From www.theweeklyweek.com
Want To Know Why Pot Is Illegal? Ask Your Governor (Again)
I’d like to give you seven specific reasons why the use of cannabis by adults — including seriously ill patients — remains a crime in America. Ready? Here they are:
Governor Donald Carcieri (R-Rhode Island)
Governor James Douglas (R-Vermont)
Governor Linda Lingle (R-Hawaii)
Governor John Lynch (D-New Hampshire)
Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minnesota)
Governor Jodi Rell (R-Connecticut)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-California)
Each of these Governors have single-handedly opted to kill marijuana law reform legislation in their states — either by the stroke of a pen (Carcieri, Lingle, Rell, Schwarzenegger) or by applying enough legislative pressure to abruptly halt ‘pro-pot’ proposals from ever reaching their desk.
Showing posts with label legalization of marijuana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legalization of marijuana. Show all posts
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
CA Gov. "Its time to debate legalizing marijuana." & Mexican Congress Passes... read for more
We are witnessing a lot of change that many thought would be impossible to see in our life time- if they thought it could happen at all! Every week I hear more and more about this subject and the positive implications. Please read and share what you head lines interest you the most. This is a very exciting period in history.
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
________________________________________________
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
Sacramento, CA: Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced this week that he believes that California legislators ought to publicly debate the merits of taxing and regulating the production and sale of cannabis for adults.
"I think it's time for a debate (regarding taxing and regulating the sale of cannabis for adults)," Schwarzenegger said. (*Note: his comments come at the very end of the video.) "I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I'm always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did it have on those countries? ... It could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we could look at that."
The Governor's remarks came less than one week after a Field Research Corporation poll of 901 registered voters reported that 56 percent of Californians agree with the statement: "Legalize marijuana for recreational use and tax its proceeds."
A separate Zogby poll of approximately 4,000 voters released this week indicates that just over half of Americans nationally support legalizing marijuana.
Current estimates indicate that California's budget deficit will grow to $28 billion by the end of the 2009/2010 state budget year.
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.
A fiscal analysis of this proposal by the State Board of Equalization estimates that AB 390 could raise more than $1.3 billion yearly in tax revenue for the state of California.
Last week Oakland City Council members approved a 1.8 percent tax on medicinal marijuana sold by the city's four licensed dispensaries. Lawmakers believe that the tax could generate between $400,000 and $1 million annually for the city.
The citywide measure will be decided upon by voters on July 21, 2009.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Deputy Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=paul@norml.org. ________________________________________________________
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican lawmakers enacted legislation last week to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of controlled substances. The measure now goes to Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his approval.
As passed, the proposal would eliminate criminal penalties for the personal possession of up to five grams of marijuana, as well as minor quantities of other drugs.
The legislation also authorizes state and local police to enforce drug trafficking laws. Under current law, only federal police (about five percent of Mexico's law enforcement personnel) may arrest individuals suspected of selling drugs.
In 2006, Mexico's Congress passed a virtually identical measure, only to have it vetoed by former President Vincente Fox, who stated, "Congress ... [needs] ... to make it absolutely clear in our country [that] the possession of drugs and their consumption [is], and will continue to be, a criminal offense." Fox's veto came after political pressure from members of the US State Department who warned that enacting such a law could promote so-called "drug tourism."
Last month, Mexico's ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told CBS's Face the Nation that legalizing marijuana could potentially quell ongoing border violence. "This (legalization) is a debate that needs to be taken seriously – that we have to engage in on both sides of the border," he said.
However after meeting with Calderon days later, United States government officials said that the option of the US liberalizing its pot laws is "not on the table." The White House instead proposed increased efforts to curb domestic drug demand, and also called for expanding the use of 'drug courts' and coerced drug treatment.
According to the Associated Press, Mexican drug cartels now derive an estimated 60 percent of their income from illicit pot sales.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.
_________________________________________________________
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
Augusta, ME: Democrat Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation on Friday expanding the state's longstanding marijuana 'decriminalization' law.
Under current law, possession of up to 1.25 ounces of marijuana is treated as an infraction, punishable by a fine of no more than $600. Defendants who possess greater amounts are presumed to be engaging in the sale of cannabis and face criminal penalties and potential jail time.
The newly approved legislation (LD 250) states that the possession of over 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces of marijuana will also be defined as a civil offense, punishable by a fine of $700 to $1,000 dollars. (Civil fines for the possession of less than 1.25 ounces of marijuana will remain the same.) The new law also removes the inference that the possession of quantities of marijuana above 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces is presumed to be for sale.
"Maine's new law will save prosecutorial resources and it makes common sense," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. "It is expensive and illogical to presume that minor marijuana offenders are criminal traffickers. Kudos to the Maine legislature and to the Governor for supporting this effort to revise the state's longstanding cannabis decriminalization law."
The new law takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the state legislature.
