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Browsing: Legislation

Federal Judge Calls For Marijuana Legalization

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By on Legislation, News

Speckled Axe
Judge Richard A. Posner: “I think it’s really absurd to be criminalizing possession or use or distribution of marijuana”

Most-Cited Judge In America Criticizes Drug War As ‘Absurd’

A widely respected federal judge called for the legalization of marijuana in a lecture at Elmhurst College in Illinois on Thursday.

Judge Richard A. Posner of the influential Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago “is an intellectual giant who is the most-cited judge in America,” reports Larry Bodine at Lawyers.com. “His call for legalization is considered significant because Posner is considered a legal conservative,” Bodine wrote.
“I don’t think we should have a fraction of the drug laws that we have,” Posner said. “I think it’s really absurd to be criminalizing possession or use or distribution of marijuana. I can’t see any difference between that and cigarettes.”
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Uruguay: No Marijuana Tourism Under Legalization Plan

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By on Global, Legislation, News

Hispanically Speaking News
Uruguay President Jose Mujica: “We feel that putting it aboveboard, regulating it, can be a lesser evil than what is happening today”

Aw, man! If Uruguay’s parliament approves a historic plan to legalize marijuana, drug tourism will not be allowed in the South American nation, President Jose Mujica said on Wednesday.

The plan, under which Uruguay would sell marijuana to its citizens, will require people to prove they are Uruguayan before scoring any weed, Mujica told Agence France Presse (AFP). The legalization bill — the first complete legalization in the world, as opposed to decriminalization of “tolerance” as practiced in places like the Netherlands and Portugal — “is to resolve a problem that we ourselves have,” President Mujica said.
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MPP’s Kampia Publishes Misleading Chart About I-502

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By on Legislation, News

Mary Jane’s House of Glass
Rob Kampia, shown here partying at the Playboy Mansion, doesn’t seem too concerned about getting a marijuana DUI. Oh yeah, those are only for Washington state, right?

Rob Kampia, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, published a Huffington Post column this week which included a chart supposedly illustrating “the Facts on I-502” which included an unintentionally humorous section.

Under “Arrests,” the chart tells us “If I-502 passes in WA on November 6th,” “NO ARRESTS,” and then in smaller print, “as long as you’re complying with the new law.” Gee, Rob, how many law degrees do you have, again?
It’s much the same with the rest of the chart. Under “Penalty for Wholesale Cultivation,” it’s “NO PENALTY if you have a marijuana producer’s license.” What the chart doesn’t tell you is that after an initial $250 setup fee, “marijuana producer’s licenses” will cost $1,000 per year (expect this number to go up quickly.)
Even the chart has to admit that the penalty for growing your own “Doesn’t change from current law. Manufacture becomes legal for licensed producers, not for home growers.”
Kampia, much of whose staff at MPP resigned a couple years ago after a sex scandal, spends most of the article lecturing Washington state activists on how the 502 debate is “off-track,” presumably because patients are insisting upon actually reading and questioning the legislation upon which they’re being asked to vote.
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I-502’s DUI Provision: It’s Dangerous To Defend Bad Policy

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By on Legislation, News

The Weed Blog

By Anthony Martinelli
Communications Director
Washington state’s Initiative 502 has caused a heated debate within the cannabis community. Individuals who would have never imagined themselves opposing a “legalization” measure, have found themselves adamantly and publicly opposed to this initiative. 
Both sides of the debate have merit.
On one end, the initiative is filled with unnecessary flaws – it retains cannabis as a Schedule I drug – it leaves activities such as passing a joint as felony charges – it creates new criminal penalties for patients in the form of an unwarranted per se DUID limit – et cetera
That being said, there are arguments in support of this measure that also hold validity – the issue of public perception on the national level, for example – and of course arrest protection for up to an ounce of cannabis seems beneficial.
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Right Wing Groups Sue To Keep Marijuana Off Arkansas Ballot

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

Arkansas GOP Wing
Jerry Cox, “Coalition to Preserve Arkansas Values,” claims the people have no power: “Marijuana is illegal… only the federal government can change that”

