Legalizing Marijuana: The Ultimate Debate

[Computermexi]

More Signs Of Change From Capitol Hill
Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:25:59 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Share This Article
It’s not just members of the public and political pundits who are daring to speak the words ‘marijuana’ and ‘legalization’ in the same breath. Even in Washington, DC, calls to regulate cannabis are growing progressively louder — as today’s headline in The Hill indicates.

Webb: Pot legalization ‘on the table’ in prison reform effort
via The Hill
The leader of a congressional effort to reform the criminal justice system said Thursday that all issues — including drug legalization — need to be on the table.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who has made criminal justice and prison reform a signature issue of his this year in Congress, is the most high-profile lawmaker to indicate openness to drug decriminalization or outright legalization.
“Well, I think what we need to do is to put all of the issues on the table,” Webb said this morning on CNN if asked if marijuana legalization would be part of his criminal justice reform efforts.
“If you go back to 1980 as a starting point, I think we had 40,000 people in prison on drug charges, and today, we have about 500,000 of them,” the first-term Virginia lawmaker said. “And the great majority of those are nonviolent crimes — possession crimes or minor sales.”

NORML praised Senator Webb for his candor and political courage earlier this month when we endorsed Senate Bill 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009. If you have not yet written or called your U.S. Senator in support of SB 714, what are you waiting for?
Fortunately, Senator Webb is not the only member of Congress speaking out in favor of pot law reform. Other recent examples include:
California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez suggests on CNN that the federal government should allow California to establish a “pilot program” taxing and regulating the use of marijuana by adults. (Watch the video of her remarks here.)
U.S. House Representative Ron Paul (Texas) tells CNN that the use and distribution of pot should be regulated by the states, and that ending prohibition would dramatically decrease prohibition-related violence at the U.S./Mexican border. (Watch the video of his remarks here.)
Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher (California) and Jim McDermott (Washington), speaking in The Hill (”Pot legalization favored by some to stem violence,” April 19) declare, “[F]rom a social policy, I don’t see any reason not to legalize it, control it, sell it, [and] tax it (marijuana).”
And in the ’sign of how far we’ve come, but how far we still have to go’ department, there’s this admission from Rep. Rohrabacher:

“There are a lot of people who understand that [the current war on drugs has been a failure]. … If it was a vote – a blind vote where nobody knew who was voting – you would have overwhelming support for legalizing marijuana out there, but they will never vote for it because they are afraid of taking on a controversial issue.”

Hmmm, sounds to me like a whole lot more people need to write and call their members of Congress and tell them: Marijuana law reform is not a politically controversial issue, but opposing it is.
And while you’re at it, why not write President Barack “legalizing marijuana is off the table” Obama and give him the same message.

[Violetninja420]

I got paid already so now im pro legalization again

[HahaJohnnyb]

For a "free" country we aren't very free are we?

You know back in the day Timothy Leary tried to start a church based on LSD as a religious sacriment. Court said that people could not make up their own religions. Never mind that native Americans have been using hallucinogens in their religious rites since forever.

War on Drugs is so fundamentally against the basic idea of America, in that the individual owns their own mind, their own body and is responsible for their own life. Looks like now they have tobacco in their sites.

What I wonder, how is smoking a cigarette, whether it be tobacco or marijuana any different than a Catholic burning incense at prayer? Who is anyone to say that smoking MJ or Tobacco is not a sacred and divine ritual for the user, identical to prayer. Who is the government to tax, regulate or outlaw the religious experience?

Doesn't really matter who is running the government, they all hate Liberty even though they pay lip service to it, and claim that we are free.

Truth is, everyone has a right to use marijuana, or any other drug they choose to use, because they are the owners of their own bodies and their own minds, and the government has no right to try to control it, only the duty to keep drug users as safe as possible. Keeping MJ illegal is detrimental to not only liberty but the safety of pot smokers, as it causes them to purchase drugs on the black market which exposes them the unregulated fraud and potential theft and violence as a result of unscupulous behavior of criminals in an unregulated market.

[Baja .\ /. Boy]

Everyone should be able to use what they want on themselves, as long as it does not effect me. IE, they get high and jump in the car and hit me killing my kids or someone else, really no different then getting drunk and doing the same thing.