To date, 13 states – including Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Ohio – have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization, replacing criminal penalties and jail time for the personal possession of cannabis with the imposition of nominal fines. Only one state, Ohio, treats the possession of more than 2.5 ounces of cannabis as a fine-only (no jail) offense.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at, (202) 483-5500.
__________________________________________________________
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
Bill Waschko reached to the shelf of vintage medicine bottles at his family’s century-old drug store in Hazleton and pulled down one labeled “Cannabis.”
The powdered extract of marijuana was bottled by Eli Lilly and Co., but although the bottle is empty and the label has no date, marijuana was a legal drug around the country until 1937.
A bill in the state House of Representatives would make marijuana legal again for medical uses, emulating action already taken in 13 states and also proposed in New York and New Jersey.
The Pennsylvania bill, sponsored by Reps. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, and Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, would set up compassion centers for growing and distributing marijuana to patients who had registered identification cards. Physicians would give written statements to patients whom they believe would benefit medically from using marijuana, but they would not write prescriptions, which could subject them to federal prosecution.
They would have a (marijuana) clinic like a methadone clinic,” suggested George Waschko, Bill’s brother and the pharmacist at Waschko’s Pharmacy.
George Waschko said the possible medical uses of marijuana include treating glaucoma and nausea caused by chemotherapy given to cancer patients.
The bill also lists marijuana as a treatment for wasting due to AIDS and for chronic pain, seizures and Crohn’s disease.
Tom Dougherty, a pharmacist at Valley Pharmacy in Sugarloaf, remembers marijuana was in the dispensary at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia while he was a student.
“It sat there. We had to count it every month. We never used it,” Dougherty said.
Dougherty wonders whether there is a great medical need for marijuana or whether it would be “an orphan drug where you have six patients who need it in Pennsylvania.”
The Medical Board of California, which in 1996 became the first state to re-legalize marijuana, issued a statement in 2004 calling medical marijuana an emerging treatment.
Ed Pane, director of Serento Gardens Alcoholism and Drug Services in Hazleton, supports the use of marijuana for medical purposes only and said numerous patients might benefit from it.
He said marijuana can reduce vomiting in chemotherapy patients, and treat migraines and the spasms of multiple sclerosis, “which can be extremely painful.”
Three hundred thousand Americans have multiple sclerosis, and 1.25 million people are diagnosed yearly with cancer, Pane wrote in a paper this fall for a class he is taking while earning a master’s degree.
Marijuana “helps individuals to put on weight and handle food and cuts down on the need for pain medication by enhancing what the person is taking. It doesn’t make the medication stronger to the point of overdose, but makes it more effective,” Pane said in an interview Friday.
While 32,000 people die yearly from prescription medicines, including overdoses and allergic reactions, no one ever has died from an overdose of marijuana, he said.
States can make money by taxing medical marijuana and save the expenses of prosecuting patients who use marijuana, but Pane still wants Pennsylvania to prohibit abuse of the drug.
“Street dealing under any guise needs to be illegal,” he said. “From my standpoint, it breaks my heart when I see kids using it. They’re not going to grow up emotionally. It becomes a means of handling problems. www.citizensvoice.com
___________________________________________________________________
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
CONCORD – House supporters of legalizing medical marijuana for chronic or terminally ill patients slowed their campaign Wednesday after fearing Gov. John Lynch would veto the bill (HB 648) as the state Senate had passed it.
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to create a team of legislative negotiators to try and work out differences between the two branches.
State Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, said there's broad agreement among House and Senate supporters.
The goal of the working group, she said, would be to try and address eight specific problems Lynch and his staff identified during private meetings with House supporters earlier this week.
Full story and Bill No. HB 648 at a glance here:
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090507/NEWS02/305079899/-1/XML15
__________________________________________________________________
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
WASHINGTON D.C. - A new Zogby poll commissioned by the conservative-leaning O'Leary Report has found 52 percent voter support for treating marijuana as a legal, taxed, regulated substance. The survey, published as a full-page ad in today's issue of the political newspaper The Hill, polled a sample of 3,937 voters weighted to match the 2008 presidential outcome -- 54 percent Obama voters and 46 percent McCain supporters.
"This new survey continues the recent trend of strong and growing support for taxing and regulating marijuana and ending the disastrously failed policy of prohibition," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.
Voters were asked: "Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"
The results showed a decisive majority of 52 percent in favor with 37 percent opposed and 11 percent not sure -- slightly higher than the 46 percent support reported in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released at the end of April.
In California, the respected Field poll recently found 56 percent support for making marijuana a taxed, regulated product that is legal for adults.
"Voters are coming to realize that marijuana prohibition gives us the worst of all possible worlds -- a drug that's widely available but totally unregulated, whose producers and sellers pay no taxes but whose profits often support murderous drug cartels," Kampia said.
