• Drug Policy

    US CA: OPED: Taking the Next Step for California

    Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
    Pubdate: Thu, 1 Jul 2010
    Source: New Times (San Luis Obispo, CA)
    Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/n1IgAd0J
    Copyright: 2010 New Times
    Contact: [email protected]
    Author: Tom Ammiano
    Note: California Assemblymember Tom Ammiano represents the 13th
    Assembly District, which includes San Francisco.
    Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
    Referenced: National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse
    http://mapinc.org/url/wL7rRxiZ
    Referenced: California Research Advisory Panel http://mapinc.org/url/bJc9ZikX
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Tax+Cannabis+Act

    TAKING THE NEXT STEP FOR CALIFORNIA

    We can set an example for the nation as we did on medical marijuana
    by passing the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 in November

    What if California could raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new
    revenue to preserve vital state services without any tax increases?
    And what if at the same time, we could, without any new expense, help
    protect our endangered wilderness areas while making it harder for
    our kids to get drugs?

    That is precisely what the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of
    2010 initiative slated for the November ballot would do. This
    measure, building off the legislation I introduced last year, is the
    logical next step in California’s and hopefully the nation’s public
    policy towards marijuana.

    The legalization of cannabis would not only address California’s
    growing economic crisis but, more importantly, would begin a rational
    public policy discussion about how best to regulate the state’s
    largest cash crop estimated to be worth roughly $14 billion annually.
    Placing marijuana under the same regulatory system that now applies
    to alcohol represents the natural evolution of California’s laws and
    is in line with recent polls indicating strong support for
    decriminalizing marijuana.

    To understand the movement behind legalization, it is helpful to
    understand how we got here. The state first prohibited marijuana in
    1913. When Congress later passed the Controlled Substances Act in
    1970, marijuana was temporarily labeled a “Schedule I substance”–an
    illegal drug with no approved medical purposes.

    But Congress acknowledged they did not know enough about marijuana to
    permanently classify it to Schedule I, so a presidential commission
    was created to review the research. In 1972, the National Commission
    on Marijuana and Drug Abuse advised Congress to remove criminal
    penalties on the possession and nonprofit distribution of marijuana.

  • Cannabis & Hemp

    US CA: Citing High Black Arrests, NAACP Endorses Pot

    Pubdate: Thu, 1 Jul 2010
    Source: Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, CA)
    Copyright: 2010 Capitol Weekly Group
    Contact: http://www.capitolweekly.net/contact/?_c=xtakf2zb939jem
    Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/xJEHFth2
    Author: Malcolm Maclachlan
    Cited: California NAACP http://www.californianaacp.org/
    Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
    Referenced: Targeting Blacks for Marijuana http://mapinc.org/url/btjAQH1v
    Referenced: Marijuana Arrests and California’s Drug War
    http://mapinc.org/url/gf9Qvr0S
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Tax+Cannabis+Act

    CITING HIGH BLACK ARRESTS, NAACP ENDORSES POT LEGALIZATION

    On Monday, the California State Conference of the NAACP announced its
    “unconditional endorsement” of a November initiative that would
    legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

    On Tuesday, the NAACP said why. According to a just-released study by
    the Drug Policy Alliance, blacks are far more likely to be arrested
    for pot possession than whites – even though statistically, blacks
    use marijuana at lower rates than whites. The Alliance, a national
    advocacy group, favors treatment rather than arrest or imprisonment
    for people suffering from drug dependency.

    [snip]

    A SurveyUSA poll conducted back in April shows that Allen’s message
    isn’t resonating with African-American voters.

    The telephone poll of 500 adults conducted found the idea of
    legalizing pot leading 56 percent to 42 percent. Among
    African-Americans surveyed, 67 percent supported the idea, while only
    29 percent were opposed. Fifty-nine percent of white voters supported
    the idea, along with 58 percent of Asians and only 45 percent of Hispanics.

    The results were also heavily tilted by gender and age. Men support
    legalizing marijuana by a 65 percent to 32 percent margin. Women
    oppose the idea, 46 percent to 51 percent.

    Three quarters of voters under 35 support the idea – the only age
    group that gave it majority support.

