Arkansans now have two medical marijuana law proposals to consider putting on the 2014 ballot. Arkansans for Compassionate Care officially began their journey to get their medical marijuana bill before voters after state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel approved the wording late yesterday.
The group now has to get the John Hancock of at least 62,507 registered Arkansas voters to get the measure on the 2014 ballot.
| Wyoming state capitol. |
Wyoming NORML director Christine Christian filed an application with the Wyoming secretary of state’s office Monday for a marijuana legalization proposal, taking the first step on a long road towards increased cannabis freedom in the Equality State.
Lawmakers now have 14 days to look over the proposal. They can approve it outright, suggest changes or deny it altogether.
An Iowa state senator plan to introduce medical marijuana and marijuana decriminalization bills when the Iowa legislature convenes on Wednesday, even though both have a snowball’s chance in Death Valley of passing.
Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City says both bills are needed, but nobody else seems to agree. That includes Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad who has been outspoken in his opposition to legalization in the past.
| Marijuana Policy Project’s Matt Simon. |
West Virginia lawmakers have begun considering the possibility of allowing for legal medical marijuana use and cultivation in their state. As we reported earlier this week, an interim joint health committee (no pun intended) has been called to evaluate whether legalizing medical cannabis is the right move for the state. Yesterday was the first of the hearings, with Marijuana Policy Project analyst and spokesman Matt Simon taking the stand and urging politicians in his home state to come to their senses.
“Those are some of the really tragic cases in my opinion, patients who have to move to another state just to try a plant that would work for them,” Simon told lawmakers.
| Washington D.C. |
Washington D.C. councilmember David Grosso introduced a bill yesterday that would legalize the possession and sales of limited amounts of cannabis in the nation’s capitol to adults 21 and over.
The bill would remove all criminal and civil penalties for the possession of an ounce or less of cannabis.
Last week, opponents of Proposition AA, the measure to establish tax rates for recreational marijuana, staged a rally at Civic Center Park at which adults 21 and over who attended were given free joints. In the days that followed, board members of Colorado NORML came out against Prop AA, too.
Does that mean support for the proposal is soft? Not in the view of attorney Brian Vicente, a marijuana advocate and co-author of Amendment 64. Denver Westword has the full story.
A conservative anti-tax lobbyist has become an unlikely supporter of marijuana reform at the federal level. On Thursday, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, told reporters that despite never trying cannabis (“absolutely not”), he is against the federal over-taxation of medical and recreation marijuana.
“There’s always a slight giggle factor on the issue dealing with marijuana,” Norquist tells Time magazine. “That said, this is tax policy, this is real stuff. This is important. This is everything from jobs to whether the federal government comes in and writes rules that upsets the apple cart in many, many different states.”
The group that was behind Arizona’s medical-marijuana law plans to push a marijuana-legalization initiative in Arizona in 2016.
The national Marijuana Policy Project actually hopes that Arizona is one of 10 states where it can help pass marijuana-legalization laws, such as the one in Colorado, by 2017. The Phoenix New Times has the full story.
A San Francisco lawmaker has introduced legislation in California that would create statewide regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries for the first time. Currently, medical collectives are governed by local municipalities, which recently won the right to ban the centers outright in the state supreme court.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano says the bill will help the state stave off federal raids, pointing to the recent memo released by U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole that asks federal prosecutors to respect state marijuana rights in states with robust regulatory systems in place. Ammiano doesn’t have much time to get Assembly Bill 604 passed this session, though, as Sept. 13 is the last day for each house to pass bills according to the state legislative calendar.
Washington D.C. City Council member David Grosso says he plans to submit a recreational legalization measure before city leaders September 17 when the council returns from summer recess.
Grosso’s plan – which is similar to laws passed in Colorado last year – would legalize and regulate the sale, cultivation and possession of limited amounts of cannabis in the nation’s capital. The announcement comes on the heels of a decriminalization measure proposed in June that would make an ounce or less a $100 fine instead of a criminal offense has ten of the 13 council member’s support.