"The public is way ahead of the politicians on this."
With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol.
http://www.salem-news.com/
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
________________________________________________
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
Sacramento, CA: Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced this week that he believes that California legislators ought to publicly debate the merits of taxing and regulating the production and sale of cannabis for adults.
"I think it's time for a debate (regarding taxing and regulating the sale of cannabis for adults)," Schwarzenegger said. (*Note: his comments come at the very end of the video.) "I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I'm always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did it have on those countries? ... It could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we could look at that."
The Governor's remarks came less than one week after a Field Research Corporation poll of 901 registered voters reported that 56 percent of Californians agree with the statement: "Legalize marijuana for recreational use and tax its proceeds."
A separate Zogby poll of approximately 4,000 voters released this week indicates that just over half of Americans nationally support legalizing marijuana.
Current estimates indicate that California's budget deficit will grow to $28 billion by the end of the 2009/2010 state budget year.
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.
A fiscal analysis of this proposal by the State Board of Equalization estimates that AB 390 could raise more than $1.3 billion yearly in tax revenue for the state of California.
Last week Oakland City Council members approved a 1.8 percent tax on medicinal marijuana sold by the city's four licensed dispensaries. Lawmakers believe that the tax could generate between $400,000 and $1 million annually for the city.
The citywide measure will be decided upon by voters on July 21, 2009.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Deputy Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=paul@norml.org. ________________________________________________________
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican lawmakers enacted legislation last week to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of controlled substances. The measure now goes to Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his approval.
As passed, the proposal would eliminate criminal penalties for the personal possession of up to five grams of marijuana, as well as minor quantities of other drugs.
The legislation also authorizes state and local police to enforce drug trafficking laws. Under current law, only federal police (about five percent of Mexico's law enforcement personnel) may arrest individuals suspected of selling drugs.
In 2006, Mexico's Congress passed a virtually identical measure, only to have it vetoed by former President Vincente Fox, who stated, "Congress ... [needs] ... to make it absolutely clear in our country [that] the possession of drugs and their consumption [is], and will continue to be, a criminal offense." Fox's veto came after political pressure from members of the US State Department who warned that enacting such a law could promote so-called "drug tourism."
Last month, Mexico's ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told CBS's Face the Nation that legalizing marijuana could potentially quell ongoing border violence. "This (legalization) is a debate that needs to be taken seriously – that we have to engage in on both sides of the border," he said.
However after meeting with Calderon days later, United States government officials said that the option of the US liberalizing its pot laws is "not on the table." The White House instead proposed increased efforts to curb domestic drug demand, and also called for expanding the use of 'drug courts' and coerced drug treatment.
According to the Associated Press, Mexican drug cartels now derive an estimated 60 percent of their income from illicit pot sales.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.
_________________________________________________________
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
Augusta, ME: Democrat Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation on Friday expanding the state's longstanding marijuana 'decriminalization' law.
Under current law, possession of up to 1.25 ounces of marijuana is treated as an infraction, punishable by a fine of no more than $600. Defendants who possess greater amounts are presumed to be engaging in the sale of cannabis and face criminal penalties and potential jail time.
The newly approved legislation (LD 250) states that the possession of over 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces of marijuana will also be defined as a civil offense, punishable by a fine of $700 to $1,000 dollars. (Civil fines for the possession of less than 1.25 ounces of marijuana will remain the same.) The new law also removes the inference that the possession of quantities of marijuana above 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces is presumed to be for sale.
"Maine's new law will save prosecutorial resources and it makes common sense," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. "It is expensive and illogical to presume that minor marijuana offenders are criminal traffickers. Kudos to the Maine legislature and to the Governor for supporting this effort to revise the state's longstanding cannabis decriminalization law."
The new law takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the state legislature.
To date, 13 states – including Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Ohio – have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization, replacing criminal penalties and jail time for the personal possession of cannabis with the imposition of nominal fines. Only one state, Ohio, treats the possession of more than 2.5 ounces of cannabis as a fine-only (no jail) offense.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at, (202) 483-5500.
__________________________________________________________
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
Bill Waschko reached to the shelf of vintage medicine bottles at his family’s century-old drug store in Hazleton and pulled down one labeled “Cannabis.”
The powdered extract of marijuana was bottled by Eli Lilly and Co., but although the bottle is empty and the label has no date, marijuana was a legal drug around the country until 1937.
A bill in the state House of Representatives would make marijuana legal again for medical uses, emulating action already taken in 13 states and also proposed in New York and New Jersey.
The Pennsylvania bill, sponsored by Reps. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, and Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, would set up compassion centers for growing and distributing marijuana to patients who had registered identification cards. Physicians would give written statements to patients whom they believe would benefit medically from using marijuana, but they would not write prescriptions, which could subject them to federal prosecution.
