Search Results: presidential candidates (20)

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Mexico’s Drug War has claimed more than 50,000 lives in five years

After More Than 50,000 Prohibition-Related Deaths in 5 Years, Candidates Say Reducing Violence More Important Than Simply Seizing Drugs, Making Arrests
 
DPA Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann: Next President Should Show Bold Leadership and Follow Other Latin American Presidents’ Call for “All Options On The Table”
 
The top three presidents candidates in Mexico have all promised a significant shift in their country’s drug war strategy, according to a front page story in Monday’s New York Times. The candidates are pledging to prioritize a reduction in prohibition-related violence, which has led to more than 50,000 deaths since President Calderon launched a war on the drug traffickers in 2006, over conventional measures such as arrests and seizures. 

Marijuana’s future in the United States remains a hot topic as Super Tuesday approaches. Formerly dismissed by virtually every presidential candidate, supporting pot legalization now seems a prerequisite for any
Democratic hopeful. The level of support varies, however, with some candidates preferring giving states the right to choose, while others are pledging to legalize marijuana through executive action if need be.

Before you submit your ballot for the March 3 count, read the past and present pot opinions of the eight Democratic contenders below.

Anyone who’s followed presidential politics has a general sense that a few Republicans are OK on the marijuana issue, and most of them are terrible.

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), based in Washington, D.C., has now produced a video which shows that:

Marijuana Policy Project

​• Ron Paul is obviously the best in the GOP field when it comes to cannabis. In fact, his views toward marijuana policy and the War On Drugs are much better than President Obama’s views on the same — and if you’re a single-issue, marijuana-policy voter, he’s your guy. 
Unfortunately Congressman Paul comes with some other baggage of his own; if you’re fond of things like public highways, public education, college grants, protecting the environment, workplace safety, separation of church and stateSocial Security, Medicare, and the like, you should be aware that his vision of the federal government doesn’t support any of those things. (Just be aware of what you’re getting — and not getting.)

The Chronicle
Newt Gingrich: “See, when I smoked pot it was illegal, but not immoral. Now it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality … That’s why you get to go to jail and I don’t.”

​GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich does not support the legalization of medical marijuana, and in fact, would like to see the United States adopt a tougher policy against the use of cannabis and other substances, including the death penalty for some dealers.

Gingrich on Saturday told Yahoo! News’ Chris Moody that California showed medical marijuana was a “joke.” He introduced legislation to legalize the use of medicinal cannabis in 1981, but has since changed his mind about it, reports Eric W. Dolan at The Raw Story.
“What has changed was the number of parents I met with who said they did not want their children to get the signal from the government that it was acceptable behavior and that they were prepared to say as a matter of value that it was better to send a clear signal on no drug use at the risk of inconveniencing some people, than it was to be compassionate toward a small group at the risk of telling a much larger group that it was OK to use the drug,” Gingrich claimed.

Using cannabis legalization as a platform to popularity is all the rage for this latest round of Democratic presidential candidates. Nearly every candidate in the blue party has endorsed some form of cannabis-policy reform, ranging from full-scale legalization at the federal level to letting states decide on their own.

Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, who announced his run for the White House on March 4, arguably has more experience with the issue than any other candidate in this primary race: He presided over the state’s implementation of recreational cannabis from the vote for Amendment 64 in November 2012 through early 2019, when he was term-limited out of the governor’s slot. Under Hickenlooper, Colorado has earned more tax revenue from legal pot than any other state so far and boasts one of the most advanced medical marijuana programs in the nation.

The total is still below 15%.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
A Gallup poll found that 13% of U.S. adults currently use cannabis, up from 7% in 2013.

At SFWeekly, I argued that the 2016 Presidential candidates have dodged their responsibility to discuss legalization.

Ohio is looking for an experienced pot grower to help write the state’s MED rules. The successful applicant will likely have to pass a drug test.

Some Ohio communities are taking action to keep out MED businesses, though dispensaries won’t open in the state until at least 2018.
The alcohol industry wants Congress to know that cannabis-impaired driving is a problem. Officially, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America is neutral on legalization, but this year an industry group donated to stop Arizona’s REC initiative.
The San Jose Mercury News editorializes in favor of legalization in California. So does the East Bay Times.

The National Conference of State Legislatures endorsed rescheduling.

North Dakota will vote on MED in November. Arizona will vote on REC. Supporters of the Oklahoma MED initiative are “ cautiously optimistic” that they gathered enough signatures to make the ballot.

