Legislation

Two Marijuana Bills In CA Legislature; Your Support Needed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Californians have a chance to make two strides for human rights in the coming weeks. Two important bills before the Legislature must be voted on this month: SB 129 would grant employment rights to medical marijuana patients, and AB 1017 would reduce penalties for marijuana cultivation.

The Legislature will be voting on the bills in the next two weeks (between January 19 and 31). Both bills fell short of passage last legislative session, and both are in critical need of support fro constituents in key districts.

“We are urging supporters in key districts to contact their legislators ASAP!” said Deputy Director Ellen Komp of California NORML.

Lawmaker To Smoke Joint In Poland’s Parliament Friday

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

Kacper Pempel/Reuters

MP Janusz Palikot of Palikot’s Movement Party wants to test Poland’s new cannabis decriminalization law — by smoking a joint in Parliament

A Polish lawmaker plans to test his country’s new marijuana decriminalization law — by firing up a joint in Parliament.

MP Janusz Palikot has announced he plans to share a joint in the Parliament building on Friday as part of a campaign to legalize marijuana in Poland.

The ultra-liberal Palikot’s Movement Party will be using civil disobedience to test laws introduced in December that gave prosecutors a choice on whether to charge individuals who are found to be in possession of “soft drugs” for personal use, reports TheNews.pl.

Sponsor Of Bill To Drug Test Welfare Recipients Busted For DUI

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

Think Progress

Georgia Rep. Kip Smith, who wants to drug test all welfare recipients, was arrested Friday morning for DUI.

Hey, if you like fat-cat politicians who want to drug test welfare recipients even as they themselves cruise around drunk as fuck in their shiny sports cars, have I found a guy for you.

A conservative Georgia Republican who wants to piss test everyone on public assistance failed a test of his own Friday morning: he showed up intoxicated after he ran a red light, according to an Atlanta police report.

State Rep. Kip Smith, 29, of Columbus, was pulled over just after leaving Hal’s Restaurant; he allegedly ran a red light, and was arrested after failing the DUI test, reports Christopher Seward at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Smith is a sponsor of Georgia House Bill 464, which would “require random drug testing” for citizens on public assistance, reports Judd Legum at Think Progress. In response to Smith’s bill, state Rep. Scott Holcomb introduced another bill last month that would require all Georgia lawmakers to be subject to random drug testing.

The traffic light had just turned red when Smith went through the intersection, according to Atlanta police Officer Z.A. Kramer, who was following the legislator’s gold 1998 Jaguar XJ8.

Former Schoolteacher Leads Fight For Medical Marijuana In FL

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 16, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Steve Cannon/USA Today

I love this woman. Florida state Sen. Larcenia Bullard: “I’m going to support this as long as I’m in office”

The cause of medical marijuana legalization has something of an unlikely public face in Florida: Larcenia Bullard, a 64-year-old former schoolteacher who is now a state senator.

If you’d told Bullard 35 years ago — back when she was teaching kids for a living — that she’d one day be the most prominent marijuana advocate in the state, she probably would have sent you to the principal’s office, reports Tim Elfrink at Miami New Times.

“I would not have possibly imagined that to be true,” Bullard said with a laugh. “It was not an issue I’d given two thoughts to before.”

But Bullard, a Democrat who spent last year lugging an oxygen cart around the state capitol at Tallahassee because of her heart problems, has become the unlikely hero of the Sunshine State’s growing cannabis movement, New Times reports.

Canada’s Liberal Party Votes Yes To Legalizing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 15, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Liberal Party members in Canada voted Sunday morning to make the legalization of marijuana official party policy.

The Liberals are attempting to find a new direction and policies that will resonate with Canadians and help pull it back from the brink, report Lee Berthiaume and Jason Fekete at the National Post.

On Saturday night, delegates at the party’s biennial convention in Ottawa voted to open the party to outsiders by creating a new, free category of membership. They are hoping to revolutionize Canadian politics and help rebuild the Liberal Party.

MPP Ranks Top 10 Marijuana Highlights From 2011

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2012 Culture, Legislation, News

The Fix

So now that other organizations’ and TV networks’ various Top 10 lists are out of the way, the Marijuana Policy Project says it can safely release its annual Top 10 list without getting caught in all the clutter.

According to MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia, the following list comprises the 10 most significant, positive developments relating to marijuana policy reform in the U.S. in 2011.

To see explanations for each of the 10 items, you can read Kampia’s column in the Huffington Post today, Friday, January 13.

1. Congress de-funds the White House Drug Czar’s ad campaign.

2. MPP’s ideal bill is finally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Ron Paul and Barney Frank — a bill that would let states determine their own marijuana policies without federal interference.

3. Public support for “making marijuana legal” reaches an all-time high of 50 percent.

Lawyer: Marijuana Dispensaries Should Ignore Federal Threats

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

9news.com

The first wave of threatening letters started arriving at Denver dispensaries on Friday.

The federal prosecutor’s office sent out letters to 23 Colorado medical marijuana dispensaries this week, starting a promised crackdown on the businesses by targeting those located within 1,000 feet of schools. But one Denver lawyer who represents dispensaries is advising his clients to ignore the threats.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh said dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools have until February 27 to shut down or face federal penalties, including asset seizure or forfeiture of property, reports Meagan Fitzgerald of 9 News.

AZ Governor Directs State To License Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

THC Finder

Giving up her idea of suing the federal government over Arizona’s medical marijuana law, Governor Jan Brewer said Friday she is directing the state health department to start accepting applications for cannabis dispensaries.

A suit filed by Brewer and her attorney general was dismissed by a federal judge on January 4. The complaint, filed back in May, sought “clarification” on whether state employees who license medical marijuana dispensaries could themselves face federal prosecution.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled that state officials faced no such threat, and threw the suit out. The governors of Washington and Rhode Island have cited similar reasons — claiming they feared state employees would be federally prosecuted — for vetoing or delaying dispensaries in their states.

Supreme Court: Oregon Marijuana Patients Can Keep Their Guns

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2012 Legislation, News

The Weed Blog

Concealed handgun owners with Oregon medical marijuana authorizations will be allowed to keep their gun licenses after a U.S. Supreme Court decision not to hear a sheriff’s legal challenge which claimed U.S. federal law trumps Oregon state law.

Putting the case behind her is a victory for the rights of medical marijuana patients throughout Oregon, according to Gold Hill resident Cynthia Willis, 54, reports Damian Mann of the Southern Oregon Mail Tribune.

“Just because we’re patients doesn’t mean we don’t have real lifestyles and rights like everyone else,” Willis said.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters had denied Willis a concealed handgun license back in 2008 because she uses medical marijuana, which is considered a Schedule I controlled substance, along with heroin and LSD, by the federal government.

Arkansas Court: Marijuana Is Cause To Deny Workers’ Comp

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 11, 2012 Legislation, News

KATV

Two workers who tested positive for marijuana after being injured in an explosion after they tried to use a blow torch to open a 55-gallon drum that had contained flammable liquid were rightly denied workers’ compensation, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday.

In a split decision, the court upheld a state Workers’ Compensation Commission ruling against Matthew Edmisten and Greg Prock in a case resulting from a November 2007 accident, reports John Lyon at the Arkansas News Bureau.

Three dissenting judges said there was no evidence that the accident occurred because of marijuana use.

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