Legislation

Rhode Island Decriminalizes Possession of Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 13, 2012 Legislation, News

Gov. Chafee Signs Bill Making Rhode Island the 15th State to Remove Criminal Penalties for Small Amounts of Marijuana

Governor Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island on Wednesday signed legislation that will reduce the penalty for possession of marijuana to a $150 civil fine for most offenses.

Last week, the Rhode Island General Assembly voted in support of the two identical bills that will make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a civil infraction, similar to a parking ticket, and will remove the criminal penalties that currently exist. Minors found with marijuana, in addition to the civil fine, will be sentenced to drug education courses and community service.

Marijuana possession is now punishable in Rhode Island by up to a $500 fine and up to a year in jail. The new law will go into effect on April 1, 2013.

Holder Urged To Oppose Colorado Cannabis Legalization Initiative

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 13, 2012 Legislation, News

Smart Colorado

They always seem to trot out the kids. Aren’t there adults in Colorado too — who get to make adult decisions?

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been urged by an anti-cannabis group to weigh in with his opposition to a November ballot issue which would legalize marijuana in Colorado.

Amendment 64 would allow adults statewide to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal, non-medical use, reports Lynn Bartels of The Denver Post. The measure is opposed by a “citizens group” calling itself Smart Colorado, represented by the Denver law firm of Holland & Hart.

Smart Colorado attorney Jon Anderson (not the Yes vocalist) claimed in a letter to Holder that Colorado’s ballot measure “parallels” California’s Proposition 19, defeated by voters 54 percent to 46 percent in 2010.

Top 3 Mexican Presidential Candidates All Pledge Shift in Drug War

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 11, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

ColorLines

Mexico’s Drug War has claimed more than 50,000 lives in five years

After More Than 50,000 Prohibition-Related Deaths in 5 Years, Candidates Say Reducing Violence More Important Than Simply Seizing Drugs, Making Arrests

DPA Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann: Next President Should Show Bold Leadership and Follow Other Latin American Presidents’ Call for “All Options On The Table”

The top three presidents candidates in Mexico have all promised a significant shift in their country’s drug war strategy, according to a front page story in Monday’s New York Times. The candidates are pledging to prioritize a reduction in prohibition-related violence, which has led to more than 50,000 deaths since President Calderon launched a war on the drug traffickers in 2006, over conventional measures such as arrests and seizures.

Cannabis and LGBT Activists Submit Signatures for Safe Access

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 8, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Nuggetry

Fifteen percent of registered voters in Imperial Beach, California have signed the initiative to overturn the city’s current ban on safe access to medical cannabis and replace it with reasonable regulations.

The Safe Access Ordinance of Imperial Beach, a collaborative effort between Canvass for a Cause, a San Diego based LGBT non-profit, San Diego Americans for Safe Access, and concerned citizens, launched the first ever initiative to regulate safe access to medical cannabis in Imperial Beach. If passed, the measure would repeal the city’s current ban and replace it with strict zoning regulations and operational requirements for medical cannabis dispensing collectives and cooperatives.

Medicinal Milkshakes and the End of Marijuana Prohibition

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 8, 2012 Culture, Legislation

SOAR Study Skills

In America, the fountain manager at one of the original Walgreen’s, Ivar “Pop” Coulson, took the traditional British milkshake (booze and all) and added ice cream. These babies took off like … ice cream mixed with booze

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

I have a theory about beer: Consumption of it leads to pseudo-military behavior. Think about it – winos don’t march. Whiskey guys don’t march, either. Beer drinkers are into things that are sort of like marching – like football.

~ Frank Zappa

I drink your milkshake.

~ There Will Be Blood

Beer goes where angels and politicians fear to tread.

~ Jack Rikess

June 8, 2012

I love basketball and it is Finals time. It is down to few remaining games. The players are exhausted from a truncated season shortened because of contract negotiations that plagued the beginning of the season.

