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Browsing: Legislation

Connecticut Becomes 17th Medical Marijuana State

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

The Weed Blog

Advocates Applaud New Law While Citing Problems Like A Prohibition On Patient Cultivation
Patient advocates applauded Governor Dannel Malloy on Friday for signing the country’s 17th state medical marijuana law. The Connecticut legislature passed HB 5389 on May 4, despite ongoing federal Justice Department intimidation in medical marijuana states.
The passage of Connecticut’s medical marijuana law comes as the Obama Administration is engaged in an unprecedented level of attack against patients and their providers. Paramilitary-style raids on dispensaries and threats of criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture by U.S. Attorneys are among the methods used to obstruct implementation of state medical marijuana laws.
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Man Who Got Doc’s OK For Pot After Bust Loses In MI Supreme Court

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

The Oakland Press
Alexander Kolanek’s lost his medical marijuana case before the Michigan Supreme Court. The Oakland County man was arrested with marijuana before he formally met with his doctor.

The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against an Oakland County man who didn’t get a doctor’s authorization to use marijuana until after he was arrested for possession.

In a 7-0 decision, justices said Alexander Kolanek can face cannabis charges because he did not satisfy the requirements of the 2008 law, reports David Eggert at mlive.com.
The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, overwhelmingly approved by 63 percent of the state’s voters, allows patients with ID cards immunity from prosecution if they have no more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana and 12 plants kept in a locked, enclosed space.
Patients are protected, whether or not they have a card, if a physician has said marijuana will help treat their serious or debilitating medical condition.
But Justice Mary Beth Kelly said because the medical marijuana law does not apply retroactively, Kolanek needed a doctor’s statement before his 2009 arrest. Kolanek said he smoked cannabis to deal with problems from Lyme disease.
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An Open Letter To I-502 Supporters: The Perfect vs. The Good

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By on Culture, Dispensaries, Legislation

The Weed Blog

By Bryan Punyon
Special to Toke of the Town
To all of my friends and associates who support I-502,
Hi there. You may know me as a cannabis activist, you may simply know me as a guy on Facebook who keeps asking critical questions about I-502. You may not know me at all.
Whatever the case, I am still genuinely undecided on Initiative 502. Some of you seem to take that to mean that I’m secretly against it, on account of all those pesky questions I keep asking.  That saddens me; it pains me that I would be arbitrarily assigned to the Opposition simply because I choose to ask questions and request clarification, especially when so much of the cannabis legalization movement and Drug War has centered around the control and interpretation of information and knowledge.
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Marijuana Dispensary Ban Inches Closer In Los Angeles

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Dispensary ban author, L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar: “If you don’t like the state law, let’s change the state law”

A Los Angeles City Council committee on Tuesday moved forward with a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, approving a recommendation to outlaw storefront cannabis outlets in the city while still allowing “small groups” of up to three patients and caregivers to grow their own.

The Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee agreed to allow the full City Council to consider a complete ban on the pot shops, one of two options they considered on Tuesday, reports Mike Szymanski of City News Service.
PLUM could have considered a less restrictive plan, proposed by council member Paul Koretz, but the committee instead approved a full ban until a decision comes down from the California Supreme Court on pending lawsuits regarding the legality of dispensary sales of medical marijuana.
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Upstart Congressional Candidate Beats Drug War Supporter

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By on Legislation, News

MySAPolitics

O’Rourke Made Name For Himself By Supporting Marijuana Legalization and By Calling for Open Debate on Drug Legalization to Address Mexico Drug War Violence
On Heels of Stunning Oregon Attorney General Upset, Drug Policy Reform Movement Demonstrates Burgeoning Political Clout
Marijuana legalization supporter Beto O’Rourke defeated eight-term Congressman Sylvestre Reyes in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Texas’s 16th Congressional district. O’Rourke is virtually assured of being the next Congressman from the heavily Democratic district.
 
