“Legitimate Debate?” Not If The Drug Czar Has His Way

Several weeks ago, President Obama stated that he believed the subject of drug legalization and regulation was “an entirely legitimate topic for debate.” Yet recent actions by White House Office of National Drug Control Policy head Gil Kerlikowske imply that this administration has no interest in having this debate in the public arena — at least not in Seattle.

On Friday, February 18, the Seattle Times editorial board opined in favor of House Bill 1550, which legalizes and regulates the “production, distribution, and sale” of marijuana to adults. (You can contact your state elected officials in support of the measure here.) The editorial, titled “The Washington Legislature should legalize marijuana” did not mince words.

Marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed. The push to repeal federal prohibition should come from the states, and it should begin with the state of Washington.

… Some drugs have such horrible effects on the human body that the costs of prohibition may be worth it. Not marijuana. This state’s experience with medical marijuana and Seattle’s tolerance policy suggest that with cannabis, legalization will work — and surprisingly well.

Not only will it work, but it is coming.

According to Seattle Times editorial page editor Ryan Blethen, the public’s reaction to the paper’s pot-friendly position was overwhelming.

“It is rare we publish an editorial on a hot topic and receive near universal praise. But that is what happened last week when we came out in support of Washington state legalizing cannabis,” Bethen wrote in February 25 commentary. “When people take the time to e-mail or call me about an editorial, it is usually because they do not agree with the editorial page. This editorial was different. The compliments rolled in, the discussion in the comments section of the editorial is nearing 600 and is interesting and thoughtful — which is not always the case — and so far the editorial has been recommended by about 3,000 people on Facebook.”

Yet there was is one prominent, former Seattle resident who is clearly not amused by the Times call for “a sober discussion about marijuana.” That person is the Drug Czar, Gil Kerlikowske.

The Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger has the details — and they aren’t pretty.

White House Requests Meeting with Seattle Times to Bully Against Pro-Pot Editorials
via The Stranger

The Stranger has learned that immediately after the Seattle Times ran an editorial last week supporting a bill to tax and regulate marijuana, the newspaper got a phone call from Washington, D.C. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy director Gil Kerlikowske wanted to fly to Seattle to speak personally with the paper’s full editorial board.

The meeting is scheduled for next Friday, an apparent attempt by the federal government to pressure the state’s largest newspaper to oppose marijuana legalization. Or at least turn down the volume on its new-found bullhorn to legalize pot.

Bruce Ramsey, the Seattle Times editorial writer who wrote the unbylined piece, says the White House called right “right after our editorial ran, so I drew the obvious conclusion… he didn’t like our editorial.”

… This isn’t the first time the Obama Administration has campaigned to keep pot illegal. Kerlikowske, who is also Seattle’s former police chief, also traveled to California last fall to campaign against Prop 19, a measure to decriminalize marijuana and authorize jurisdictions to tax and regulate it.

NORML Has long argued that pot prohibition can not withstand careful and consistent scrutiny from the mainstream media. The Drug Czar knows this to be true better than anyone; hence the White House’s need to try and squelch any media-led ‘legitimate debate.’ Fortunately, the genie is out of the bottle and isn’t going back — at least not in Seattle. In fact, just days after The Drug Czar’s phone call, the Seattle Times reiterated their editorial support for legalization, stating “the costs of prohibition in police, courts, jails, gang warfare, civil liberties and blighted lives are too high, especially for a product that lends itself so well to be handled like alcohol.”

Like it or not President Obama, you are going to get your debate. We’re ready; are you?

Ask NORML: McDonald’s, Monsanto, and Phillip Morris! Oh My!

NORML’s youtube channel, NORMLtv, recently launched a new video series entitled ‘Ask NORML,’ which features NORML staff answering questions submitted by you — the marijuana law reform activist.

On this week’s installment, Executive Director Allen St. Pierre makes his debut to discuss the anxiety surrounding a potential corporate takeover of marijuana commerce after legalization.

Subscribe to NORMLtv and visit NORML’s Facebook page for announcements regarding future ‘Ask NORML’ episodes and how you can have your questions answered by NORML. Also stay tuned to NORMLtv for periodic episodes of ‘NORML Update,’ which feature video highlights from NORML affiliated events around the nation.

Get active; get NORML!

