Tagged: decriminalization

August 21, 2014

Campaigns for/against pot legalization heat up

PORTLAND, Ore. — At the same time the Democratic Party of Oregon gave its formal blessing to legalize marijuana, Oregon sheriffs and district attorneys are teaming up to back efforts to oppose the drug’s legalization.

Opponents of legalizing marijuana said Wednesday that they’re slowly but surely joining forces to battle the $2.3 million worth of advertisements set to air in favor of legalization.

“We won’t be able to compete with their $2.3 million worth of advertising, but we’re going to have a lot of grass root support,” said Darrell Fuller with the Sheriff’s Association.

August 21, 2014

Santa Fe Marijuana Decriminalization Effort Certified

Voters in Santa Fe, New Mexico could be voting on a marijuana decriminalization measure this November. The Santa Fe City Clerk certified that enough signatures have been gathered and verified for the marijuana reform initiative. Now the initiative goes to the Santa Fe City Council where they can either adopt it outright, or place it on the ballot for voters to decide. Per Fire Dog Lake:

If approved the measure would make possession of under an ounce of marijuana and possession of marijuana paraphernalia the lowest priority for the Santa Fe Police Department and punishable with simply a $25 fine under local law. Currently, a first offense for marijuana possession can result in a fine of up to $100 and up to 15 days in jail.

August 21, 2014

Marijuana decriminalization supporters shift focus to spring ballot

Supporters of marijuana decriminalization are now setting their sights on the spring ballot.

The change comes after organizers received word from the Sedgwick County Election Office that it would not recount the petition they had submitted for the November ballot after several errors occurred in the initial count.

At first, the petitioners were 47 registered voters short of placing the petition on the November ballot. The office later found a page that had been stuck to the back of another, but the petition was still 36 signatures short.

In all, 2,928 signatures are needed to put the issue on the ballot.

January 29, 2014

Florida to Vote on Marijuana Legalization: Bi-Partisan Support

In November, Florida voters will cast their votes on a ballot measure to legalize marijuana for medicinal use. The ballot was approved by Florida’s Supreme Court on Monday and is highly popular with voters across the state, with 70 percent of registered Republicans, 87 percent of Democrats and 88 percent of Independents in favor of medical marijuana.

January 28, 2014

Poll: Rhode Island Voters Support Legalization

PROVIDENCE, RI — Continuing the momentum in favor of cannabis policy reform, a recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling reveals that a slight majority of Rhode Island voters would support cannabis legalization for those 21 and over.

Participants were asked if they support of oppose changing state law to follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington. Of those questioned, 53 percent of voters said they were in favor of “changing Rhode Island law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol.” Only 41 percent of those surveyed were opposed.

Also included in the question was the establishment of retail cannabis regulations, so that stores would be licensed to sell cannabis to those over the age of 21.

January 28, 2014

Pa. lawmakers hear from backers of medicinal marijuana

HARRISBURG (AP) – Parents who say their seizure-wracked children might benefit from oil extracted from marijuana went to the Pennsylvania Capitol as lawmakers joined the national debate over legalizing marijuana.

The parents’ visit Tuesday coincided with a hearing before the Senate Law and Justice Committee on a bill to allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The hearing was ongoing Tuesday.

The legislation would permit people with medical needs and a doctor’s approval to obtain an identification card that would enable them to buy marijuana legally.

Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, opposes the measure. But Cara Salemme of Spring Grove says that if the bill doesn’t pass she’ll leave Pennsylvania for a state that allows it to help her 7-year-old son Jackson who has seizures daily and hasn’t spoken in three years.

January 28, 2014

Update on PA marijuana legalization hearing

As Pennsylvania’s debate over medical marijuana lit up in on Tuesday, one Pennsylvania doctor expressed major concerns related to addiction and said potential risks and side effects outweigh benefits.

But another argued that people suffering from disabling pain are commonly given addictive drugs, and doctors aren’t fulfilling their responsibilities if they can’t prescribe medical marijuana, which he said has been proven to help such patients.

The doctors spoke during a teleconference organized by the Pennsylvania Medical Society. It took place on a morning when medical marijuana supporters planned to rally at the state Capitol, and a senate committee planned to hold a hearing on a bill that would legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

January 28, 2014

Legalization Measure to be Introduced in Arizona

State Representative Ruben Gallego intends to introduce legislation this session that would legalize the possession, cultivation, and retail sale of cannabis for adults.

Under present law, minor marijuana possession offenses are classified as felonies. Arizona is the only state that classifies minor marijuana offenses so severely.

“The whole goal of this bill is to regulate and tax this to the point where we no longer have these powerful cartels as powerful as they are now,” Representative Gallego stated, “One of the things I saw in Colorado is long lines and that’s a good thing because what that shows you every time you see one person buying marijuana from a legal site, that’s one person not buying marijuana from the cartels or from the black market.”

A 2013 poll from Behavior Research Center reports that 56 percent of Arizona voters support legalization.

January 28, 2014

PA Governor Candidate Unveils ‘Legalize’ Billboards

Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hanger has unveiled a new digital billboard that’s gone live around two Pennsylvania cities.

Normally, this wouldn’t be that interesting—except in this case, the road swag’s message is a first: They’re the first billboards put up by a gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania history calling for the legalization of marijuana.

Hanger has made marijuana a large part of his campaign platform, unveiling a five-year plan to legalize medical and recreational marijuana.

January 28, 2014

Senator Chuck Schumer Supports Marijuana Reform

Today on MSNBC, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that states should be free to try different approaches to marijuana and that the results of those “experiments” will help inform federal policy:

Chuck Todd: Do you see it as inevitable that recreational use is going to be legal in all 50 states in your lifetime?

Chuck Schumer: You know, it’s a tough issue. We talk about the comparison to alcohol, and obviously alcohol is legal, and I’m hardly a prohibitionist. But it does a lot of damage.

And so the view I have—and I’m a little cautious on this—is let’s see how the state experiments work. We now have the states as laboratories, different states at different levels. Colorado and Washington sort of opened the door. The governor’s [medical marijuana] proposal in New York, much more cautious. I’d be a little cautious here at the federal level and see the laboratories of the states, see their outcomes before we make a decision.

Todd: But you believe that the federal government should let the states do this, because they could crack down and say no.

Schumer: Well, I think having the states experiment is a good idea.

See more at Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/01/27/chuck-schumer-marijuana-federalist/