Tagged: decriminalization

August 28, 2014

Santa Fe council passes pot decriminalization measure

SANTA FE (KRQE) – The Santa Fe’s City Council voted five to four Wednesday to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

People in Santa Fe have been pushing to ease the marijuana laws.

There was some doubt that the city could get it on the November ballot there so councilors decided to pass the law themselves.

Santa Fe’s mayor supports the decision.

August 25, 2014

Kansas Democrats Support Medical Marijuana

Supporters of medical marijuana have new momentum, now that Kansas Democrats announce they will support bills to legalize the drug for medical purposes next session.

The announcement was made Saturday night in Wichita during the Demofest convention.

On page 7 of the platform, it says “Kansas Democrats support the availability of marijuana for medical use and protection of patients from criminal arrest and prosecution.”

Some believe those words will change talks in Topeka next year.

“It was one of those moments when you finally realize this is going to happen,” said David Mulford, who supports medical marijuana. “It was all of us that made this happen.”

Mulford has been fighting to legalize medical marijuana in Kansas for years. He tells me marijuana oil is the only thing that helps ease his pain from hernias and muscle spasms.

August 25, 2014

What’s Next With Medical Marijuana?

No sooner had Gov. Andrew Cuomo put down his pen after signing the bill to allow medical use of marijuana than Holly Anderson and her staff at the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester picked up their phones.

“We started to get some phone calls from people in the community who wanted to know what’s next, how long will it take,” said the executive director of BCCR. They came not just from people with cancer, but individuals with fibromyalgia, HIV, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses where not only the condition but the side effects of treatment can cause unrelenting pain or discomfort.

Anderson said BCCR had planned to host a forum in its cozy suite on University Avenue about the Compassionate Care Act and figured now it needed a bigger place. The free panel discussion Medical Cannabis: Politics — Science — Truth is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the theater at Monroe Community College Building 4.

Read more at Democrat & Chronicle: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/08/25/next-medical-marijuana/14542877/

August 25, 2014

Florida to Vote on Marijuana Legalization

Florida’s voters are embarking on the most crucial election of their lives — voting for or against the use of medically-authorized marijuana. That marijuana can be fully taxed and regulated, as with alcohol and tobacco, is a good choice for our state’s lawmakers to make.

Jeb Bush and most conservative politicians, of course, will resort to the think-of-the-children approach by attacking marijuana users and even seriously ill patients. It’s unsurprising that more than 80 percent of residents in Florida are overwhelmingly supporting the legalization of marijuana, while 10 percent oppose it.

Can Congress part ways with its narrow-mindedness and support legalization of marijuana for a better country?

Source: Sun Sentinel

August 22, 2014

For Pot Delivery Apps, Making Green Means Wading Into Legal Gray Area

A fresh crop of pot entrepreneurs wants to provide a new way to get a buzz from your smartphone: marijuana delivered on demand.

Brand-new companies including Eaze and Canary aim to make pot delivery as easy as the tap of a few buttons. Upload ID proving you’re an eligible medical marijuana patient, select the strain of your choice and wait for the goods to arrive at your door.

The potential business opportunity is massive: the on-demand craze popularized by Uber and Netflix, combined with a budding industry built on more states legalizing marijuana use.

But these startups must wade through a complex patchwork of laws that vary by state and even by city.

“All of these folks are operating in a gray area, going to bed each night knowing that their business model might collapse under the politics that gird all of this,” Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of marijuana legalization lobbying group NORML, told NBC News. “‘Is this commerce legal?’ is a hard place to get your business started.”

August 22, 2014

Weighing benefits of pot legalization

Two states have legalized small amounts of marijuana possession. More than 30 states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. Recently, The New York Times editorial board called for the decriminalization of marijuana. Kenneth Thompson, the district attorney of Kings County, N.Y., announced he will no longer prosecute misdemeanor marijuana possession cases.