(As a side note: Part of the arbitration dispute that almost sidelined the whole season, besides that the owners wanted the players to take a pay cut, was the issue of being drug tested for cannabis-during the off-season. The pro hoopsters won the right not to pee in a bottle for weed during their four months off.)

For the past few months, Budweiser has been the major sponsor of the NBA Finals. That means I’ve been watching the same commercials over and over, sometimes the exact same message, 15 to 20 times a night. The repeated advertisement I hate the most is the stupid Budweiser commercial extolling the virtues of it being the end of Prohibition. An optimistic, bright-eyed kid beats the band running downs Main Street announcing Prohibition is over to a waiting, thirsty, hops-hoping nation of Americans! We’re back in business. Booze is King, again!

I-502’s Marijuana DUI: FAQs vs. Facts

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 7, 2012 Legislation, News

Barking up the wrong tree

By Philip Dawdy

Cannabis Activist

One of the most controversial provisions of New Approach Washington’s I-502 is its per se DUI limit of 5 nanograms of active THC metabolite per milliliter of blood.

It’s a limit that some critics have dubbed “unscientific” and “draconian.” Others claim that it is not a measure of impairment and would threaten the driving rights of every medical cannabis patient in Washington State.

These are serious criticisms. So how does New Approach Washington defend its 5 nanogram provision?

Senator Adds Hemp Legalization To Farm Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 7, 2012 Growing, Legislation, News

Bodhi Group

Canadian farmer harvests a bountiful hemp crop. He could be joined by his U.S. neighbors if Sen. Ron Wyden’s amendment to the Farm Bill is successful

Vote Hemp Encourages Support for Proposed Amendment by Senator Wyden on Industrial Hemp in the Farm Bill

Amendment Would Exclude Industrial Hemp From the Definition of Marijuana

Vote Hemp released an action alert on Thursday encouraging support for Senator Ron Wyden’s submitted last-minute amendment to the Farm Bill, S. 3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, which would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of “marihuana.”

Springstock Cancelled; Would Have Supported Medical Marijuana In AR

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 7, 2012 Culture, Legislation, Medical

Springstock

It ain’t happenin’.

This weekend, members of the community of Hot Springs, Arkansas and the surrounding areas had planned come together for three days of music, camping and fun in the sun in support of natural medicine in the Natural State. But the organizers were reportedly told to cancel the Springstock Music and Camping Festival, scheduled for June 8-10 at Bald Mountain Park.

Who, exactly, strong-armed the organizers into canceling the event? Which “powers that be” were threatened enough by Springstock to prevent it from happening? We don’t have the answers to those questions yet, but we’re still digging.

Proceeds would have benefited Arkansans for Compassionate Care (ACC), a nonprofit organization working to pass medical marijuana legislation in Arkansas.

Medical Marijuana Headed For New Hampshire Governor’s Desk

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 6, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

ReLegalize Indiana

Two New Hampshire senators added their support to SB 409 on Wednesday, as the New state Senate voted 13-9 to approve a final draft of the bill. The same final draft was approved by the House in a voice vote Wednesday morning. Now that the House and Senate have passed identical language for SB 409, the bill will be presented to Gov. John Lynch, who has threatened a veto.

Senate President Peter Bragdon (R-Milford) and Sen. Fenton Groen (R-Rochester) joined the majority in support after having previously voted in opposition. A co-sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Gallus (R-Berlin) was not present for today’s vote.

Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana: New Poll

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 6, 2012 Culture, Legislation, News

uri.edu

Two-thirds of adults in the United States believe the “War On Drugs” has been a failure, and a majority continue to call for the legalization of marijuana in the country, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative sample of 1,017 American adults, 68 per cent of respondents believe that America has a serious drug abuse problem and it affects the whole country.

One-in-five Americans (20 percent) think the country’s drug abuse problem is confined to specific areas and people, and five per cent say America does not have a serious drug abuse problem.

Browsing: Legislation