Legislation

Browsing: Legislation

Ban Overturned! Phillies Blunts Can Be Sold In Philly Again

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2011 Legislation, Products

Here’s the beginning of making a Phillies Blunt live up to its full potential.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Philadelphia law banning the sale of “blunt cigars” in places other than tobacco shops and hotels.

The high court agreed with several cigar companies, ruling that the Philadelphia City Council has no authority to pass such a ban. According to the court’s ruling, only the state can ban blunts, reports Mike Dunn at CBS Philly.

The justices ruled that blunts are covered under the state’s Controlled Substances Act, which preempts local legislation.

Stanford Pushes To Legalize Cannabis In Oregon

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: KATU

Paul Stanford, THCF: Prohibition of cannabis hemp, destroying lives and families in the process, is truly evil.

If Paul Stanford has his way, cannabis will become legal in Oregon next year. The executive director of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF) is working to get a measure on the ballot in 2012 to legalize marijuana in the Beaver State.

Pot should be taxed like cigarettes and alcohol to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state, according to Stanford, who said cannabis would be regulated and sold to people over the age of 21, reports Joe Raineri at KATU.

“We want to regulate it so that businesses like bars and taverns that bar the admission of minors can offer that as a business,” Stanford said.

Montel Williams Supports Medical Marijuana Bill In Maryland

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Marijuana Policy Project

Montel Williams: “Every day that they delay is another one of needless suffering for patients like me all across the state”

Multiple sclerosis patient and media celebrity Montel Williams will speak at a press conference Monday in Annapolis in support of legislation that would make Maryland the nation’s 16th state allowing physician-approved use of medical marijuana.

Williams grew up in Baltimore, where his father was the city’s first African-American fire chief, Montel graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis and retired from the U.S. Navy as a decorated Naval Intelligence officer after more than two decades of service before starting his second career as a TV talk show host.

In 1999, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Following his diagnosis, he created the Montel Williams MS Foundation, which is committed to raising awareness of the disease and providing inspiration to those who live with MS.

Williams has advocated for the compassionate use of medical marijuana in a number of states that have approved or are considering new laws.

Montel will be joined at the Maryland press conference Monday by the chief sponsors of the state’s medical marijuana legislation: physician and Delegate Dan Morhaim, and Senators Jamie Raskin and David Brinkley, both cancer survivors.

NORML Director Predicts 2012 Cannabis Initiatives In Four States

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Nilo Radio

NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre: “This is the generation that’s going to be at the vanguard of legalization”

Marijuana initiatives will likely be on the ballot next year in at least four U.S. states — California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — according to Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

“I think these states are going to try to pass initiatives in 2012,” St. Pierre told about 80 attendees at a University of Central Florida NORML meeting Wednesday night, reports Katie Kustura at the UCF student newspaper, Central Florida Future.

However, St. Pierre warned, if they don’t reach the “magic number” of 58.5 percent in favor and maintain that support for at least six months, any initiative — marijuana related or not — will not succeed.

One of the reasons that probably led to the failure of California’s Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana there, is the fact that it was “too detailed” and left proponents open to attack from the opposition, according to St. Pierre.

N.J. Medical Marijuana Advocates Blast Proposed Regulations

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: NY Post

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie has been accused of needlessly delaying safe access to medical marijuana by proposing unworkable regulations

Medical marijuana advocates on Thursday said the regulations New Jersey has proposed for medicinal cannabis make no sense for businesses, patients or doctors.

A state Senate hearing consisted mostly of advocates criticizing the proposed regulations, which had few defenders there, reports The Associated Press.

The hearing was one step in a rarely used constitutional maneuver the Legislature is using in an attempt to force Gov. Chris Christie’s health department to come up with more workable regulations.

Some lawmakers contend that the rules drafted by the Christie Administration don’t follow the intent of the legislation through with the Legislature authorized medical marijuana. Activists have also accused Christie of dragging his feet and needlessly delaying safe access for the state’s seriously ill patients.

Cannabis Association Supports Medical Marijuana Reform In WA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: OC NORML

The Washington Cannabis Association has announced its support for a historic and sweeping medical cannabis reform bill — S. 5073 — which is set to have its first legislative committee hearing Thursday in the State Senate’s Health and Long-Term Care Committee.

