Yesterday’s NORML blog post notwithstanding, a number of state legislatures continue to move forward in support of sensible marijuana law reform.
Here are some highlights and ways you can help.
Rhode Island: House members overwhelmingly approved legislation last week regulating the establishment of state-licensed ‘compassion centers’ to manufacture and provide medical marijuana to authorized patients. Rhode Island’s legislature is the first state on the east coast to move forward with such legislation, which was approved by a vote of 63 to 5 in the House and 35 to 2 in the Senate. The margins are large enough to override a veto from Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri, who has voiced opposition to the measure. If you live in Rhode Island and want to learn more about this effort, please visit: http://ripatients.org.
Illinois: On Wednesday members of the Illinois Senate passed SB 1381, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. UPDATE! On Thursday, members of the House Human Services Committee also passed the bill, and the full House is expected to act on it imminently. If you live in Illinois, you can voice your support in favor this legislation by going here and here. UPDATE#2! The House convened for its summer session without taking a floor vote on SB 1381. House members may decide to take up the issue later this fall or next spring.
New Hampshire: As we reported yesterday, lawmakers are still trying to negotiate a compromise with Democrat Gov. John Lynch, who has threatened to veto medical marijuana legislation recently passed by the House and Senate. Our allies on the ground, NH Compassion, are encouraging voters to contact Gov. Lynch and urge him not to stand in the way of medical marijuana law reform. You can contact the governor by going here and here.
New Jersey: Members of the state assembly Health and Senior Services Committee are scheduled to hear testimony in favor of A 804, the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, on Thursday, June 4, at 10am. (Full details available online here.) A companion bill, S 119, has already been approved by the Senate, and Democrat Gov. John Corzine has promised to sign medical marijuana legislation into law if it reaches his desk. You can help support this campaign by going here and by contacting your member of the assembly here.
Delaware: Members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee are considering legislation, SB 94, to allow for patients with a debilitating medical condition to grow and possess cannabis. The proposal is the first marijuana law reform bill to be before lawmakers in recent memory. Proponents can contact their senate members in support of the measure here.
For information on additional state and federal marijuana law reform legislation, please visit NORML’s Take Action pagehere.
Marijuana law reformers, myself included, have spilled volumes of ink commenting on the numerous reasons and vested interests responsible for the continued prohibition of cannabis. But while these lengthy writings may be worthwhile intellectual exercises, I fear that they overlook the obvious.
That’s why, right now, I’d like to give you seven specific reasons why the use of cannabis by adults — including seriously ill patients — remains a crime in America. Ready? Here they are:
Governor Donald Carcieri (R-Rhode Island)
Governor James Douglas (R-Vermont)
Governor Linda Lingle (R-Hawaii)
Governor John Lynch (D-New Hampshire)
Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minnesota)
Governor Jodi Rell (R-Connecticut)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-California)
Each of these Governors have single-handedly opted to kill marijuana law reform legislation in their states — either by the stroke of a pen (Carcieri, Lingle, Rell, Schwarzenegger) or by applying enough legislative pressure to abruptly halt ‘pro-pot’ proposals from ever reaching their desk.
Why am I reposting this now? Simple, because the more things change the more they stay the same.
On Friday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed legislation that would have allowed terminally ill patients the legal right to possess and use (but not grow) medicinal cannabis. That’s right, I said ‘terminal.’ Apparently Gov. Pawlenty — who cynically remarked “While I am sympathetic to those dealing with end-of-life illnesses and accompanying pain, I stand with law enforcement in opposition to this legislation” — would prefer to have patients at death’s door rely on the medical judgment of a prison warden rather than that of their physician.
But Gov. Pawlenty is hardly the only state governor up to the same old tricks.
In New Hampshire, lawmakers are trying to work out a last-minute compromise with Gov. John Lynch, who has threatened to veto any measure that allows for seriously ill patients to grow or use medical cannabis in their homes. And in Connecticut, Gov. Jodi Rell’s veto threat of legislation that sought to prevent minor marijuana offenders from being saddled with lifetime criminal records certainly did proponents no favors.
In Hawaii and Rhode Island, legislation pertaining to the medical use of cannabis is now on both state’s governors’ desks. If past is precedent, can vetoes be far behind?
And what about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier this month announced, “[I]t’s time for a debate” regarding taxing and regulating the sale of cannabis for adults. We expect to learn more about the Governor’s position in mere minutes, as he will be elaborating on his stance in today’s Digg.com chat — which you can access here.
