Legislation

Feds Kick Pro-Legalization Cops Out Of Drug Conference

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 22, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: LEAP

Either you support the failed Drug War party line, or your opinion isn’t welcome. That seems to be the policy at a U.S. government-sponsored substance treatment conference in Chicago next week. Innovative solutions like legalization aren’t even allowed at the table.

A group of police officers, judges and prosecutors who support legalizing and regulating drugs is crying foul after a federal agency reneged on a contract that gave the law enforcers a booth to share their anti-prohibition views at the Chicago conference.

After accepting registration payment from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at first told the police group that its booth was being cancelled at the National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery “because of overbooking and space concerns.”

Prop 19 Would Fix Police Priorities, Make Money, Protect Public

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 22, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Yes On Prop 19

Proposition 19, the California ballot measure to legalize, regulate and tax cannabis, would enable the state to steer police resources toward more pressing matters, generate hundreds of millions in revenue to fund vital services, and protect children, roadways, and workplaces, according to a new nonpartisan report.

The report (PDF) confirms that Prop 19 will enable state and local governments to tax marijuana and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

According to the report, “Proposition 19 allows local governments to authorize, regulate, and tax various commercial marijuana-related activities… We estimate that the state and local governments could eventually collect hundreds of millions of dollars annual in additional revenues.

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), which provides nonpartisan fiscal and policy advice, released the report Tuesday.

Proposition 109 would enable California to sensibly adjust police priorities, according to the report.

Montana Republicans Want To Repeal Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 19, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: KFBB

With the next session just months away, Republican legislators are getting ready for a battle to ban medical marijuana in Montana, spurred by an explosion in the number of patients in the state.

At least two GOP lawmakers plan to introduce bills in the 2011 Legislature — which begins in January — to repeal the medical marijuana law altogether, reports Daniel Person at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

This spring, the Montana GOP added to its platform the belief that the state’s medical marijuana law should be either “amended or repealed,” with several Republican lawmakers putting forward repeal bills. The state Democratic Party platform does not address the issue of medical marijuana.

Marijuana Legalization Measure Gets Big Union Endorsement

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 15, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Labor Relations Institute, Inc.

California’s Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative that will appear on November’s ballot, got a big boost Wednesday as it won the endorsement of the council which oversees the political work of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in the state.

“I’m expecting to garner the endorsements of most of the major unions in California over the next several weeks,” said Dan Rush, who oversees special operations for the UFCW, Local 5, and has pushed efforts to gain union support for the measure, reports John Hoeffel of the Los Angeles Times.

Michigan Court: Medical Marijuana Law Isn’t Retroactive

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 15, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: SGVTribune.com

The Michigan Appeals Court ruled Wednesday the state’s medical marijuana law cannot be used retroactively to save people from cannabis charges.

The court reversed a decision by a Tuscola County judge who had dismissed charges against a man caught with nine marijuana plants and “drug paraphernalia,” reports the Grand Haven Tribune.

Keith Campbell said he was using marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the bust occurred in 2007, a year before Michigan’s medical marijuana law took effect.

Medical Marijuana Appeal To Set Landmark Precedent This Week

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: WeedMaps.com

Premium Organic Treatments Patient Collective Association (POT PCA) is located at 3148 East La Palma Avenue, Suite J in Anaheim.

A moment of truth for medical marijuana dispensaries will come this week when California’s Fourth Appellate District Division Three will issue its opinion in the Qualified Patients vs. Anaheim case by July 19. The decision will come after a years-long appeal process closely watched by patients, advocates, politicians, lawyers, and the press.

California’s localized approach to interpreting the state’s medical marijuana law has some distinct drawbacks. Among those is the fact acting identically can either lead to profits or to jail, depending where a patient lives, points out David Downs in the East Bay Express.

Cities in conservative areas — like Anaheim in Orange County — have effectively re-criminalized dispensaries, setting up an appeals court showdown scheduled to end sometime within the next week.

Nebraska Pharmacy Board Urged To OK Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: NORML Blog

More than a dozen people on Monday asked the Nebraska Board of Pharmacy to reclassify marijuana so it can be authorized as medicine.

Those testifying included a medical doctor, a lawyer, one of the original Yippies from the 1960s and an Iowa trucker wearing a “Reverend Reefer” t-shirt, reports Paul Hammel at the Omaha World-Herald.

They urged the board to help Nebraska join 14 other states the allow medicinal cannabis to relieve pain and ease the symptoms of diseases such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

Cops, Judge Sign Pro-Legalization Ballot Argument For Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Judge Jim Gray

Judge James Gray: “We need a common sense approach to control marijuana”

A retired Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief, a previous San Jose chief of police and a former superior court judge from Orange County have all signed the official ballot argument in favor of Proposition 19, California’s statewide measure to legalize, tax and control marijuana.

“Outlawing marijuana hasn’t stopped 100 million Americans from trying it,” says the pro-legalization ballot argument from the veteran law enforcers. “But we can control it, make it harder for kids to get, weaken the cartels, focus police resources on violent crime and generate billions in revenue and savings.”

“We need a common sense approach to control marijuana,” the argument reads.

The signers, Los Angeles Deputy Chief of Police Stephen Downing (Ret.), San Jose Chief of Police Joseph McNamara (Ret.) and Judge James Gray (Ret.) are all members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international organization of police, prosecutors and judges who are working to change failed marijuana laws.

All US Patients Now Eligible For Oregon Medical Marijuana Cards

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: MERCY Centers

Any eligible patient in the United States may now obtain a medical marijuana card in Oregon.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) may no longer require Oregon residency as a part of the medical marijuana permit application process, reports Rachel Cheeseman at The Oregon Politico.

Applicants formerly needed to supply proof of residency as well as Oregon identification as part of their application. However, OMMP was informed by the Department of Justice that such a requirement was inconsistent with the language of the bill.

Tawana Nichols, OMMP manager, said while the program was created with the intent of specifically benefiting Oregonians, there was no requirement of Oregon residency written into the bill, so they could not lawfully require it.

CA Sen. Feinstein Opposes Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Transylvania Phoenix

Dianne Feinstein must be tired of being a senator. She does some really dumb stuff sometimes — like opposing pot legalization.

Ol’ Di-Fei once again looks a lot like a LINO — Liberal In Name Only.

California’s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, has lent her voice and support to the effort to defeat Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure on the state’s November ballot, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.

Feinstein, a prominent Democrat who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, has signed the ballot argument against Prop 19. On Monday, she made a statement through the opposition campaign calling the measure “a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe.”

Browsing: Legislation