Drunk or high, still should be your own personal choice, I mean what really is the difference, alcohol is a "mind altering" substance as well, just legal.

[Computermexi]

Originally Posted by BajaBoy

Everyone should be able to use what they want on themselves, as long as it does not effect me. IE, they get high and jump in the car and hit me killing my kids or someone else, really no different then getting drunk and doing the same thing.

Drunk or high, still should be your own personal choice, I mean what really is the difference, alcohol is a "mind altering" substance as well, just legal.

In my advocacy for Cannabis law reform/abolition I am very vocal about being responsible with it. Don't get high at work, unless you work at home and can handle it. Don't drive stoned, don't watch kids stoned, etc. Common sense shit really. The whole war on Cannabis started with someone trying to secure their assets in paper because hemp was prosed to take its place. It really is ridiculus and way, way, way better for you than alcohol. Cannabis has minimal health consequences.

[Computermexi]

ABC News: Public’s Support For Pot Legalization Has Never Been Higher!
Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:34:29 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Share This Article
Earlier this year, a NORML-commissioned national Zogby telephone poll revealed that a record 44 percent of American voters — including nearly six out of ten adults on the west coast — now believe that cannabis should be “taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes.”
Since then, several additional polls have confirmed that the nation’s support for legalizing marijuana has never been higher, and is fast approaching “super-majority status.”
In fact, a recent poll sponsored by Oaksterdam University indicates that support for legalization among Californians has already achieved such vaulted status (well, almost).
Today two more polls are reaffirming America’s new “marijuana Zeitgeist.”
First, in California a new Field Research Corporation poll of 901 registered voters found that 56 percent of voters agree with the statement: “Legalize marijuana for recreational use and tax its proceeds.”
According to pollsters, this is the first time ever in a California Field poll that a majority of voters have endorsed regulating the adult use of cannabis. In February, California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced legislation — Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act — to tax the commercial production and retail sale of cannabis. To date, over 8,000 NORML supporters have contacted their state representatives in support of AB 390, which is expected to be taken up by the state Assembly early next year.
Nationally, a just-released ABC News/Washington Post poll of 1,072 adults finds that a record 46 percent of all Americans now favor “legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.” This total is more than double the percentage of Americans who responded affirmatively (22 percent) to a similar ABC poll question in 1997!

ABC NEWS/WASHINGTON POST POLL: HOT-BUTTON ISSUES
via ABCNews.go.com
46 percent of Americans now favor legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use, the most in data back to the mid-
1980s and more than double its level 12 years ago. While 52 percent remain opposed, that’s down from 75 percent in the late 1990s and 78 percent in 1986.
The biggest changes in the past two decades are 29- and 27-point advances in support for legalization among Democrats and independents, to 49 and 53 percent, respectively. The slightest: a 10-point gain among Republicans, to just 28 percent support.

So much for the myth that supporting marijuana law reform is ‘politically suicidal.’ In fact, if you are a politician — or President — whose constituency leans Democrat or Independent, it’s becoming increasingly likely that more of your supporters favor legalization over prohibition, and if you want to stay elected, you should too!

[Baja .\ /. Boy]

Think of the tax money, lol

[Computermexi]

What Do You Know, The Ex-Drug Czar Is Still Full Of S—-t!
Thu, 07 May 2009 19:31:07 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Share This Article
Update: Today’s blog post is also featured on Huffington Post. Please feel free to post your feedback there as well.
In a revelation that I’m sure will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, it turns out that ex-Drug Czar John Walters is still full of s—-t.
Responding on CNN last night to California Gov. Schwarzenegger’s call to debate the merits of taxing and regulating the adult use of marijuana (E-mail the Governor here), Walters demonstrated that he remains an unrepentant liar — even though he’s no longer paid by the federal government to be one.
To summarize: in under five minutes Walters manages to falsely claim that:
Today’s marijuana is far stronger — and thus more dangerous — than ever before. Actually, the Feds’ own data indicates that the average strength of domestic cannabis hasn’t changed in over ten years; that marijuana — regardless of THC content — is relatively non-toxic and incapable of causing a fatal overdose; and that most folks — when given the choice — prefer to consume milder marijuana over highly potent pot.
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.
Nobody is actually in jail for marijuana-related offenses. Ah yes, the “unicorn” theory. Never mind those 50,000 or state and federal inmates serving time for pot offenses the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics talks about. In John Walters fantasy world, they simply don’t exist.
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.

