BREAKING NEWS: Tax Cannabis 2010 Secures Signatures for 2010 Ballot!
December 14, 2009
From the Associated Press:
Group says Californians could vote on pot in 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — A group campaigning to put a marijuana legalization measure before California voters says it has enough signatures to qualify for the 2010 ballot.
Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee said Monday the measure has far more than the nearly 434,000 signatures needed to make the November 2010 ballot.
Campaign organizers say they will submit the signatures to the California Secretary of State next month for validation.
The proposal would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for California adults 21 and older. Residents could cultivate marijuana gardens up to 25 square feet. Local governments would determine whether to permit marijuana sales within their boundaries.
Seattle Post Intelligencer: Poll majority: Legalize marijuana
December 9, 2009
A new national poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion shows that two-thirds of Americans believe the "War on Drugs" is a failure. A majority of those polled agreed that marijuana should be legalized.
The survey, a nationally representative sample of 1,004 adults, found that just 8 percent believe the "War" - the U.S. government's effort to reduce the illegal drug trade - is a success: 68 percent agreed that it is a failure.
Read more…AMA Calls for Feds to Review Marijuana Restrictions
December 2, 2009
From CBS News:
The American Medical Association on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling for the government to review its classification of marijuana, in order to ease the way for more research into the use of medical marijuana.
While the AMA, the largest physician's organization in the U.S., explicitly states it does not endorse any current state-based medical marijuana programs or the legalization of marijuana, the move is a significant shift that continues a trend toward support for easing restrictions against the drug.
"Our American Medical Association (AMA) urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines," the AMA's statement (PDF) reads. "This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product."
Marijuana is currently classified by the federal government as a "Schedule I" controlled substance, the most restrictive of five categories. Schedule I substances are considered to have a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug. Other drugs in that category include heroin, LSD and PCP. Less restrictive "Schedule II" substances include cocaine and methamphetamine.
Read more…New York Times: Right and Left Join Forces on Criminal Justice
November 23, 2009
WASHINGTON — In the next several months, the Supreme Court will decide at least a half-dozen cases about the rights of people accused of crimes involving drugs, sex and corruption. Civil liberties groups and associations of defense lawyers have lined up on the side of the accused.
But so have conservative, libertarian and business groups. Their briefs and public statements are signs of an emerging consensus on the right that the criminal justice system is an aspect of big government that must be contained.
The development represents a sharp break with tough-on-crime policies associated with the Republican Party since the Nixon administration.
Read more…CBS News Blogs: Colorado Moves to Tax Medical Marijuana
November 17, 2009 12:29 pm
The Attorney General of Colorado said yesterday that his state can collect taxes on sales of medical marijuana.
"Medical marijuana is tangible property that is generally subject to state sales tax," Attorney General John Suthers said in an opinion, according to The Denver Post.
Suthers, a Republican, was responding to a query from the state's governor, Democrat Bill Ritter.
"This is another in a series of significant steps toward some sort of legalization of marijuana," said CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. "Once local and state officials in Colorado and elsewhere realize how much income they can generate from this tax it will be harder for them or anyone else to argue that pot shouldn’t be legalized and regulated in some fashion."
Read more…The Atlantic: Less Dangerous Than Aspirin
Nov 09, 2009 10:57 am
There has never been a single documented case of fatal cannabis overdose. Also, the government’s own figures don’t tally. While drug figures from the Office Of National Statistics register 19 cannabis related deaths, the mortality stats from the same office log only 1 death.
Read more…Report: Marijuana enforcement failing, biased
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 9:40 AM
As Californians keep gathering petition signatures for marijuana legalization ballot measures and a state lawmaker rewrites his legalization bill, marijuana reform advocates today are touting a new report that finds no relationship between marijuana arrest and use rates – a sign that the “war on drugs” has failed as far as cannabis is concerned, they say.
Read more…ABC News: Legalized Marijuana? We May Already Be on the Way
October 25, 2009
With the Obama administration’s decision not to prosecute medicinal marijuana dealers and users, even though they violate federal law, the country is “probably in the process now of legalizing marijuana,” conservative columnist George F. Will said today.
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Will compared what has been happening with marijuana with the gradual changes in laws regarding alcohol, gambling and even prostitution.
Read more…San Francisco Chronicle: Armstrong can drink, but Phelps can�t toke
October 23, 2009
For better or worse, our American Idiocracy has come to rely on athletes as national pedagogues. Michael Jordan educated the country about commitment and just doing it. A.C. Green lectured us about sexual caution. Serena Williams and John McEnroe taught us what sportsmanship is – and is not. So when a single week like this one sees both the Justice Department back states’ medical marijuana laws, and a Gallup poll show record-level support for pot legalization, we can look to two superjocks – Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps – for the key lesson about our absurd drug policy.
