tagged w/ Marijuana Policy Project
-
By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 17:13 EDT
R. Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Tuesday denied there was any reason the United States should regulate marijuana the same way it regulates alcohol.
“There are no good reasons to legalize marijuana,” he said at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress.
“I often hear about tax, regulate and control as an answer,” Kerlikowske continued. “And then I look at prescription drugs — which as I mentioned take over fifteen thousand lives a year, let alone the number of people who come into emergency departments and the number of people that are treated — and prescription drugs are already taxed, are already regulated, are already controlled and we do a very poor job of keeping them out of the hands of abusers and young people.”
“So I don’t see that we would do a very good job with a substance that can easily evade the tax scheme because it doesn’t take rocket science to grow marijuana.”
Residents of Colorado and Washington will vote on a ballot initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in November. A similar ballot initiative failed in California in 2010.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/02/drug-czar-there-are-no-good-reasons-to-legalize-marijuana/
Watch video, clipped by the Marijuana Policy Project...
"I don't think he ever answered the question, and Yes, we just may legalize marijuana here in Colorado in November!!!" =)By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 17:13 EDT
R. Gil Kerlikowske, the director... more
-
-
KB723
-
added this
-
27 days ago
- |
-
Which Dangerous Toxins Are in Your Pot?
-
-
-
Join MPP’s Sara Cannon as she takes a look at outright lies made by the Drug Free America Foundation.Join MPP’s Sara Cannon as she takes a look at outright lies made by the Drug... more
-
-
Patricia Schwarz
September 18, 2008
Boston Globe (MA)
I would like to throw my whole-hearted support behind Adrian Walker in his crusade against marijuana. Marijuana is much more dangerous than people realize.
For example, recent government studies have shown that marijuana users are able to uproot and demolish entire city blocks when they're high.
More than 100,000 potheads celebrated Hempfest in Seattle last month. Has anyone heard from Seattle since then?
The truth is, the potheads destroyed the entire city. Marijuana has reduced Seattle to a pile of rubble, and the media are covering it up.
Just ask Adrian Walker. He knows the truth, and he's not afraid to tell it.Patricia Schwarz
September 18, 2008
Boston Globe (MA)
I would like to throw my... more
-
-
After supporters of a plan to decriminalize marijuana cried foul over their opponents’ fundraising tactics yesterday, a powerful group of law enforcement officials and religious leaders stood before the State House and denounced the proposal as "dangerous" and "insulting."
Question 2, if passed, would reduce possession of up to an ounce of marijuana to a civil offense punishable by a small fine, rather than an arrest that straps simple offenders with criminal records and — according to backers of the plan — crowds prisons.
According to the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, the Massachusetts District Attorney Association and its team of Question 2 opponents raised funds for their campaign before official recognition by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
CSMP campaign manager Whitney Taylor said such actions make yesterday’s show of force a nonfactor and called remarks by opponents "scare tactics."
"I’m surprised in the first place that they broke the law," said Taylor, who has filed complaints.
Among those opposed to the initiative are all 11 of Massachusetts’ district attorneys, Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Those on the front line, however, were there to deliver their shots at the proposal.
"To see all the young black boys I’ve had to bury ... because of drug-related violence," said Rev. William Dickerson of the Greater Love Tabernacle in Dorchester. "Show me how marijuana can improve someone’s judgement, how it can bring families together, how it can curb the violence that plagues our society. I’d like to see it."
Suffolk County DA Daniel Conley and Middlesex County DA Gerry Leone both detailed recent cases involving marijuana-related crimes and pinned marijuana as a gateway drug that can lead offenders to more serious crimes.
Taylor said there is no link between marijuana use and criminal activity, except under the current law itself.After supporters of a plan to decriminalize marijuana cried foul over their... more
-
-
BOSTON — A group supporting more lenient marijuana laws is trying to turn another law involving campaign financing against their opponents — the state's district attorneys.
The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, which supports a ballot referendum that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot, filed campaign finance complaints yesterday against organizations and individuals opposing their ballot question, including the Massachusetts District Attorney Association.
The complaints, filed with Office of Campaign and Political Finance and the Attorney General's office, allege that opponents of the marijuana ballot question committed 14 infractions of fundraising laws and another violation of campaign laws by allegedly publishing false statements.
"I find it quite egregious that people whose sole job is to uphold the law chose to break the law for political campaign means," said Whitney Taylor, the executive director of the pro-marijuana committee.[more]BOSTON — A group supporting more lenient marijuana laws is trying to turn... more
-
-
Keith Saunders
September 18, 2008
Boston Globe (MA)
Adrian Walker's argument in opposition to the decriminalization of cannabis rests on an old, racist stereotype — namely, the assumption that drugs affect minorities differently (more negatively and thus posing more danger to society) than whites ("A question of possession," City & Region, Sept. 15).
The fact that we refer to cannabis as "marijuana" in legislation is a legacy from 1930s prohibitionists framing its use in racial terms, linking the plant to Mexicans.
The current law allows police officers discretion in the degree of enforcement. They may handcuff and arrest; they may issue a citation to appear before a magistrate; or they may just tell the offender to dispose of the cannabis. All options are legal.
I've lived and taught in Boston since 1993, and I can attest that college students' use is handled "in-house," while their working-class Roxbury neighbors are given a criminal record.