In light of the changes in the rest of the country, the Georgia Legislature should examine whether to repeal Georgia’s own prohibition of marijuana possession. Prior to 1937, cannabis was legal and recognized by the American Medical Association as a legitimate pharmaceutical. It was prescribed by doctors in this country and England; Queen Victoria was prescribed marijuana for menstrual cramps.

In 1937, prohibition had ended, and Harry Anslinger, director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, needed a new cause. He convinced some friends in Congress to introduce a bill criminalizing marijuana. According to the Congressional Record, Anslinger gave the following testimony: “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others.”

Congress voted to criminalize marijuana.

Read more at Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://atlantaforward.blog.ajc.com/2014/08/21/weighing-benefits-of-pot-legalization/

August 22, 2014

Life With Legal Weed

A conversation with middle-aged moms, homeless men, and college kids about post-prohibition in Boulder, Colorado

The most eclectic gathering spot in Boulder, Colorado, is the Pearl Street Mall, a pedestrian thoroughfare at the heart of downtown. Alongside its relatively pricey stores and restaurants, there is an outdoor concert venue, a children’s play area, and the seat of county government. Activists stand on Pearl Street seeking signatures; street performers treat its sidewalks as a stage; drunk collegians spill from bars to sit drunk on its planters; homeless people sleep nearby. Amid it all I spotted Texas Fred, a 68-year-old on a late-night stroll. A thin man with aviator eyeglasses and shoulder-length gray hair, he wore a floral-print shirt and held a guitar case like it was his most valued possession. It was almost 11 p.m. when I approached asking if I could talk with him about cannabis. Fred wasn’t surprised. “Everything about me screams, ‘He smokes marijuana!’” he said.

For more than a decade, Colorado residents have been able to buy or grow a limited amount of marijuana for medicinal purposes. More recently, the state’s voters sanctioned an entire marijuana industry, complete with licensed pot farms, retail stores, and a wave of tourist patrons. Fred was visiting from Chicago. Once a year, his wife lets him go off on the road to scrape by as a bohemian musician. He’d left home three weeks earlier with $100, stopped in St. Louis where he played on the street for tips, and finally made it to Boulder, coasting into town on fumes. By the time I met him, he’d earned enough for several visits to marijuana dispensaries. Before we parted, he helped me understand why legalization matters more than a casual visitor might realize.

August 21, 2014

VT decriminalization results in uneven enforcement

BURLINGTON, Vt. – New numbers reveal wide variation in the approach taken by police departments across the state when it comes to marijuana.

For the last year year, pot smokers have been spared criminal charges if caught with less than an ounce of marijuana. A 2013 law made that a civil offense — like a traffic ticket. But our look at 13 months worth of ticket numbers found departments across the state take different approaches to policing pot.

Law enforcement officers issued 1,521 marijuana possession tickets across the Green Mountains between July first 2013, and the end of July this year. Citations from the Vermont State Police account for about a third of that number.

Officers in Burlington wrote the most tickets — 111. Just behind Burlington — Hartford — a town with a quarter of the Queen City’s population. Police there issued 106 marijuana possession tickets — the second most in the state. No other local department issued more than 49.

August 21, 2014

Canadian Justice Minister says government considering tickets for pot possession

VANCOUVER — Justice Minister Peter MacKay says the federal government is still assessing whether to allow police to ticket people caught with small amounts of marijuana instead of pursuing charges.

MacKay says that if the government were to introduce looser pot laws, that would have to happen within the next six months because of the large number of bills before Parliament.

MacKay, who spoke with reporters before meeting with law-enforcement experts in Vancouver, says his staff have been looking at other jurisdictions, including in the U.S., to see whether ticketing for pot possession is an effective option for police.

August 21, 2014

Alaska Marijuana Legalization Initiative Trailing in Latest Poll

The people trying to legalize marijuana in Alaska are in for a tough battle, if the most recent Public Policy Polling survey is any indicator.

That poll, taken at the end of July and the beginning of this month, has the marijuana legalization initiative trailing, 44% to 49%.

That’s a reversal from PPP’s last poll on the topic in May, which had the initiative leading by a margin of 48% to 45%.