Legislation

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Protest For Medical Marijuana During Obama’s California Tour

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 21, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Los Angeles, High Noon, Oct. 24

San Francisco, 11:30 a.m., Oct. 25

Advocates will be protesting the federal crackdown on medical marijuana when Obama comes to visit California next Monday and Tuesday, October 24 and 25, according to California NORML.

In Los Angeles, there will be a protest at high noon on Monday, October 24 at the Federal Building downtown, 255 East Temple Street. A press conference will be held with Proposition 215 coauthor Anna Boyce, who will be demanding a meeting with President Obama at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (The President will be visiting elsewhere in west L.A., but security will make him inaccessible.)

In San Francisco, protesters are urged to gather on Tuesday, October 25 at the northwest corner of 3rd and Mission, near the W Hotel where Obama will be attending a fundraiser lunch. “The lunch starts at 11:30, but be there early so that we can stake out a visible presence amidst a likely crowd of other protesters,” advised CA NORML director Dale Gieringer.

Legislators To Feds: Stop Attacking Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 19, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

San Francisco Sentinel

California state Senator Mark Leno: “I urge the federal government to stand down in its massive attack on medical marijuana dispensaries”

Two California lawmakers on Wednesday joined medical marijuana patients, dispensary operators and advocates to call for an immediate end to the federal government’s broad crackdown on dispensaries.

Earlier this month, federal prosecutors announced plans for sweeping criminal prosecutions against medical marijuana dispensaries across California, threatening landlords with eviction, property seizures and even imprisonment.

“I urge the federal government to stand down in its massive attack on medical marijuana dispensaries, which will have devastating impacts for the state of California,” said Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). “At a time when resources are precious and few, federal officials have chosen to waste time and money in an ambush that will harm countless patients who will no longer be able to safely access doctor-recommended treatments.”

Resolution Introduced To Legalize Medical Marijuana In Florida

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 19, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

THC Finder

Voters in the Sunshine State could get a chance to decide for themselves about medical marijuana — if the Republican-controlled Legislature will let them

A state lawmaker in Florida filed a joint resolution this week that would allow Floridians to decide for themselves in the 2012 election whether they want to legalize medical marijuana with a constitutional amendment. At this point, the Republican-controlled Legislature is all that stands in the way.

The resolution, HJR 353, “Medical Use of Cannabis,” filed by state Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), would create an article in the state constitution that would “allow medical use of cannabis by citizens and allow Legislature to implement these provisions by general law,” reports Ashley Lopez at The Florida Independent.

“That’s a compassion issue,” Clemens said, reports Whitney Ray at Capitol News Service. “It’s an issue of people in this state that are going through tough times and a lot of physical pain and if they want to use this particular drug as opposed to a more heavy prescription narcotic I don’t think there’s any reason why we shouldn’t let them.”

“With 81 percent of Americans supporting allowing medical marijuana, it’s time Florida stops jailing its most vulnerable citizens for possessing and using a relatively harmless substance recommended to them by their physicians,” the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said in an August statement about the proposed constitutional amendment.

New Gallup Poll: Record 50% of Americans Favor Legal Cannabis

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 17, 2011 Legislation, News

A record-high 50 percent of Americans now say the use of marijuana should be legal, up from 46 percent last year, according to a new Gallup Poll. Forty-six percent say marijuana use should remain illegal.

The rapidly increasing historical trend in favor of legalizing marijuana continues, up from just 36 percent in 2006.

“If this current trend on legalizing marijuana continues, pressure may build to bring the nation’s laws into compliance with the people’s wishes,” Gallup said in a press release.

“The Obama administration’s escalation of the ‘war on drugs’ and its attacks on state medical marijuana laws are only giving more and more Americans the opportunity to realize just how ridiculous and harmful our prohibition-based drug laws are,” said Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and a retired Baltimore narcotics cop.

Marijuana Legalization Tops White House Petition List

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 17, 2011 Legislation, News

Very Sherry

Marijuana legalization is by far the top issue on the White House’s “We the People” site, leaving other online petition requests in the dust, a new review shows.