An arrest record is far more of an impediment to obtaining a job, housing, or keeping a family together than marijuana possession.
Under the decriminalization policy, enforcement of cannabis laws would be more uniform, more prevalent, and more just.Keith Saunders
September 18, 2008
Boston Globe (MA)
Adrian Walker's argument... more
-
-
BOSTON — Some of the state’s leading law enforcement officials, including Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. and Worcester County Sheriff Guy W. Glodis, yesterday ripped into the ballot proposal to lower penalties for marijuana possession, arguing that use of marijuana leads to harder drugs and violent crime.
But proponents of the referendum that would eliminate criminal penalties for marijuana and reduce personal possession to a civil offense with a $100 fine, accused critics of using “scare tactics” and untruths in an attempt to defeat the measure.[more]BOSTON — Some of the state’s leading law enforcement officials, including... more
-
-
Interviews at the Playboy Mansion with celebrities and musicians regarding medical marijuana. Kat Von D, LA Ink, Perry Farrell, Jane's Addiction, Jackie Martling, Adrianne Curry, Margaret Cho, Scott Kirkland, Crystal Method, Christopher "Kid" Ried, Kid 'N Play, House Party, Bernie Ellis, Rob Kampia. The Marijuana Policy Project.Interviews at the Playboy Mansion with celebrities and musicians regarding medical... more
-
-
Someone is arrested for a marijuana offense every 38 seconds.
89% of these are for marijuana possession — not for sale or manufacture.
The U.S. arrests more people for marijuana possession each year than for all violent crimes combined.
Marijuana prohibition has failed. It's time for a new approach, and MPP is leading the way. Since our founding in 1995, we've been making real progress in reforming U.S. marijuana laws, by:
... lobbying for legislation and running ballot initiative campaigns to allow seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana with their doctors’ recommendations
... lobbying for legislation and sponsoring ballot initiatives to replace marijuana prohibition with a sensible system of regulation
... garnering widespread media coverage of the need to change marijuana policies
... lobbying Congress to reduce the White House drug czar’s budget for his deceptive ad campaigns
... building coalitions of supportive individuals and organizations to advocate on behalf of marijuana policy reform
... and much more.
Because MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is prison, we focus on removing criminal penalties for marijuana use, with a particular emphasis on making marijuana medically available to seriously ill people who have the approval of their doctors.
We know that real change takes more than good ideas, and so MPP is all about getting results — changing policies and laws.Someone is arrested for a marijuana offense every 38 seconds.
89% of these are for... more
-
-
May 30, 2008
Rocky Mountain News
The vote this week by Denver's Marijuana Policy Review Panel urging the city to stop convicting adults for simple marijuana possession reinforces the message voters have twice sent to local officials. It's a message law enforcement should heed.
The panel voted 5-4 to ask the City Council to recommend an end to prosecution of simple possession cases for adults "absent compelling reasons articulated ... in open court."
The resolution echoes ballot questions passed in 2005 and 2007 that first legalized — although only in city statute books — adult possession of less than 1 ounce of pot and then instructed the city to make prosecuting simple possession the "lowest priority" for law enforcement. Voters backed both measures The vote this week by Denver's Marijuana Policy Review Panel urging the city to stop convicting adults for simple marijuana possession reinforces the message voters have twice sent to local officials. It's a message law enforcement should heed.May 30, 2008
Rocky Mountain News
The vote this week by Denver's Marijuana... more
-
-
Burton Aldrich, a quadriplegic from Kingston, NY, explains how medical marijuana helps with his excruciating pain and spasms and says, "I … don't know if I would be around if it wasn't for marijuana." Viewers are urged to ask the state Senate to make New York the 13th state to allow medical marijuana.
If you are a New Yorker, please write your state senator in support of allowing medical marijuana here or call him or her here.Burton Aldrich, a quadriplegic from Kingston, NY, explains how medical marijuana helps... more
-
-
Is'nt prohibition fun? It still doesn't work .... Trixie Smith performing Jack I'm MellowIs'nt prohibition fun? It still doesn't work .... Trixie Smith performing... more
-
-
The goal of the Cannabis Consumers Campaign is to create public policy changes by: 1) dispelling the myths and negative stereotypes that perpetuate marijuana prohibition and all its harsh consequences and 2) providing a more positive and accurate image of adults who consume cannabis. By coming out of the closet, we demonstrate to the general public, the media, and our political leaders that pot smokers are good, responsible, contributing members of society who deserve equal status and treatment before the law and in society as a whole. Come on out with us, Stop being afraid.The goal of the Cannabis Consumers Campaign is to create public policy changes by: 1)... more
-
-
Slate posted a letter from John Conyers Jr., chairman of the House judiciary committee, to the DEA's acting administrator Michele Leonhart about the agency's "dramatically intensified … frequency of paramilitary-style enforcement raids" on legal cannabis users and dispensaries.
Conyers asked for an accounting of the agency's costs for these measures against "individuals who suffer from severe or chronic illness" and for its rationale for threatening landlords of licensed dispensaries with "arrest and forfeiture of their property." Meanwhile, the California State Legislature is considering a measure that would allow state and local law enforcement agencies to refuse cooperation with the DEA.
http://www.slate.com/id/2192062/entry/2192063/
Slate posted a letter from John Conyers Jr., chairman of the House judiciary... more
-