[Violetninja420]

You know when Clinton said he didn't inhale he wasn't lying, i mean, eating brownies is a perfectly wholesome activity amirite?

[Computermexi]

Don’t Believe The Hype! Potent Pot, So What?
Thu, 14 May 2009 18:24:04 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Share This Article
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.”
Predictably, in 2008 the mainstream news media ran with yet another set of ‘news’ stories alleging that the pot plant’s strength had reached all-time highs. According to a June 12, 2008 Associated Press story:

“The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project tracked the average amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through 2007. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007, compared with 8.75 percent the previous year.”

Or not. An actual review of the 2008 U-Miss data revealed this nugget of information: The average THC in domestically grown marijuana — which comprises the bulk of the US market — is less than five percent, a figure that’s remained unchanged for nearly a decade. (See: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/...ncyReports.pdf, page 12)
Which brings us to this year. Naturally, the Feds are once again sounding the alarm, as reported today by CNN: “Marijuana potency surpasses 10 percent, U.S. says.”
I suppose, if nothing else, the government’s annual “new and improved pot” claims are good advertising for marijuana dealers. As for the rest of the public, it’s time for a reality check.
First, it’s worth noting that police and lawmakers made these same alarmist claims about the suddenly not-as-dangerous-or-strong-as-we-once-said-it-was pot of the 1960s, ’70s, and 80s. These allegations were false then and they are still false now.
Second, THC — regardless of potency — is virtually non-toxic to healthy cells or organs, and is incapable of causing a fatal overdose. Currently, doctors may legally prescribe a FDA-approved pill that contains 100 percent THC, and curiously, nobody at the University of Mississippi or at the Drug Czar’s office seems to be overly concerned about its potential health effects.
Third, survey data gleaned from cannabis consumers in the Netherlands—where users may legally purchase pot of known quality—indicates that most cannabis consumers prefer less potent pot, just as the majority of those who drink alcohol prefer beer or wine rather than 190 proof Everclear or Bacardi 151. When consumers encounter unusually strong varieties of marijuana, they adjust their use accordingly and smoke less.
Finally, if US lawmakers and government researchers were truly concerned about potential risks posed by supposedly stronger marijuana, they would support regulating the drug, so that its potency would be consistent and this information would publicly displayed to the consumer. (Anyone ever been to a liquor store that sold a brand of booze that didn’t post its alcohol content on the label? Didn’t think so.)
So let’s review, shall we? Our federal government ostensibly wants fewer Americans to consume pot. So they spend billions of dollars outlawing the plant and driving its producers underground where breeders, over time, clandestinely develop stronger and more sophisticated herbal strains than ever existed prior to prohibition. The Feds then inadvertently give America’s marijuana growers billions of dollars in free advertising by telling the world that today’s weed is more potent than anything Allen Ginsberg, Tommy Chong or Jerry Garcia ever smoked in their heyday. In response, tens of millions of Americans head immediately to their nearest street-corner in search of a dealer (or college student) willing to sell them a dimebag of the new, super-potent cannabis they’ve been hearing about on TV. The Feds then demand more of your hard-earned tax dollars so they can get more Americans “off the pot.”
Then next year we do it all over again: same time, same station.
Any questions?

[Computermexi]

Medical Marijuana Is The Law — Any Questions?
Mon, 18 May 2009 18:54:12 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Share This Article
How do you say: “Game, set, match” in southern California? Here’s how:

High court won’t hear county’s marijuana challenge
via SignOnSanDiego.com
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.
Rather, it was about the arrogance and recalcitrance of those who willfully chose to abuse their power and position to hamstring the will of the voters, the legislature, and the courts.
And while this particular legal battle is now over, our outrage shouldn’t be.

[HahaJohnnyb]

Wonder what would happen to the number of people who go crazy on airplane if the airports simply had a policy of hospitality and provided smokers of all sorts, tobacco and marijuana, a place where they could light up in comfort and enjoy a good smoke before they were packed on to an airplane.