They would have a (marijuana) clinic like a methadone clinic,” suggested George Waschko, Bill’s brother and the pharmacist at Waschko’s Pharmacy.
George Waschko said the possible medical uses of marijuana include treating glaucoma and nausea caused by chemotherapy given to cancer patients.
The bill also lists marijuana as a treatment for wasting due to AIDS and for chronic pain, seizures and Crohn’s disease.
Tom Dougherty, a pharmacist at Valley Pharmacy in Sugarloaf, remembers marijuana was in the dispensary at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia while he was a student.
“It sat there. We had to count it every month. We never used it,” Dougherty said.
Dougherty wonders whether there is a great medical need for marijuana or whether it would be “an orphan drug where you have six patients who need it in Pennsylvania.”
The Medical Board of California, which in 1996 became the first state to re-legalize marijuana, issued a statement in 2004 calling medical marijuana an emerging treatment.
Ed Pane, director of Serento Gardens Alcoholism and Drug Services in Hazleton, supports the use of marijuana for medical purposes only and said numerous patients might benefit from it.
He said marijuana can reduce vomiting in chemotherapy patients, and treat migraines and the spasms of multiple sclerosis, “which can be extremely painful.”
Three hundred thousand Americans have multiple sclerosis, and 1.25 million people are diagnosed yearly with cancer, Pane wrote in a paper this fall for a class he is taking while earning a master’s degree.
Marijuana “helps individuals to put on weight and handle food and cuts down on the need for pain medication by enhancing what the person is taking. It doesn’t make the medication stronger to the point of overdose, but makes it more effective,” Pane said in an interview Friday.
While 32,000 people die yearly from prescription medicines, including overdoses and allergic reactions, no one ever has died from an overdose of marijuana, he said.
States can make money by taxing medical marijuana and save the expenses of prosecuting patients who use marijuana, but Pane still wants Pennsylvania to prohibit abuse of the drug.
“Street dealing under any guise needs to be illegal,” he said. “From my standpoint, it breaks my heart when I see kids using it. They’re not going to grow up emotionally. It becomes a means of handling problems. www.citizensvoice.com
___________________________________________________________________
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
CONCORD – House supporters of legalizing medical marijuana for chronic or terminally ill patients slowed their campaign Wednesday after fearing Gov. John Lynch would veto the bill (HB 648) as the state Senate had passed it.
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to create a team of legislative negotiators to try and work out differences between the two branches.
State Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, said there's broad agreement among House and Senate supporters.
The goal of the working group, she said, would be to try and address eight specific problems Lynch and his staff identified during private meetings with House supporters earlier this week.
Full story and Bill No. HB 648 at a glance here:
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090507/NEWS02/305079899/-1/XML15
__________________________________________________________________
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
WASHINGTON D.C. - A new Zogby poll commissioned by the conservative-leaning O'Leary Report has found 52 percent voter support for treating marijuana as a legal, taxed, regulated substance. The survey, published as a full-page ad in today's issue of the political newspaper The Hill, polled a sample of 3,937 voters weighted to match the 2008 presidential outcome -- 54 percent Obama voters and 46 percent McCain supporters.
"This new survey continues the recent trend of strong and growing support for taxing and regulating marijuana and ending the disastrously failed policy of prohibition," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.
Voters were asked: "Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"
The results showed a decisive majority of 52 percent in favor with 37 percent opposed and 11 percent not sure -- slightly higher than the 46 percent support reported in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released at the end of April.
In California, the respected Field poll recently found 56 percent support for making marijuana a taxed, regulated product that is legal for adults.
"Voters are coming to realize that marijuana prohibition gives us the worst of all possible worlds -- a drug that's widely available but totally unregulated, whose producers and sellers pay no taxes but whose profits often support murderous drug cartels," Kampia said.
"The public is way ahead of the politicians on this."
With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol.
http://www.salem-news.com/
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
NORML Launches First Ever Nationwide Television Ad Campaign "Legalization – Yes We Can!
NORML Launches First Ever Nationwide Television Ad Campaign "Legalization – Yes We Can!
Watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0mEDE_w1xo
Watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0mEDE_w1xo
President Obama: What Is So Funny About Taxing And Regulating Marijuana?
I am very disappointed with Obama and his total and complete lack of respect for us, the people.
Obama pledged "to open up the White House to the American people." I'm one of the tens of millions of Americans who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol. I'm also one of the tens of thousands of Americans who voted to make this subject the most popular question online at Presidential Town Hall. I'm disappointed to learn that he believes that my voice doesn't really matter.
Go to www.norml.com
Under President Obama: What Is So Funny About Taxing And Regulating Marijuana? Update Update Update is a paragraph with a link where you can send an email or a typed letter to President Obama. Lets the flood the White House with response so they can not avoid this issue.
We ARE the people. The government is supposed to reflect our decisions and opinions. We need to stand strong on the issues that are important. This IS Important.
