The Hill: America’s New Marijuana Zeitgeist

Via The Hill.com

Writing last week in Time.com, Joe Klein became the latest in a steady stream of media pundits to call for the legalization of marijuana (”Why Legalizing Marijuana Makes Sense”). That’s right, ‘legalization’ — with an “L.”

While the notion of regulating the sale and consumption of cannabis for adults might still induce reflexive giggles from the Oval Office, the issue is no longer a laughing matter among the public.

Lawmakers in two states — California and Massachusetts –- are debating the merits of taxing pot like alcohol, and a pair of recent polls (here and here) indicate that Western voters endorse this proposal by a solid majority. According to statistician Nate Silver, national support for legalization could reach “supermajority” status in just over a decade!

Why this momentum now? Klein sums up three primary reasons.

1) Americans are spending billions in judicial resources arresting and prosecuting minor marijuana offenders; these monies could be better redirected elsewhere.

2) America is in the midst of an economic recession; taxing marijuana could redirect criminal justice costs toward more serious crimes, raise tax revenue, and greatly reduce, if not eliminate, the involvement of drug cartels in the illicit marijuana trade.

3) The use of marijuana by adults is objectively less dangerous — both to the user and to society as a whole — than the consumption of alcohol. (Case in point: Drinking alcohol, even low to moderate amounts, was recently associated with elevated incidences of cancer, particularly among women. By contrast, a study published last week in the Clinical Journal of Investigation shows that cannabis kills malignant cancer cells.) It is illogical to endorse a public policy that arbitrarily prohibits the former while embracing the latter.

Of course, Klein is hardly the only mainstream pundit as of late to jump on the marijuana ‘legalization’ bandwagon.

In the past days, leading commentators like David Sirota (The Nation), Kathleen Parker (Washington Post), Paul Jacob (TownHall.com), Hendrik Hertzberg (The New Yorker), Andrew Sullivan (The Atlantic), Glenn Greenwald (Salon), Debra Saunders (San Francisco Chronicle), Leonard Pitts (Miami Herald), John Richardson (Esquire), and Margery Eagan (Boston Herald), have all opined in favor of regulating cannabis. In fact, Americans’ sudden support for legalization is even beginning to draw attention from those outside the United States.

As well it should be.

American’s support for marijuana law reform is fast approaching a tipping point — a scenario made all that more remarkable when one considers that the federal government has spent nearly seven decades propagandizing against it. Mainstream America is coming to terms with marijuana, and growing more and more dissatisfied with our nation’s failing pot policies. Writes Klein: “Obviously, marijuana can be abused. But the costs of criminalization have proved to be enormous, perhaps unsustainable. Would legalization be any worse?”

He’s no longer the only one asking.

As always, please post your feedback and comments to The Hill by going here. Congress is listening; tell them what’s on your mind.

Tags: California, Cannabis and Health, David Sirota, Government, Legalization, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, new jersey, Raid, Time, zeitgeist

Breaking News: Marijuana Legalization Bills Introduced In Massachusetts!

UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! Listen to the NORML Audio Stash today (March 25) for a discussion of Massachusetts’ tax and regulate proposals with Richard Evans. Click here to tune in.

California’s highly publicized effort to legalize the commercial cultivation and sale of cannabis is getting some well-deserved company!

A pair of bills — House Bill 2929 and Senate Bill 1801 — seeking to “tax and regulate the cannabis industry” have just been introduced in the Massachusetts legislature.

These proposals seek to legally regulate the commercial production and distribution of marijuana for adults over 21 years of age.  Like California’s proposal, they would impose licensing requirements and excise taxes on the retail sale of cannabis. By some estimates, these taxes could raise nearly $100 million in annual state revenue.

Adults who possess or grow marijuana for personal use, or who engage in the non-profit transfer of cannabis, would not be subject to taxation under the law.

You can read more about these bills at the new website: http://www.cantaxreg.com. If you live in Massachusetts, we urge you to write your elected officials in support of H. 2929 and S. 1801 by going here.