[Computermexi]

The Feds’ Position On Medical Pot: Organic = Bad, Organix = Good; Any Questions?
Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:24:38 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Share This Article

Marijuana chemical may slow multiple sclerosis
via insciences.org
Armed with a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant, Temple researchers are studying more effective ways to treat multiple sclerosis. And their research utilizes synthetic cannabinoids based on chemicals derived from the marijuana plant.
… Using a compound (O-1996) synthesized by scientists at the Medical College of Virginia and the company Organix, Tuma and Ganea performed animal studies and found that the synthesized chemical affected cannabinoid receptors present primarily on immune cells.
… “This is a totally new approach to treating this disease, “says Adler, director emeritus and senior advisor for CSAR and Laura H. Carnell professor of pharmacology research. “These cannabinoids hold enormous potential, and that’s encouraging since we’re limited in options when it comes to preventing or reversing MS.”

Okay, follow along with me if you can.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health appropriates over one million dollars to fund medical research — not to investigate the therapeutic effects of natural cannabinoids (bad!), but rather to investigate the therapeutic effects of synthetic chemicals (good!) that are designed to mimic the effects of natural cannabinoids.
Equally ironically, the research is taking place at Temple University in Pennsylvania — where any use of natural cannabis (bad!) as a medicine is criminally illegal, but where research into the use faux cannabis (good!) is embraced.
Makes sense, right? Well about as much sense as the federal government claiming that pot (bad!) has no medical utility while simultaneously patenting certain natural occurring chemicals in the plant — those that the Feds hope to one day profit from (good!) — as, you guessed it, a medicine.
Any questions?

[Computermexi]

Marijuana Reimbursement Claims Highlight How Pot Could Be Gold for Employers
Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:53:47 By: Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
Share This Article
A medical billing company may be blowing smoke, but could reimbursing patients for medical marijuana lower drug costs for employers?
By Jeremy Smerd, Workforce Management Online, July 2009
In mid-June, Rhode Island became the third state to legalize the sale of marijuana for medical use, giving momentum to advocates who believe the legalization of the drug offers a dose of sanity for the nation’s costly health care system.
Now that more states are legalizing the sale of the marijuana used solely as a medicine, the next hurdle for reformers who say the drug is more cost-effective than pharmaceuticals is getting those who pay for health care—insurers and employers—to reimburse patients for its use.
“It’s going to take an employer that says, ‘We’re not interested in marijuana as a gateway drug or any of that reefer madness. We want to talk about dollars and cents,’ ” says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). “If the idea here is saving money, then there’s no question that medical marijuana should be part of the ambit of choices that doctors, patients and employers can have.”
The effort to legalize the sale of medical marijuana has focused mainly on whether the medical effectiveness of the drug justifies making it legal to obtain in plant form. The medical benefits have been most closely tied to treating weight loss, nausea, pain, inflammation, spasticity and other symptoms associated with cancer, AIDS, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and arthritis.
Advocates for its legalization say its medical benefits should be made available to ease the suffering of patients. In a nod to the plant’s medicinal powers, pharmaceutical companies have produced synthetic forms of some of its active chemicals.
Less attention, though, has been focused on whether paying for patients’ medical marijuana is a cost-effective way to manage certain illnesses. Advocates argue that marijuana is an effective medicine that can also be a cost-effective alternative to pharmaceuticals.
Reimbursing patients who use it could push them away from otherwise costly drugs that some advocates say are not as effective. Employers, as payers of health care, should champion the legalization of medical marijuana as a potential cost-saving tool, advocates say.
Despite the recent legislative victories, however, even employers that want to reimburse patients who use medical marijuana cannot.
Stephen DeAngelo, chief executive of Harborside Health Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, California, has tried to provide a medical marijuana benefit through the health plan he provides to his 67 full-time employees.

“Blue Cross Blue Shield will not reimburse for medical marijuana; we checked,” he says. “It’s illegal under federal law and they can’t do anything that will break federal law.” Instead, he provides his employees, all of whom are medical marijuana patients, with a free gram of marijuana for every shift they work, a policy he says has lowered his company’s health insurance costs. “Many of these patients had drug bills of several hundred dollars a week before they began using medical marijuana,” he says. “Now they are about $40 or $50 a week.” Full Story

[Violetninja420]

A friend of mine in Victoria is applying to the Canadian government to obtain a permit to grow medical marijuana.