This is not a laughing matter Mr. President.
LEGALIZING CANNABIS WILL STIMULATE OUR ECONOMY AND CREATE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
Legalizing cannabis would not only save us money in expenditures like court and prison costs, but it would provide a major boost to the economy through taxes. It would literally make thousands upon thousands of Americans small business owners over night and provide jobs for many more.
Just look at what California is modestly anticipating. Without taking into consideration how much money would be saved in court and prison costs, California anticipates over $1.5 billion within the first year.
This is not just an issue about smoking pot.
In 1938 Popular Mechanics printed an article about marijuana called 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars. Popular Mechanics also talked about how there are over 25,000 uses for cannabis. I bet a lot of people did not realize how practical it is to legalize marijuana.
Check out this site to see just a couple of the many, many uses: http://www.torontohemp.com/hempuses.htm
In a time where people are concerned with job security, let alone for the thousands attempting to find a job to begin with, just to make money to feed and house our families and afford medical bills, we should NOT laugh at the most viable solution we have in front of us.
Obama pledged "to open up the White House to the American people." I'm one of the tens of millions of Americans who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol. I'm also one of the tens of thousands of Americans who voted to make this subject the most popular question online at Presidential Town Hall. I'm disappointed to learn that he believes that my voice doesn't really matter.
Go to www.norml.com
Under President Obama: What Is So Funny About Taxing And Regulating Marijuana? Update Update Update is a paragraph with a link where you can send an email or a typed letter to President Obama. Lets the flood the White House with response so they can not avoid this issue.
We ARE the people. The government is supposed to reflect our decisions and opinions. We need to stand strong on the issues that are important. This IS Important.
This is not a laughing matter Mr. President.
LEGALIZING CANNABIS WILL STIMULATE OUR ECONOMY AND CREATE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
Legalizing cannabis would not only save us money in expenditures like court and prison costs, but it would provide a major boost to the economy through taxes. It would literally make thousands upon thousands of Americans small business owners over night and provide jobs for many more.
Just look at what California is modestly anticipating. Without taking into consideration how much money would be saved in court and prison costs, California anticipates over $1.5 billion within the first year.
This is not just an issue about smoking pot.
In 1938 Popular Mechanics printed an article about marijuana called 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars. Popular Mechanics also talked about how there are over 25,000 uses for cannabis. I bet a lot of people did not realize how practical it is to legalize marijuana.
Check out this site to see just a couple of the many, many uses: http://www.torontohemp.com/hempuses.htm
In a time where people are concerned with job security, let alone for the thousands attempting to find a job to begin with, just to make money to feed and house our families and afford medical bills, we should NOT laugh at the most viable solution we have in front of us.
Please help me support RE-INTRODUCE HR 5843 in the 111th Congress! A FED BILL to Allow
Please help me support RE-INTRODUCE HR 5843 in the 111th Congress! A FED BILL to Allow Responsible Adults to use Cannabis Come join my cause:
RE-INTRODUCE HR 5843 in the 111th Congress! A FED BILL to Allow Responsible Adults to use Cannabis!
You will be able to recruit friends, raise money, and add a profile badge to show your support! Check this out ya'll! Every time people find a moment to say what they want done with this country~ the Number ONE response is Legalize Cannabis!!
Just look at California- they project (when the votes come in and it is legalized) within the first year they will have over $1 Billion dollars for the state (An economic analysis by California NORML estimates that a legal, statewide retail market for cannabis could generate additional revenues totaling some $12 to $18 billion dollars per year.); and that is a modest estimate considering if we are not adding people to our jail systems- which some speculate would project approximately over $50 BILLION dollars in ONE year!
Amazing huh?..(Legalization of cannabis is currently the number one cause on Causes, and it was the number one item on change. org AND change. gov. Also worth checking out: MPP on youtube. It is the 10th most suscribed to channel on youtube- MPP= Marijuana Policy Project, and you can follow them on twitter: http:..//twitter. com/..MarijuanaPolicy) ps If you havnt checked it out yet:
http:..//twitter. com/..lizblackstone
Thats it.
Hope i kept it short & sweet :)
Peace & Love ya'll! ;)
RE-INTRODUCE HR 5843 in the 111th Congress! A FED BILL to Allow Responsible Adults to use Cannabis!
You will be able to recruit friends, raise money, and add a profile badge to show your support! Check this out ya'll! Every time people find a moment to say what they want done with this country~ the Number ONE response is Legalize Cannabis!!
Just look at California- they project (when the votes come in and it is legalized) within the first year they will have over $1 Billion dollars for the state (An economic analysis by California NORML estimates that a legal, statewide retail market for cannabis could generate additional revenues totaling some $12 to $18 billion dollars per year.); and that is a modest estimate considering if we are not adding people to our jail systems- which some speculate would project approximately over $50 BILLION dollars in ONE year!
