The stakes are high for marijuana laws in next Tuesday's elections. Three states are voting on some form of a tax-and-regulate law, and two states are voting on medical marijuana. In Michigan, where voters said yes to medical marijuana in 2008, there are proposals in five cities that would further mitigate legal penalties for marijuana possession and use.
Detroit's Proposal M seeks to legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana on private property by adults 21 and older. In Grand Rapids, Proposal 2 calls for making possession or use of marijuana a civil infraction punishable by a fine of up to $100.
Are you aware that passing Initiative 502 is one of the best ways to reduce international gang violence?
Like the violent cartels gripping Mexico, British Columbia is affected by the organized-crime groups which control its huge marijuana industry. These gangs produce and export BC Bud to American consumers, including the 6.8 million residents of Washington state.
When they head to the polls in less than two weeks, voters in Washington State will do more than help elect a new president – they’ll also decide whether to become the first U.S. state to legalize marijuana. And a win for Initiative 502 could have ramifications clear across the border, boosting the bid to legalize the drug in Canada while striking a blow to the multibillion-dollar B.C. bud industry.
Geoff Plant, B.C.’s former attorney-general and a member of Stop the Violence BC, a coalition calling for changes to Canada’s drug policies, said in an interview Wednesday that Initiative 502’s most important impact north of the border would be politically.
On a Monday teleconference call, former Drug Enforcement Agency administrators and directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy voiced a strong reminder to the U.S. Department of Justice that even if voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington pass ballot measures to legalize marijuana use for adults and tax its sale, the legalization of marijuana still violates federal law and the passage of these measures could trigger a "Constitutional showdown."
The goal of the call was clearly to put more pressure on Attorney General Eric Holder to make a public statement in opposition to these measures. With less than 30 days before Election Day, the DOJ has yet to announce its enforcement intentions regarding the ballot measures that, if passed, could end marijuana prohibition in each state. Read more »
A little more than a month out from Election Day, Washington state's I-502 marijuana legalization, regulation, and taxation initiative looks to be well-positioned yet to actually win at the ballot box, with powerful supporters, lots of money, and a healthy lead in the polls. But it's not a done deal yet.
Sponsored by New Approach Washington, I-502 would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults 21 and over, but not allow them to grow their own. Instead, it would create a scheme of licensed, taxed, and regulated commercial marijuana cultivation, processing, and retail sales under the eye of the state liquor control board. Medical marijuana patients are exempted from its provisions.
One day after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wants to partially decriminalize marijuana in the Empire State, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said District officials should focus on implementing the medical marijuana program but also keep open their options in dealing with recreational use.
Currently, the District has the toughest penalties for marijuana use in the Washington region.
First-time offenders caught possessing any amount of the drug can face up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine. In Virginia, a first time offender arrested for possessing up to a half ounce of marijuana can be sentenced to up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. Read more »
A nearly 15-year fight in the nation’s capital to allow patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases to use marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation has reached a crescendo, with the city naming six locations that will be allowed to grow medical marijuana legally under local law (including a company partly owned by celebrity talk show host Montel Williams). The announcement, which is sure to irk the Obama administration and some in Congress, comes at a time when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department are waging an unprecedented war on medical marijuana patients and providers in numerous states. Read more »
If there is a silver lining to financial crises it is that governments may consider sensible policy changes that were once politically off-limits. Such is the case with prison reform.
State spending on corrections has quadrupled over the past two decades, making it the fastest-growing budget item after Medicaid, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit organization that works with governments on criminal justice policy. In the early 1970s, there were 250,000 inmates in the United States; today, that number is 2.4 million, the result of inflexible sentencing policies that have made the United States the world’s leading jailer. Read more »
A proposal to legalize medical marijuana dispensary-like operations appears to have died in Olympia.
Its demise ends yet another effort to clearly define the legal status of the storefront operations ubiquitous in Seattle and Tacoma.
Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, said she had enough votes in the state Senate to pass the proposal, but it did not survive the deadline for bills to advance because of time constraints in the short session and because of opposition from some Republican lawmakers and a handful of cities. Read more »
Welcome to WhyProhibition.ca. We are working to repeal the prohibition of cannabis by organizing and educating the public. Sign up to get activism alerts, and access to organizing tools.
The stakes are high for marijuana laws in next Tuesday's elections. Three states are voting on some form of a tax-and-regulate law, and two states are voting on medical marijuana. In Michigan, where voters said yes to medical marijuana in 2008, there are proposals in five cities that would further mitigate legal penalties for marijuana possession and use.
Are you aware that passing Initiative 502 is one of the best ways to reduce international gang violence?
When they head to the polls in less than two weeks, voters in Washington State will do more than help elect a new president – they’ll also decide whether to become the first U.S. state to legalize marijuana. And a win for Initiative 502 could have ramifications clear across the border, boosting the bid to legalize the drug in Canada while striking a blow to the multibillion-dollar B.C. bud industry.
On a Monday teleconference call, former Drug Enforcement Agency administrators and directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy voiced a strong reminder to the U.S. Department of Justice that even if voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington pass ballot measures to legalize marijuana use for adults and tax its sale, the legalization of marijuana still violates federal law and the passage of these measures could trigger a "Constitutional showdown."
A little more than a month out from Election Day, Washington state's I-502 marijuana legalization, regulation, and taxation initiative looks to be well-positioned yet to actually win at the ballot box, with powerful supporters, lots of money, and a healthy lead in the polls. But it's not a done deal yet.
One day after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wants to partially decriminalize marijuana in the Empire State, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said District officials should focus on implementing the medical marijuana program but also keep open their options in dealing with recreational use.
A nearly 15-year fight in the nation’s capital to allow patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases to use marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation has reached a crescendo, with the city naming six locations that will be allowed to grow medical marijuana legally under local law (including a company partly owned by celebrity talk show host Montel Williams). The announcement, which is sure to irk the Obama administration and some in Congress, comes at a time when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department are waging an unprecedented war on medical marijuana patients and providers in numerous states. 
If there is a silver lining to financial crises it is that governments may consider sensible policy changes that were once politically off-limits. Such is the case with prison reform.
A proposal to legalize medical marijuana dispensary-like operations appears to have died in Olympia.