Arkansans For Compassionate Care Will Fight For Arkansans’ Right To Vote And Decide For Themselves
How much more un-American does it get than trying to stop the people from deciding for themselves about medical marijuana and compassion for sick people? Once again, the right-wing “family values” fakes have outed themselves for what they are.
“The Coalition to Preserve Arkansas Values,” composed of right-wing groups led by one Jerry Cox, is trying to deny the rights of Arkansas citizens to put the question of medical marijuana to a vote. The Coalition filed a lawsuit with the Arkansas Supreme Court on Friday, asking the court to remove the measure, which has already qualified for the ballot.
“This ballot proposal is one hundred percent illegal under federal law,” Cox, who runs a right-wing hate group called the Family Council Action Committee, claimed. “Marijuana is illegal because of federal statute passed by Congress. Only the federal government can change that.”
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Signatures Filed To Overturn L.A. Marijuana Dispensary Ban

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Arno van Dulmen/Shutterstock

If referendum qualifies, city council will be forced to either rescind its ordinance or call a special election
The medical marijuana dispensary ban in Los Angeles may be short-lived.
With plenty of time to spare, medical marijuana advocates on Wednesday filed more than 50,000 signatures in an effort to overturn a recently passed ban on dispensaries throughout the city. Despite a loud outcry from patient advocates, the Los Angeles City Council adopted an outright ban last month on medical marijuana distribution within the city limits.
The ban came after the city failed for more than four years to develop regulations suitable for providing medical marijuana to the tens of thousands of area patients.
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I-502 Author Claims Feds Don’t Mess With State Marijuana Laws

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By on Legislation, News

The Seattle Times

“The federal government’s policy, where states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, has been to respect voters’ decisions”
~ Alison Holcomb, New Approach Washington
After last week’s federal letters threatening Seattle medical marijuana dispensaries — access points which have made a point of following state and municipal laws governing such shops — the backers of Washington state marijuana “legalization” initiative I-502 had a chance to say something intelligent about federal interference in voter-approved marijuana laws.

After all, I-502 itself — should it pass, as appears likely, in November — will be in direct conflict with the federal Uniform Controlled Substances Act, under which cannabis is considered a Schedule I “narcotic” with no accepted uses and a high probability of abuse.
So what did I-502’s main author, Alison Holcomb of ACLU-WA and campaign manager for 502 sponsors New Approach Washington, have to say in a Tuesday news story from the Seattle P.I.?
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Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced In Kentucky

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

Charles Bertram/Kentucky.com
Senator Perry Clark (D-Louisville): “This is not a conservative or a liberal issue; it’s an issue of compassion”

Medical marijuana could be coming soon to the Bluegrass State.
Senator Perry B. Clark (D-Louisville) has pre-filed legislation for the 2013 legislative session that would add Kentucky to the growing list of states that allow patients whose doctors have recommended it to use medical marijuana to treat multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious medical conditions.
The bill would also establish a network of state-regulated dispensaries where patients could purchase medical marijuana. Senator Clark promised the bill’s introduction at a July press conference, noting he wanted to get an early start on generating support in the legislature.
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NAACP Joins Effort To Legalize Marijuana In Colorado

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By on Legislation, News

Favim.com

Civil Rights Leaders Denounce Egregious Racial Disparities in Marijuana Law Enforcement at the Historic Five Points Intersection in East Denver 
The NAACP Colorado Montana Wyoming State Area Conference has endorsed Amendment 64, the campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Colorado. This endorsement is the third of its kind. The NAACP California State Conference endorsed a similar measure in 2010, and the NAACP Alaska Oregon Washington State Area Conference recently endorsed an Oregon legalization effort.  
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CA Supreme Court Throws Out Marijuana Dispensary Ban Case

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, News

THC Finder

High Court prohibits municipalities from using Pack v. City of Long Beach to ban dispensaries
The California Supreme Court dismissed review on Wednesday of an important appellate court ruling affecting medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state. Specifically, the High Court threw out the controversial decision in Pack v. City of Long Beach, which previously held that federal law preempted some forms of dispensary regulations.
The Pack decision has been used by several municipalities, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, to suspend or ban outright the distribution of medical marijuana. However, Wednesday’s dismissal of the Pack decision throws into question the viability of such bans.
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