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n506.a10.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp

    US RI: R.I. Health Department Holds Hearings on Marijuana

    Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jun 2010
    Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
    Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/omLV1TUY
    Copyright: 2010 The Providence Journal Company
    Contact: [email protected]
    Author: W. Zachary Malinowski
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)

    R.I. HEALTH DEPARTMENT HOLDS HEARINGS ON MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

    PROVIDENCE — The much-anticipated hearing on who may be approved to
    open the first medical-marijuana dispensary in Rhode Island whizzed
    by with mild opposition on Tuesday morning in the basement of the
    Cannon Building of the state Health Department.

    [snip]

    The Health Department plans to select at least one, and up to three
    compassion centers by Aug. 1. The department has said the decisions
    will be based on how well the proposed compassion center operators
    complied with a range of requirements on their applications.

    Meanwhile, the state will continue to license medical-marijuana users
    and caregivers who grow marijuana for patients. According to the
    state, there are currently 1,790 registered patients and 1,412
    licensed caregivers.

    Once the compassion centers open, licensed patients can get their
    marijuana from the dispensaries, as well as from their caregivers.

    [snip]

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n506.a12.html

  • International

    Mexico: Calderon Calls on Mexicans to Unite Against Crime Gangs

    Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jun 2010
    Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
    Page: A3
    Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times
    Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/bc7El3Yo
    Author: Ken Ellingwood, Reporting from Mexico City
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon

    MEXICO UNDER SIEGE

    CALDERON CALLS ON MEXICANS TO UNITE AGAINST CRIME GANGS

    Facing widespread dismay over the assassination of a leading
    gubernatorial candidate, President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday urged
    fellow Mexicans to join hands against the forces of organized crime
    that he said were to blame.

    The killing of Rodolfo Torre on Monday in northern Mexico has added
    to Calderon’s political headaches as voters are to head to the polls
    Sunday in 14 states to pick a dozen governors and hundreds of mayors
    and lawmakers.

    “United, Mexicans can and will overcome a common enemy that today
    threatens to destroy not only our tranquillity but our democratic
    institutions,” Calderon said in a broadcast message. “It’s in the
    divisions between Mexicans where criminals find spaces and
    vulnerabilities to harm Mexico.”

    [snip]

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n505.a03.html

  • International

    Mexico: How Juarez Became the World’s Deadliest City

    Pubdate: Thu, 1 Jul 2010
    Source: Boston Review (MA)
    Webpage: http://bostonreview.net/BR35.4/hill.php
    Copyright: 2010 Boston Review
    Contact: [email protected]
    Author: Sarah Hill
    Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Juarez

    The War for Drugs

    HOW JUAREZ BECAME THE WORLD’S DEADLIEST CITY

    In April 2007 Ciudad Juarez-the sprawling Mexican border city girding
    El Paso, Texas-won a Foreign Direct Investment magazine award for
    “North American large cities of the future.” With an automotive
    workforce rivaling Detroit’s and hundreds of export-processing
    plants, businesses in Juarez employed 250,000 factory workers, and
    were responsible for nearly one-fifth of the value of U.S.-Mexican
    trade. The trans-border region of 2.4 million people had one of the
    hemisphere’s highest growth rates.

    Just three years later, as many as 125,000 factory jobs and 400,000
    residents have vanished. More than ten thousand small businesses have
    closed, and vast stretches of residential and commercial areas are
    abandoned. It is no surprise that the Great Recession temporarily
    shuttered factories and forced layoffs in a city intimately tied to
    American consumers. Mexico’s economy contracted by 5.6 percent in
    2009, far worse than the United States’s “negative growth” of about 2 percent.

    But Juarez has suffered from much more than recession. Its murder
    rate now makes it the deadliest city in the world, including cities
    in countries at war with foreign enemies. On average, there are more
    than seven homicides each day, many in broad daylight. Some 10,000
    combat-ready federal forces are now stationed in Juarez; their
    armored vehicles roll up and down the same arteries as semis tightly
    packed with HDTVs bound for the United States. Factory managers wake
    up in El Paso-one of the safest U.S. cities-and go to work in the
    plants of a city bathed in blood.

    [snip]

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n504.a04.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Bush Crony Working for Obama Seeks to Undermine Medical Marijuana Industry

    By Mason Tvert, Executive director and co-founder, SAFER

    According to an e-mail just unearthed by Complete Colorado, a Bush holdover in the U.S. Drug Czar’s office is fishing for information that links crime to the growing number of medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado.