Next Week on NORMLtv – NORML@40, looking back on the four decade fight with the man who started it all, Keith Stroup.

NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up

Marijuana law reform legislation is pending in over twenty states, and progressive measures have been pre-filed in many more. Below is this week’s edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up — activists’ one-stop guide to pending marijuana law reform legislation around the country.

** A note to first time readers: NORML can not introduce legislation in your state. Nor can any other non-profit advocacy organization. Only your state representatives, or in some cases an individual constituent (by way of their representative; this is known as introducing legislation ‘by request’) can do so. NORML can — and does — work closely with like-minded politicians and citizens to reform marijuana laws, and lobbies on behalf of these efforts. But ultimately the most effective way — and the only way — to successfully achieve statewide marijuana law reform is for local stakeholders and citizens to become involved in the political process and to make the changes they want to see.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS UNDER SIEGE IN MONTANA AND NEW MEXICO

Montana: As anticipated, on Monday members of House of Representatives gave final approval to HB 161, which would repeal the state’s existing medical cannabis law. The measure now goes before state senators, who are being targeted with anti-pot propaganda advertisements. Nevertheless, a new poll released this week of over 2,200 Montanans found that 63 percent of voters support allowing medical marijuana, and only 20 percent support current proposals to repeal the state’s compassionate medical marijuana law. Tell the Senate to uphold the will of the voters and to reject HB 161. You can contact your lawmakers via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here, or by contacting Montana NORML. You can also visit our allies Patients and Families United on Facebook here for up-to-date information on pending hearings and votes.

New Mexico: House Bill 593, introduced by Santa Fe Republican James Smith, aims to completely repeal New Mexico’s existing medical marijuana law, which was initially approved by the legislature and the Governor in 2007. Presently, over 3,200 patients are using cannabis legally in compliance with state law. In addition, state officials have licensed some 25 facilities to produce or dispense medical cannabis. Reports of abuses regarding the use or distribution of medical cannabis as authorized by the law have been minimal. Nevertheless, Smith — who admits “I’m not a medical doctor, I don’t pretend to be.” – states that the law sends a mixed message to young people and that other alternative medications are available. House Bill 593 has been assigned to the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee and awaits a scheduled hearing. Newly elected Republican Governor Susana Martinez, who recently stated that this issue would not be a legislative priority for her administration in 2011, now says that she will sign Smith’s bill if it reaches her desk. You can prevent that from happening by contacting your House member here and urging them to vote ‘no’ on repeal.

OTHER STATE ACTIVITY

Indiana: On Tuesday, February 22, the Senate voted 28 to 21 in favor of legislation, SB 192, to consider the impact of the state’s marijuana policies, including costs in the state’s criminal justice system and the potential for regulation and taxation options. The bill now goes to the House. You can read NORML’s testimony in support of SB 192 here. You can contact your member of the House in support of SB 192 here. You can track the progress of this effort on Facebook here.

Texas: On Tuesday, March 1, members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee will hear testimony in favor of HB 548, which seeks to decriminalize marijuana possession offenses in Texas. The hearing is scheduled for 10:30am in room JHR 120 of the state capitol. To date, nearly 1,300 of you have contacted your House members in favor of HB 548 via NORML’s Take Action Center. Now show them that you support this effort by appearing before them in person. Join Texas NORML at next week’s hearing or track the progress of this bill online here.

Maryland: On Tuesday members of the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from NORML representatives and others in favor of House Bill 606. House Bill 606 amends current state law so that the adult possession of up to one ounce of marijuana is reduced from a criminal misdemeanor (punishable by one year in jail and a $1000 maximum fine) to a civil offense, punishable by a $100 fine, no jail time, and no criminal record. You can follow the progress of HB 606 on Facebook here. You can contact your House Delegate in support of the measure via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here. Separate state legislation regarding the medical use of marijuana will be hard next week in the Maryland House and Senate. You can learn more about these measures here.

Connecticut: Newly elected Democrat Gov. Dan Malloy last week reaffirmed his support for legislation that seeks to reduce minor marijuana possession to a noncriminal offense. Malloy endorsed reducing adult marijuana possession penalties from a criminal misdemeanor (punishable by one year in jail and a $1,000 fine) to an infraction, punishable by a nominal fine, no jail time, and no criminal record. Gov. Malloy also reaffirmed his support for legalizing the physician-authorized use of medical marijuana. You can contact your state elected officials in favor of both of these proposals here and here. You can also get involved with Connecticut NORML here.

