Legislation

L.A. County Passes Marijuana Dispensary Ban

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 23, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Over the strong objections of medical marijuana advocates, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to ban marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county.

The vote was 4-1, with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky opposing, reports Kevin Douglas Grant at Neon Tommy. During deliberations, Yaroslavsky encouraged the board to focus on unlicensed dispensaries instead of trying to shut down licensed ones.

“It’s the illegal ones that are creating almost all the problems,” Yaroslavsky said. “It’s the ones who come in for permits that we have considerable leverage over.”

Group: Texas Politicians Under The Influence Of Big Alcohol

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 17, 2010 Culture, Legislation

Graphic: Safer Texas Campaign

Texas politicians are heavily under the influence of alcohol — big alcohol industry money, that is.

With Texas politicians collecting a significant percentage of their campaign contributions from the alcohol industry after the November election, the Safer Texas Campaign is renewing its call on elected representatives to stop accepting such money until Texas allows the regulated use and sale of marijuana as a safer alternative to alcohol.

According to campaign records provided by the nonpartisan, nonprofit FollowtheMoney.org, the five Texas politicians who have received the largest contributions from the alcohol industry are:

• Governor Rick Perry

• U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

• Lt. Governor David Dewhurst

• Texas House Speaker Joe Straus

• Attorney General Greg Abbott

These five politicians accepted a total of $1.4 million from Big Alcohol during the 2010 election cycle, according to the Safer Texas Campaign, which is a project of ProtectYouth.org.

Prop 203 Wins! Medical Marijuana Coming To Arizona

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 12, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Reality Catcher

Victory in Arizona: Safe access to medical marijuana is coming for patients in the Grand Canyon State

Arizona’s Proposition 203, which legalizes medical marijuana in the state, has passed.

The measure had trailed until Friday afternoon, but is now leading by about 4,400 votes, reports Ray Stern at Phoenix New Times. The margin appears certain to be enough that remaining ballots will not reverse the trend.

“Although there are still about 10,000 votes left to be counted, our lead of more than 4,000 votes makes us 100 percent confident in announcing Arizona is now the 15th medical marijuana state!” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

About 8,000 early ballots and 2,000 provisional ballots from Maricopa County remained to be counted at 5:35 p.m., but the pro-Prop 203 trend seen in the last few tens of thousands of ballots “bodes extremely well for the measure,” New Times reports.

AZ: Answer Coming Soon On Prop 203 Medical Marijuana Vote

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 12, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: My Fox Phoenix

As of Friday morning, only 1,500 votes separated “Yes” and “No” on Prop 203, Arizona’s medical marijuana ballot initiative

Gap Narrows As Final Ballots Counted

Friday, November 12 is the deadline for county election officials in Arizona to finalize the election that was held 10 days ago. One of the races that has been too close to call until now is Proposition 203, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state.

Maricopa County is the only hold-out at this point, according to the Arizona Daily Star, with tens of thousands of ballots left to count. Prop 203 at latest count is behind by only 1,500 votes, closing the gap from 3,000, according to My Fox Phoenix, gaining ground in the past week as ballots were counted.

If vote-counting goes late into the night, it may be Monday morning before cannabis patients in Arizona will find out if they’ll have legal access to the medicine that works best for them.

Both the Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen were reporting Friday that voters wouldn’t know the outcome until next week, but My Fox Phoenix‘s story says “Answer on Medical Marijuana Will Come Friday Night.”

LA May Amend Ordinance To Allow More Cannabis Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Medical Marijuana Blog

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday will consider amending its medical marijuana ordinance, because one of its obscure provisions unexpectedly disqualified 140 cannabis dispensaries from continuing operations, leaving only 40 shops.

When the council approved the ordinance last spring, it allowed up to 180 dispensaries — those that had registered with the city before a moratorium was imposed in 2007 — to stay open, if they were at least 1,000 feet from homes, schools, religious institutions and other dispensaries, reports NBC Los Angeles.

Cambridge Cops Want To Ban Public Marijuana Use

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 9, 2010 Culture, Legislation

Graphic: The Katy Capsule

One year after Massachusetts voters decriminalized possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, local police, apparently unable to adjust to the new reality, are still busily trying to find ways around the law. Now Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas is proposing two ordinances to ban “public consumption” of cannabis.

Violators of the proposed public consumption ordinance would be fined $300 for each offense, reports Shannon Young at The Boston Globe.

NJ Lawmakers May Change Overly Restrictive Medical Pot Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 8, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Opposing Views

New Jersey Senate and Assembly committees on Monday are looking at new resolutions to force changes to the overly restrictive medical marijuana rules proposed by the administration of Governor Chris Christie.

The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) issued draft regulations for the state’s medical cannabis program last month, reports Chris Goldstein at the Philadelphia NORML Examiner.

Among the new limitations proposed by the Christie Administration:

• A physician registry

• Capping THC content at 10 percent, compared to an average 18-20 percent in most medical marijuana states (no other state caps THC content)

• Having just three strains of cannabis available

• Forcing physicians to tell patients marijuana has a “risk of addiction“

• Limiting licensed cultivation to just two grow centers.

Analysis: Massachusetts Ready To Legalize Marijuana In 2012

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 5, 2010 Culture, Legislation, News

Photo: Democracy Now

Jon Walker, FireDogLake: “…Massachusetts is a strong candidate for becoming one of the first states to embrace legalization”

”If you want to win, you can do it here in Massachusetts”

~ Bill Downing, MassCann

Voters in Massachusetts appear to be ready to legalize marijuana in 2012, according to an analysis of the votes on local cannabis legalization advisory ballot questions on Tuesday.

Massachusetts allows for citizens to put non-binding local “public policy questions” on the ballot, reports Jon Walker at FireDogLake. And voters in several precincts weighed in this year on whether their local representatives should “vote in favor of legislation that would allow the state to regulate and tax marijuana in the same manner as alcohol.”

More than 150,000 votes were cast on the marijuana issue across Massachusetts in districts containing about 8.5 percent of the total vote.

Marijuana Legalization’s Next Battleground: Colorado

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 4, 2010 Culture, Legislation

Graphic: Wussup Hater

Colorado will be the next battleground in the national conflict over marijuana legalization, according to Sam Kamin, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Kamin’s statement followed local votes on medical marijuana bans throughout Colorado and the defeat of Proposition 19, which would have legalized limited amounts of marijuana for adults in California, reports Kyle Glazier at The Denver Post.

“California has had its chance,” said Kamin. “Colorado is the next obvious choice.”

Marijuana Law Reform Unlikely In Louisiana Anytime Soon

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 4, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: The Tulane Hullabaloo

Marijuana legalization went down in flames at the polls in California on Tuesday, and local experts in Louisiana say it’s very unlikely to happen there anytime soon, either.

“The chance of [marijuana law]changing here is extraordinarily remote,” said Robert Hogan, a political science professor at Louisiana State University. “The political system here does not lend itself to things like that.”

Hogan said Louisiana’s laws are unlikely to change because voters in Louisiana do not have the right to put an initiative like Proposition 19 on the ballot, reports Frederick Holl at The Daily Reveille.

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