dispensaries may legally sell medical marijuana, ancillary robberies, shootings and other crimes have resulted.
Breault said he is pursuing local efforts to raise fines for possessionA regulated, taxed marijuana trade could help bolster the state’s economy, advocates... more
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A report released Thursday that shows the number of pot smokers in the world has grown to more than 160 million people has Canadian advocates renewing calls for legalization of the drug.
An Australian study, citing United Nations data from 2006 and published Thursday in the journal Lancet, found that about 166 million people aged 15-64 — or an estimated one in 25 in that age range — reported using cannabis. That's up from about 159 million people in 2005.
"It's not going away. So should one in 25 people be criminalized for smoking pot?" asked Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa professor and spokesman for the Canadian Foundation For Drug Policy. "What this number says to me is the world is not drug free. Some people prefer alcohol over cannabis and some people prefer cannabis."
The foundation is urging the Canadian government to legalize and regulate marijuana, by allowing people to grow their own and taxing sales the way it regulates alcohol or tobacco.
While the Australian study found pot use was greatest in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, followed by Europe, another report — from the United Nations — shows marijuana use in this country is actually the highest in the industrialized world.
That 2007 report, by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, found 16.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 to 64 smoked marijuana or used other cannabis products in 2004. That's the most recent year for which statistics were cited.
"I'd say 70 or 80 per cent of my university students smoke pot and they are perfectly normal people," said Oscapella. "If you've ever tried it you know its no big deal. So why are we using criminal law to deal with this behaviour? That's the real issue."
Other figures — from Statistics Canada — show the number of Canadians using cannabis is on the rise, from 6.5 per cent of Canadians in 1989, to 7.4 per cent in 1994 and then to 12.2 per cent in 2002.
The largest concentration of marijuana use in Canada is in British Columbia, while residents of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan had lower-than-average rates.
B.C. also leads the country in marijuana production with 40 per cent of Canadian cannabis produced there. That's followed by Ontario at 25 per cent and another 25 per cent in Quebec, the UN report said.
Unlike Canada, in Australia and New Zealand — where eight per cent of the population use cannabis — the numbers there are declining, the Australian study says. It says a similar trend is also happening in western Europe.A report released Thursday that shows the number of pot smokers in the world has grown... more
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This week we’ve seen three usually staid mainstream media outlets – Newsweek Magazine, the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and FOX Business News – examining the growing movement in California and nationwide to discuss the inevitable re-legalization of cannabis in America. [UPDATE:Apparently the FOX Business Channel (not FOX News) will have a series called "High Noon" beginning Monday at Noon ET / 9am PT.]
We begin with the PBS NewsHour and their fine report featuring the Honorable Rebecca Kaplan from the Oakland City Council and Richard Lee, the founder of Oaksterdam University. For balance (I suppose) they also interview the police chief of El Cerrito, California, who provides the obligatory doses of “reefer madness” at around the 5:00 mark.
Once again, I have to ask the cop at the end of the piece: How many people who don’t smoke pot now are going to start smoking pot once it is legal, and how much is that going to cost? Whatever it is, make the tax on pot equal to that amount, minus the expenditures we’ll save on not arresting people and sending helicopters on weeding missions, and we’ve covered the costs! (Actually, since Miron estimates that we’d reap in revenues and savings around $14 billion annually from legalized pot nationally, you have to convince us that the brand new legal pot smokers who aren’t already smoking now would cost society more than that.)
That stupid retort that legal weed will cost society more than the taxes only works if you believe that nobody is smoking weed now and suddenly when it’s legal, everyone will smoke weed. 22,000,000 PEOPLE ARE SMOKING WEED THIS YEAR ALREADY! Whatever that costs us as a society, we’re already paying NOW without taking in any tax money!
Cannabis does not “add another vice” to tobacco and alcohol that costs our society so much more than their taxes bring in. Alcohol and tobacco use create huge medical bills and death. Cannabis does not. With three legal choices and cannabis being obviously safest, we’ll cut costs as people choose it over alcohol and tobacco, and raise tax revenues that are currently going to black marketeers.
