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EndProhibition.ca

​Candidates for leadership of Canada’s NDP were unanimous this week in their support for ending the Drug War, according to a survey released by Vancouver-based End Prohibition.

The survey, released on the heels of a new federal Liberal Party policy calling for marijuana legalization — and new polling showing two-thirds of Canadians support legalization/decriminalization — demonstrates the new political consensus in Canada: The Drug War has failed, and it’s time to regulate cannabis.

“What we see here is a major shift in Canadian politics, where there is wide acknowledgement that the drug war has failed, and that a non-criminal, regulatory approach has unanimous support among the opposition parties,” said Dana Larsen, executive director of End Prohibition. “The question is not should we end the war on marijuana, but rather when we do, what should regulation look like?”

indybay.org

​The California Legislature will soon be voting on two marijuana reform bills that seem to be more popular with the public than with the politicians in Sacramento: SB 129 by Sen. Mark Leno, which would prohibit employment discrimination against medical marijuana patients, and AB 1017 by Rep. Tom Ammiano, which would allow for reduced, misdemeanor charges in marijuana cultivation cases.
Both bills have strong public support according to a newly released poll of state voters by EMC Research [PDF]. However, both have had trouble getting through the Legislature, where they must be approved by January 31 in order to stay alive.

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger
Multiple sclerosis patient John Ray Wilson is led out of Superior Court after being sentenced to five years in prison for growing 17 marijuana plants behind his house to treat his symptoms

​New Jersey multiple sclerosis patient John Ray Wilson is getting ready to go back to prison. Wilson will resume his sentence after the state Supreme Court on January 20 refused to hear his appeal, according to his lawyer, William Buckman.

The Appellate Court decision that the Supreme Court let stand is “wrongheaded and a vicious travesty,” Buckman said, reports the Coalition for Medical Marijuana – New Jersey (CMMNJ).
Wilson was arrested in August 2008 and charged with “manufacturing” 17 marijuana plants that he said he used to treat his MS. He faced up to 20 years in state prison.

Senator Gene Fraise
Iowa state Senator Gene Fraise says introducing a medical marijuana bill will force a conversation and help lawmakers come to a consensus on the topic

​A new call for Iowa lawmakers to consider legalizing marijuana for medical uses is coming from an unlikely source. State Senator Gene Fraise, a 79-year-old Democrat from Fort Madison, has drafted a bill on the issue.

Fraise, who has been in the state Senate for 26 years, is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is a member of several corrections-related committees, reports the Associated Press.
Senator Fraise is a busy man; he’s also vice chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and serves on a justice budgeting committee.
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy recommended in 2010 that state lawmakers reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug to allow its medicinal use, but the Legislature apparently hasn’t been able to summon up the cojones to act on the recommendation.
Fraise said he’s personally undecided on the issue. But he said introducing a medical marijuana bill will force a conversation and help lawmakers come to a consensus on the topic.

THC Finder

​San Francisco has started back issuing medical marijuana dispensary permits again, after a recent California Supreme Court decision allowing the shops to stay open — for now.

The city’s permitting process had been on hold for a few months after the state appeals court ruling in Pack v. Long Beach, reports Chris Roberts at the SF Weekly. That ruling — which held that cities and counties can’t regulate marijuana, since it’s against federal law — led local governments throughout the state to suspend, repeal, or reconsider their dispensary regulations.
Since the state Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal, the lower court’s ruling has become invalidated, according to a spokesman for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office. So the S.F. Department of Health’s medical marijuana dispensary permitting process can start back as normal, and several proposed shops which had been put on hold can finally receive the go-ahead to open their doors.

Commentopia

Big Victory: Obama Administration Dealt Stinging, Unanimous Rebuke By High Court

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that law enforcement authorities need a probable-cause warrant from a judge to affix a GPS device to a vehicle and monitor its movements.

The decision [PDF] in what is likely the biggest Fourth Amendment case in the computer age rejected the Obama Administration’s position that American citizens have no right to privacy in their public movements, reports David Kravets at Wired.

Texas Department of Safety (DPS)
You know you’re gonna wonder every time you see one of these now, for the rest of your life.

​Your Weed. Delivered.®

Two men were jailed after law enforcement found more than a ton of marijuana aboard a fake AT&T service truck in Texas.

A Texas state trooper pulled over what looked like an AT&T work truck for going 72 miles per hour in a 60 zone, just west of the Hidalgo County community of McCook, reports Sergio Chapa at ValleyCentral.com.
The trooper knew something must be up when the driver took off running on foot. Aaron Arrellano-Salgado didn’t get far, though, before he was caught.

OMCA 2012

​Ohio’s second proposed medical marijuana ballot issue took a step forward Friday when it was certified by Attorney General Mike DeWine.

The Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment to the Ohio Constitution contains a “fair and truthful” summary and has the necessary 1,000 signatures of Ohio registered voters, DeWine decided, reports alan Johnson of The Columbus Dispatch.
Next up for the ballot issue is the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine whether it should appear on the November 6 general election ballot as a single issue or as multiple issues. Secretary of State Jan Husted set a board meeting for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 25.

Why intelligent women read romance novels.

​What’s that in your mouth?

A 46-year-old Panama City, Florida woman was busted January 4 after deputies discovered her trying to eat a bag of “suspected marijuana,” according to an arrest report from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

A deputy saw the woman walking on Marler Drive at 3:35 p.m. and struck up a conversation with her. While talking, he noticed she “was chewing on an unknown object,” reports the Northwest Florida Daily News.

examiner.com
All those bottles, and not a single bag of weed. But that could change at Virginia liquor stores under a new plan suggested by Delegate David Englin

​At least one local lawmaker believes Virginia should explore the idea of selling marijuana at state-run liquor stores.

Delegate David Englin, a Democrat, is calling for a study to look at the potential benefits, reports NBC Washington. Liquor sales generate millions of dollars of revenues for the commonwealth every year.
Part of the legislation reads, “As society changes, products that were deemed illegal at one time are made legal and even sold by stores that are operated by government agencies in the attempt to control the sale of the products,” reports Katie Pyzyk at ARL now.
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