Browsing: Legislation
| Green Kross Cooperative |
| Another casualty of D.A. Bonnie Dumanis’ medical marijuana crackdown, in which she invites federal DEA agents to thwart the will of the people of California |
A San Diego medical marijuana dispensary owner pleaded guilty Thursday to three federal charges.
Joseph Nunes was arrested when federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and local law enforcement executed a search warrant at Green Kross Cooperative on Sept. 9. The agents said they seized $38,000 in cash from the dispensary.
The Green Kross warrant was part of a crackdown involving raids of 14 marijuana dispensaries in San Diego County.
San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, who oversaw the Sept. 9 raids (and who seems to be quite a lover of headlines), issued a press release gloating about how she shut down the operations of “drug dealers.” Yet, according to Dave Maass at Safe Access San Diego, the preening D.A. provided very little evidence to back up her claims.
| wussuphater.wordpress.com |
| Cannabinated Colorado: Medical marijuana regulations are coming to the Mile High State. |
Two Colorado legislators today unveiled their plan for regulating medical marijuana in the state via an extraordinary guest editorial in The Denver Post.
“Colorado voters spoke clearly when they passed a constitutional amendment that permitted medical marijuana use, but the amendment left many oversight and regulatory questions unanswered,” wrote State Sen. Chris Romer (D-Denver) and State Rep. Tom Massey (R-Poncha Springs) in the opinion piece. “That is why we are acting in 2010 to honor the intent of the constitution and help patients.”
Washington state pot advocates who thought they had to choose between a marijuana decrim bill ($100 fine for under 40 grams) and the status quo (including a mandatory night in jail for possessing any amount) just got another choice. A state lawmaker introduced a bill Monday to legalize marijuana in the state.
Under the bill, introduced by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle), marijuana would be legal for persons 21 and older to use and possess, subject to regulations similar to those controlling alcohol.
| MPP-NV |
| Nevadans, do you want legal marijuana? Sign the initiative, then get out and vote in 2012 |
Nevadans, after turning down similar initiatives in 2002 and 2006, may get to vote again on legalizing marijuana in 2012.
Dave Schwartz, manager of the Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada (MPP-NV), announced today that he has filed documents with the Nevada Secretary of State establishing a Ballot Advocacy Group to support an initiative to legalize and regulate marijuana for persons 21 or older.
Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws has been organized to conduct a signature drive in 2010 that will place an initiative on the November 2012 ballot. The committee says it will file the language of the initiative with the state in January.
| Painting: James Montgomery Flagg |
| Hey, Congress: I want YOU to respect the will of the people |
In a historic move, Congress is poised to end a decade-long ban on implementation of the medical marijuana law passed with a 69 percent majority by voters in the District of Columbia in 1998.
Known as the Barr Amendment, after its author, then-Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), the provision — a rider attached to appropriations for D.C. — has forbidden the District from extending legal protection to qualified medical marijuana patients.
The Barr Amendment has been derided by advocates for years as an unconscionable intrusion by the federal government into the democratically expressed will of the District’s people.
The omnibus spending bill that Democratic leaders will be bringing to a vote in the House later this week removes this onerous provision. Once both chambers of Congress approve the final language and the President signs it, the Barr Amendment will no longer block medical marijuana in the District of Columbia.
| Photo: Coaster420 |
| Medical marijuana: Will Pennsylvania become the Keystoned State? Oh, yeah… Stereotypes bad. |
The good news, according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News, is that Pennsylvania is finally having a discussion about medical marijuana.
The bad news? “In our socially conservative state this is likely as far as the debate will go on the issue,” the editorial says.
Pennsylvania’s House Health and Human Services Committee last week heard from patients, doctors, and medical marijuana advocates who said the state should legalize the herb for those suffering debilitating medical conditions.
| Photo: Psychonaught |
| Five of these? Yes, please. (Super Silver Haze sativa/indica hybrid) |
The government of the Czech Republic in eastern Europe will allow ordinary citizens to grow up to five marijuana plants starting Jan. 1, 2010.
The cabinet of Prime Minister Jan Fischer defined “personal use” amounts of cannabis and other drugs, clarifying the nation’s new penal code that will decriminalize cultivation and possession of pot.
While marijuana will remain technically illegal, possession will be punished only with fines comparable to those imposed for parking tickets, Sean Carney at the Wall Street Journal reports.
What constituted “small amounts” for personal use was previously undefined. Police and the courts loosely interpreted the laws on a case by case basis, often resulting in home marijuana growers being jailed.
| Graphic: Reality Catcher |
| The State of Maine will be selling marijuana by spring. |
A 14-member task force assigned by Gov. John E. Baldacci is trying to iron out the kinks in Maine’s new medical marijuana law so it can be implemented by its deadline at the beginning of April, 2010.
The committee, made up of state officials, police, medical professionals and others, meets today to address potential problems in the law voters approved in November.
The new law allows for state-run medical marijuana dispensaries, and also expands the conditions for which medical marijuana can be legally used in Maine.
Medical marijuana has been legal in the state since the Maine Medical Marijuana Act of 1998. This year’s voter initiative was designed to solve the conundrum of where those patients, legal for 11 years now, are supposed to buy their medicine.
| Photo: Laurie Avocado |
| Whenever City Council’s in session, look out. |
San Diego’s task force on medical marijuana will present its land-use recommendations to the city council today.
According to the task force, any businesses that dispense medical marijuana in San Diego should be required to apply for a land use permit, and should only be allowed in industrial or commercial zones, Tom Fudge reports at KPBS.
The task force also recommends that dispensaries shouldn’t be located within 1,000 feet of a school, or within 500 feet of another dispensary.