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Oregon’s Second Marijuana Legalization Initiative Gathering Sigs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 26, 2012 Legislation, News

By Ron Georg

Special to Toke of the Town

While the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA 2012) is riding a wave of publicity following Willie Nelson’s recent endorsement, a second legalization initiative is quietly garnering signatures across Oregon, and chief petitioner Bob Wolfe said his group Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement is on track to collect the 116,000 signatures they’ll need to get Initiative Petition 24 on the November ballot.

Oregon’s first attempt at legalization by citizen initiative — 1986’s Ballot Measure 5 — failed by a three-to-one margin. In part, that was a reflection of the times; Reagan-era America probably wasn’t quite ready. Many advocates also believe voters were frightened at the prospect of an unregulated, anarchistic marijuana industry.

Imperial Beach Medical Marijuana Signature Gathering Begins

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 26, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

SafeAccessIB.org

Just more than 1,000 valid signatures are needed for November’s ballot, but organizers plan to turn in 2,000 to make sure

Advocates Begin Circulating Petitions To Overturn City’s Ban On Safe Access To Medicinal Cannabis

A team of community activists on Friday converged in Imperial Beach, California, and began circulating a petition and gathering signatures to place the Safe Access Ordinance of Imperial Beach on the November general election ballot.

If passed, the measure would overturn Imperial Beach’s current ban on safe access to medical marijuana and replace it with reasonable zoning regulations and operational requirements for medical cannabis dispensing collectives and cooperatives wishing to operate in the city.

The Imperial Beach City Council began working on this issue two years ago when Marcus Boyd, vice chair of San Diego Americans for Safe Access and local business owner in Imperial Beach, brought the issue to them at a council meeting.

At that time, the city denied Boyd’s request for a business license and adopted a temporary moratorium, promising to conduct research and return a reasonable ordinance in just a few months.

Police Likely ‘More Vigilant’ On Stoned Drivers Under I-502: Stamper

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 26, 2012 Legislation, News

autoblog

Former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper admitted in a new interview with the Seattle Weekly that law enforcement officers in Washington state will likely be more vigilant in trying to apprehend and arrest drivers under the influence of marijuana if I-502, a limited legalization initiative, is approved by state voters in November.

But Stamper, who now heads up Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said he believes that a major breakthrough in the nationwide push for marijuana law reform like I-502 would be worth the trade-off, reports Keegan Hamilton at Seattle Weekly.

Central American Drug Summit: No Consensus Reached

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 26, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina: “It’s important this is on the discussion table as an alternative to what we’ve been doing for 40 years without getting the desired results”

Guatemala’s President Considers Requiring U.S. To Pay For Drug Raids

A group of Central American presidents meeting in Guatemala to discuss a major overhaul of drug laws, including legalization and decriminalization, failed to arrive at a consensus on Saturday and agreed to meet again soon in Honduras.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina invited five other presidents to examine what he called a growing frustration with U.S. drug policy, report Chris Kraul and Rex Renderos at the Los Angeles Times. A growing rumble of protest is coming from the region, saying the Drug War is costing too much in crime and corruption.

Many expected some sort of policy declaration to come from the meeting, but as the meeting closed, no reason was given for its absence.

New Zealand Police Seize Marijuana Vending Machine

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2012 Global, News

Akl Seshnz

Above, a New Zealand police officer helps to carry The Daktory’s cannabis vending machine to a law enforcement vehicle Thursday night

“Live Like It’s Legal” is the motto of New Zealand cannabis activists The Daktory — and it appears they take their own advice. Police said on Friday that they had seized a marijuana vending machine during a raid on the cannabis club in Auckland, which campaigns for the herb’s legalization.

The vending machine, in suburban New Lynn, had been set up to dispense one-gram bags of marijuana for NZ$20 ($16.20) each, one of the campaigners behind the scheme told Agence France-Presse.

Police said they arrested four people and seized the vending machine, NZ$27,000 in cash and about 700 grams of cannabis. Also seized when they raided the property on Thursday evening were bongs, pipes and other items.

Brit Police Apologize For Claiming Cannabis Causes Cancer

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2012 Global, News

Northamptonshire Police

“Northamptonshire Police would like to apologize for the incorrect information provided to the media which claimed that cannabis plants had potential carcinogenic properties”

A local police department in the United Kingdom has issued an apology over an incorrect statement made following a cannabis garden raid.