Want to know why pot remains illegal in America? You can start by asking your governor — again.
Today’s New York Times online features a round table discussion on the subject of marijuana law reform.
Two years ago we ran a quorum debating the pros and cons of decriminalizing marijuana. Since then, a largely theoretical debate has moved quite substantially toward the realm of reality, with a growing number of states and municipalities having changed their laws.
… So we asked a group of people — Paul Armentano, Mike Braun, Joel W. Hay, Jeffrey Miron, and Robert Platshorn — to think about a national decriminalization of marijuana … and answer the following: What would be some of the most powerful economic, social, and criminal-justice effects?
Here are their answers.
You can read all of the responses, including mine, and leave your feedback for the New York Timeshere.
The criminal prohibition of cannabis is an indefensible public policy position. Why can I say that? Just watch the video below.
It’s been clear for quite some time that proponents of marijuana prohibition have nary a leg to stand on. When their position is scrutinized, even the least bit, it ends up collapsing like a house of cards. In this case, the look on FBI Director Robert Mueller’s face two minutes and forty-three seconds into the video says it all. His empty rhetoric has failed and he has no more artillery left in his arsenal. He’s been defeated and he knows it.
The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up San Diego County’s challenge to state medical marijuana laws.
For more than three years the county has been fighting in court to overturn state laws that require counties to issue medical marijuana identification cards. The county contends federal law, which does not recognize medical marijuana usage, trumps the state law.
The county has lost that argument in state trial and appellate courts, and the state Supreme Court declined to take up the case, too. The county’s last, long-shot chance was to have the U.S. Supreme Court take up the case.
San Bernardino and Merced counties initially joined the suit, but Merced eventually dropped out. The high court also rejected San Bernardino’s petition to take up the case.
In other words, the oft-heard prohibitionist refrain that federal law trumps state medical marijuana laws has no legal merit.
None. Nada. Zero.
To anyone who has followed the unethical actions of the San Diego and San Bernardino Supervisors over the past three years, the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear their appeal shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, the counties’ vapid arguments had previously been struck down — unanimously — by the Superior Court of the state of California the 4th District Court of Appeals.
In addition, the Legislative Counsel of California, the state Attorney General’s Office, and a majority of the California legislature had also previously determined that local politicians and law enforcement were obligated to uphold the provisions of California’s medical marijuana laws.
Finally, California’s constitution is also quite clear on this point — mandating that police have a sworn duty to uphold state law, not to enforce federal statutes.
Let’s be blunt: San Diego and San Bernardino’s protracted lawsuits — lawsuits that arguably cost county taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and jeopardized the health and safety of thousands (if not tens of thousands) of citizens — were never about resolving legal ambiguity.
UPDATE!!! You can also read and leave feedback on this post at The Hill’s influential Congress blog here or on Huffington Post here.
“This ain’t your grandfather’s or your father’s marijuana. This will hurt you. This will addict you. This will kill you.”– Mark R. Trouville, DEA Miami, speaking to the Associated Press (June 22, 2007)
Government claims that today’s pot is more potent, and thus more dangerous to health, than ever before must be taken with a grain of salt.
Federal officials have made similarly dire assertions before. In a 2004 Reuters News Wire story, government officials alleged, “Pot is no longer the gentle weed of the 1960s and may pose a greater threat than cocaine or even heroin.” (Anti-drug officials failed to explain why, if previous decades’ pot was so “gentle” and innocuous, police still arrested you for it.)
In 2007, Reuters again highlighted the alleged record rise in cannabis potency, proclaiming, “U.S. marijuana grows stronger than before: report.” Quoted in the news story was ex-Drug Czar John Walters, who warned, “This report underscores that we are no longer talking about the drug of the 1960s and 1970s — this is Pot 2.0.”
14 May 2009
——- Kerlikowske Says Analogy Is Counterproductive; Shift Aligns With Administration Preference for Treatment Over Incarceration
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting “a war on drugs,” a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.
In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation’s drug issues.
“Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them,” he said. “We’re not at war with people in this country.”
View Full Image Gil Kerlikowske, the new White House drug czar, signaled Wednesday his openness to rethinking the government’s approach to fighting drug use.
