This inspiring two-minute message is brought to you by Larry Talley of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Browsing: Legislation
| Satire With Samuel |
| Texas Legislative Black Caucus |
| Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) filed the decrim bill |
House Bill 184, which would reduce penalties for marijuana possession in Texas, has already been filed and is ready for the Legislature’s upcoming session in January.
The bill, filed by Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), would reduce possession of up to an ounce of marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor, reports Sergio Chapa at ValleyCentral.com. Class C misdemeanors carry no jail time, and are punishable by up to a $500 fine.
“We are under no illusions that full decriminalization is gonna come to Texas anytime soon,” said Josh Schimberg of the Texas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Schimberg said the Austin-based group is pushing for full legalization, but sees HB 184 as a step in the right direction.
| Justin Sullivan |
| California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom: “These laws just don’t make sense anymore” |
Newsom Adds Voice to Growing List of Prominent U.S. and World Leaders Calling for Alternatives to Failed Drug War
California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom is the latest elected official to call for marijuana legalization. In a Friday front page New York Times story, Newsom said he believes marijuana prohibition is counterproductive and voiced his support for making marijuana legal.
“These laws just don’t make sense anymore,” said Lt. Gov. Newsom, widely considered a leading contender for California’s governor in 2016. “It’s time for policitians to come out of the closet on this.”
Newsom first came to international prominence when, in 2004, as the newly-elected mayor of San Francisco, he issued a directive to the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
| M.V. Jantzen/DCist |
D.C. Council Legislation Criminalizes Possession of “K2,” “Ivory Wave” and Other Synthetic Drugs
Councilmembers Ignore Plea from D.C. Advocates to Reject Criminalization, Regulate Retailers Instead
The Council of the District of Columbia on Tuesday approved legislation that would subject people to juvenile detention or jail for up to six months for simple possession of certain synthetic drugs. People in their teens and twenties are more likely to possess synthetic drugs than older adults, according to the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).
| Drug Policy Alliance |
Full Page New York Times Ad in Thursday Paper: “80 Years After the End of Prohibition, Prohibition is Finally Coming to an End”
Comes on Heels of Obama Response to Marijuana Legalization in Colorado and Washington: “We’ve Got Bigger Fish to Fry”
In Thursday’s New York Times, a drug policy reform organization is running a full-page ad that thanks voters in Colorado and Washington and emphasizes the growing support for drug policy reform among people from across the political spectrum who are renowned for their leadership in law, health, business, media and politics. Last month, Colorado and Washington became the first two states in the country – and the first political jurisdictions anywhere in the world – to approve legally regulating marijuana like alcohol, with both states’ initiatives winning by decisive margins.
| Complex |
| Sure smells good up in this squad car, officer. |
The Seattle Police Department on Tuesday announced that due to the recent legalization of marijuana in Washington state, job applicants will no longer be disqualified for using cannabis in the last three years — now it’s just a one-year period in which you are required not to have gotten high.
This is a big change; it makes the SPD the first police department in Washington to modify its hiring process due to marijuana legalization, reports Matt Driscoll at the Seattle Weekly.
| Beacon News |
New Plan Kowtows To Law Enforcement; Ignores Patients
Canada is changing the way citizens there can access marijuana for medical purposes, it was announced Sunday. The changes were made at the suggestion law enforcement officials, and seemingly without consulting medical professionals or patients at all.
“Current medical marihuana regulations have left the system open to abuse,” claimed Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq. “We have heard real concerns from law enforcement, fire officials, and municipalities about how people are hiding behind these rules to conduct illegal activity, and putting health and safety of Canadians at risk.
“These changes will make it far more difficult for people to game the system,” Aglukkaq claimed.
| MyFoxAtlanta |
A campaign to decriminalize marijuana in Georgia was launched Monday at the State Capitol.
The Georgia Campaign for Access, Reform and Education (Georgia C.A.R.E. Project) held a news conference urging legislators to include Georgia’s antiquated marijuana laws in their undergoing reform of the state’s criminal justice system, reports MyFoxAtlanta.
James Bell of Georgia CARE said the state’s effort to stop filling prisons with nonviolent offenders should include the marijuana laws.
| StoptheDrugWar.org |
California Becomes Largest State in U.S. to Enact Legislation Aimed at Curbing National Overdose Crisis
Those of us in the cannabis community are very fortunate — even a bit spoiled, one might say — in that we don’t have to deal with life-threatening overdoses when it comes the herb. But even when people choose to use other, dangerous substances — you know, actual drugs — such as alcohol, heroin, or OxyContin — and accidentally take too much, they don’t deserve to die.
A new law in California that encourages witnesses at the scene of a suspected drug or alcohol overdose to seek emergency assistance right away without fear of arrest for minor drug law violations goes into effect on January 1. The law, commonly referred to in other states as ‘911 Good Samaritan,’ was introduced by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and passed in 2012 with bipartisan support.
| ABC News |
| President Obama: “It does not make sense from a prioritizing point of view” to go after marijuana in states where it’s now legal |
President Barack Obama pledged on Friday that he will not go after Washington state and Colorado for legalizing marijuana.
Obama was asked — in a Barbara Walters interview airing Friday on ABC — whether he supports making marijuana legal, reported The Associated Press. “I wouldn’t go that far,” the President said.
But Obama said he wouldn’t press the issue by going after recreational users in states where voters legalized marijuana in the November elections. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” he said.
“It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view,” the President said, to focus on pot use on states where it is now legal.