NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up

As I’ve written previously, more states are moving forward to reduce or eliminate criminal penalties for marijuana offenses. This week has been no exception.

If you have not yet gotten active in your state, now is most definitely the time to start. Here’s this week’s latest summary of how you can get involved!

California: California’s first-ever marijuana legalization bill, Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act, is tentatively scheduled for a hearing before the Committee on Public Safety and Health on Tuesday, March 31. The Committee is expected to vote on this proposal immediately following the hearing so it is vital that you contact your elected officials, and the members of the Public Safety Committee in particular, and urge them to support AB 390. Contact information for the Committee is available here. You may also send letters in support of this measure to your state assemblyman here. For additional information on this hearing, or if you are interested in attending, please contact California NORML.

New Hampshire: Earlier today, members of the House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs Committee voted 13 to 7 in favor of House Bill 648, which seeks to legalize the use of medical cannabis in New Hampshire. The bill will now go before the full House with an “ought to pass” recommendation. Two years ago the House narrowly rejected a similar bill by a margin of 186 to 177. If you live in New Hampshire, now is the time to contact your House members and urge them to support HB 648. You can write them here. Our allies NH Compassion have any additional information you may need here.

Montana: On Friday, March 20, members of the House Human Services Committee will hear testimony in support of Senate Bill 326, an act to provide greater access to medical marijuana for state-authorized patients. If approved, this proposal would: (1) Expand the number of qualifying conditions for which marijuana may be legally recommended; (2) Increase the amount of marijuana a patient may legally possess; (3) Prohibit employers and landlords from discriminating against medicinal marijuana patients solely because of their medical status. Thanks in large part to your support, the Senate previously voted 28 to 22 in favor of this measure. Please assure that the House does likewise. You can contact your representatives here. Local allies Montana Patients and Families United will be meeting with witnesses and attendees prior to the hearing. You may contact them here.

Kentucky: Finally, we have good news to report from Kentucky. Last week we asked for your help to kill an amendment that sought to criminalize anyone who operates a motor vehicle with any detectable level of marijuana in their blood. Many of you responded and as a result, the provision was withdrawn. While we’re not entirely out of the woods yet, it’s now looking far less likely that lawmakers will prevail in their attempt to misuse the state’s traffic safety laws to target marijuana consumers.

To learn about additional pending legislation in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington, please visit NORML’s Legislative Action Alerts page here.

U.S. Congresswoman on CNN: Contemplates Legal Cannabis “Pilot Program” In California

Politicians these days just can’t seem to stop talking about pot — and for the first time in decades, this is a good thing!

No longer are lawmakers’ marijuana-centric conversation based upon the notion of penalizing cannabis consumers. Today, an unprecedented number of politicians are contemplating a society that is no longer bound by the chains of marijuana prohibition.

Speaking live on CNN this morning, California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez cited the west coast’s majority support for regulating cannabis like alcohol — as acknowledged by NORML’s recent Zogby poll — and called for a statewide “pilot program” to objectively assess the impact of cannabis legalization upon adult society.

“Well, certainly, I have seen in my own state of California, people over and over voting … [on] the whole issue of marijuana,” Sanchez said. “So maybe it would be a good pilot program to see how that regulation of marijuana might happen in California since the … majority of Californians believe maybe that should happen.”

Sanchez’s comments come two weeks after the introduction of proposed state legislation, AB 390: the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act, which seeks to tax and regulate the adult sales of cannabis in California. So far, thousands of members of the cannabis community, as well as several pundits from the mainstream press, have voiced their support for AB 390. Are lawmakers listening?

U.S. Representative Sanchez most certainly is — and she’s not alone.

If you are reading this blog, then you already know that cannabis prohibition is a fraud and a failure. You know these facts, but today millions of your friends and neighbors — and even many of your elected officials — are just now waking up to these truths. And they, like Congresswoman Sanchez, are becoming more and more outspoken in their criticisms of prohibition.