West Virginia: Lawmakers will debate for the first time legislation, HB 3251, to legalize the use of medical marijuana in West Virginia. House Bill 3251, The Compassionate Use of Medical Marijuana Act, amends state law so that physician-supervised patients with an authorized “chronic or debilitating medical condition” can possess six plants and up to an ounce of usable marijuana for medical purposes. The measure also allows for the establishment “compassion centers” to dispense medical cannabis to qualified patients. You can contact your House members in support of this effort here.

To get involved in legislation pending in dozens of other states, please visit NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here.

The DEA Is Ready For Pharmaceutical Pot — Are You?

Recently on the NORML blog and in NORML’s weekly media release we informed you of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations’ intentions to reclassify plant-derived THC from a schedule I to schedule III controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Today on the website Alternet.org I write about the forces motivating this proposed change and what it means (and what doesn’t mean) for the medical cannabis consumer. I also analyze who stands to gain (and who stands to lose) from reclassification.

You can read an excerpt of my story, “If the Feds Get Their Way, Big Pharma Could Sell Pot — But Your Dime Bag Would Still Send You to Jail,” below. Full text of the story appears here. Please feel free to share and comment.

If the Feds Get Their Way, Big Pharma Could Sell Pot — But Your Dime Bag Would Still Send You to Jail

via Alternet.org

“[M]arijuana has no scientifically proven medical value.” So stated the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on page six of a July 2010 agency white paper, entitled ‘DEA Position on Marijuana.’

Yet only four months after the agency committed its ‘no medical pot’ stance to print, it announced its intent to allow for the regulation and marketing of pharmaceutical products containing plant-derived THC – the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

But don’t for a second believe that the DEA has experienced a sudden change of heart regarding patients’ use of the marijuana plant – use that is now legal under state law in fifteen states and the District of Columbia (although recently approved laws in Arizona, New Jersey, and Washington, DC still await implementation). Despite growing public support for medical marijuana legalization, America’s top anti-drug agency remains resolute that these hundreds of thousands of medi-pot patients are no more than common criminals, and that their herbal remedy of choice is nothing more than the ‘Devil’s weed.’

It’s not pressure from the public that’s motivating the agency to consider rescheduling an organic cannabinoid for the first time since the creation of the U.S. Controlled Substances Act of 1970. (Under this act, all prescription drugs are classified as schedule II, III, IV, or IV controlled substances, while all illicit substances are categorized as schedule I drugs.) And it’s not the recent publication of a series of FDA-approved ‘gold standard’ clinical trials affirming the plant’s safety and efficacy that’s prompting the agency into action. (The DEA has so far refused to acknowledge that these studies even exist.) Rather, the agency’s sudden call for regulatory change is inspired by far more politically influential forces. The DEA is responding to the demands of Big Pharma.

NORML Women Talk Strategy in the Nation’s Capital

NORML’s youtube channel, NORMLtv, recently launched a new video series entitled ‘NORML Update,’ which highlights reform efforts by NORML chapters and affiliates.

In the latest installment, the NORML Women’s Alliance Steering Committee convenes in Washington, DC to talk strategy for the coming year. The women met in the shadow of the White House to discuss new and innovative ways to move public opinion towards the legalization of marijuana.

Ordinary women doing extraordinary things brought about the repeal of alcohol prohibition and NORML believes women will provide the final push needed to legalize cannabis. Historically, women support legalization at much lower levels than their male counterparts. It is the mission of the NORML Women’s Alliance to increase this base of support through addressing and vocalizing the concerns of modern, mainstream women.

Subscribe to NORMLtv and visit NORML’s Facebook page for announcements regarding future ‘NORML Update’ episodes and how you can have your group featured.

Coming Up Next on NORMLtv: Executive Director Allen St. Pierre fields user questions on ‘Ask NORML’

WeedMaps: Marijuana Law Reform Is Good Karma For Cannabusiness

One of the fastest growing webpages in popularity regarding ‘marijuana’ is undoubtedly WeedMaps.com. Less than three years old, this marijuana consumer-friendly online service has leapfrogged in webpage traffic over traditionally popular and older cannabis-centric webpages such as CannabisCulture, High Times and, indeed, even NORML.

