tagged w/ Cannabis legalisation
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Enforcement of U.S. laws against marijuana possession serves to encourage and enrich Mexican drug cartels and the Asian and biker gangs that control the “B.C. Bud” market in Canada, according to two former top federal law enforcement officials.
“It is the money, not the drug, that drives these cartels and gangs,” Charles Mandigo, who served 27 years with the FBI and headed its Seattle office, told a legislative hearing in Olympia.
He was testifying in favor of Initiative 502, which would legalize the growth and possession of cannabis, tax it, sell-it at state-sanctioned stores, and give the State Liquor Control Board authority over it.
John McKay, who served as U.S. Attorney for Western Washington from 2001 to 2007, said I-502 is an antidote to a “tremendously failed national policy and a tremendously failed state policy on marijuana.
“Criminal enforcement of marijuana doesn’t work,” McKay argued. It “creates an enormous flow of money to international drug cartels, criminals and thugs,” he added.
(more at link with an interesting gallery of photos)Enforcement of U.S. laws against marijuana possession serves to encourage and enrich... more
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(Reuters) - Delaware became the 16th state on Friday to legalize marijuana for medical use after the governor signed the bill into law.
The law allows patients who certify they have a serious medical condition such as cancer to possess up to six ounces, or 170 grams, of marijuana.
State-licensed centers will be allowed to grow the marijuana and dispense it to patients 18 and older.
Democratic Governor Jack Markell signed the bill in private without a ceremony, according to his office.
The state Senate passed the measure on Wednesday by a 17-4 vote.
California was the first state to allow marijuana for medical use in 1996.
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Many more states are expected to follow suit. How many states need to do this before cannabis/THC is finally rescheduled? In reality, it should have only taken 1 state... We now have a full THIRD of US states with medicinal cannabis laws even though the government has refused to acknowledge it's medicinal value, let alone the fact that it is a completely safe and non-toxic recreational substance that could offer a valuable alternative to alcohol which is one of this nation's leading substances attributing to the death of thousands of people every year.
http://budbeauties.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/san-diego-medical-marijuana.jpg
PS - If you're wondering why I called it "Cannabis" that's because I refuse to call it "marijuana". Marijuana is a dirty racist term founded in the roots of the propaganda campaign that led to one of the biggest travesties in history...
Legalize, regulate and educate!! Cannabis should be free for adults to use as they wish, whether it be medicinal, spiritual, inspirational, or just simply recreational use. If we can drink ourselves to death with an accepted toxin with no medicinal value, why can't we choose to use a non-toxic herb for whatever we want???(Reuters) - Delaware became the 16th state on Friday to legalize marijuana for medical... 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,"... more
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Cannabis Legalisation Rally in Sydney, Australia
There is a Cannabis Legalisation Rally to be held on the 7th September 2009 at the Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo.
further information will be posted on http://cannabisrally.yolasite.com/Cannabis Legalisation Rally in Sydney, Australia
There is a Cannabis Legalisation... more
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The war on drugs may be a noble intention, but the illegal growing of marijuana is destroying our environment and we need to step in.
Primarily run by Mexican drug cartels in the fields of California -- marijuana is the state's largest cash crop generating nearly $14 billion a year -- the marijuana growers aren't your typical peace-loving hippies of the 70s. Hundred KW generators, diesel storage tanks, ATV vehicles and large quantities of animal poison are just some of the things involved here.
These men live illegally on farms all summer, putting tons of waste into the soil and water.
Irrigation tubes that snake for a mile or more over forested ridges. Pesticides that have drained into creeks and entered the food chain, sickening wildlife. Piles of trash and human waste in the most rugged and bucolic drainages.
The danger extends to wildlife as well, because the growers put out poison or shoot the animals that they think are going to threaten the crops.
The presence of rats makes the situation worse. To protect the crops, the growers use poison pellets which the rats ingest. Once the body decomposes, the poison goes back into the soil. Vultures and other animals eating the rats can also be poisoned.
Each plant also uses about 15 gallons of water per day soaking up a large part of the water resources around.
Outside of the obvious benefits of hemp -- can be used as a bio-diesel, burns cleanly, makes soil stronger, sturdier paper, etc. -- organic and sustainable practices for growing marijuana would bring in tons of revenue for the states, clear up the environment, and save the government $150 billion on policing and courts, since 47.5% of all drug arrests are marijuana-related.
