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Pot was the “Star” at Democrats’ Convention

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By on News

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.

Poll: Republicans Favor Legal Weed

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By on News, Uncategorized

Politicians have not caught up with public opinion. 

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

A new poll found that for the first time, Republicans narrowly favor legalizing marijuana, 45% to 42%. Last week, however, Republicans voted against including support for MED in their party platform. As far as I saw, the plant went unmentioned at the convention.

Hillary Clinton named Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) as her running mate. Speaking at a high school in April, Kaine said he favors “drastic changes in sentencing laws…[but] wouldn’t vote for a law at the federal or state level that would decriminalize marijuana.” Kaine has a NORML rating of F.

Donald Trump has a NORML rating of C+. Hillary Clinton gets a B+. Libertarian Gary Johnson scores an A+.

Leafly meets Ann Lee, founder of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition (RAMP). Lee, 86, attended the GOP convention as an alternate in the Texas delegation. Her son Richard Lee founded the trade school Oaksterdam University in Oakland.

Decriminalization appears to have support from the Texas Association of Business and  bipartisan support in the Texas legislature. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) opposes legalization.

Marijuana.com digs up that the DEA has reduced the size of its 2017 cannabis order from last year. This hints, the piece suggests, that the agency will not reschedule. The DEA gets its weed from a facility at the University of Mississippi, the only federally legal grow in the country.

Fifty-one percent of voters oppose Massachusetts’ REC initiative and 41% percent support. The numbers are similar in Arizona.

An Arizona judge will hear cannabis-opponents in a case that could block the upcoming REC vote. They argue that the 100-word petition voters signed didn’t adequately explain the effects of legalization. Plaintiffs include Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery (R), Phoenix’s lead prosecutor.

Last year, before a weed convention in Phoenix, Montgomery offered “An aside, just a polite warning to folks traveling here…I can’t confirm or deny whether or not local or federal law enforcement may be on hand in an undercover capacity. So welcome to Phoenix, enjoy your stay, but be careful.”

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) opposes the state’s MED initiative. In Wisconsin, a poll found that REC legalization has 59% support. Activists are collecting signatures for a MED initiative in Oklahoma.

Florida’s first CBD dispensary opens this week. The state is expected to vote on MED in November.

Fight for pot rights in D.C. splits right down party lines

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By on Follow that story, Legalize It, Legislation


In January of this year, The Washington Post conducted a poll of Washington D.C. residents which found that 8 in 10 polled said they were in favor of either decriminalization, or straight up legalization, of weed in the nation’s capital.

In March, the City Council voted to decriminalize cannabis possession, knocking the punishment down from a year in jail, to a $25 fine. The District’s medical marijuana program is expanding, and much like in Colorado, none of these things are leading to the reefer madness we’ve been warned about for decades.
But with legalization talk being passed around the tightest circles in the nation’s capital, leave it to local Congressional Republicans to try to halt the inevitable progress of reform.

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The deadly consequences of marijuana prohibition

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By on News, Opinion

Flickr.com/Simon Strandgaard.td>

It was a Tuesday morning in San Diego, just over a month ago on November 7th, when SDPD received reports of broken glass at a local business, with a possible burglary having had occurred overnight. Police investigators arriving on the scene quickly determined that the business in question was a medical marijuana dispensary, and the focus of their investigation quickly shifted from aiding possible burglary victims, to persecuting law abiding citizens and shuttering a legitimate business.
You see, San Diego was home to nearly 300 storefront medical marijuana dispensaries as recently as two years ago, but an intense crackdown by joint task forces, combining the might of local and federal authorities, led to nearly every single brick and mortar storefront being closed by the end of 2011.

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Marijuana Activist Joe Grumbine Thrown In Jail At Court Hearing

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By on Dispensaries, News

Cheri Sicard/Facebook
Joe Grumbine — who has fought so hard for the right of California medical marijuana patients to safely access their medicine — has been thrown back in jail

California medical marijuana defendant and activist Joe Grumbine was put in handcuffs and hauled off to jail at what was supposed to be a short scheduling hearing in court on Tuesday.

According to Cheri Sicard, who works with The Human Solution, a medical marijuana patient advocacy/court support group formed by Grumbine, the prosecutor brought up a traffic stop that happened in Riverside, Calif., a few months ago.
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LA NORML Women’s Alliance Cancels Voter Ed Project: Lack of Candidate Interest

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By on News

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.
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N.M. Medical Marijuana Boss Resigns; No Reason Given

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By on Medical, News

Cannabis Times

​The head of New Mexico’s medical marijuana program has quietly resigned, and nobody’s giving a reason.

Dominick Zurlo gave the state notice about two weeks ago that he’s leaving the job, a state Health Department spokeswoman confirmed Thursday, reports Steve Terrell at The New Mexican.
Aimee Barabe said she “couldn’t comment on a personnel matter” and referred all questions to Zurlo, who said he’s working for the state until November 28 and can’t make any comments, referring questions back to Barabe in an endless, circular game of pass the buck.
Zurlo resigned of his own accord, according to Scott Darnell, a spokesman for Governor Susana Martinez.
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Good News: OR, MT Pot Cards Available To Out-Of-State Patients

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By on Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Medical Marijuana U.S.A.
If you’re an American with a qualifying medical condition, you can legally smoke marijuana in Oregon or Montana.

​If you’re an American with a qualifying medical condition, you can legally smoke marijuana in Oregon or Montana — whether you live there or not.

With the discovery of a loophole in Montana’s medical marijuana law, the Big Sky State joins Oregon in no longer requiring state residency to obtain legal authorization to use medicinal cannabis.

Montana health officials said Friday that patients don’t have to live in the state to receive medical marijuana cards.
The discovery was made after the Department of Public Health and Human Services reviewed plans to require a Montana driver’s license or state-issued ID, according to department spokesman Chuck Council.
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