Browsing: Legislation

Vermont Gubernatorial Candidate To Discuss Marijuana Decrim

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Legislation, News

Pete Shumlin: “We need to have an honest conversation with Vermonters about changing laws that are diverting resources and attention from real problems, and filling our prisons up with folks that shouldn’t be there”

Gubernatorial candidate Pete Shumlin will be at the University of Vermont next week along with other speakers to discuss marijuana decriminalization at an event sponsored by Marijuana Resolve, a Vermont non-profit focused on cannabis policy reform issues.

“We need to have an honest conversation with Vermonters about changing laws that are diverting resources and attention from real problems, and filling our prisons up with folks that shouldn’t be there,” Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Shumlin said in June as he called for marijuana decriminalization.

“I believe it is a mistake to be sending young people on second, third, fourth offenses to prison on marijuana-related charges,” said Shumlin, who has previously sponsored a decriminalization bill. “That’s where we could make a difference.”

If elected governor, Shumlin has pledged he will work to pass legislation that will make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a civil, rather than a criminal, violation, punishable by a $100 fine without the possibility of jail time.

Just Say Now Campaign Aims To End Marijuana Prohibition

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Just Say Now

The mainstreaming of marijuana means that it is no longer considered a “right” or “left” issue. Pot legalization is now receiving support from across the political spectrum.

And that’s a good thing, according to Jane Hamsher, founder and publisher of leading progressive blog Firedoglake.com.

“It is very important to us that this is not viewed as a partisan issue, because we don’t think that it is,” Hamsher said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters.

“Young people want marijuana to be legalized in overwhelming numbers: young voters are not just excited to support legalization, but are much more likely to turn out to vote if marijuana is on the ballot,” Hamsher said. “We’re delighted about organizing legalization supporters and getting them to the polls on Election Day.”

More Than 2,000 Apply For Colorado Marijuana Licenses

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: Legal Libations

Residency Requirement Creates Controversy; Sparks Lawsuit Threat

More than 2,000 Coloradans have applied for licenses to operate in the state’s burgeoning medical marijuana business. The applications were due Sunday, and the figure could still rise because those postmarked by the due date will still be counted.

The 2,059 forms received so far include applications from 717 dispensaries, 271 marijuana product makers (edibles), and 1,071 marijuana growers, according to John Ingold of The Denver Post.

WA Governor’s Office Calls Pot Legalization ‘Legitimate Idea’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 29, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: KOZE950.com

Could marijuana legalization be in Washington state’s future? The office of Gov. Chris Gregoire said Thursday that it’s a “legitimate idea.”

Could marijuana legalization be in Washington state’s future? The office of Gov. Chris Gregoire said Thursday that it’s a “legitimate idea” that will be considered.

When Gov. Gregoire opened an online suggestion box on ways to fix the state’s budget, she may not have expected pot legalization to come in at first place. But it has been in the lead for more than a week now, and the governor’s office even has a somewhat positive response.

“It’s a legitimate idea,” said Gregoire spokeswoman Karina Shagren, who said the Governor is reading the list herself, as is Marty Brown, the director of the governor’s budget office. “But we’d like to see how the federal government would respond.”

With marijuana legalization apparently so popular among Washington’s (and America’s) voters, the idea is being considered right along with the roughly 1,750 others that have been submitted so far.

Court Rules Marijuana Use No Reason To Take Mother’s Kids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 29, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Reality Catcher

The state cannot take children away from a mother simply because she tests positive for marijuana use, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday.

According to the decision, reversing a Marion County juvenile court ruling, the children can’t be taken away without evidence showing the mother’s cannabis use endangers the kids, reports Helen Jung at The Oregonian.

The juvenile court had earlier ruled that the state Department of Human Services had jurisdiction over the two children, a 19-month-old and a 6-month-old. The state had argued that the simple fact fact that the mother used marijuana “presented a reasonable likelihood of harm to her two children.”

But the appeals court reasonably agreed with the mother’s argument that the state had failed to provide any evidence connecting her marijuana use with risk to the children.