Mr. Kerlikowske’s comments are a signal that the Obama administration is set to follow a more moderate — and likely more controversial — stance on the nation’s drug problems. Prior administrations talked about pushing treatment and reducing demand while continuing to focus primarily on a tough criminal-justice approach.
The Obama administration is likely to deal with drugs as a matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone, with treatment’s role growing relative to incarceration, Mr. Kerlikowske said.
Already, the administration has called for an end to the disparity in how crimes involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine are dealt with. Critics of the law say it unfairly targeted African-American communities, where crack is more prevalent.
The administration also said federal authorities would no longer raid medical-marijuana dispensaries in the 13 states where voters have made medical marijuana legal. Agents had previously done so under federal law, which doesn’t provide for any exceptions to its marijuana prohibition.
During the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama also talked about ending the federal ban on funding for needle-exchange programs, which are used to stem the spread of HIV among intravenous-drug users.
The drug czar doesn’t have the power to enforce any of these changes himself, but Mr. Kerlikowske plans to work with Congress and other agencies to alter current policies. He said he hasn’t yet focused on U.S. policy toward fighting drug-related crime in other countries.
Mr. Kerlikowske was most recently the police chief in Seattle, a city known for experimenting with drug programs. In 2003, voters there passed an initiative making the enforcement of simple marijuana violations a low priority. The city has long had a needle-exchange program and hosts Hempfest, which draws tens of thousands of hemp and marijuana advocates.
Seattle currently is considering setting up a project that would divert drug defendants to treatment programs.
Mr. Kerlikowske said he opposed the city’s 2003 initiative on police priorities. His officers, however, say drug enforcement — especially for pot crimes — took a back seat, according to Sgt. Richard O’Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. One result was an open-air drug market in the downtown business district, Mr. O’Neill said.
“The average rank-and-file officer is saying, ‘He can’t control two blocks of Seattle, how is he going to control the nation?’ ” Mr. O’Neill said.
Sen. Tom Coburn, the lone senator to vote against Mr. Kerlikowske, was concerned about the permissive attitude toward marijuana enforcement, a spokesman for the conservative Oklahoma Republican said. [drug war]
Others said they are pleased by the way Seattle police balanced the available options. “I think he believes there is a place for using the criminal sanctions to address the drug-abuse problem, but he’s more open to giving a hard look to solutions that look at the demand side of the equation,” said Alison Holcomb, drug-policy director with the Washington state American Civil Liberties Union.
Mr. Kerlikowske said the issue was one of limited police resources, adding that he doesn’t support efforts to legalize drugs. He also said he supports needle-exchange programs, calling them “part of a complete public-health model for dealing with addiction.”
Mr. Kerlikowske’s career began in St. Petersburg, Fla. He recalled one incident as a Florida undercover officer during the 1970s that spurred his thinking that arrests alone wouldn’t fix matters.
“While we were sitting there, the guy we’re buying from is smoking pot and his toddler comes over and he blows smoke in the toddler’s face,” Mr. Kerlikowske said. “You go home at night, and you think of your own kids and your own family and you realize” the depth of the problem.
Since then, he has run four police departments, as well as the Justice Department’s Office of Community Policing during the Clinton administration.
Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports legalization of medical marijuana, said he is “cautiously optimistic” about Mr. Kerlikowske. “The analogy we have is this is like turning around an ocean liner,” he said. “What’s important is the damn thing is beginning to turn.”
James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest law-enforcement labor organization, said that while he holds Mr. Kerlikowske in high regard, police officers are wary.
“While I don’t necessarily disagree with Gil’s focus on treatment and demand reduction, I don’t want to see it at the expense of law enforcement. People need to understand that when they violate the law there are consequences.”
Maine:Democrat Gov. John Baldaccisigned legislation into law on May 1 expanding the state’s marijuana decriminalization law. As enacted, LD 250 makes the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana a civil violation, punishable by a fine only. (Presently, anyone found possessing more than 1.25 ounces of cannabis is presumed to be engaging in the marijuana sales and faces criminal penalties and potential jail time.) The new law takes effect later this fall. Only one other state, Ohio, treats the possession of more than 2.5 ounces of cannabis as a fine-only (no jail) offense.
New Hampshire: Only one man has the power to continue the criminalization of seriously ill patients in New Hampshire. That man is Democrat Governor John Lynch. If you live in New Hampshire, he needs to hear from you — now! Last week, Gov. Lynch indicated to House leaders that he was likely to veto HB 648, which would legalize the use and cultivation of medicinal cannabis by state-qualified patients. Legislative leaders are trying to revise the bill’s language to address the Governor’s concerns. But even more importantly the Governor needs to hear positive feedback from his constituents. You can contact Gov. Lynch here or by visiting NHCompassion.org.