*finger's crossed*

[Computermexi]

Originally Posted by Violetninja420

A friend of mine in Victoria is applying to the Canadian government to obtain a permit to grow medical marijuana.

*finger's crossed*

That would be so fucking sweet bro! I'm trying to get a prescription. If I get one, I can legally grow 15 plants for personal use. *crosses fingers for you and me both*

[Computermexi]

Washington State Legislators Support Marijuana Decriminalization

August 23rd, 2009 By: Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
Share this Article


Hempfest’s massive crowds last weekend spurred Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Wells and former state Rep. Toby Nixon to pen a bipartisan letter in the Seattle Times on the need for Washington State to join the other 13 states that have ‘decriminalized’ possession of cannabis–as well as the state’s largest population center, King County (Seattle), which effectively decriminalized possession by popular vote in 2003. Checkout this CNN iReport about this year’s Hempfest here (and kudos for the closing shot on the wrap).

Time for Washington state to decriminalize marijuana
By Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Toby Nixon
Special to The Times
Once again, the Seattle Hempfest drew tens of thousands to parks along the waterfront this weekend. In its mission statement, the all-volunteer organization that produces the event says, “The public is better served when citizens and public officials work cooperatively in order to successfully accomplish common goals.”
We agree. That is why we, as a Democratic state senator and former Republican state representative, support state Senate Bill 5615. This bill would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime carrying a mandatory day in jail to a civil infraction imposing a $100 penalty payable by mail. The bill was voted out of committee with a bipartisan “do pass” recommendation and will be considered by legislators in 2010.
The bill makes a lot of sense, especially in this time of severely strapped budgets. Our state Office of Financial Management reported annual savings of $16 million and $1 million in new revenue if SB 5615 passes. Of that $1 million, $590,000 would be earmarked for the Washington State Criminal Justice Treatment Account to increase support of our underfunded drug-treatment and drug-prevention services.
The idea of decriminalizing marijuana is far from new. In 1970, Congress created the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. A bipartisan body with 13 members — nine appointed by President Nixon and four by Congress — the commission was tasked with conducting a yearlong, authoritative study of marijuana. When the commission issued its report, “Marijuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding,” in1972, it surprised many by recommending decriminalization:
Possession of marijuana in private for personal use would no longer be an offense; and distribution of small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration or insignificant remuneration not involving profit would no longer be an offense.
Twelve states took action and decriminalized marijuana in the 1970s. Nevada decriminalized in 2001, and Massachusetts did so in 2008. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, states where marijuana possession is decriminalized represent more than 35 percent of our nation’s population.
These states have not seen a corresponding increase in use. Nor have the 14 states that have adopted legal protections for patients whose doctors recommend the medical use of marijuana. Nor the several cities and counties that have adopted “lowest law enforcement priority” ordinances like Seattle’s Initiative 75, which made adult marijuana use the city’s lowest law enforcement priority in 2003.
On the flip side of the coin, escalating law enforcement against marijuana users has not achieved its intended goals. From 1991 to 2007, marijuana arrests nationwide tripled from 287,900 to a record 872,720, comprising 47 percent of all drug arrests combined. Of those, 89 percent were for possession only. Nevertheless, according to a study released earlier this year by two University of Washington faculty members:
• The price of marijuana has dropped;
• Its average potency has increased;
• It has become more readily available; and
• Use rates have often increased during times of escalating enforcement.
We now have decades of proof that treating marijuana use as a crime is a failed strategy. It continues to damage the credibility of our public health officials and compromise our public safety. At a fundamental level, it has eroded our respect for the law and what it means to be charged with a criminal offense: 40 percent of Americans have tried marijuana at some point in their lives. It cannot be that 40 percent of Americans truly are criminals.
We hope that the citizens of this state will work with us to help pass SB 5615, the right step for Washington to take toward a more effective, less costly and fairer approach to marijuana use.
State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Seattle, left, chairs the Senate Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee. Toby Nixon was state representative for the 45th legislative district, 2002-2006, and served as vice-chair of the House Republican Caucus and ranking member of the House Committee on State Government Operations and Accountability

[Pwningnubs18]

Where is Computermexi!?

