Oregon parents concerned that legalizing pot for adults will harm their kids kicked off a campaign this week to fight a measure that would allow adults 21 and up to possess up to eight ounces of pot at a time and grow up to four plants.
Their biggest fear: pot retailers are going to be targeting their kids, even though you can’t buy put without an ID showing you’re of age (and in Colorado not one underage sale has been reported, even with attempted police stings).
| Colorado Supreme Court chambers. |
The Colorado Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow on whether or not employers should be able to fire employees for using cannabis off-work. The case stems from Brandon Coats, a former DISH Network phone operator who was fired from his job in 2010 after he failed a test for marijuana. Coates, who was left in a wheelchair for life after a car accident as a teen, says he only uses the cannabis off work and that his employer fired him inappropriately.
Colorado business officials and the state Attorney General’s office have come out in support of DISH’s decision, but a group of vocal Colorado advocates have jumped in on Coates’ side and are imploring the courts to decide for patients and not for big business interests.
| Bobby Earle |
| Deborah & Dennis Little had their home raided in 2012, now they’re fighting back |
Two years ago, in September of 2012, a law enforcement helicopter buzzed over the top of Dennis Little’s land in the quiet country town of Ramona, California. One month later, a joint task force comprised of local law enforcement officers and DEA agents kicked down Mr. Little’s door and arrested him and his wife on suspicion of cultivating illegal amounts of marijuana.
In March of 2013, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis took them to court on the charges, and one full year later, in March of this year, they beat her at her own game and were fully acquitted of all charges by a jury of their peers.
With two years of their lives turned upside down, thousands of dollars lost to lawyers and courts, and a hard reputation to shake in a small town, one might think that the Little’s would be happy to put it all behind them. But they have some justice of their own to attend to first.
| FlickrCommons |
Many people in the cannabis community heard the news via social media apps like Facebook and Instagram way before the San Diego Division of the DEA put out a press release and the local news media caught on.
On Wednesday of last week, the DEA announced that on September 16th, 2014, they arrested nine San Diego area residents after successful raids on multiple locations in the takedown stage of a yearlong investigation they oh-so-cleverly dubbed Operation: Shattered Dreams.
Anti-pot activists have embraced a survey showing that the majority of Coloradans are unhappy with marijuana legalization even though other analyses find exactly the opposite. The latest poll to address this issue comes from Suffolk University. The results are synopsized like so: Colorado voters may be having second thoughts about the legalization of marijuana. A slight majority of voters (50.2 percent) say they do not agree with the decision to legalize recreational marijuana in that state — a decision made by voters in 2012 — while 46 percent continue to support the decision. Nearly 49 percent do not approve of how the state is managing legalized pot, compared to 42 percent who approve.
Approximately four seconds after these results were made public, the folks from Project SAM, a group that opposes cannabis legalization, weighed in.
The same group that pushed for the legalization of limited amounts of cannabis for adults 21 and up in Colorado said they are officially starting their campaign for similar legislation in 2016 in California. The group officially filed paperwork yesterday with the California Secretary of State.
The announcement comes on top of the group pushing measures in Arizona, Massachusetts and Nevada in 2016, as well as Alaska this fall.
Marijuana sales would bring in roughly $45,950,063 in tax revenue annually for the state of Minnesota if pot were legalized, according to a study put together by NerdWallet.
NerdWallet’s methodology is rather impressive. Researcher Divya Raghavan used data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to estimate how many people over the age of 25 smoke pot in each state, then used that number to divvy up the $14 billion nationwide marijuana market and determine how much stoners are likely to spend in each one. The total tax dollar figure for each state assumes a 15 percent excise tax for marijuana purchases, which is the going rate currently in Colorado. More at the Minneapolis City Pages.
| FlickrCommons |
| Is 10% of America’s workforce really toking up before clocking in? |
There is a headline making the rounds from Mashable.com right now whose headline bluntly states, “Nearly 10% of Americans Go to Work High on Weed“.
Now, if you visit Mashable.com for news about anything other than maybe potato recipes, you were likely too blinded by the cutesy illustrated infographic attached to the article to have noticed how shoddy the actual attempt at journalism was.
Proponents of a 2016 citizens’ initiative in Arizona that aims to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older filed paperwork with the state on Thursday, the first step in their campaign.
The Marijuana Policy Project of Arizona initiative still has a long way to go before becoming a law. But if it’s successful, it would reverse about 80 years of marijuana prohibition in Arizona, raise millions in tax revenue and potentially end black-market sales of the plant.
More at the Phoenix New Times.
| Citizen Dave |
| Madison Wisconsin Police Chief Mike Kovak wants to legalize weed |
The war on drugs, specifically the battle against marijuana, has been an “abject failure”. So says the Police Chief of Madison, Wisconsin, Mike Koval.
Koval is an officer of the streets, having shot up from the rank of Sergeant all the way to Police Chief with no stops in between. During his three decades in uniform, Koval has become convinced that the fight against cannabis is a massive drain on resources, and only serves as a distraction from the truly harmful drugs, like heroin.