Even Glenn Beck seems to think this is worth it: video at link...The war on drugs may be a noble intention, but the illegal growing of marijuana is... more
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The worse the economy gets, the better marijuana looks—not necessarily for its psychedelic properties, but for its revenue potential. As more cities and states face budget deficits, the idea that legal, regulated marijuana could reel in a bounty of taxes is gaining traction. This development has confounded legalization advocates, rendering their FAQs nearly irrelevant and plunging them into an unfamiliar debate: OK, say we legalize pot. How should we tax it?The worse the economy gets, the better marijuana looks—not necessarily for its... more
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With support from the unlikeliest circles, this could be marijuana's moment
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Our nation is having the most intense debate about our marijuana laws in more a generation -- one that Minnesotans recently saw play out in full force as legislators and Gov. Tim Pawlenty debated medical marijuana. As one who has pushed for just such a debate, I'm delighted, but as I and other Marijuana Policy Project staffers have engaged with journalists and policymakers lately, it's become clear that this debate is being hobbled by a series of myths.Our nation is having the most intense debate about our marijuana laws in more a... more
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-Members of the Hillsborough Township police conducted a search of the property where the marijuana was seen. As a result of the search, 51 marijuana plants ranging in height from 2- to 5-feet-tall were seized from a wooded area behind the residence-
Another victim of the war on drugs. 20 years WTF.
Isn't arresting weed smokers and weed sharers getting a little old... It's time to move forward to a profitable home grown resource that the government is currently regulating ass- backwards.-Members of the Hillsborough Township police conducted a search of the property where... more
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When it comes to addressing America's disastrous war on drugs, the Obama administration appears to be moving in the right direction -- albeit very, very cautiously.When it comes to addressing America's disastrous war on drugs, the Obama... more
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"Yesterday marked the first time in history that a nationwide poll showed majority support for taxing and regulating marijuana (at 52%). The poll, conducted by Zogby International at the end of April, was also one of the largest sample sizes of any national polls on the subject, with almost 4,000 respondents and a margin of error of +/- 1.6%."
Let's legalize it!"Yesterday marked the first time in history that a nationwide poll showed... more
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The story describes an interview the author conducted with Quintin Mecke, California assemblymember Tom Ammiano's press representative, just a few hours before the DEA raid on a SF cannabis clinic. The next day the writer speaks with Ammiano to get a response--a few hours before Obama's town hall meeting in which the uber-cool new president famously insults a huge segment of American society--the online community-- suggested that they're high.The story describes an interview the author conducted with Quintin Mecke, California... more
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Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and his press rep, Quintin Mecke, explain the origins of AB 390 and former legislator John Vasconcellos's pivotal role. It also discusses the chance of marijuana legislation being accidentally numbered SB 420.Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and his press rep, Quintin Mecke, explain the origins of AB... more
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NORML is pleased to announce that House Bill 434, an act to exempt qualified medical cannabis patients from state arrest and prosecution, has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
Passage of House Bill 434, The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act, will ensure that authorized medical marijuana patients will no longer have to fear arrest or prosecution from state law enforcement.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee are scheduled to hear testimony in favor of the bill on Wednesday, April 8th.NORML is pleased to announce that House Bill 434, an act to exempt qualified medical... more
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PROVIDENCE — Without committing to bringing the bill out of the House Health Education and Welfare Committee that he chairs, Warwick Rep. Joseph McNamara said he looks more kindly this year toward a bill that would establish state-authorized dispensaries to distribute medical marijuana. The Senate passed legislation last year to create the centersPROVIDENCE — Without committing to bringing the bill out of the House Health... more
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TRENTON — Chronically ill New Jerseyans could alleviate their suffering legally by smoking marijuana under a bill passed last week by the state Senate. The proposal by Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Linden, would allow patients with certain chronic and terminal illnesses to grow six marijuana plants or have marijuana grown for them at an authorized..TRENTON — Chronically ill New Jerseyans could alleviate their suffering legally... more
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Therapeutic use of marijuana has a history spanning over 4,500 years. The most humane and just approach to helping the sick requires that we continue the availability of medical marijuana. Evidence supporting medical marijuana for appetite loss, glaucoma, nausea, vomiting, spasticity, pain, and weight loss is quite impressive.Therapeutic use of marijuana has a history spanning over 4,500 years. The most humane... more
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