The top cannabis petition — one of many — has more than 55,000 signatures, 20,000 more than any other issue on the site, Roll Call reported on Monday.

Legalization has been the top issue on the petition site since it launched last month as a way for citizens to lobby for issues that matter the most to them, reports Ambreen Ali.

The White House hasn’t yet responded to the marijuana petition. Judging on his track record, President Obama will either belittle and giggle the issue away, or look serious and mouth meaningless platitudes about “more treatment” and “more research” while continuing to pursue his Administration’s war against both recreational and medical marijuana the people who use it.

California Medical Association Calls For Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 17, 2011 Legislation, News

THC Finder

It’s a breakthrough: The first statewide medical association has endorsed marijuana legalization. The California Medical Association (CMA) on Sunday officially recommended the legalization and regulation of cannabis. The decision was based on a white paper which concluded physicians should have access to better research, which is not possible under current policies.

The paper, available here [PDF], is a thoughtful study and response to an important issue.

CMA said it is the largest physician group in California — and the first statewide medical group — to take this official position.

Marijuana: Why The Feds Are Afraid Of Cali 2012

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 14, 2011 Culture, Legislation, News

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

California NORML estimates that there are somewhere between 750,000 to 1.25 million medical marijuana patients registered in California. If President Obama and his Justice Department have their way, that’s a potential of a million or more new criminals to go after. Hell, most of us have given our names and addresses to the California Health Department. That should cut down on some of the bureaucratic bullshit in finding us.

We weren’t hiding. That was supposed to be the point.

Rally Tuesday In San Diego To Defend Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 13, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

California Cannabis Coalition

Members of the California Cannabis Coalition invite you to join them in San Diego on Tuesday, October 18 from noon to 2 p.m., for a rally to defend medical marijuana coops and collectives

Attorney General Eric Holder has said he will no longer respect the rights of patients or the laws of California and is prosecuting medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives.

Activists with the California Cannabis Coalition are responding this Tuesday, October 18, with a rally to defend medicinal cannabis, from 12 noon until 2 p.m., in San Diego. The rally will begin at the Civic Center, 1200 Third Avenue, at noon and go from there to the Federal Building, 880 Front Street.

In San Diego, the local U.S. Attorney, Laura Duffy, has issued letters to every medical marijuana collective and their landlords ordering that they cease operation within 45 days, or federal officials will confiscate the buildings in which they reside.

Feds To Go After Newspapers, Radio For Medical Marijuana Ads

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 12, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Veterans Today

Raising worrisome First Amendment issues, U.S. Attorneys are getting ready to go after newspapers, radio stations and other outlets which accept advertising for California’s medical marijuana dispensaries, as the Obama Administration opens up another front in its ongoing war against medicinal cannabis.

After announcing earlier this month that landlords could have their property seized if they rent to dispensaries, the Administration seems to be including media outlets in its threats, as well, reports Michael Montgomery at California Watch.

Marijuana advertising is the next area U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy is “going to be moving onto as part of the enforcement efforts in Southern California,” she said. Duffy, whose district includes San Diego and Imperial counties, said she couldn’t speak for the other three federal prosecutors in the state, but noted they have coordinated their efforts thus far.

Obama Called ‘From First To Worst’ On Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 11, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

MPP

After presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged to stop interfering with state medical marijuana laws in states where the medicinal use of cannabis has been legalized, advocates were hopeful that they could at last concentrate on getting medicine safely to patients, rather than worry about federal raids.

That hope was nice while it lasted, but is quickly evaporating now that the Administration is pursuing a multi-front war on medicinal cannabis providers and, by extension, the patients who count on dispensaries for safe access.

Marijuana Policy Project Executive Director Rob Kampia in a Sunday editorial in the Huffington Post noted the turnaround, saying “over the past eight months [Obama] has become arguably the worst president in U.S. history regarding medical marijuana.”

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