Let’s encourage them to keep talking.

Los Angeles Daily News: “Time Has Come To Legalize Pot!”

California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer has an excellent commentary in support of California’s proposed marijuana legalization bill in the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Here’s an excerpt:

Time has come to legalize pot
via The Los Angeles Daily News

Every year, the state shells out millions in taxpayers’ dollars to arrest, prosecute and imprison marijuana offenders in a vain attempt to stamp out its use. Meanwhile, legal and more dangerous drugs such as tobacco and alcohol are generating billions in revenues for the state.

… A new Zogby poll shows that 44 percent of voters now support taxing and regulating marijuana – and as many as 58 percent in the western states back legalization. As usual, California is ahead of the rest of the nation. Ammiano’s bill provides a path-breaking blueprint for change that would benefit our economy, safety and freedom by making marijuana a winning proposition for California.

This is the second major newspaper in California to publish NORML’s op/ed. Several other prominent papers, such as the Sacramento Bee and the Fresno Bee, have opined similarly in support of regulating pot like alcohol.

California’s cannabis community has also shown unprecedented support for AB 390: the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act. In the past two weeks, supporters have sent some 2,400 letters and e-mails to their state elected officials in favor of the proposal. Another 3,000 e-mails have been sent via MPP’s website. If each e-mail represents — politically speaking — 100 voters, then over half a million Californians have demanded an end to prohibition!

Our community is becoming more and more outspoken, and the mainstream media is listening. In recent days, NORML spokespersons have appeared on Air America radio, and have been quoted in MSNBC, U.S. News and World Report, and the world wide news wire Agence France-Press.

In short, our message is reaching more people than ever before, and the public is responding in record numbers.

2009 is truly shaping up to become an unparalleled time for marijuana law reform. NORML wants you to be a part of it. Will you join us?

NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up

Wow, things are really heating up! If you have not yet gotten active in your state, now is most definitely the time to start. State legislatures around the country are taking significant strides to reform their marijuana laws, and here’s how you can help!

California: On Monday, state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced AB 390, The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act — the first bill ever in legislature to legalize and regulate the commercial production and sale of marijuana in California. You can see local, network, and national media coverage of this effort here, here, and here. If you live in California, please go here to contact your state assemblyman and urge him or her to support AB 390.

New Jersey: Lawmakers took a major step on Monday toward making New Jersey the fourteenth state to legalize the medical use of cannabis. Senators voted 22 to 16 in favor of Senate Bill 119, the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. But this battle is only half over. Members of the New Jersey Assembly must also vote on this issue. If you reside in New Jersey, please take a moment to contact your members of the state assembly and urge them to support companion bill, A804. You can further support this effort by contacting the Coalition for Medical Marijuana – New Jersey or NORML New Jersey.

**Note: Additional information and interviews regarding these breaking events in California and New Jersey are available here on the NORML Daily Audio Stash podcast.

Montana: Ready for even more good news? Senate lawmakers in Montana today voted 28 to 22 in favor of SB 326, which seeks to expand the state’s medical marijuana laws. As introduced, SB 326 (1) Expands the number of qualifying conditions for which marijuana may be legally recommended; (2) Increases the amount of marijuana a patient may legally possess; and (3) Prohibits employers and landlords from discriminating against medicinal marijuana patients solely because of their medical status. NORML thanks all of you who took the time to support this important measure, which now moves to the House for consideration. For more information about this and other statewide marijuana law reform efforts in Montana, please contact Montana Patients and Families United or Montana NORML.

Washington: Finally, last week the Senate Judiciary Committee approved SB 5615, which seeks to reduce the penalty for minor marijuana possession offenses to a civil fine of no more than $100. You can listen to audio from the hearing and vote here. This proposal now goes before the Senate Rules Committee, which must take action on the bill to put it before the full Senate. Tell them to do so by going here.

To learn about additional pending legislation in Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas, please visit NORML’s Legislative Action Alerts page here.