Illuminated by stage lights, the presidential candidate with the red tie at the podium earlier this week made the following impassioned demand: "Let's end the drug wars! Legalize marijuana now!" The crowd cheered wildly. Further down the stage, his opponent one-upped his plea: "We don't just need to legalize marijuana, we need to end drug prohibition just like we ended alcohol prohibition, and treat drug use and abuse as a public health and education issue, and get it entirely out of the criminal justice system!" Applause ripped through the enthused crowd again, their appetite for real change palpable.
A proposal to amend Detroit's city code to decriminalize small amounts marijuana will finally appear on the city's ballot this November after being held up in court for almost two years.
Proposal M, if passed, would amend a 1984 Detroit city ordinance in order to exempt adults over the age of 21 from being prosecuted for the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana on private property.
The Detroit election commission voted 3-0 to block the referendum in August 2010, arguing that possessing marijuana still violated state law. In June Michigan's Supreme Court denied a motion by the city of Detroit to appeal an earlier court decision ordering city officials to place the measure on the ballot.
If you live in Colorado, Washington or Oregon, your state may soon be the first in the nation to allow possession of marijuana—in limited quantities—for recreational use. It all depends on what happens Nov. 6.
What are we to do when the essential conversations that surround any serious political issue have been rendered a joke by the inadequacy of mainstream media coverage?
Enter the comedians.
Though comedians are usually found musing over the absurdities characteristic of major news networks at the edge of the political stage, comedians like Stephen Colbert have rushed the mainstream center stage.
Mitt Romney’s single mention of Latin America Monday night, calling it a “huge opportunity" for the United States, generated immediate glee from Latin Americanists across Twitter – but the hemisphere got no nod from President Obama, and then both went silent on the topic.
A United Kingdom commission made up of leading scientists, academics, law enforcement officers and other experts is recommending decriminalization of drug possession in small quantities and of cultivation of marijuana.
A disabled veteran has told an appeals court that the department of veteran affairs policy on medical marijuana has caused him pain and significant economic harm, in a development campaigners say is a positive step in the battle to push for the drug's reclassification.
Michael Krawitz, one of five plaintiffs involved in a legal case before the court of appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit, told the Guardian that the VA denied him pain treatment after they discovered he had been prescribed medical marijuana while abroad.
What do Jon Stewart and Sarah Palin have in common?
Probably not too much. But both have spoken out recently on America's failed marijuana laws -- and both have publicly endorsed some form of legalization.
So has Brad Pitt. And Elizabeth Warren. And David Koch. And Glenn Beck and Howard Dean and Salma Hayek and dozens of other influential lawmakers and actors and thought leaders and media moguls from across party lines and political ideologies.
The president of Uruguay, José Mujica, has announced plans to legalise the production and sale of marijuana under a state monopoly, triggering a lively controversy in Montevideo. The relevant bill will soon be tabled in parliament, where the governing centre-left coalition led by the Broad Front (FA) enjoys a majority but is divided on this issue.
Possessing and consuming marijuana was decriminalised in 2000. "There is no question of Uruguay producing and distributing drugs, but the state will control and regulate the market," said interior minister Eduardo Bonomi.
Now that medical marijuana is permitted in about one-third of the nation, advocates hope to move beyond therapeutic uses with ballot questions in three states that could legalize pot for recreational use.
Voters in Colorado, Washington state and Oregon face proposals to change state laws to permit possession and regulate the sale of marijuana — though the plant with psychoactive properties remains an illegal substance under federal law.
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Illuminated by stage lights, the presidential candidate with the red tie at the podium earlier this week made the following impassioned demand: "Let's end the drug wars! Legalize marijuana now!" The crowd cheered wildly. Further down the stage, his opponent one-upped his plea: "We don't just need to legalize marijuana, we need to end drug prohibition just like we ended alcohol prohibition, and treat drug use and abuse as a public health and education issue, and get it entirely out of the criminal justice system!" Applause ripped through the enthused crowd again, their appetite for real change palpable.
A proposal to amend Detroit's city code to decriminalize small amounts marijuana will finally appear on the city's ballot this November after being held up in court for almost two years.
If you live in Colorado, Washington or Oregon, your state may soon be the first in the nation to allow possession of marijuana—in limited quantities—for recreational use. It all depends on what happens Nov. 6.
What are we to do when the essential conversations that surround any serious political issue have been rendered a joke by the inadequacy of mainstream media coverage?
Mitt Romney’s single mention of Latin America Monday night, calling it a “huge opportunity" for the United States, generated immediate glee from Latin Americanists across Twitter – but the hemisphere got no nod from President Obama, and then both went silent on the topic.
A United Kingdom commission made up of leading scientists, academics, law enforcement officers and other experts is recommending decriminalization of drug possession in small quantities and of cultivation of marijuana.
A disabled veteran has told an appeals court that the department of veteran affairs policy on medical marijuana has caused him pain and significant economic harm, in a development campaigners say is a positive step in the battle to push for the drug's reclassification.
What do Jon Stewart and Sarah Palin have in common?
The president of Uruguay, José Mujica, has announced plans to legalise the production and sale of marijuana under a state monopoly, triggering a lively controversy in Montevideo. The relevant bill will soon be tabled in parliament, where the governing centre-left coalition led by the Broad Front (FA) enjoys a majority but is divided on this issue.
Now that medical marijuana is permitted in about one-third of the nation, advocates hope to move beyond therapeutic uses with ballot questions in three states that could legalize pot for recreational use.