Amazing huh?..(Legalization of cannabis is currently the number one cause on Causes, and it was the number one item on change. org AND change. gov. Also worth checking out: MPP on youtube. It is the 10th most suscribed to channel on youtube- MPP= Marijuana Policy Project, and you can follow them on twitter: http:..//twitter. com/..MarijuanaPolicy) ps If you havnt checked it out yet:
http:..//twitter. com/..lizblackstone
Thats it.
Hope i kept it short & sweet :)
Peace & Love ya'll! ;)
California: Assemblyman Introduces Measure To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol
California:
Assemblyman Introduces Measure To Regulate Marijuana Like AlcoholProposal Will Raise Over $1.3 Billion Per Year, State's Tax Collection Agency Says Bill Is The First Of Its Kind Since California Outlawed Cannabis In 1913!
San Francisco: State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced legislation this week to legalize and regulate the commercial production and sale of cannabis for adults age 21 or over.
The proposal – Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act – is the first bill ever to be introduced in the California legislature that seeks to tax and control the sale of cannabis.
Ammiano introduced AB 390 at a press conference Monday. Joining the assemblyman in support of the measure were Betty Yee, Chairwoman of the California Board of Equalization (Taxation), Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan, Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray (retired), and Dale Gieringer, Coordinator of California NORML, which provided legislative text and financial analysis for the bill.
"With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move toward regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense," Ammiano said. "This legislation would generate much needed revenue for the state, restrict access to only those over 21, end the environmental damage to our public lands from illicit crops, and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to more serious crimes. California has the opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact a smart, responsible public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana." Local news anchors from CBS, ABC, NBC, and PBS television covered the press conference. National stories regarding Ammiano's bill have appeared in USA Today, as well as on Air America and CNN.
As introduced, AB 390 would raise over $1.3 billion in annual revenue by taxing the retail production and sale of marijuana, according to financial estimates provided by the California Board of Equalization. An economic analysis by California NORML estimates that a legal, statewide retail market for cannabis could generate additional revenues totaling some $12 to $18 billion dollars per year.
The noncommercial cultivation of marijuana for personal use – defined as ten plants or fewer – would not be subject to taxation under the proposal. In addition, AB 390 would not alter existing legislation on the use of medicinal cannabis, nor would it impose new taxes or sanctions on the medical cultivation of cannabis.
A recent Zogby poll of 1,053 likely voters, commissioned by California NORML and Oaksterdam University, reported that nearly six out of ten respondents on the west coast favor taxing and legally regulating cannabis like alcohol."
This bill is a winning proposition for California taxpayers," Gieringer said. "It's time that California stops wasting resources trying to enforce marijuana prohibition, and instead realizes the tax benefits derived from a legal, regulated cannabis market."
For more information, please contact Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858, or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vdXMubWM1ODYubWFpbC55YWhvby5jb20vbWMvY29tcG9zZT90bz1wYXVsQG5vcm1sLm9yZw==. Additional information on AB 390, as well as contact information for the California Assembly, is available at:
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vY2Fwd2l6LmNvbS9ub3JtbDIvaXNzdWVzL2FsZXJ0Lz9hbGVydGlkPTEyNzU4ODk2.
Assemblyman Introduces Measure To Regulate Marijuana Like AlcoholProposal Will Raise Over $1.3 Billion Per Year, State's Tax Collection Agency Says Bill Is The First Of Its Kind Since California Outlawed Cannabis In 1913!
San Francisco: State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced legislation this week to legalize and regulate the commercial production and sale of cannabis for adults age 21 or over.
The proposal – Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act – is the first bill ever to be introduced in the California legislature that seeks to tax and control the sale of cannabis.
Ammiano introduced AB 390 at a press conference Monday. Joining the assemblyman in support of the measure were Betty Yee, Chairwoman of the California Board of Equalization (Taxation), Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan, Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray (retired), and Dale Gieringer, Coordinator of California NORML, which provided legislative text and financial analysis for the bill.
"With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move toward regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense," Ammiano said. "This legislation would generate much needed revenue for the state, restrict access to only those over 21, end the environmental damage to our public lands from illicit crops, and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to more serious crimes. California has the opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact a smart, responsible public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana." Local news anchors from CBS, ABC, NBC, and PBS television covered the press conference. National stories regarding Ammiano's bill have appeared in USA Today, as well as on Air America and CNN.
As introduced, AB 390 would raise over $1.3 billion in annual revenue by taxing the retail production and sale of marijuana, according to financial estimates provided by the California Board of Equalization. An economic analysis by California NORML estimates that a legal, statewide retail market for cannabis could generate additional revenues totaling some $12 to $18 billion dollars per year.