[Computermexi]

Originally Posted by Pwningnubs18

Where is Computermexi!?

I'm not in the pic bro. I just thought it was a cool pic. It was great to be out there among fellow lovers o' the herbage.

[G-This]

Every time I smoke, I go in the bathroom and take a shit while doing it.

If the feds ever broke in on me, I would counter their possession ticket with a sexual harassment lawsuit.

That's how I got away with smoking cigarettes in school. Go ahead, peek over the stall. I'll pay the $50 smoking ticket and sue your ass for a cool million.

[Computermexi]

Here are the 10 laws of Cannabis as presented to me by my lawyer, Jeffrey Steinborn, Esq.

1. One law at a time.
If you’re holding or using that’s one, don’t break any others. Particularly in your car, all laws must be religiously obeyed. Police are now trained to use every encounter as an excuse to invade your privacy. Signal for every turn, don’t speed, make all persons wear seat belts, have all your lights in order, your tabs current, your signage up to date if your vehicle looks commercial, etc. It seems petty, but there is no traffic violation too petty to support a stop and once you’re stopped if the car smells of dope, if the cop sees a pipe, or if you just don’t look right, you’re going to be searched. If you must carry dope in your car put it in a smell proof container inside a locked briefcase inside a locked trunk or glove box. Hey, dummy, I know it’s a lot of trouble, but I’m not kidding. I get dozens of cases every year from folks who broke this one simple rule. Their misfortune was preceded by their decision to think “Oh what the hell, I’ll take the silly chance just this once.” I love that line, it pays my rent.

2. Practice Home Hygiene.
Sooner or later, someone is going to show up at your door or in your house who might turn you in if s/he sees something dopey, such as a pipe, a joint, a bud, or even a grow room. These things should always be kept where they can’t be seen. Period. Don’t leave your bongs or your joints or your roaches around the house where they can be seen by someone who comes to the front door or comes in. Smell, of course, is also a problem. No one really has the answer on that one, but I recommend Mason jars or other equally tight packages for your stash (baggies don’t cut it). As to the smell in the house, I’m told that good results can be obtained by placing toilet cakes in a box through which all air escaping from the home must pass. Seems like a lot of trouble? Think talk is cheap? Try hiring a lawyer. Save some money; take my advice now.

3. Never invite trouble into your home.
At home, don’t do the things that bring the police to your door: loud domestic beefs, fires, bad smells, shady visitors, a pot plant growing outdoors in your yard -- this isn’t rocket science. You know what’s likely to bring the cops. Just remember, when they come, they use the opportunity to look into your private life. Dope has ruined the police as a public service institution.

4. Protect the privacy of your home if you can.
This is a tough one. The wealthy can build fences, have gates, plant hedges, and do whatever it takes to keep prying eyes out. The rest of us don’t have it so easy. At the very least, if you live in a house, rather than and apartment or condo, it’s nice if your front door can’t be reached without passing a gate and a sign that warns intruders to stay out. Absent that, police can come to your door and knock on it pretty much anytime during “regular hours.” whatever that may mean. The law says an officer has the same license to intrude onto your private property as a “reasonably respectful neighbor.” only signs, gates, and fences give your lawyer a chance to argue that the cop should not have come to your door (from where s/he smelled pot) without a warrant. If you live in an apartment or a condo, even if it’s a security building, the police are allowed to enter without a warrant.
In most states, they can even run a dog through the hall of your condo to see what you’re smoking behind that door. Don’t like that? Cayenne will protect your privacy.

5. Don’t think you’re safe out in the countryside.
The urge to protect us from the giggles and the munchies has overcome our government. In fact, marijuana is a drug of such power that it has driven the government crazy. I recently came upon a case where the park rangers hid in the woods using night vision goggles to spy on young campers at their campsite. Guess what? They saw the young ladies toking on a pipe. Busted.
I wonder what else the perverts saw? Which brings me to number six...