According to a January 20 press release from the group, the WCA “supports the bill with some modifications and recognizes that it could clean up our state’s medical cannabis law for the good of medical cannabis patients, their providers and law enforcement.”

Sponsored by State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Queen Anne), S. 5073 [PDF] would for the first time offer Washington medical marijuana patients true arrest protection and would offer legal protection to dispensaries and producers, while also regulating them under the authority of state agencies.

R.I. Lawmaker Again Seeks Decriminalization Of Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Zazzle

Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Tiverton) has again introduced legislation to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in Rhode Island.

Possession of any amount of marijuana is currently a criminal offense, punishable by up to a year in jail and $500 fine, reports Katherine Gregg at The Providence Journal.

Under Edwards’ proposal which he is introducing for the second year in a row, possession of an ounce or less of pot would instead be a civil offense, subject to a $150 fine.

“My intent with this legislation remains the same: to provide some relief to the taxpayers of our state,” Edwards said. “In these difficult times, we must look for ways to cut costs wherever we can.

WA Supreme Court Hears Case: Woman Fired For Med Pot Use

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Stoel Rives World of Employment

Can medical marijuana patients be fired from their jobs for legally using cannabis with a doctor’s authorization? That’s the question before the Washington Supreme Court, which heard arguments Tuesday from attorneys in the case of a medical marijuana patient fired by a telemarketing firm for failing a drug test in 2006.

Voters in 1998 would be “flabbergasted” to hear someone could be fired for legally using medical marijuana away from work, in this case to alleviate migraine headaches, argued Michael Subit, attorney for the woman called “Jane Roe” in court proceedings to protect her identity, reports Josh Farley at the Kitsap Sun.

“The Legislature understood (voters) were giving broad permission” to use marijuana medicinally, argued Subit, “…and that’s why they [legal medical marijuana patients]can’t be fired.”

But James Shore, attorney representing Teletech, claimed the law passed by voters provides only a defense in court to patients who have a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana. Shore said Washington’s medical cannabis law does not offer employment protection.

“An employer could permit it in the workplace if they want to,” Shore said of medical marijuana. “But they don’t have to.”

Idaho Senate Attacks The Menace Of Blunt Wraps. WTF?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Idaho Secretary of State

Dude won’t be winning any high-IQ tests anytime soon: Clueless Idaho Sen. Denton “Dense” Darrington believes blunt wraps are a threat to civilization in Idaho.

Let’s be “blunt” about this: With all the real issues facing the Potato State, the Idaho Legislature has some mighty strange priorities.

A bill introduced Monday in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee would make it unlawful to sell, manufacture or distribute roll-your-own cigar blunt wraps in the state. This is because blunt wraps, made from tobacco leaves, are widely used by marijuana smokers to consume weed.

The incredibly pinheaded proposal, sponsored by Republican Senator Denton “Dense” Darrington, would give blunt wraps the same status as other supposed “drug paraphernalia,” opening sellers, manufacturers and owners of the products to potential criminal charges, reports Ben Botkin at the Magic Valley Times-News.

The bill comes — you guessed it! — at the urging of Big Tobacco, who would really hate to see Americans switch from smoking their cancer-causing product — which causes 440,000 deaths every year in the U.S. alone — to marijuana, for which nobody seems to be able to find a single substantiated fatality.

The Cigar Association of America claims the wraps “have no legitimate use” and are primarily used to make “marijuana cigarettes.” The horror…. The horror!

Medical Marijuana Legalization Reintroduced In IL Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: MikeCann.net

This man — the great Lou Lang — is your best friend in the Illinois Legislature.

Legislation that would legalize the physician-approved use of medical marijuana has been reintroduced in the Illinois Legislature.

House Bill 30, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, would allow qualified patients to possess and grow marijuana for medical reasons.

Similar legislation was approved by the Senate, but narrowly defeated by the House in the previous session (it lost by only four votes).

“What we have to do now is wait for the new session to start, introduce a new piece of legislation and start over,” bill sponsor Rep. Lou Lang had said after the previous bill was defeated.

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