The children and the mother are identified only by their initials in the case to protect their anonymity.

Challenge To Federal Medical Pot Policy Helped By V.A. Change

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 29, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: LA Progressive

Medical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) filed an important legal brief on Wednesday to correct statements made by the federal government that “marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.”

The ASA legal filing points to a policy directive issued last week by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), recognizing medical marijuana and distinguishing it from other illegal controlled substances.

In its brief, ASA says that the VHA directive bolsters advocates’ arguments that marijuana does indeed have medical value.

“Recognition of marijuana’s therapeutic benefits by a federal agency makes it more difficult for the government to argue against marijuana’s medical value,” said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who filed the notice with the court.

Congress May Double Penalties For Pot Brownies

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 28, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

A bill has just reached the floor of the United States Senate that would double penalties for any edible products combined with medical marijuana in California and the 13 other states that provide compassionate relief for patients.

The worst part is that the bill was written and sponsored by Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic senator from California!

S. 258, the “Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act,” was introduced by Sen. Feinstein and is using a hyped-up media scare about “candy flavored methamphetamine” to attack medical marijuana patients and providers.

Since there is no national trend toward lacing candy and other edibles with meth or any other drug besides cannabis, this bill clearly targets legitimate medical marijuana dispensaries, caregivers and patients in states that have legalized it as medicine.

D.C. Medical Marijuana Law Clears Congress

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Opposing Views

The District of Columbia’s medical marijuana law cleared a mandatory 30-day Congressional review period Monday night, after Congress declined to take action against a D.C. Council bill that allows the District to license between five and eight medical marijuana dispensaries, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said Tuesday.

The District joins 14 other states across the U.S. in having effective medical marijuana laws.

We’re Winning! Poll Shows CA Pot Legalization Ahead 52%-36%

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: SF Appeal

Prop 19 is ahead by 16 points! Is it November yet?

Pothead Power, people. California’s Proposition 19, which would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older, is currently leading by a wide margin among state voters, according to a new poll. The measure is supported by 52 percent of voters, and opposed by only 36 percent.

The new PPP poll (PDF) shows the largest margin of support yet seen from recent polling on Prop 19, reports policy analyst Jon Walker at FireDogLake.

Interestingly, the poll found Prop 19 support among African Americans to be very high, possibly influenced by the California NAACP’s recent endorsement of the legalization measure.

African Americans are the strongest supporters of Prop 19, with 68 percent in favor and 32 percent against, followed by whites who support it 53 percent to 37 percent.

Where Is Marijuana Reform Heading? Seattle Forum Sept. 12

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 26, 2010 Culture, Legislation

Photo: ACLU-WA

Famed travel writer and TV host Rick Steves will be among the panelists at “Where Is Marijuana Reform Heading?”, a public forum in Seattle on September 12 sponsored by the WA ACLU.

Sure, it seems that the wind is at our backs. The tantalizing possibility of marijuana legalization looks more possible than it ever has before. But what comes next?

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington on September 12 will present a discussion on the history, current status, and future of marijuana-law reform in Washington and the United States.

The event will be Sunday, September 12, 2010, 7 pm – pm (doors open at 6:30 pm), at the Great Hall at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Avenue at Seneca Street. Enter on 8th Avenue. (Directions and Parking)

Local and national panelists include travel writer Rick Steves; Keith Stroup, founder of and legal counsel to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML); Washington state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles; Rob Kampia, co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP); and Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).

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Browsing: Legislation

Photo: ACLU-WA Famed travel writer and TV host Rick Steves will be among the panelists at “Where Is Marijuana Reform Heading?”, a public forum in Seattle on September 12 sponsored by the WA ACLU.

Sure, it seems that the wind is at our backs. The tantalizing possibility of marijuana legalization looks more possible than it ever has before. But what comes next?

Photo: ACLU-WA

Famed travel writer and TV host Rick Steves will be among the panelists at “Where Is Marijuana Reform Heading?”, a public forum in Seattle on September 12 sponsored by the WA ACLU.