Read more about Newsweek and FOX Business News after the break…
Next we have the series of article in Newsweek, which has seemingly devoted an entire issue to the subject of legalization. In “Welcome to Potopia”, they describe the section of Oakland known as Oaksterdam as “a model for what a legalized-drug America could look like.” Dr. Nora Volkow from NIDA and Prof. Mark Kleiman from UCLA are cited to provide the necessary balance, with the typical warnings that “It’s certainly true that this is not your grandfather’s pot,” as if our grandfathers were smoking nothing but ditchweed in the 1960’s. (Sorry, but Sgt. Pepper and Dark Side of the Moon were not composed by nor appreciated by people smoking ditchweed.) Our own Paul Armentano is quoted as well:
The fact that we now are debating it—at least in some parts of the country—is the result of a number of forces that, as MacCoun puts it, have created the perfect pot storm: the failure of the War on Drugs, the growing death toll of murderous drug cartels, pop culture, the economy, and a generation of voters that have simply grown up around the stuff. Today there are pot television shows and frequent references to the drug in film, music, and books. And everyone from the president to the most successful athlete in modern history has talked about smoking it at one point or another. “Whether it’s the economy or Obama or Michael Phelps, I think all of these things have really worked to galvanize the public,” says Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and the coauthor of a new book, Marijuana Is Safer; So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?”At the very least, it’s started a national Newsweek also looks at the “green rush” in Los Angeles County in a piece called “The Wild West of Weed” and how District Attorney Cooley CONTINUEDThis week we’ve seen three usually staid mainstream media outlets – Newsweek... more
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SALEM, Ore.) - Jack Herer is a very resilient fellow. 40 years ago he was a Goldwater Republican. Nine years ago he suffered a minor heart attack, and a major stroke.
All these calamaties and more, he survived.
But his fight continues. For the last four weeks, Jack has been in a Portland Oregon hospital, slowly recovering from a heart attack. On Monday, he was discharged from Legacy Emanuel Hospital, and his family moved him to a nursing facility in Eugene, according to Oregonlive.com.
Exactly one month ago, Jack was stricken by a heart attack. So, each day, the challenge is no less than the day before. The challenge to bring Jack back.
He was in a medically induced coma for several days, on the critical list in ICU for nearly three weeks. Over time, he showed some improvements. His EEG (brain scan) showed more activity, and he would open his eyes. He stretched his arms and legs, yawned, turned his head from side to side. They removed the respirator.
Last week he was taken off the Critical list, moved out of ICU, and remains in stable condition. Stable enough, it seems, to be moved to another facility.
Still though, there has been no word from Jack. "He is waking up and gazing appropriately when someone's talking," Paul Stanford (THCF) said, "but he's not really communicating in any way."
We've been told that Jack responds to touch, has squeezed the hands of close friends and family, and that he even sat up in bed one day when his daughter came into the room. None of this means he's okay. It just means he's still with us, and working on recovery.
Jack is a devoted man. He has devoted his life to the cause to decriminalize hemp and cannabis. He stands strong on the belief that the cannabis sativa (hemp/marijuana) plant should be decriminalized, having been proven to be a renewable source of fuel, food and medicine, and he's been telling the story without fail, for over 30 years.
He also contends that the U.S. government deliberately hides the proof of hemp's benefits. He tried to take his message all the way to the top, twice running for President of the United States (1988 and 1992) as the Grassroots Party candidate.
Born on June 18, 1939, in NY, NY, Jack is well known as one of the first American Cannabis activists. His book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, has been a catalyst in the advocacy to decriminalize cannabis since the first edition was published in 1985.
Over 600,000 books have been sold, and an online version is available on his site, for easy access to a treasure trove of educational research. By selling his books, tapes, CDs and movies, Jack has helped support the hemp movement for the last 20+ years.
Many know Jack Herer's name for something even more notorious, a specific strain of cannabis named after him with sativa dominant characteristics. This is a genre he understands, and has contributed to greatly.
Jack won the seventh High Times Cannabis Cup, the "Academy Awards of Marijuana", the festival held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, probably the most famous cannabis event among tourists, consumers and cannabis-oriented businesses worldwide.
Yes, Jack's made quite a name for himself.
Jack Herer was the first to "put your money where your mouth is". He offered a reward of $100,000 to anyone that could prove marijuana had killed a user. For over a dozen years, no one has tried to collect.
"It is the safest, smartest, best medicine on the planet," Jack said at HempStalk. "You'd have to be stupid not to use it!"
In his book, Jack reiterates it's low risk use, "A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response." This is true, yet the public is still under another impression.
It didn't start out that way though.
Every one has heard that America's founding fathers grew hemp. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, just to get started. But most people don't know why CON'T>>>SALEM, Ore.) - Jack Herer is a very resilient fellow. 40 years ago he was a Goldwater... more
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