Northamptonshire Police have retracted an earlier statement which claimed the odor of mature marijuana plants causes cancer, reports the Harborough Mail.

“Northamptonshire Police would like to apologize for the incorrect information provided to the media which claimed that cannabis plants had potential carcinogenic properties,” a spokesman for the force stiffly offered.

“This information was provided in good faith,” the spokesman claimed. “However, we accept the information was misleading and we will strive to ensure this does not happen again.”

The original outlandish claim was published in the Mail on March 1 in a report about cannabis plants being seized by police during a raid in Cottingham. It received worldwide attention after Toke of the Town picked up the story on March 8.

Central American Leaders To Hold Historic Drug Policy Meeting

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

Pulsamerica

The groundbreaking meeting — the first time sitting presidents are seriously debating alternatives to drug prohibition — was initiated by and will be hosted by Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina.

Saturday: Presidents To Hold Historic Meeting To Discuss Strategies To Reduce Prohibition-Related Crime, Violence and Corruption

First Time Ever That Sitting Presidents Are Calling For All Options, Including Legalization And Decriminalization, To Be Put On The Table

Momentum Builds for Unprecedented Debate at Summit of The Americas in Colombia in April

This Saturday, March 24, a historic meeting will take place when presidents from Central America come together in Guatemala to discuss legalization, decriminalization and other strategies for reducing the region’s prohibition-related violence, crime and corruption.

The meeting, initiated and hosted by Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, represents the first time ever that sitting presidents are seriously debating alternatives to drug prohibition – and it comes just weeks before the topic will be considered for the first time at the Summit of the Americas meeting in Colombia in mid-April.

N.H. Senate Committee Backs Medical Marijuana Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Nuggetry

SB 409 Moves On After Stunning 5-0 Vote

In a huge victory for patients and their families, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee has voted 5-0 to approve New Hampshire’s medical marijuana bill, SB 409. A vote by the full Senate is expected next week.

Senators Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), Gary Lambert (R-Nashua), Andy Sanborn (R-Henniker), Tom DeBlois (R-Litchfield), and Molly Kelly (D-Keene) all voted in favor of the bill, having considered more than two and a half hours of testimony at a March 8 public hearing.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Jim Forsythe (R-Strafford), expressed satisfaction with the vote.

“If a seriously ill patient and his or her doctor believe marijuana may be the best option, government should not interfere with that decision, and I’m very pleased to see unanimous agreement from this committee,” Forsythe said.

Marijuana-Like Compounds Effective Against Late Stage AIDS

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 22, 2012 Medical, News

Potfessor.com

Marijuana-like compounds can inhibit the multiplication of human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus in late-stage AIDS by acting on viral receptors. The results are from a new study were published by researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the journal PloS ONE.

Cannabis is used medicinally in diseases which are accompanied by appetite loss or by severe weight loss, and also for the management of chronic pain, symptoms that are usually present in the latter stages of AIDS, reports Cristian Mihon at Doctor Tipster.

Through this study, scientists learned that the cannabinoid receptors on the surface of immune cells, CB1 and CB2, are triggered by marijuana-like compounds and can inhibit the spread of HIV through the body. It’s crucial for scientists to know the effects of activating these CB1 and CB2 receptors, because that knowledge might be used in the future to develop new drugs that can slow the progression of AIDS.

Cops, Judges Endorse Washington I-502 Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 21, 2012 Legislation, News

KPLU

Norm Stamper, LEAP: “Everyone knows that marijuana prohibition has failed”

Law Enforcers Say Ending Prohibition Will Improve Public Safety

A group of police officers, prosecutors, judges and other criminal justice professionals – including Seattle’s former chief of police – is endorsing I-502, the Washington initiative to regulate and tax marijuana that voters will decide on this November.

Norm Stamper, the former Seattle chief and a spokesman for the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said, “Everyone knows that marijuana prohibition has failed. When even those who once worked to enforce these laws are saying this, the only logical next step is to enact a system that legalizes, regulates and controls marijuana.

“Doing so will not only take money away from the gangs and cartels that sell marijuana now, but will generate new, much-needed revenue that can be used to pay the salaries of police officers and teachers and for substance abuse prevention and education,” Stamper said.

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