Why? The answer is easy.

Necessity is the mother of invention and in a number of states where there is above ground, genuine cannabis commerce (i.e., OR, CA, MT, CO, NM, MI, RI and ME), WeedMaps’ ring of webpages and mobile applications easily helps medical patients find the best quality/lowest priced cannabis products.

Part of WeedMaps’ business model is to work with and sponsor the advocacy of cannabis legalization organizations, projects and events. This makes imminent sense from a business perspective because when cannabis is legalized in most states for responsible adult use (like the way alcohol, tobacco and caffeinated products are sold, taxed and reasonably regulated), the relatively small market for medical cannabis consumers currently in these limited number of states is going to rapidly grow, and consumers will be scrambling for the best up-to-date information about price, quality, quantity and location.

Looking to future, the aligning of strategic goals for legalization between consumers that want to end the government’s long suffering Cannabis Prohibition (NORML) and businesses that want to deliver needed services to cannabis consumers (WeedMaps), should indeed make 2012 the most active year-to-date in the marijuana legalization movement with expected state initiatives in Colorado, Oregon, Washington and again in California.

In many of these states it will be the potent combination of dozens of cannabusinesses and thousands of cannabis law reformers working in concert that could well end eight decades of a failed prohibition on such a remarkably popular, utilitarian, easy-to-produce agricultural product.

Conversely, cannabis reform organizations that more readily support cannabis cultivators and sellers in hopes of maintaining today’s untenable ‘medical marijuana-only’ policies—which don’t favor consumer access, keeps the price of cannabis artificially (astronomically!) high and maintains a criminal justice system that arrests over 800,000 cannabis consumers annually—should logically and quickly fall out of public favor.

To wit, there are a number of businesses that support legalization organizations like NORML and they can be found at the ‘Businesses That Support NORML’ section.

In this vein, WeedMaps has kindly offered to help NORML upgrade the organization’s massive homepage and to make a donation to NORML for every product sold at WeedMaps as ‘a way to do good, while doing well’.

Cannabis karma exists.

Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes: “Legalize Marijuana”

Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes

Peter Holmes is the City Attorney for Seattle, Washington.  In this op-ed for the Seattle Times, Holmes makes good on his campaign promises to not prosecute user-level marijuana crimes and joins the growing chorus of current (Rep. Jared Polis) and former elected officials (Gov. Gary Johnson) calling for an end to adult marijuana prohibition.

Marijuana is far more like alcohol than it is like hard drugs, and we should treat it as such. We address alcohol abuse primarily as a public-health issue, and we should do the same with marijuana abuse. Inebriation only becomes a crime for those who choose to get behind the wheel, whether the intoxicant is alcohol, prescription pain killers or cannabis.

I support tightening laws against driving while stoned, preventing the sale of marijuana to minors, and ensuring that anything other than small-scale noncommercial marijuana production takes place in regulated agricultural facilities — and not residential basements.

Ending marijuana prohibition and focusing on rational regulation and taxation is a pro-public safety, pro-public health, pro-limited government policy. I urge the state Legislature to move down this road.

Even if marijuana remains illegal under federal law, it is still time for Washington state to act. As with alcohol prohibition, collective action by the states will help us end the federal marijuana prohibition and transition to a rational and functional system for regulating and taxing marijuana.

Pete Holmes is serving his first term as Seattle city attorney.  Click here to read the entire op-ed.

NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up

Marijuana law reform legislation is pending in over twenty states, and progressive measures have been pre-filed in many more. Below is this week’s edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up — activists’ one-stop guide to pending marijuana law reform legislation around the country.

** A note to first time readers: NORML can not introduce legislation in your state. Nor can any other non-profit advocacy organization. Only your state representatives, or in some cases an individual constituent (by way of their representative; this is known as introducing legislation ‘by request’) can do so. NORML can — and does — work closely with like-minded politicians and citizens to reform marijuana laws, and lobbies on behalf of these efforts. But ultimately the most effective way — and the only way — to successfully achieve statewide marijuana law reform is for local stakeholders and citizens to become involved in the political process and to make the changes they want to see.

