Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jul 2010
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Webpage: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_15525522
Copyright: 2010 San Jose Mercury News
Contact: [email protected]
Author: Larry A. Bedard, MD
Note: Larry A. Bedard, MD, is past president of the American College
of Emergency Medicine and is a California Medical Association
delegate. He wrote this article for this newspaper.
Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19

DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA: IT’S FAR LESS HARMFUL THAN ALCOHOL

The California Medical Association in October declared the
criminalization of marijuana to be a failed public health policy. Its
assessment is appropriate.

Marijuana prohibition is a classic case of the so-called cure
(criminalization) being worse than the disease (the private
recreational use of marijuana).

Consider the questionable efficacy of our present policy. Forty-three
percent of Americans over the age of 12 admit to having used
marijuana, and nearly one in 10 Californians use it now. At an
estimated $15 billion, marijuana is California’s largest cash crop.

Now let’s consider the costs of prohibition. In the Golden State,
taxpayers spend $300 million annually to arrest and prosecute 60,000
people — largely Latinos and African-Americans — for possessing
minor, recreational amounts of marijuana. Prohibition is also
empowering drug cartels, particularly criminal enterprises in Mexico,
which now reap between 60 percent and 70 percent of their total
revenue from the exportation of marijuana to America and threaten to
turn Mexico into a “narco” state.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n561.a06.html

Pubdate: Tue, 13 Jul 2010
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/H11qQ2tj
Copyright: 2010 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Author: Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?261 (Cannabis – United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)

LEGALIZED POT? LIKE GETTING BONGED IN THE HEAD

In November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on a
ballot initiative legalizing all marijuana use, whether medicinal or not.

According to the latest poll of likely California voters, Proposition
19 will pass. This will put the Obama administration in an awkward position.

The federal government is already suing Arizona for its recently
enacted immigration law. What will the Obama Justice Department do
when a state goes rogue by establishing its own rules when it comes
to licensing and taxing the sale of weed?

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0441.html

Newshawk: Please Support Prop. 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jul 2010
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: AA1, continued on page AA7
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/bc7El3Yo
Author: John Hoeffel
Referenced: The Field Poll http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2342.pdf
Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19

OPPOSITION TO POT MEASURE GAINS NARROW LEAD IN POLL

In Contrast to Earlier Results, Survey Finds That 48% of Likely
Voters Are Against Prop. 19

Californians who intend to vote in November narrowly oppose
Proposition 19, which would make the state the first to legalize
marijuana possession and sales, according to a recent survey.

The Field Poll found that 48% of likely voters oppose the measure and
44% support it, a contrast with two polls taken in May that showed
voters were leaning slightly in favor of the measure.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n536.a01.html

Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jul 2010
Source: Portland Press Herald (ME)
Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/EOeDMAHB
Copyright: 2010 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Contact: http://www.pressherald.com/readerservices/Send_a_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Author: John Richardson, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)

STATE AWARDS SIX OF EIGHT LICENSES TO DISPENSE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Northeast Patients Group Earns the Chance to Distribute the Drug in
Cumberland County and Three Other Regions.

PORTLAND – Cumberland County’s first medical marijuana dispensary is
expected to open this fall on Congress Street in Portland.

York County may have to wait a little longer.

Maine awarded six operating licenses Friday for nonprofit
dispensaries around the state, and one of the licensees plans to
lease part of the former Key Bank building at 959 Congress, near the
corner of St. John Street.

However, officials rejected all six license applications to operate a
dispensary in York County and set a new deadline of Aug. 20 for the
next round of applications. That could push back the opening of a
dispensary in that part of the state until early next year. New
applications also must be sought for the Down East facility.

Northeast Patients Group won the right to open the dispensary in
Cumberland County, one of eight public health districts in Maine. The
group, which has Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion on its board of
directors, also won licenses to operate dispensaries in three other
districts around the state: Augusta-Waterville, Thomaston-Rockland
and Bangor-Hermon.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n535.a07.html