Legislation

Medical Marijuana Officially Qualifies For Arkansas Ballot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 22, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Arkansas has become the first state in the Deep South to qualify a medical marijuana initiative for the ballot.

Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin on Wednesday certified the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act has enough signatures to be on the November 6 General Election ballot. The proposal needed a minimum of 62,507 signatures from registered voters to qualify.

“Compassionate Care is an important issue for thousands of Arkansans and their families,” said Melissa Fults, treasurer for Arkansans for Compassionate Care. “This is something the people of Arkansas want to discuss. We’ve always been a leader in the South and now we’re the first one to put medical marijuana on the ballot and have a real discussion about it.”

An Independent Review of Washington’s I-502 Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 22, 2012 Legislation, News

NoOnI502.org

By C. Michael Pickens

I showed up to Hempfest on Saturday morning and the first thing that struck me as odd were all of the “No on I-502” signs, t-shirts, and buttons.

Wait a minute… Isn’t I-502 the marijuana legalization bill set to be voted on in November?

Isn’t this the same bill that is being promoted by many leaders within the marijuana legalization movement?

Something wasn’t right.

Michigan Medical Marijuana Patients Fight Back With PSA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 22, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Michigan medical marijuana patients are in a fight for their lives.
Despite the fact that an overwhelming 63 percent of voters approved their medical marijuana law in 2008 — winning every county in the state — lawmakers have unaccountably decided to ignore the will of the people who elected them.
Now circulating in the Michigan Legislature is badly written legislation which would, in effect, gut the law approved by the people four years ago. Things are so bad that activist Joe Cain, CEO of the National Medical Marijuana Association, is calling it the the “Last Stand of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.”
“The politicians are claiming that patients and caregivers have approved the bills,” Cain told Toke of the Town on Wednesday. “Nothing could be farther from the truth.”

Denver Bans Medical Marijuana Advertising Outdoors

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 21, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation

Weedist

The Denver City Council on Monday approved a ban on all outdoor medical marijuana advertising in the Mile High City.

The ban covers billboards, posters, bus benches, windshield leaflets and sign-twirlers, reports John Ingold of The Denver Post.

The unanimous vote took less than a minute. The council then voted — again unanimously — to kill an alternative plan which was more limited, and would have only banned outdoor medical marijuana ads within 1,000 feet of schools, daycare centers and parks.

Washington’s I-502: How To Not Buckle

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 20, 2012 Culture, Legislation, News

Seattle P.I.

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes: “Philip, you’re making a big mistake.”

By Philip Dawdy

Around 4 p.m. at Hempfest on Sunday I was standing off to the side of the Share Parker Memorial Main Stage after watching a friend of mine propose to his girlfriend before a huge crowd. She said “Yes,” a teary moment was had by friends and I turned to head down an off-stage ramp.

I got a few feet down the ramp before encountering Pete Holmes, Seattle city attorney, one of I-502’s primary sponsors and a friend. I wore a black “No on I-502” T-shirt and had already given three speeches at Hempfest against the initiative.

Keep in mind there were multiple famous folks in the cannabis movement who came up to me over the weekend to try and flip me on my stance. I told most of them they were from outside of Washington state, their vote didn’t matter and patients and pot smokers in this state have to live with the potential consequences of 502 passing.

Legalization Or Sham? The I-502 Debate at Seattle Hempfest

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 20, 2012 Culture, Legislation, News

Perhaps the most anticipated and certainly the most heavily attended of all the Hemposium speaker panels at Seattle Hempfest 2012 was the I-502 debate, which took a balanced look at the marijuana “legalization” initiative which will be on this November’s general election ballot in Washington state.

Colorado Marijuana Legalization Would Add $60 Million A Year

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 16, 2012 Legislation, News

~ alapoet ~

New Report Documents Fiscal Impact of Amendment 64, the Initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol

Nearly $60 Million Saved and Generated for Colorado in First Year; Up to $120 Million in New Revenue and Savings Projected after 2017

A new report released Thursday by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) documents that Amendment 64, the Initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, would provide the state savings and tax revenue of nearly $60 million in its first year. According to the report, the state is conservatively projected to save and earn up to $120 million annually after 2017.

Amendment 64 proposes a system to regulate and tax marijuana in Colorado similarly to alcohol. In addition to state and local sales taxes, the initiative directs the General Assembly to enact an excise tax of up to 15 percent on wholesale sales of non-medical marijuana.

In Which We Hear From The Emery Army!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 15, 2012 Culture, Legislation

Jodie Emery’s Facebook Page

By their fruits you shall know them.

Handy translation tool: “Harassing Jodie” apparently equals disagreeing with her — specifically her support of Washington state’s I-502 marijuana “legalization” measure — in public.

I-502 Debate: Where Do We Draw The Line?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 15, 2012 Culture, Legislation

Rik Lee

By Mickey Martin

Cannabis Warrior

Russ Belville probably knows people who like kiddy porn, and it is unclear what his involvement in this kiddy-porn scandal really is.

Okay….That is probably not true. Or maybe it is. Who knows?

But I can reference it and speculate here and on my personal blog because the internet is a wonderful place. In turn, unsuspecting and gullible people on the internet could read my piece, and many may start to spread this dirty rumor around.

The next thing you know, Russ is knee-deep in some kiddy-porn scandal that he has nothing to do with, and which is weakly evidenced as ever even existing.

But the damage is done, right?

WA Group Plans 2013 Initiative To Repeal Marijuana Laws

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 15, 2012 Legislation

Americans For Cannabis

Ready for real cannabis legalization? Dissatisfied with the half-measures — some would say “decrim on steroids” — of Washington state “tax and regulate” Initiative 502, Sensible Washington has announced plans to launch a third marijuana law reform initiative to repeal criminal and civil penalties from the state code.

Unlike the group’s previous two attempts, the 2013 effort is intended to appeal to a broader voter base, by making the legal age 21 and over, rather than 18 and over — with an added caveat — extending the juvenile code to 21 for cannabis-related offenses.

This would allow for marijuana convictions to be expunged from adult records, alleviating the life-altering harms of a conviction, such as denial of future employment and educational funding opportunities.

Browsing: Legislation