    The e-mail is addressed to Colorado’s chief medical officer, Ned Calonge, at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and it appears to be authored by an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) research assistant on behalf of former Bush (and current Obama) drug warrior Kevin Sabet.

  • Drug Policy

    US MI: Medical Marijuana Patient Fired, Now Suing

    Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jun 2010
    Source: Battle Creek Enquirer (MI)
    Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/8bAyYf6G
    Copyright: 2010 Battle Creek Enquirer
    Contact: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/customerservice/contactus.html
    Author: Elizabeth Willis, The Enquirer
    Referenced: Casias v. Wal-Mart
    http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/casias_complaint_6_24_10.pdf
    Cited: Wal-Mart https://www.walmartethics.com/
    Cited: ACLU of Michigan http://www.aclumich.org/
    Referenced: Michigan law http://drugsense.org/url/8mvr7sW8
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Joseph+Casias
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana

    MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENT FIRED, NOW SUING

    Battle Creek Man Taking Wal-Mart to Court

    On the steps of the Calhoun County Justice Center, Joseph Casias said
    Tuesday it was unfair of his former Battle Creek employer to fire him
    for legally using marijuana to treat his chronic pain.

    On Casias’ behalf, state and national branches of the American Civil
    Liberties Union along with St. Joseph attorney Daniel Grow filed a
    lawsuit Tuesday morning in Calhoun County Circuit Court against
    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. alleging his wrongful termination in November.

    Casias, 30, had undergone a routine drug screening after spraining
    his knee on the job. He was not under the influence of marijuana at
    the time, according to the lawsuit, but the urine screen later
    revealed the Calhoun County man had used marijuana sometime in the
    previous days or weeks.

    He then told his employers he was registered in Michigan to use
    marijuana for chronic pain caused by an inoperable brain tumor and
    previous sinus cancer treatments, ACLU spokeswoman Rana Elmir said.
    At first his bosses told him that was fine, but shortly thereafter
    terminated his employment.

    “I feel like I’m being treated like a felon,” Casias said.

    [snip]

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n503.a08.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp

    US CA: NAACP Signs Onto Pot Legalization Measure

    Pubdate: Tue, 29 Jun 2010
    Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)
    Webpage: http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_15395193
    Copyright: 2010 Bay Area News Group
    Contact: http://www.insidebayarea.com/feedback/tribune
    Author: Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune
    Cited: California NAACP http://www.californianaacp.org/
    Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
    Referenced: Targeting Blacks for Marijuana http://mapinc.org/url/btjAQH1v
    Referenced: Marijuana Arrests and California’s Drug War
    http://mapinc.org/url/gf9Qvr0S
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Tax+Cannabis+Act

    NAACP SIGNS ONTO POT LEGALIZATION MEASURE

    The state NAACP is expressing “unconditional support” for the
    November ballot measure to legalize marijuana, continuing proponents’
    framing of it as a civil rights issue.

    “We are joining a growing number of medical professionals, labor
    organizations, law enforcement authorities, local municipalities, and
    approximately 56 percent of the public, in saying that it is time to
    decriminalize the use of marijuana,” state NAACP President Alice
    Huffman said in a news release Monday. “There is a strong racial
    component that must be considered when we investigate how the
    marijuana laws are applied to people of color.”

    The measure, Control and Tax Cannabis Initiative 2010, was designated
    Monday as Proposition 19.

    [snip]

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n499.a04.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp - Hot Off The 'Net

    Marc Emery: U.S. Federal Prison Blog #5

    Free from 21 days of isolation

    By Marc Emery

    (Marc Emery’s U.S. federal prison blog #5 originally ran here on the Cannabis Culture Web site.)

    At 6:00pm on Thursday, June 24th, I was finally released from solitary confinement after three weeks of isolation.

    The Disciplinary Hearing Officer was very gracious (in so much as I was in solitary for 21 days) and agreed that the phone use infraction – the podcast to supporters that was never released – was minor in the big picture. He made it a “397” which involves no loss of good time (the discount of 15% a year on my sentence). He also said “Everyone here knows you are famous and it was a shout-out to your supporters that was not harmful, and we know you didn’t criticize the Federal Detention Centre, but you can’t do third-party political lobbying over the phone.” So lesson learned. I don’t have phone access until July 25th, but at least I can “email” Jodie through CorrLinks and have visits in person, instead of the cruel “video visits” they’ve recently designated for inmates in solitary confinement.