While immigration, health care and gun control continue to divide the country, at least one issue is starting to bring us together: legalizing cannabis.
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It’s never a good idea to smoke weed in front of a police officer, let alone get behind the wheel right after — but that’s exactly what people were doing with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, July 16.
In a recent interview, University of Denver law professor Sam Kamin outlined three ways Donald Trump could shut down state-legal marijuana — a prospect that has raised increasing levels of concern among cannabis reformers since the president-elect’s nomination of pot-hating Senator Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General.
Erik Altieri, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, shorthanded as NORML, acknowledges that such worries are prevalent right now, and he doesn’t dismiss them out of hand. Indeed, he encourages NORML supporters and anyone who objects to the federal government treating marijuana as a substance on par with heroin to be prepared for a crackdown, even if one has not yet been announced.
| ISU NORML Facebook. |
| An ISU student picks up trash around campus in one of the banned shirts (in red) during a volunteer day. |
Iowa State University is under fire in federal court after the Iowa State National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws says they were unfairly told to remove the school mascot, Cy the Cardinal, from their t-shirts.
Two students, juniors Paul Gerlich and Erin Fuleigh, have filed a suit in Iowa arguing that their First Amendment rights were trampled by the college, who demanded NORML remove Cy from their shirts after a state lawmaker complained that it sent the wrong message. Their lawsuit is part one of four filed this week, the others coming from students at Ohio University, Chicago State University and Citrus College in California.
| globalcannabismarch.com |
What began in 1999 under the name Million Marijuana March, with events in 30 cities across America, is now, 15 years later, a global initiative for the advocacy of marijuana reform with marches, rallies, and events happening in 160 cities across 35 different countries this Saturday, May 3rd.
These days referred to as the Global Marijuana March (GMM), the multinational event is traditionally held on the first Saturday of each month. New York City, Atlanta, and Boston, along with cities like Toronto and Vancouver in Canada and Mexico City in Mexico, are just a handful of the cities that will be rallying for cannabis on behalf of North America on Saturday. Joining them will be nations from Central America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and more.
Medical marijuana patients in Fresno County, Calif. are not happy with a recent decision by the county’s board of supervisors. They banned all marijuana cultivation in the county’s unincorporated areas with a unanimous 5-0 vote on Tuesday.
The public nuisance ordinance will take effect next month, and will make Fresno County the first county to ban cultivation since medical marijuana was legalized in 1996 with Proposition 215. It will be upheld with fines of $1,000 per plant and an additional $100 per day for each plant that is not removed.
Last week, the DEA and the IRS, aided by local officers, conducted raids on multiple marijuana businesses in Denver and Boulder.
While the feds haven’t shared many details of these actions, info has surfaced about a potential link to Juan Guardarrama, aka “Tony Montana, a Miami con who, until recently, held a Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division license. Nonetheless, Colorado NORML thinks the timing of the raids is suspect. Denver Westword has the followup coverage.
A proposal for marijuana decriminalization of up to 14 grams of cannabis in Puerto Rico lost any chance of moving forward in 2013 after the lower house adjourned for the session.
While certainly a setback, the bill’s sponsor Senator Miguel Periera says he will reintroduce the legislation next year.The bill, which would have also lowered the penalties for possession of between 14 grams and an ounce to a fine of up to $500 and a maximum of six months in jail, heads to a yet-to-be-determined legislative committee in January.
Last week, defense attorneys weighed in on a damning March report aimed at the Colorado toxicology lab, which conducts blood tests for cases of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Now several activists and attorneys have said that the release of the report was postponed until June for fear it would undermine the THC driving bill, which passed last month after two failed attempts. Now, NORML (which was in favor of THC driving limits just a few months ago) wants the state legislature to revisit the law. Denver Westword has the rest.
| Steve Baker |
| Cheri Sicard, Cynthia Johnson and Jessica Lux (all of NORML Women’s Alliance of Los Angeles) with the one candidate who responded, David Hernandez |
Marijuana Advocacy Group Shifts Focus to Upcoming City Election
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Women’s Alliance of Los Angeles announced on Monday it has scrapped its voter education project for California Congressional Candidates in Los Angeles County districts, as the group could only get four of the 34 Senatorial and Congressional candidates to even answer their requests for more information.
“I know politicians see cannabis as a third rail issue,” said Cheri Sicard, the group’s leader, “but the fact is 50 percent of all Americans favor outright legalization of marijuana, and 70 percent favor making it legal for doctors to prescribe to reduce pain and suffering (Gallup Poll, 10-17-11). We at the NORML Women’s Alliance think the time is long past due for our so-called representatives and candidates for public office to have a conversation about this.”
Sicard says even candidates who are known to agree with the group’s stances on issues such as marijuana legalization, medical marijuana, and prison reform didn’t respond, preferring to keep the issue in the background.