Legislation

Browsing: Legislation

Dec. 6 Is A Historic Day: WA Marijuana Legalization Takes Effect

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 5, 2012 Legislation, News

Adult Possession of Marijuana Becomes Legal In Washington State

Blaze a doob or spark a bowl at midnight, Washingtonians! Just don’t drive afterwards. Maybe for a couple days…?

Starting Thursday, December 6, people 21 and over will be able to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana in the state of Washington. On Election Day last month, 55 percent of voters in both Washington State and Colorado voted to make marijuana legal, making those states the first two to approve legally regulating marijuana like alcohol.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board has until December 2013 to implement rules for the regulated market.

Mayor of Ithaca, NY Announces Support For Legalizing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 4, 2012 Culture, Legislation, News

Madame Noire

Mayor Svante Myrick, Ithaca, N.Y.: “New York should lead on this issue just as we led on repealing alcohol prohibition”

Svante Myrick, the mayor of Ithaca, New York, announced on Tuesday that he thinks it’s time to legalize marijuana. The 25-year-old elected official’s announcement comes one month after voters in Colorado and Washington strongly approved measures legalizing marijuana.

“Despite having arrested over 20 million people for marijuana nationally — a number larger than the entire population of New York State — marijuana prohibition has failed to make our communities safer,” Mayor Myrick announced exclusively to the organization Marijuana Majority. “By legalizing and regulating marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol we can free up our already overburdened courts and law enforcement agencies to focus on serious and violent crime.

Ex Drug Policy Adviser: Feds Won’t Allow Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 3, 2012 Legislation, News

The Raw Story

Former federal drug policy adviser Kevin Sabet: “I can’t imagine the Administration is going to say it is going to be OK with retail sales”

A former senior drug policy adviser in the Obama Administration said on Sunday that it was “unlikely” the federal government will allow Colorado and Washington to legalize marijuana, despite the fact that citizens of both states voted to do so.

“I think the administration has been very clear and the President has been very clear that he is against legalization,” former drug policy adviser Kevin Sabet said on MSNBC’s Up With Chris Hayes. “From public health grounds, we know with legalization we are going to have a cheaper drug, more people are going to use it, it is just going to be more socially acceptable and according to the NIH [National Institutes of Health] that is a problem for one in six kids — it is not a problem for everybody, but it can be a problem on the roads and for IQ and learning, et cetera,” Sabet annoyingly bullshat.

End The Drug War!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2012 Legislation

The Utopianist

By Anthony Martinelli

Communications Director

Sensible Washington

In a recent article published on our website, we explain the key reasons for ending our failed prohibition on cannabis. Doing so would bring untold benefits, and deal a huge blow to our failed war on drugs. However, even if cannabis were legalized, our nation would still be waging the widespread and devastating humans rights violation that our drug war has become.

Even if you don’t condone the use of any drugs, it is difficult to argue that throwing someone into prison alongside murderers and other violent criminals — for simple drug possession, spending taxpayer money along the way — is anything other than bad policy.

N.M. Committee To Consider Decreasing Marijuana Penalties

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2012 Legislation, News

MMJ-guide.com

Legislative Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee To Hear Testimony On Decreasing Penalties for Adults Who Possess Small Amounts of Marijuana

DPA: Reducing Marijuana Penalties will Improve Lives, Save Taxpayer’s Dollars and Significantly Reduce the Burden on Law Enforcement Resources

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) on Thursday will be testifying to the New Mexico Interim Legislative Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee about the importance of decreasing penalties for adults who possess small amounts of marijuana. DPA is scheduled to present at 10 a.m. in Room 307 at the State Capitol in Santa Fe.

Lawmakers Introduce Respect States’ and Citizens’ Rights Act

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 27, 2012 Legislation, News

420 Magazine

Bipartisan Bill Introduced To Address Federal Preemption of State Marijuana Laws

Would Clarify That States Can Determine Their Own Cannabis Policies

A bipartisan group of legislators from around the country led by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) on Tuesday introduced a bill in Congress that would clarify that Colorado and Washington may fully implement the new marijuana laws approved by voters on November 6.

The bill, known as the “Respect States’ and Citizens’ Rights Act,” would add a provision to the federal Controlled Substances Act expressly stating that state marijuana laws shall not be preempted by federal law.

Other sponsors of the legislation include Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN), and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).

Open Letter To Ohio Lawmakers: Stop Arresting Marijuana Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 26, 2012 Legislation, Medical

Tonya Davis/Facebook

Tonya Davis is a medical marijuana activist in Ohio

By Tonya Davis

This is an open letter to my Ohio legislators.

I have nowhere else to turn. I hope you hear my cries for help and I hope you stand up for me. Representative Bobby Hagan will be Re introducing the Ohio medical compassion act which I hope you will consider cosponsoring in January 2013.

It would merely allow Ohio’s doctors and patients to decide whether or not medical cannabis could benefit them or not. It would allow the department of health to keep an eye on the program and make sure there were no abuses. Anyone that is in the program would be in a database so that you can keep track of this act of compassion.

We also believe that it would save Ohio taxpayers millions of dollars by not arresting, incarcerating and prosecuting folks for making a choice using cannabis as medicine. we also believe that the Obama administration would not bother our program because there would not be storefronts or dispensaries selling the product.

Senate Bill Lets Feds Read Your Email Without A Warrant

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 21, 2012 Legislation, News

Politically Incorrect Conservative

In a cynical move, a Senate proposal which had been touted as protecting the email privacy of Americans has been rewritten — and it now gives government spooks even more power to spy on citizens than then already have under the execrable PATRIOT Act.

Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee who himself wrote significant portions of the PATRIOT Act, has “dramatically reshaped” his legislation in response to “law enforcement concerns,” reports Declan McCullagh at CNET. (If the “law enforcement concerns” were that they were allowed to spy, unrestrained, on citizens not suspected of any crimes, then, good job, Senator Leahy — asshole.)

Sacramento Bans Outdoor Pot Cultivation, Allows Greenhouses

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 21, 2012 Growing, Legislation, Medical

Cannabis Sativa

The headlines in the mainstream press read “Outdoor Marijuana Cultivation Ban,” but the Emerald Growers Association (EGA) and California NORML both endorsed Sacramento’s personal use medical cannabis cultivation ordinance, which follows a statewide trend in outlawing the outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana. What’s up?

After almost an hour of testimony, the Sacramento City Council on Tuesday night followed through on a vote last month which signaled its intent to join other cities around California in placing tighter restrictions around cannabis cultivation, reports Ryan Lillis at The Sacramento Bee. The council voted 6-2 to enact the ordinance.

But all of the Emerald Growers Association’s policy goals were reportedly achieved, as follows:

UN Official Wants U.S. To Cancel Marijuana Legalization Votes

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 20, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

International Narcotics Control Board

Raymond Yans, U.N. INCB: American voters’ approval of marijuana legalization sends “a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad”

The man in charge of the United Nations’ anti-drug agency has told United States federal government officials to challenge ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that removed penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults.

Voters’ approval of cannabis legalization sends “a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad, said Raymond Yans, who heads the U.N.’s International Narcotics Control Board, reports The Associated Press.

Yans’ announcement was greeted with a mixture of indifference (a vast collective yawn being the primary reaction) and hostility (“tell that UN moron to go fuck himself,” one stoner offered) in the American cannabis community.

Meanwhile, voters in Colorado and Washington were left to wonder when the hell they turned over control of the “messages” they “send” to some bureaucratic pinhead who doesn’t understand democracy.

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