Two MED initiatives could qualify for the Arkansas ballot. The question of which one voters get to decide may end up in court. The Arkansas Farm Bureau and the state’s Chamber of Commerce oppose both.

Denver’s limited public use initiative collected more than double the number of signatures needed to qualify for a vote in November.

Nashville may decriminalize. The Chicago Tribune visits a grow house, and catches up on the Illinois industry.

High Times lists its “ hateful-eight,” the country’s most influential legalization opponents.

Illegal drug sales on the so-called dark web have tripled since the 2013 closure of the site Silk Road.

Watch out for knock-off vaporizers.

In Oregon, some Craigslist sellers ask for payment in cash or cannabis. Minnesota’s two MED producers are both losing money.

There wasn’t much talk of marijuana inside the arena at this year’s Democratic National Convention.

The industry was all over Philly.

The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

Marijuana wasn’t often mentioned in the Democratic National Convention’s official program.

Unofficially, it was the “star.” A trade association had a party. MPP had a fundraiser. Marchers carried a 51-foot joint.

At Marijuana.com, Tom Angell (@TomAngell) unearthed the Tim Kaine quote, “I actually kind of like this option of the states as labs and they can experiment [with legalizing]and we can see what happens.” NORML revised its rating on the vice presidential candidate from F to C. (Last week, I referred to MPP ratings for presidential candidates as NORML ratings. I regret the error.)

Marijuana Business Daily interviews former U.S. deputy attorney general James Cole, whose eight-point 2013 memo gave the industry confidence that it could grow without federal prosecution. “It wasn’t really intended to be a huge policy shift as much as reacting to the situation and trying to use some common sense,” he said.

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wants more lawmakers to support legalization.

Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank (D) said heroin and crystal meth should be legalized. “We should outlaw a drug if it is likely to make you mistreat others. People don’t hit other people in the head because they’re on heroin; they hit other people in the head because they need to get money to buy heroin.”

The New Yorker profiles Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate and a legalization supporter. He said he would not use cannabis as president.

Quartz introduces us to Tick Segerblom (D), a dogged cannabis supporter in the Nevada State Senate.

The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeals Board said cannabis sellers can’t receive federal trademark protection.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) decriminalized possession, making the state the third largest after New York and California to do so.

About half of the 100 Oregon communities that don’t allow REC businesses will vote on whether to lift their bans in November.

Ohio legislators knew that the provision in the state’s MED law to guarantee 15% of business licenses might be unconstitutional but they kept it in to win votes, the AP reports.

Florida billionaire Carol Jenkins Barnett, a Publix supermarket heir, donated $800,000 to oppose the state’s MED initiative.

A Los Angeles county ballot initiative that proposed a pot tax to benefit the homeless has been shelved. Canna Law Blog dives into the business climate in L.A, one of the world’s largest cannabis markets.

The DEA compared home grows to “meth houses.”

Italian lawmakers are beginning to debate legalization. Opponents include Pope Francis. The Italian military grows MED for the country.

Justin Sullivan
California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom: “These laws just don’t make sense anymore”

Newsom Adds Voice to Growing List of Prominent U.S. and World Leaders Calling for Alternatives to Failed Drug War
  
California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom is the latest elected official to call for marijuana legalization. In a Friday front page New York Times story, Newsom said he believes marijuana prohibition is counterproductive and voiced his support for making marijuana legal.
“These laws just don’t make sense anymore,” said Lt. Gov. Newsom, widely considered a leading contender for California’s governor in 2016. “It’s time for policitians to come out of the closet on this.”
 
Newsom first came to international prominence when, in 2004, as the newly-elected mayor of San Francisco, he issued a directive to the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Drug Policy Alliance

Full Page New York Times Ad in Thursday Paper: “80 Years After the End of Prohibition, Prohibition is Finally Coming to an End” 
Comes on Heels of Obama Response to Marijuana Legalization in Colorado and Washington: “We’ve Got Bigger Fish to Fry”
In Thursday’s New York Times, a drug policy reform organization is running a full-page ad that thanks voters in Colorado and Washington and emphasizes the growing support for drug policy reform among people from across the political spectrum who are renowned for their leadership in law, health, business, media and politics. Last month, Colorado and Washington became the first two states in the country – and the first political jurisdictions anywhere in the world – to approve legally regulating marijuana like alcohol, with both states’ initiatives winning by decisive margins.
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