Search Results: reduce penalties (78)

Photo: CanIdoit.org
Don’t ask me why they do it, but Brits traditionally mix their cannabis with tobacco. But they’re just like Americans in another way: Most of their politicians are reactionary cowards.

​​The chairman of the Bar Council for England and Wales, Nicholas Green QC, has said it is “rational” to consider “decriminalizing personal drug use.”

Other politicians, terrified at even the faint appearance of taking a stand or displaying any leadership qualities at all, quickly and predictably attacked Green’s remarks, claiming they “sent out the wrong message on drug use.”
Taking this step would save billions of pounds (drug-related crime costs the British economy £13 billion a year), free up police time, cut crime and improve public health, reports Christopher Hope at the Telegraph
Presumably, actually being rational about drugs is considered quite a radical position.

Photo: http://samyyang.spaces.live.com/blog/
North Morocco was, until now, a cannabis farmer’s paradise. In the northern part of the country, there are many marijuana fields, from which cannabis resin (hashish) is harvested.

​No more Marrakesh Express? Morocco claims it has cut cannabis traffickers’ revenue to less than a third of its 2005 level, but its efforts could be undermined if Europe continues relaxing its laws against the herb, a top Moroccan policeman said Thursday.

The North African country once held the exalted position of being the biggest cannabis exporter in the world, according to the United Nations, but it has now cracked down on the hashish trade because of strained ties with the European Union, which is where most of its cannabis ends up, reports Lamine Ghanmi at Reuters.
“Our efforts against hashish trafficking activity have led to a reduction in the revenue of that illegal business to 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) in 2009, from 13 billion euros in 2005,” said Khalid Zerouali, the Interior Ministry’s head of migration and border surveillance, on Thursday.

Graphic: Cannabis Culture

​With numerous states facing significant budget cuts, legislators and voters across the United States this month have been giving overwhelming support to measures that would reduce the penalty to a civil fine for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

On Wednesday in New Hampshire, the state House voted 214-137 to pass HB 1653, a bill the would reduce the penalty for possession of up to a quarter-ounce of marijuana with a civil fine of up to $200.
In Hawaii, the state Senate voted 22-3 to March 2 to pass SB 2450, a bill that would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine of up to $300 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses.

Graphic: A Greener Country

​Washington state patients who qualify for medical marijuana will be able to get legal recommendations for it from a wider range of health care professionals under a bill that appears headed to Governor Christine Gregoire’s desk.

Under Senate Bill 5798, it won’t be just doctors who can get sick people access to pot, reports Mark Rahner at The Seattle Times.
The bill widens the list of licensed medical professionals who can recommend marijuana to include physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners and naturopathic physicians, according to one of its sponsors, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle).
“The reason is that, especially in rural areas of the state and away from Puget Sound, because of long distances, many people do not see M.D.’s,” Kohl-Welles said. “They see nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants who have prescriptive authority.”

Graphic: Marijuana Policy Project

​A hearing to receive testimony on HB 712, a bill that would make Maryland the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana, will be held on Friday.

Supporters and opponents of the measure are scheduled to appear before a panel of Maryland House members Friday afternoon to discuss the bill.

The Maryland House Judiciary and Health and Government Operations committees will hold the hearing on the bill, introduced by Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County).
Morhaim, an emergency room physician who drafted the legislation, said it would create strict conditions compared to the other 14 states where medical marijuana is allowed.

Graphic: KOMO 4
HB 2401 would have legalized and taxed marijuana in Washington; the herb would be sold in state liquor stores. Since the Legislature dropped the ball, now it’s up to the voters.

​For the first time ever, the Washington Legislature looked at not one, but two bills to reform marijuana laws in the state. And although both were voted down in committee, advocates say marijuana legalization is still alive, with an initiative campaign trying to get a measure on the ballot in November, reports Matt Phelps of the Kirkland Reporter.

“My motivation was to get the criminals out of the business and stop the harm that the current prohibition is doing,” said Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland), who cosponsored House Bill 2401 with Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle).
“Many polls in Washington and nationwide show a favorability toward decriminalization,” Goodman said.

Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Scenes like this — a 1,700-pound bust in Sumas, Washington in 2009 — may become things of the past in the state if a move to legalize marijuana comes to fruition.

​Washington State lawmakers on Wednesday heard, for the first time ever, testimony in support of legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana for adults.

Members of the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, in a heavily attended, two-hour hearing, heard arguments in favor of House Bill 2401.
HB 2401 would “remove all existing criminal and civil penalties for adults 21 years of age or older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana.”
The hearing marked the first time in history that Washington lawmakers had ever debated the merits of legalizing and regulating the sale and use of cannabis.

“Jephthath’s Sacrifice” by Maciejowski (c. 1250)
If you sell pot on the Gaza Strip, be careful or you could lose your head.

​Selling pot can now officially get you killed in Gaza City — by the government, that is.

Despite the area’s proud tradition of fine hashish (Blond Lebanese, anyone?) the Hamas-run government of Gaza has approved a law that will allow for the execution of “convicted drug dealers,” its attorney general said today, according to the Associated Press.
The Islamist government ruling Gaza is taking a page from the tired old playbook of drug prohibitionists in America and worldwide — that imposing draconian sentences will reduce drug smuggling and discourage drug use. The policy, in place for close to a century in many parts of the world, has proved to be a colossal failure.
Hamas has cracked down on drugs, saying it has arrested more than 100 drug dealers and users. Dozens of pounds of contraband, mostly marijuana, have been seized.
Blithely undeterred by the facts, Gaza’s attorney general blamed the Israeli government for not punishing potheads severely enough (or killing them quickly enough). If the intent is to prove governments in the Middle East can have drug policies even dumber than those of the United States, then mission accomplished! 
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