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Obama: I Won’t Go After States Where Marijuana Is Legal

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By on Legislation, News

ABC News
President Obama: “It does not make sense from a prioritizing point of view” to go after marijuana in states where it’s now legal

President Barack Obama pledged on Friday that he will not go after Washington state and Colorado for legalizing marijuana.

Obama was asked — in a Barbara Walters interview airing Friday on ABC — whether he supports making marijuana legal, reported The Associated Press. “I wouldn’t go that far,” the President said.
But Obama said he wouldn’t press the issue by going after recreational users in states where voters legalized marijuana in the November elections. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” he said.
“It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view,” the President said, to focus on pot use on states where it is now legal.
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Senate Judiciary Chairman Wants To Resolve Federal/State Marijuana Conflicts

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By on Legislation, News

James Berglie/End The Lie
Sen. Patrick Leahy: “One option would be to amend the Federal Controlled Substances Act to allow possession of up to one ounce of marijuana”

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy: “Legislative Options Exist” to Resolve Potential Federal/State Conflict Over Marijuana Legalization in Colorado and Washington 
Seeks Assurances From Obama Administration That State Officials Will Not Be Prosecuted For Implementing New Laws
In a letter to U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked how the federal government intends to deal with states like Colorado and Washington that recently voted to regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol. In the letter, Senator Leahy also suggested that federal legislation could be introduced to legalize up to an ounce of marijuana, at least in states that have legalized marijuana.
The letter, sent last week but reported on Thursday in the Huffington Post, notes that “[o]ne option would be to amend the Federal Controlled Substances Act to allow possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, at least in jurisdictions where it is legal under state law.”
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Cali Court Rules In Favor Of Parent Who Uses Medical Marijuana

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By on Medical, News

San Diego Law Firm

Defense Prevails In Court Case Setting Limits On Laws Separating Children From Their Parents Who Are Medical Marijuana Patients

A hard-fought appeals court victory has been won in Irvine, California.
In the case of Drake A., the California Court of Appeal ruled on December 5 that while parents who abuse drugs can lose custody of their children, a parent who uses marijuana for medical reasons, with a doctor’s approval, isn’t automatically defined as a “drug abuser.”
Being hailed as precedent-setting, the ruling from Division Three of the Second Appellate District further clarifies child welfare law as applied in such cases, and represents a “very significant” victory, according to defense attorney Lauren K. Johnson.
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Incoming! Marijuana Fired In Cannon From Mexico To U.S.

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By on Global, News

U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Border Patrol agents said this was an unsuccessful attempt — but how many times had it worked before this attempt?

More than 30 cans of marijuana totaling 85 pounds were fired via cannon from Mexico into Yuma, Arizona, Customs and Border Protection officials said on Tuesday.

The cans of cannabis were discovered near the Colorado River in Yuma on Friday, reports Lauren Steussy at NBC San Diego.
The discovery was “another unique but unsuccessful attempt” to smuggle drugs, according to Border Patrol agents.
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Former 502 Backer Now Says New Pot Law Too Restrictive

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By on Legislation, News

Drug War Odyssey

“I now question whether Washington state’s initiative needed to be as restrictive as it is.”

~ Norm Stamper, former police chief of Seattle
Norm Stamper — the former police chief of Seattle and current member of legalization group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) who was one of the biggest supporters of I-502 in Washington state — now says that the measure is probably too restrictive.

While it’s a real shame that Norm couldn’t have taken a closer look at the restrictive and downright scary portions of I-502 before giving countless interviews and writing dozens of letters to the editor in support of the measure, the former cop’s about-face does highlight the glaring flaws in Washington’s “legalization” law, and serves to temper the euphoria which has gripped many in the Evergreen State’s cannabis community.
Just a month after the election, Stamper told the Seattle Weekly‘s Nina Shapiro, “I now question whether Washington state’s initiative needed to be as restrictive as it is.”
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Medical Marijuana Provider’s Conviction Overturned

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By on Dispensaries, News

The Spokesman-Review
Scott Shupe of Change, a medical marijuana dispensary in Spokane, had his drug trafficking convictions reversed on Tuesday

Big Victory In Spokane

In a huge victory for medicinal cannabis, the “drug trafficking” convictions of Scott Q. Shupe, a man who operated Spokane, Washington’s first medical marijuana dispensary were reversed on Tuesday in a state Appeals Court ruling.
In the 2-1 decision, Judges Dennis Sweeney and Teresa Kulik ruled that Spokane police did not have probable cause to search Shupe’s residence and business, and that Spokane County prosecutors did not have enough evidence to justify Shupe’s 2011 convictions for drug trafficking.
One happy result of Tuesday’s decision, according to Shupe’s attorney, is that Spokane police will be forced to return more than $8,000 in cash and three jars filled with marijuana that were seized during the raid.
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Marijuana Legalization In Ohio: Just A Matter Of Time?

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By on Legislation, News

Some marijuana activists in Ohio believe it’s only a matter of time before people in the Buckeye state will enjoy the same freedoms as those in Colorado and Washington — the freedom to use cannabis legally.

Activist Brian Joslyn, a member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said he didn’t expect help from the Ohio Legislature in legalizing cannabis; instead, he believes the people need to do it for themselves, reports 10TV News.

10tv.com
Brian Joslyn: “I think if everybody was just given a ballot right now to vote on this measure, I think it would pass”

“I think if everybody was just given a ballot right now to vote on this measure, I think it would pass,” he said.
As a lawyer, Joslyn said he’d seen the negative effects that marijuana prohibition has on dozens of clients, including a recent couple.
“His wife has cancer so he was growing marijuana and providing her with edible marijuana,” Joslyn said.
Now, both the cancer-stricken wife and her husband are behind bars.
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Alabama Mother Charged For Smoking Marijuana Around Toddler

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By on News

Saraland Police Department
Chelsea Mack, 23, was arrested and charged with “chemical endangerment of a child”

An Alabama mother was arrested last week after police claimed she smoked marijuana around her 23-month-old son.

Chelsea Mack, 23, was arrested and charged with “chemical endangerment of a child,” according to booking records, reports Theresa Seiger at AL.com.
The arrest resulted from one of those “suspicious smell” complaints from a neighbor that are feared by all cannabis users in non-legal states.
According to Cpl. Arlan Gaines, public information officer for the Saraland Police Department, the boys in blue “discovered that marijuana had been smoked in the residence while a toddler was present,” Gaines said.
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British MPs After Year-Long Study: Legalize Cannabis

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By on Global, Legislation, News

Mary Jane’s Garden

Senior MPs in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, after a year-long study, on Monday called for the legalization of cannabis.

According to the Ministers, the U.K.’s current approach just isn’t working. The recommendation, called  “shock verdict” by Kevin Schofield at The Sun, came in a report from Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee.
The move came after a year-long investigation which included witnesses such as comedian and former heroin addict Russell Brand, who called for simple drug possession to no longer be considered a crime.
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FREEDOM! Marijuana Now Legal For Adults In Colorado

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By on Legislation, News

Pakalert Press

Amendment 64 Officially Becomes Law; Gov. Hickenlooper Signs Voter-Approved Initiative 
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday signed an executive order formalizing Amendment 64 as part of the state Constitution and officially making the limited personal use, possession, and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older.
The governor had until January 5 to sign the executive order, but he did so only four days after Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler certified the results from the November 6 general election. 
“Voters were loud and clear on Election Day,” Gov. Hickenlooper said, reports Patrick Malone at The Coloradoan. “We will begin working immediately with the General Assembly and state agencies to implement Amendment 64.”
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