Tag: marijuana reform (page 9)

As Apple always tells us in commercials, there's an iPhone app for evertyhing. Even this:

The app features the laws and consequences for possession in each state, facts and figures supporting why marijuana should be legal and a pre-written letter to President Obama that can be sent by pushing a button, described by David as “petition on the go.” It can also locate the nearest NORML chapter.

Why did they make it? [More..]

Looks like the medical pot raids under Obama and AG Eric Holder are continuing. The latest victim is the Green Cross in Bakersfield. It was raided yesterday as a search warrant was executed and there are reports of three arrests.

Reuters columnist Bernard Debussman has a good column examining the elephant in the room in the debate on the war on drugs:

In 1980, we had 41,000 drug offenders in prison; today we have more than 500,000, an increase of 1,200 percent.” The elephant has ambled out of the bedroom and has become the object of a lively debate on the pros and cons of legalising drugs.

He examines theories as to why the momentum towards marijuana legalization is picking up steam. He also explains why legalization is making sense to so many people right now: [More...]

It's been a busy and productive week in state legislatures for marijuana reform. Just yesterday:

• New Hampshire: The Senate voted 14 to 10 yesterday in favor of HB 648, which would allow qualified patients to possess up to two ounces of cannabis and/or six plants for medical purposes.

• Minnesota: Members of the State Senate gave preliminary approval to Senate File 97, an act to exempt qualified medical cannabis patients from state arrest and prosecution.

• Rhode Island: Members of the Rhode Island Senate voted 35 to 2 yesterday in favor of SB 185, an act to allow for the distribution of medical cannabis by state-licensed compassion centers.

• Pennsylvania: Rep. Mark Cohen D-Philadelphia), along with six co-sponsors, introduced legislation to make Pennsylvania the fourteenth state to legalize the physician-supervised use of cannabis.

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So much for turning a new leaf on medical marijuana prosecutions.

The U.S. Attorney's office in California will seek a five year jail term for medical pot dispensor Charles Lynch.

Mr. Lynch, who ran a small dispensary in the surfing hamlet of Morro Bay, has become a symbol for the medical marijuana movement since his shop was raided in 2007. A registered business owner, Mr. Lynch has the support of the city’s mayor, city attorney, and the local chamber of commerce.

Medical marijuana advocates see the case as a test of the Obama administration’s policy of non-interference on state marijuana laws. California is one of 13 states that allow the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Sentencing was continued today until June. Attorney General Eric Holder's appointee, H. Marshall Jarrett, is "guiding" the U.S. Attorney in seeking the jail term. Here is the pleading with Jarrett's letter attached. The Judge is George H. Wu, "a Bush appointed jurist who is hearing his first federal case." More here.

The Denver Post takes a bold step today in an editorial, urging the feds to end the war on drugs and legalize marijuana.

The Post points out it's not just pot users calling for legalization: [More...]

Across the country, tomorrow will see the biggest 4/20 events to legalize marijuana ever. As the New York Times explains:

April 20 has long been an unofficial day of celebration for marijuana fans, an occasion for campus smoke-outs, concerts and cannabis festivals. But some advocates of legal marijuana say this year’s “high holiday” carries extra significance as they sense increasing momentum toward acceptance of the drug, either as medicine or entertainment.

“It is the biggest moment yet,” said Ethan Nadelmann, the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, who cited several national polls showing growing support for legalization. “There’s a sense that the notion of legalizing marijuana is starting to cross the fringes into mainstream debate.”

You can stay on top of all the goings on at NORML, especially their twitter feed and their special site created for tomorrow, 420MoneyBomb.

Re-legalize it now!
Tax marijuana today! Control it tomorrow!
Re-legalize it!
Pot prohibition's failed!
Let's tax and control it!
Pay down the US deficit!
Tax and control marijuana!
Please tax me!
Hey US Treasury! Make my day, TAX ME!

What are your thoughts on April 15, taxes and how they are collected and spent?

Via NORML:

I’d like to highlight the Colorado University chapter of NORML for not only holding the largest organized annual ‘4/20′ event in the world–but for recognizing this year, a year marked so far by an ever-growing voter sentiment about the need to legalize cannabis–that ‘4/20′ provides cannabis law reform advocates a prime annual opportunity to do far more than just protest in the park by convening a day-long, substantive conference in advance of ‘celebrating cannabis’ the next day by exploring logical and effective alternatives to cannabis prohibition.

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Author and Associate Professor Jeremy Mayer at Politico writes marijuana is now a "smoking hot" issue, the tide of history has turned, and legalization is a question of when, not if.

The financial benefits should be obvious:

Tax revenues, although not as high as some dreamers would wish, would certainly be substantial, and would replace the billions spent interdicting and confiscating marijuana, as well as imprisoning users and small time dealers. Legalizing marijuana would immediately remove millions of dollars in income from the international drug cartels that are making life hell in Mexico.

Mayer may be right. This is the most attention I've seen marijuana get in the national consciousness , perhaps ever. But, we're not there yet: [More...]

Via Reason TV. It takes a bit to get going, but then it's pretty good. The point:

Obama, You're No Stranger to the Bong. Please act like it and take the legalization question seriously.

No surprise here, except for those who perhaps expected something different: President Barack Obama today rejected the idea of legalizing marijuana and taxing it:

The query, which received more than three million votes, was: "With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?"

Obama.... kept his answer brief. "There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation," he said. "And I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a popular question. We want to make sure it's answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy. All right."

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