The noncommercial cultivation of marijuana for personal use – defined as ten plants or fewer – would not be subject to taxation under the proposal. In addition, AB 390 would not alter existing legislation on the use of medicinal cannabis, nor would it impose new taxes or sanctions on the medical cultivation of cannabis.
A recent Zogby poll of 1,053 likely voters, commissioned by California NORML and Oaksterdam University, reported that nearly six out of ten respondents on the west coast favor taxing and legally regulating cannabis like alcohol."
This bill is a winning proposition for California taxpayers," Gieringer said. "It's time that California stops wasting resources trying to enforce marijuana prohibition, and instead realizes the tax benefits derived from a legal, regulated cannabis market."
For more information, please contact Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858, or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vdXMubWM1ODYubWFpbC55YWhvby5jb20vbWMvY29tcG9zZT90bz1wYXVsQG5vcm1sLm9yZw==. Additional information on AB 390, as well as contact information for the California Assembly, is available at:
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vY2Fwd2l6LmNvbS9ub3JtbDIvaXNzdWVzL2FsZXJ0Lz9hbGVydGlkPTEyNzU4ODk2.
Kellogg's Pays The Price For Firing Michael Phelps! Good Job Stoners!!!
Kellogg's Pays The Price For Firing Michael Phelps! Good Job Stoners!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tenCVCa8Y1w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tenCVCa8Y1w
Marijuana: The Simple, Logical Benefits of Legalization
Kudos to Jason Mraz for posting a blog with the link for this article!Marijuana:
The Simple, Logical Benefits of LegalizationThe fact that Marijuana is still illegal in the United States is a farse! And there are more then enough good reasons to legalize Cannabis that dont take a rocket scientist to figure out. This article will highlight this reasons:
August 16, 2006 by Richard Sepulveda
Marijuana is the most recreationally used illegal drug in the United States. It has been estimated that literally millions of otherwise law abiding Americans use the drug to get "high". Still there are millions of others that use the drug to ease their suffering from ailments like:
Insomnia, Cancer, Aids, or chronic aches and pains. While it is true some states have legalized Marijuana for medicinal purposes on the federal level Marijuana remains illegal to: possess, cultivate, import, sell or consume.
Thus doctors that could prescribe it to their patients as a treatment are fearful to do so even though they reside in a state that has medicinally legalized. It is truely ridiculas that Marijuana should be illegal in a nation where Tabbacco kills thousands of people each year from lung cancer and Alcohol causes a majority of fatal car accidents and petty desputes. Especially considering that Marijuana is not as nearly harmful to the body as the negative advertising around it (payed for by alcohol and ciggarette companies by large) would lead someone to believe. In fact In a study deliberately covered up by the U.S. gov't until recently, The National Toxicology Program found no evidence that Marijuana causes cancer. In fact the study proved the exact opposite.
Animals that were exposed to THC (the ancronym that stands for the active chemical in Marijuana also known as Tetrahydrocannabinol) showed less of a risk of getting cancer then those that weren't. Study after study has shown that Marijuana actually decreases a persons risk of getting cancer and that smoking Marijuana does not increase a persons risk of getting any of the cancers associated with smoking. So besides the fact that the drug may actually fight cancer why else should we legalize marijuana? Now I will give you some common sense reasons for legalization:
ECONOMIC REASONS:
Legalizing Marijuana would create a new multi-billion dollar industry in the United States with a substance that can be taxed by the gov't thereby generating more money to fund gov't programs and create more gov't jobs.The currently labor suffering midwest would be saved by Marijuana processing factories requiring large amount of labor creating thousands of new jobs for middle america.
Shipping commerce from middle America to the big cities and their ports for exporting and importing marijuana would increase dramatically.
The increased trade with marijuana producing nations would help to stabalize their struggeling third world economies. This would also help to curve illegal immagration to the states from major marijuana producing nations like Mexico by creating a new mexican industry fresh with new jobs. Lowing incentive for illegal immagrants to cross the border in search of work.
Small businesses that sell marijuana would see increased profits which they have been needing since many former ciggarette smokers are now quitting.
Alcohol and Tabbacco companies would be forced to push their products harder thereby dumping millions of dollars more into advertising.
Televised anti-marijuana ads would be a thing of the past making room for other commercials to advertise their products.
Marijuana can grow almost anywhere thus there is little danger of a weak crop and falling profitsNot to mention that Economists at large have thrown their favor behind legalization.
LEGAL REASONS:
With marijuana users no longer being jailed for possession lots of room would be opened up in our already overcrowded prison system for more hardened offenders such as: murderers, rapists, child molesters and other violent criminals.The Judicial system would no longer be burdened by having to trial cases involving marijuana.The police will be able to allocate more resources to solving more violent crimes.
Since marijuana could be purchased at any drug store after being legalized, violent crimes such as: robbery, drug warfare, contamination of drugs by other substances such as: LSD, PCP and Cocaine could quickly become a thing of the past.
