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Montanafesto
It looks like the rough and tumble of politics is too much for Senator Essmann

Thin-Skinned Senator Files Complaint Over Campaign Rhetoric
Just 2 Weeks Ago, Essmann Staged Bogus Lawsuit Threat Against Attorney General
 
Not satisfied to have decimated patients’ rights, Montana state Senator Jeff Essmann is now attacking his critics with a formal complaint to the Commissioner of Political Practices.
 
The charge? Essman didn’t like a radio spot that mentioned his name.
 
“It looks like the rough and tumble of politics is too much for Senator Essmann,” said Bob Brigham, campaign manager for Patients for Reform, Not Repeal. “Maybe he should find a new career. His complaint against a radio spot of ours is untimely, wrong and desperate.”
 
“The fact is, the Montana Republican Party platform rejects his bill, SB 423, and calls for new medical marijuana legislation that is both workable and realistic,” Brigham added. “The writing is on the wall. SB 423 will either be rejected by the voters or rewritten in the next legislature. Senator Essmann is in denial over the fact that his handiwork is deeply flawed and won’t be law for much longer.”

Christian Marijuana Organization

Faith leaders call on all Arkansans to support compassionate measure
Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the committee behind Issue 5, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, on Tuesday announced a dozen clergy leaders from across the state and from a broad range of denominations have endorsed the measure. The religious coalition was announced at a press conference in Fayetteville, featuring medical professionals and Emily Williams, who used medical marijuana to cope with the side effects of chemotherapy.
 
“I am proud to be among the faith leaders who have endorsed the use of medical marijuana by seriously ill patients,” said Reverend Howard Gordon, minister emeritus at the First Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. “We are compassionate people by nature and Issue 5, at its core, is about compassion.

Salem-News.com

“Denying veterans access to therapeutic cannabis is making criminals of our heroes.”
 
National advocates, elected officials and representatives of Oregon’s 300,000 military veterans on Monday joined together in Ashland and Portland to call attention to Oregon’s appalling policy of denying medical cannabis to sufferers of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and to urge Oregonians to vote yes on Measure 80, which would allow adults 21 and older to purchase taxed and regulated cannabis (marijuana) at state-licensed stores.

Sensible Washington

By Troy Barber
Sensible Washington
If I-502 — on the November general election ballot — passes, national headlines will read “Washington State Legalizes Marijuana!” This is what national marijuana law reform groups have been dreaming of for more than 40 years. The practical application of the law, however, will be something very different, the end results could yield some very negative impacts, and all the headlines would be for naught.
I-502 is not legalization; it is decriminalization. The language creates a narrow exception for the right to possess limited amounts of marijuana or cannabis-infused foods and beverages. The tax-and-regulate portions conflict with federal law and are likely to be preempted. This will leave no legal production or retail sale of product for consumers, leaving illegal markets to fill new demand.

The November Coalition

Report Shows Continued Arrests Near Record Levels While Use Rises
 
Marijuana arrests continued at near-record levels in 2011, the vast majority of which were for simple possession. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, 757,969 arrests were made nationwide for marijuana, more than 87 percent of which were for possession. This is a slight decrease from 2010.
Marijuana arrests accounted for slightly less than half of all drug arrests last year. In 2011, one American was arrested for marijuana possession every 42 seconds.
Despite intensive law enforcement resources being used to arrest and punish marijuana users, rates of marijuana use continue to rise. The “National Survey on Drug Use and Health” — commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and released in late September — showed that marijuana use had slightly increased nationally between 2010 and 2011. According to the report, more than 29.7 million people aged 12 and older used marijuana at least once in the past year.

Weed Quotes

Half Of All American Drug Arrests Are For Cannabis; New Stats Reveal Failure Of “War On Drugs”
Just over one week before voters in three states will decide on ballot measures to legalize and regulate marijuana, the FBI on Monday released a new report showing that police in the United States arrest someone for marijuana every 42 seconds, and that 87 percent of those arrests are for possession alone.
Monday’s FBI report shows that 81.8 percent of drug arrests were for possession only, and just under half (49.5 percent) of all drug arrests were for marijuana.
A group of police, judges and other law enforcement officials advocating for the legalization and regulation of marijuana and other drugs pointed to the figures showing more than 750,000 marijuana arrests in 2011 — more than 40 years after the start of the “War On Drugs” — as evidence that this is a war that can never be won. With more than 1.5 million total drug arrests drug arrests being reported in the U.S. in 2011, that’s one drug arrest every 21 seconds.

THC Finder

District Court Judge James P. Reynolds late on Friday for the second time issued a Temporary Restraining Order blocking key provisions of Montana’s medical marijuana law. The current law, as gutted by the GOP-controlled Legislature last session, limits providers to no more than three patients, and prohibits providers from receiving “anything of value” from patients for their services.
If the law were in full effect, very few providers could continue to operate, and the vast majority of the approximately 8,300 patients currently in the state program would be denied access to medical marijuana, according to Chris Lindsey, president of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association.

Arkansans for Compassionate Care

Daniel Hankins urges Arkansans to vote Yes on Issue 5 to help alleviate the suffering of veterans and other patients
Arkansans for Compassionate Care on Friday started airing its second television ad in support of Issue 5, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act. The ad features Daniel Hankins, an Air Force veteran who was disabled when a 500-pound bomb fell on his back. As noted in the ad, Daniel also suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) due to the fact that three close friends lost their lives in front of him.
Hankins expressed his desire to use medical marijuana to alleviate his suffering and allow him to wean off many more harmful pharmaceutical drugs. Under the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, veterans with PTSD would qualify to use medical marijuana if they have a doctor’s recommendation to do so.

Capitol Cannabis Reform Jam 2012

Georgia marijuana activists invite all area supporters to let their voices be heard again on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol. On November 3 at 3 p.m., advocates will hold the third annual Capitol Cannabis Reform Jam 2012 to legalize responsible usage and stop arresting medical marijuana patients, according to Jonathon R. Weaver, founder of Group-Civil Disobedience (Non-Violent).

According to Dean Sines, outreach coordinator for Peachtree NORML (a local affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), the Jam is one of many events local activists have held on the steps of the Georgia Capitol.
“We have a lot of groups that help put this event together: Peachtree NORML, Georgia Moms For Marijuana, Coalition Against Marijuana Prohibition (CAMP), Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Georgia State University SSDP, Group-Civil Disobedience, and many others,” Sines told Toke of the Town.

Vets Helping Vets

Every day in America, 18 military veterans commit suicide. The United States has lost more military service-members and veterans to suicide than to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Oregon is home to an estimated 300,000 veterans, including more than 20,000 from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, according to the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs. A 2008 Rand Corporation study found nearly 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan vets reported PTSD symptoms.
 
Currently, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program does not recognize or allow for access to cannabis to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Therefore, Oregon military veterans who suffer from PTSD cannot access medical marijuana.
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