6. Don’t take your pipe out of your house. Smoke joints that look like cigarettes in public or semi public places. They don’t attract nearly as much attention, and they are much easier to conceal.

7. Don’t be afraid to blend in if you’re on the wrong side of the pot laws.
This seems to be a problem for heads. Yeah, sure, you have the right to wear dreads, get pierced, wear dope-glorifying clothes, or just generally look like someone that most cops want to mess with. That’s your choice. But remember, it’s a choice that should be made consciously. If you’re ready to take on the extra risk that comes from exercising your right be free while holding or using, that’s fine. Just be sure you know that’s what you’re doing.
If what you want is not to be noticed, then camouflage is the key. Blend in.
Look like the folks around you who don’t smoke dope. Far fetched? I guess so, but if you get busted once while being a knucklehead, I’ll bet you don’t ignore this advice a second time.

8. Don’t talk, don’t talk, don’t talk, no digas nada.
This rule works everywhere. When you’re buying (or selling) dope, don’t talk about things that aren’t necessary to the deal. Don’t call up your connection and ask if s/he/s holding, or anything even remotely like that. Code is even worse. Just ask if you can come over. If you are dealing with a stranger, shame on you. But even so, with strangers or anyone with whom you engage in a “transaction,” it’s even more important to clam up. If your connection is a he, refer to him as a she. If your connection is coming from the Portland, say she’s coming from San Francisco. Better yet, say nothing at all.
If you are growing dope, well . . . Come on now, do I have to tell you this? You can’t tell anybody. It’s as simple as that.

9. When confronted by the police, take the advice on the back of my card:
1. FIRST, ask to call your lawyer
2. Be courteous; do not resist
3. Do not consent to search or entry
4. Do not talk about anything; do not admit OR DENY anything.
5. Ask if you are free to go If you are, GO. I have a variation of this for use when you are approached by an officer who wants to grill you about something, but you aren’t caught in the act or even holding. It comes up, for example, when you mail a package that gets intercepted, and you know they will be coming to ask you about it because you weren’t smart enough to disguise your identity when you sent it. Just an example. First, you ask, “What’s this about?” Then, no matter what the answer, you ask to speak to your lawyer. Period. It’s simple and it works. I don’t care if they tell you that what this about is searching the moon for the green cheese you left there. Don’t tell them you hate green cheese and you’ve never been to the moon. Tell them you’d like to speak with your lawyer. If the police persist in bullying you, just show them my card. (You can carry it for free). Don’t say “I know my rights.” That’s sure to piss them off. The best way to demonstrate convincingly that you understand your rights is to EXERCISE THEM!!! Shut the fuck up. If all else fails tell them that you must follow the advice on your card, since I told you “if you don’t take my advice, I double the price.”

10. Don’t forget it’s against the law.
Even though everyone you know thinks it’s just fine to use cannabis responsibly, 750,000 folks just like you are busted for pot every year. Eighty percent of those are for personal use. Even so, for most of them, it’s a disaster. Lost employment, lost career, lost children to a nasty ex or wanna be ex, a year or more of extremely inconvenient and demeaning piss tests . . . and so on. For most folks a simple misdemeanor potbust is a disaster and an utter tragedy.

[G-This]

All this talk about pot is making me want to go to the bathroom...if you know what I mean...

[Pwningnubs18]

Thanks for the update!

[Violetninja420]

My friend Mike got his license, he's legal and he's my new hero!

[Computermexi]

Breaking News: President Obama Issues New Medical Marijuana Guidelines
Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:26:45 By: Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
Share This Article
In what can only be described as major departure in the so-called ‘war on drugs’, the Obama Administration is issuing a new three page memo this morning [Paul Armentano updates: You can now read the memorandum, signed by Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, here. You can also share your thoughts with the White House on the administration's decision via NORML's Take Action Center here.] mapping out the federal government’s new guidelines for states that have laws protecting medical cannabis patients.
In February Attorney General Eric Holder indicated in a press conference that the Obama Administration–which favors physician-recommended access to medical cannabis–would abate from what had been an aggressive law enforcement (and propaganda) campaign against medical access to cannabis.
Today’s memo from the Department of Justice formalizes these changes and is a MAJOR victory for citizens who support cannabis law reform!