Massachusetts: State lawmakers have reintroduced legislation, HB 1371, that seeks to legalize and regulate the “production, distribution, and sale” of marijuana to adults. The measure has been referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. You can learn more about how to support this legislation by contacting MassCann, NORML’s Massachusetts affiliate here. You can also contact your House and Senate members and urge them to support legalization by going here.

Washington: On Tuesday, February 8, members of the House Committee on Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness heard testimony in favor of HB 1550, which allows for the state-authorized cultivation and distribution of marijuana and marijuana-related products. You can view archived video from this hearing here. The Committee is anticipated to vote on this measure on Friday, February 18. Last year the members of this Committee rejected a similar measure by a 6 to 2 vote. Urge them this year to vote ‘yes.’ You may contact the members of this Committee here or contact your individual House member here.

Hawaii: Members of the Senate Joint Committee on Judiciary and Labor and members of the Senate Committee on Health on Friday, February 4 voted in favor of Senate Bill 1460, which reduces the adult possession of up to one ounce of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor (punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine) to a civil violation punishable by a fine of not more than $100. You can read NORML’s testimony in support of the bill here. You can contact your state lawmakers in support of the measure here.

Maryland: Over 20 members of Maryland’s House of Delegates are backing legislation, HB 606, to reduce the adult possession of up to one ounce of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor (punishable by one year in jail and a $1000 maximum fine) to a civil offense, punishable by a $100 fine, no jail time, and no criminal record. House Bill 606 has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, February 22nd at 1pm. You may contact the members of the Committee here. You can follow the progress of HB 606 on Facebook here. If you reside in Maryland, you can contact your Delegate in support of this legislation by clicking here.

Indiana: Members of the Senate Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters on Tuesday voted 5 to 3 in favor of Senate Bill 192, which calls for a legislative review to be conducted by the Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee later this year. The measure now awaits action from the full Senate. You can contact your state Senator and urge him or her to endorse the measure by clicking here. Additional information on this and other marijuana law reform efforts in Indiana is available from Indiana NORML here or on Facebook here.

Montana: Bad news to report from Montana. On Thursday, February 10, members of House of Representatives voted 63 to 37 for HB 161, which would repeal the state’s existing medical cannabis law. The measure must be reapproved during a final House vote (third reading), which will likely take place imminently. If approved by the House, the measure then goes before the Senate. There has never been a single state medical marijuana law that has been repealed. Do not let Montana be the first. Please make sure that your state elected officials heard from you. You can contact him or her via the Montana NORML website here or via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here. You can also visit Patients and Families United Facebook page here for up-to-date information on pending hearings and votes.

To be in contact with your state officials regarding these measures and other pending legislation, please visit NORML’s Take Action Center here.

Have A Question For NORML? Get Answers At NORML TV

NORML’s youtube channel, NORML TV, recently launched a new video series entitled ‘Ask NORML,’ which features NORML staff answering questions submitted by you — the marijuana law reform activist.

In the debut episode, NORML founder and legal counsel Keith Stroup speaks about NORML’s past and ongoing efforts to reschedule cannabis under federal law.

Subscribe to NORML TV and visit NORML’s Facebook page for announcements regarding future ‘Ask NORML’ episodes and how you can have your questions answered by NORML. Also stay tuned to NORML TV for periodic episodes of ‘NORML Update,’ which feature video highlights from NORML affiliated events around the nation.

Get active; get NORML!

A Headline You Will Never See For Cannabis

From Reuters News Wire:

Alcohol kills more than AIDS, TB or violence
Drinking causes more than 4 percent of deaths worldwide, WHO warns

Alcohol causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.

… Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking’s heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it said.

Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes, the WHO said in its “Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health.”

“The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world’s leading risk factor for death among males aged 15-59,” the report found.

… Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO’s first report on alcohol since 2004.

Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver

Of course the reason we see these startling links between alcohol consumption and disease is because ethanol, the psychoactive compound in alcohol, and acetaldehyde (what ethanol is converted to after ingestion), pose toxic risks to health cells and organs. By contrast, marijuana’s active compounds — the cannabinoids — pose little comparable risk to healthy cells and organs, and are incapable of causing fatal overdose.

So answer me again: Why do we celebrate consumers and manufacturers of alcohol while we simultaneously target, arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate consumers and producers of a far safer substance?

Isn’t it time to visit NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ and ask your elected officials that same question?