Hawaii:Senate Bill 1058, an act to create a medical cannabis task force committee, has been approved by the legislature and now awaits action from Republican Gov. Linda Lingle. The intent of the task force is to address patients’ concerns and criticisms regarding Hawaii’s eight-year-old medical marijuana law. In 2008, Gov. Lingle vetoed a similar task force measure. That is why, if you live in Hawaii, we are asking you to contact the Governor and urge her to support SB 1058. You can do so by going here.
Rhode Island: House members are expected to vote later this week on House Bill 5359, which would allow for the state to license non-profit “compassion centers” to assist in the production and distribution of medical cannabis to qualified patients. The Senate previously voted 35 to 2 in favor of the legislation. House members will need to approve it by a similar majority — as the measure faces a veto threat from Republican Gov. Don Carcieri. If you live in Rhode Island, you can learn more about this campaign by going here or here.
Minnesota:Legislation to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis has been approved by the state Senate and now awaits action from the House. At this time, the bill’s primary hurdle appears to be Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has voiced strong opposition to the measure. If you live in Minnesota, please contact your House member and the Governor by going here.
For information on additional marijuana law reform legislation, please visit NORML’s Take Action pagehere.
CNN host Don Lemon examined the growing call in America to legalize cannabis tonight, prompted by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s suggestion this week that the state debate legalizing cannabis and convene a blue-ribbon commission to examine the prospects of such.
I was opposed by prohibitionist Kevin Sabet in a very brief cable news exchange. If supporters of cannabis law reformers want to continue to raise the public discussion level on legalizing cannabis, contact CNN and request that they provide even greater coverage of cannabis-related matters, debates and online surveys; along with MSNBC, CNBC, Fox and C-Span.
More people seek drug treatment for pot than all other drugs combined. Technically true, but only because between 60 percent and 70 percent of individuals enrolled in substance abuse ‘treatment’ for cannabis are small-time pot offenders who were referred there by the criminal justice system. In fact, according to the latest federal data, nearly four in ten people admitted to substance abuse treatment programs for cannabis did not even use it in the month prior to their admission.
Consuming cannabis leads to violent behavior and other criminal acts. Apparently, when pot doesn’t make you “docile and unresponsive, to the point of helplessness,” it makes you unpredictably violent. Or not. Look, I asked this question on Monday and I’ll ask it again: Read about any gang-related violence surrounding the sale of alcohol lately? How about vicodin or paxil? Didn’t think so. Consuming marijuana doesn’t cause violent or criminal behavior, but criminals and violent people do engage in the black market trafficking of illicit drugs. The irony, of course, is that the very ‘violence’ that Walters claims to lament — that is, when he and his colleagues over at the DEA aren’t hailing the increase in drug-related violence as a good thing — is a direct consequences of the public policy (prohibition) he reflexively endorses.
**Side note: Maine Gov. John Baldacci just signed legislation into law on Friday making the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana a civil violation, punishable by a fine and no jail time. (Read more about this law in this week’s NORML News stories.) Expect to hear Walters ranting and raving about marijuana cartels setting up shop in the Pine Tree state any day now.
Finally, for good measure, Walters even resurrects the claim that there are now more medical marijuana dispensaries in the city of San Fransisco than there are Starbucks — an allegation so absurd that the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper laughed it out of the room some six months ago.
So here’s my question: Gov. Schwarzenegger — as well as U.S. Senator Jim Webb — have called for a “debate” on whether or not to legalize the use and distribution of cannabis for adults. Webster’s dictionary defines “debate” as “to argue opposing views.” But as Walters’ comments so adeptly illustrate, the opposing side has no actual “views,” it only has lies and seven decades of bulls—-t.
Therefore, I say we skip the public debate and go straight to the public ‘debunk’ (verb: to expose the fallacy or fraudulence of). I’m sure we can find Mr. Walters a seat at the head of the table.
Yesterday’s NORML blog post notwithstanding, a number of state legislatures continue to move forward in support of sensible marijuana law reform.
Nearly eight months ago I posted the following essay to NORML’s blog, entitled:
How do you say: “Game, set, match” in southern California? Here’s how:
