Toke of the Town

Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

DARE Curriculum Drops Marijuana

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By on Culture, News

KNDU
Could DARE finally have come to its senses regarding marijuana?

Has the national DARE organization — Drug Abuse Resistance Education — removed the discussion of marijuana from its curriculum? It appears the answer is yes, reports Kevin Shaub at KNDU.

Nearly 100 students who graduated from the Sunset View Elementary DARE program in Kennewick, Washington, will be the last group to be taught the potential dangers of marijuana, said the Kennewick Police Department’s DARE officer, Mike Meyer.
“The new curriculum starts as of December for us here in Kennewick,” Meyer said. “It does not bring up the subject of marijuana at all.”
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Massachusetts Voters Poised To Legalize Medical Marijuana

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

The Daily Chronic

Massachusetts voters will get the chance Tuesday to make their state the 18th in the country to legalize cannabis for certain medicinal uses with a doctor’s authorization. Question 3 proposes the elimination of state penalties for the use of medical marijuana by patients with chronic or debilitating medical conditions.

The ballot issue calls for relatively tight regulation of medical marijuana, according to Steve Fox, director of government relations for the advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project, reports Stephanie Haven at The Tufts Daily.
“We’ve learned from [California’s law], and we now draft initiatives so only those who need [medical marijuana]can get it,” Fox said. (Of course, it isn’t up to Fox — or anyone except you and your doctor — to determine if you “need” medical marijuana.)
A poll was released and conducted by Public Policy Polling regarding the measure in late August. It revealed that 58 percent of those surveyed are in favor of medical marijuana.
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Denver Pot Critic Covers History of Cannabis in Colorado

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By on Culture, Legislation

Craig LaRotonda/Denver Westword

Toke of the Town “highly” recommends that you head on over to our sister Voice Media site, Denver Westword, to check out marijuana dispensary critic William Breathes’ take on the history of cannabis in Colorado.

Breathes’ absorbing six-page essay gives the background on the cannabis plant and the rich culture surrounding it, and what led us up to this historic point, with legalization measures being voted on Tuesday in Colorado, Washington and Oregon.
Did you know that Colorado passed a law against pot in 1929 — eight years before marijuana was outlawed coast to coast? Minorities, unfortunately, were clearly the focus of that measure; a Denver chaplain told the Rocky Mountain News that the new law against cannabis was “necessary” to control the growing Mexican population.
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CO, OR, WA Voters To Decide On Legalizing Marijuana

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By on Legislation, News

Steve Elliott ~alapoet~
Washington, Oregon and Colorado will be voting Tuesday on various cannabis legalization plans

Marijuana history is about to be altered forever in the United States; after tomorrow, at least one state — and possibly three — will almost certainly have legalized cannabis.
Colorado, Oregon and Washington voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of ballot initiatives that would, to one degree or another, move toward ending marijuana prohibition in their respective states.  A win at the ballot would be a first of its kind in U.S. history; no state has ever legalized cannabis before.
The latest polls show that slight majorities in Colorado and Washington support their initiatives. Washington’s well-funded I-502, unfortunately, has incited lots of division within the cannabis community in that state, largely due to its inclusion of strict marijuana DUI limits which appear to be unsupported by science. Oregon’s Measure 80 trails by about seven points in the polls. It is the most favorable to cannabis consumers of the three initiatives, and makes the fewest concessions to law enforcement, but, unlike the other two, attracted little out-of-state funding from well-heeled supporters and marijuana reform groups.
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Dr. Bronner’s Donates To Colorado’s A-64, Washington’s I-502

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By on Legislation, News, Products

Zach’s Soap Reviews

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, makers of the top-selling natural brand of soap in the United States, announced on Friday a new donation of $100,000 to voter initiatives in Colorado and Washington state that would tax and regulate cannabis. The company’s new donation to the Campaign to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, sponsoring Amendment 64 in Colorado, was $75,000, and the donation to New Approach Washington, sponsoring Initiative 502 in Washington, was $25,000.

Ironically, nothing was donated to Oregon’s Measure 80, which has stronger industrial hemp provisions than either the Colorado or Washington voter initiatives. Measure 80, which contains more protections for cannabis consumers and fewer concessions to law enforcement than A-64 or I-502, unfortunately hasn’t attracted the kind of major financial support from cannabis organizations and industry figures as the other two.
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Marijuana Vending Machine Co. Sues Arkansas Anti-Pot Group

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Medbox

Medbox, Inc., which manufactures medical marijuana vending machines, has filed a lawsuit in Arkansas against Jerry Cox and the Family Council Action Committee (FCAC) for their use of the company’s trademarked imagery “in a derogatory fashion” during a press conference objecting to a medical marijuana ballot measure in the state.

During the anti-medical marijuana press conference, Cox stood next to a cardboard cutout of a Medbox machine and claimed, “It’s just yet another way to put more marijuana into the hands of the public. These machines … don’t run 8 to 5. They run 24/7.”
Medbox said they filed the lawsuit because they believe that Cox and the FCAC have “tarnished the image and the technology of the company.”
“Our machines are used for controlled and compliant dispensing of traditional medications in assisted living facilities, hospitals, urgent care centers and pharmacies, as well as in alternative medicine dispensaries — where the systems are placed behind the counter and are an important tool in improving and maintaining compliance,” a Medbox officer rebuked in a statement that was also sent to Cox and the FCAC. “We believe that the negative image portrayed in this press conference has harmed our company.”
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Weed Tourists Still Welcome In Amsterdam: Party Won’t End Jan. 1

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By on Dispensaries, Global, News

Nol van Schaik/Facebook

Good news from Amsterdam, where the mayor says the Dutch city will continue to allow foreign tourists in its famous cannabis-dispensing coffeeshops after January 1. That’s the day when the infamous WeedPass was to become mandatory in the Netherlands — with the effect of shutting everyone but Dutch locals out of the thriving coffeeshop scene.

Mayor Eberhard van der Laan made it clear in an interview with AT5, in answering the statement of Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten’s spokesman, who said Mayor van der Laan “could not” go ahead allowing foreign tourists to buy marijuana in Amsterdam’s coffeeshops nexst year.
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Imperial Beach Council Member Endorses Marijuana Initiative

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

The Weed Blog

By Eugene Davidovich
 
Imperial Beach, California City Council member Brian Pat Bilbray on Friday issued an official endorsement in support of Proposition S, a voter initiative slated to appear on the November 6 ballot in the city. 
 
“With my sister having to use medical marijuana to treat her stage three melanoma this issue is very emotional and personal for me and my family,” Bilbray said. “If the federal government is not going to take it up upon themselves to start regulating, allow the FDA to actually look at it so it can be put in pharmacies, then it is up to the states to do exactly what they have done.”
 
If passed, Prop S would repeal the city’s current prohibition on medical marijuana dispensaries and replace it with strict zoning and operational requirements that would allow for a limited number of patient collectives and cooperatives to open in industrial and commercial zones of the city. Those that open would have to meet all operational and zoning requirements laid out in the measure including video cameras, centrally monitored alarm systems, overnight security, as well as strict non-profit operation.
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Study: Legalizing, Taxing Marijuana Will Hurt Cartels

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By on Legislation, News

Weed Daily

Of 3 states poised to legalize, Oregon’s Measure 80 will do the most damage to cartels
A new study by a leading international think tank, the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, finds that legalizing and taxing marijuana in any one of the U.S. states poised to do so on Nov. 6 would significantly hurt Mexican drug-cartel profits.
The study, titled, “If Our Neighbors Legalize,” asserts that marijuana regulation in Colorado, Oregon or Washington could cut Mexican drug cartel profits by up to 30 percent. The study goes on to point out that Oregon, following passage of Measure 80, would cause $1.8 billion in losses to Mexico’s violent and destabilizing cartels.
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