MEDICAL REASONS:Marijuana has been proven on more then one occasion to not cause cancer unlike its legal counterparts tobbacco and alcohol.
Patients suffering from a host of disorders and diseases such as: Cancer, Aids, Chronic pain and insomnia would have easy access to a pain reliever.
The relaxing effects of marijuana use could prevent tension and stress that cause sore muscles and or aggitation and high blood pressure
We can plainly see that marijuana legalizations benefits are boundless I could go one listing for days but until Americans wake up and realize that the true crime surrounding marijuana is the cornering of the market by campaign contributions from Alcohol and Tabbacco companies thereby denying the rest of us the: Jobs, Money, Health and pleasure from legalizing marijuana.
The Simple, Logical Benefits of LegalizationThe fact that Marijuana is still illegal in the United States is a farse! And there are more then enough good reasons to legalize Cannabis that dont take a rocket scientist to figure out. This article will highlight this reasons:
August 16, 2006 by Richard Sepulveda
Marijuana is the most recreationally used illegal drug in the United States. It has been estimated that literally millions of otherwise law abiding Americans use the drug to get "high". Still there are millions of others that use the drug to ease their suffering from ailments like:
Insomnia, Cancer, Aids, or chronic aches and pains. While it is true some states have legalized Marijuana for medicinal purposes on the federal level Marijuana remains illegal to: possess, cultivate, import, sell or consume.
Thus doctors that could prescribe it to their patients as a treatment are fearful to do so even though they reside in a state that has medicinally legalized. It is truely ridiculas that Marijuana should be illegal in a nation where Tabbacco kills thousands of people each year from lung cancer and Alcohol causes a majority of fatal car accidents and petty desputes. Especially considering that Marijuana is not as nearly harmful to the body as the negative advertising around it (payed for by alcohol and ciggarette companies by large) would lead someone to believe. In fact In a study deliberately covered up by the U.S. gov't until recently, The National Toxicology Program found no evidence that Marijuana causes cancer. In fact the study proved the exact opposite.
Animals that were exposed to THC (the ancronym that stands for the active chemical in Marijuana also known as Tetrahydrocannabinol) showed less of a risk of getting cancer then those that weren't. Study after study has shown that Marijuana actually decreases a persons risk of getting cancer and that smoking Marijuana does not increase a persons risk of getting any of the cancers associated with smoking. So besides the fact that the drug may actually fight cancer why else should we legalize marijuana? Now I will give you some common sense reasons for legalization:
ECONOMIC REASONS:
Legalizing Marijuana would create a new multi-billion dollar industry in the United States with a substance that can be taxed by the gov't thereby generating more money to fund gov't programs and create more gov't jobs.The currently labor suffering midwest would be saved by Marijuana processing factories requiring large amount of labor creating thousands of new jobs for middle america.
Shipping commerce from middle America to the big cities and their ports for exporting and importing marijuana would increase dramatically.
The increased trade with marijuana producing nations would help to stabalize their struggeling third world economies. This would also help to curve illegal immagration to the states from major marijuana producing nations like Mexico by creating a new mexican industry fresh with new jobs. Lowing incentive for illegal immagrants to cross the border in search of work.
Small businesses that sell marijuana would see increased profits which they have been needing since many former ciggarette smokers are now quitting.
Alcohol and Tabbacco companies would be forced to push their products harder thereby dumping millions of dollars more into advertising.
Televised anti-marijuana ads would be a thing of the past making room for other commercials to advertise their products.
Marijuana can grow almost anywhere thus there is little danger of a weak crop and falling profitsNot to mention that Economists at large have thrown their favor behind legalization.
LEGAL REASONS:
With marijuana users no longer being jailed for possession lots of room would be opened up in our already overcrowded prison system for more hardened offenders such as: murderers, rapists, child molesters and other violent criminals.The Judicial system would no longer be burdened by having to trial cases involving marijuana.The police will be able to allocate more resources to solving more violent crimes.
Since marijuana could be purchased at any drug store after being legalized, violent crimes such as: robbery, drug warfare, contamination of drugs by other substances such as: LSD, PCP and Cocaine could quickly become a thing of the past.
MEDICAL REASONS:Marijuana has been proven on more then one occasion to not cause cancer unlike its legal counterparts tobbacco and alcohol.
Patients suffering from a host of disorders and diseases such as: Cancer, Aids, Chronic pain and insomnia would have easy access to a pain reliever.
The relaxing effects of marijuana use could prevent tension and stress that cause sore muscles and or aggitation and high blood pressure
We can plainly see that marijuana legalizations benefits are boundless I could go one listing for days but until Americans wake up and realize that the true crime surrounding marijuana is the cornering of the market by campaign contributions from Alcohol and Tabbacco companies thereby denying the rest of us the: Jobs, Money, Health and pleasure from legalizing marijuana.
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