In early 2009, as an El Paso city councilman, O’Rourke championed a resolution calling for a national debate on the legal regulation of currently illicit drugs. The resolution was prompted by the out-of-control violence in El Paso’s neighbor across the border, Ciudad Juarez, which has the highest murder rate of any city in the world.
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Pro-Legalization Challenger Beats Incumbent In Congressional Primary

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By on Legislation, News

StoptheDrugWar.org
Former El Paso city councilman Beto O’Rourke has defeated U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes in the Democratic primary for the seat Reyes had held since 1996

Marijuana legalization supporter Beto O’Rourke has defeated prohibitionist eight-term Congressman Silvestre Reyes in the Democratic primary for Texas’s 16th Congressional district.
O’Rourke vocally supports marijuana legalization, while former Border Patrol official Reyes built his career on the War On Drugs.
O’Rourke got 51.3 percent of the vote to Reyes’ 41.3 percent, according to election results from the Texas Secretary of State’s office early Wednesday morning, reports Phillip Smith at StoptheDrugWar.org.
In early 2009, when he was an El Paso city councilman, O’Rourke championed a council resolution calling for a national conversation on legalizing and regulating drugs as a possible solution to the drug cartel violence just over El Paso’s border in Mexico. The mayor vetoed the unanimously-passed resolution and the council was set to override the veto until Congressman Reyes butted in to the debate and threatened that the city would lose federal funding if it insisted on pushing the legalization conversation.
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R.I. Senate, House Judiciary Committees Back Marijuana Decrim

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By on Legislation, News

Reality Catcher

Bills Would Replace Criminal Penalties for Possession of Small Amounts of Marijuana with a Fine
The Rhode Island House and Senate Judiciary Committees on Tuesday voted in favor of two bills that would reduce the penalty for possession of marijuana to a $150 civil fine for most offenses.
H 7092 and its companion bill, S 2253, would make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a civil infraction, similar to a parking ticket, and would remove the criminal penalties that currently exist. Marijuana possession is now punishable in Rhode Island by up to a $500 fine and up to a year in jail.
The bills will now go to their respective floors for a full vote.
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L.A. To Consider Complete Dispensary Ban At Tuesday Meeting

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Where’s Weed?

Here we go again. A marijuana dispensary ban will be considered at Los Angeles City Hall tomorrow, Tuesday, May 29. The L.A. City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee will look at the proposed ban.

“A complete obliteration of Los Angeles’ famous and numerous pot shops is on the table,” writes Dennis Romero at the LA Weekly.
The committee will consider two options:
• A “gentle ban” proposed by Councilman Paul Koretz, who claims its a “more reasonable” approach through which L.A. proceeds with a ban on dispensaries, but uses “prosecutorial discretion” to abstain from enforcement actions against dispensaries deemed not to be in violation of a set of City Council-imposed “restrictions.” 
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Atheist Candidate For GA Legislature Would Legalize Marijuana

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By on Legislation, News

Elect Mike Smith, GA House Dist. 69
Mike Smith: “With the legalization of marijuana, we can increase tax revenue, close expensive for-profit prisons, and use the savings to improve the education of our children”

In what may be a first for the Georgia General Assembly, outspoken atheist and LaGrange attorney Mike Smith has qualified as a Democratic candidate for George House District 69. If elected, Smith said, he will propose legislation to outlaw all lobbyist gifts to Georgia legislators, legalize marijuana, and “make the rich pay their fair share of taxes.”

“I pledge to bring a rational voice to the Georgia Legislature,” said Smith, 62.
“The failed war on drugs is the lynchpin of the Republican party’s Southern strategy, which was designed to trick white Southerners into voting against their own interests,” Smith said. “With the legalization of marijuana, we can increase tax revenue, close expensive for-profit prisons, and use the savings to improve the education of our children.”
A Vietnam War veteran and former paratrooper, Smith now opposes all wars. “That includes the Republican wars against women, immigrants, gays, blacks, unions, and free speech,” he said.
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