“Decades of whispered grumblings about the wisdom and efficacy of prohibition is rapidly giving way to a serious—really serious public discussion about how to replace it,” said former NORML Board Member Richard Evans, who assisted in drafting the landmark legislation. “Those who consider themselves leaders in government and the media have the obligation to either show how prohibition can be made to work, or join in the exploration of alternatives.”

We can’t think of a better place to begin this discussion on the east coast than Massachusetts, where last November 65 percent of voters endorsed a statewide initiative reclassifying marijuana possession as a fine-only offense under state law.  Will a majority of Bay State voters also support legalization? We may soon find out!

Tags: cannabis, industry, Legalization, Marijuana, Massachusetts, regulate, tax

Weekly Wassup : AB 390 scheduled for a hearing before the Committee on PSH

More states are moving forward to reduce or eliminate criminal penalties for marijuana offenses. This week has been no exception. If you have not yet gotten active in your state, now is most definitely the time to start. Here’s this week’s latest summary of how you can get involved

California: California’s first-ever marijuana legalization bill, Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act, is tentatively scheduled for a hearing before the Committee on Public Safety and Health on Tuesday, March 31. The Committee is expected to vote on this proposal immediately following the hearing so it is vital that you contact your elected officials, and the members of the Public Safety Committee in particular, and urge them to support AB 390. Contact information for the Committee is available here. You may also send letters in support of this measure to your state assemblyman here. For additional information on this hearing, or if you are interested in attending, please contact California NORML.

New Hampshire: Earlier today, members of the House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs Committee voted 13 to 7 in favor of House Bill 648, which seeks to legalize the use of medical cannabis in New Hampshire. The bill will now go before the full House with an “ought to pass” recommendation. Two years ago the House narrowly rejected a similar bill by a margin of 186 to 177. If you live in New Hampshire, now is the time to contact your House members and urge them to support HB 648. You can write them here. Our allies NH Compassion have any additional information you may need here.

Montana: On Friday, March 20, members of the House Human Services Committee will hear testimony in support of Senate Bill 326, an act to provide greater access to medical marijuana for state-authorized patients. If approved, this proposal would: (1) Expand the number of qualifying conditions for which marijuana may be legally recommended; (2) Increase the amount of marijuana a patient may legally possess; (3) Prohibit employers and landlords from discriminating against medicinal marijuana patients solely because of their medical status. Thanks in large part to your support, the Senate previously voted 28 to 22 in favor of this measure. Please assure that the House does likewise. You can contact your representatives here. Local allies Montana Patients and Families United will be meeting with witnesses and attendees prior to the hearing. You may contact them here.

Kentucky: Finally, we have good news to report from Kentucky. Last week we asked for your help to kill an amendment that sought to criminalize anyone who operates a motor vehicle with any detectable level of marijuana in their blood. Many of you responded and as a result, the provision was withdrawn. While we’re not entirely out of the woods yet, it’s now looking far less likely that lawmakers will prevail in their attempt to misuse the state’s traffic safety laws to target marijuana consumers.

Tags: ab 390, ab390, bill, California, Marijuana, medical

Whats San Diego Smoking!?

The California Supreme Court has declined to review a landmark law that requires counties to implement a medical marijuana patient identification program. The court’s decision also makes it clear that the federal prohibition on marijuana does not preempt the medical marijuana law California voters approved in 1996.

The 1996 law carved out exceptions to California’s anti-marijuana laws for patients with a valid recommendation from a licensed physician. In 2005 the Legislature passed Senate Bill 420, which, among other things, required counties to screen patients for a voluntary state ID card system for patients to help police identify bona fide patients.

San Diego County, along with Merced and San Bernardino counties, sued the state in 2006, arguing not only that it should not be required to screen patients applying for identifications cards, but that federal law preempts state law and that California’s medical marijuana law should be declared invalid.

13 years after the people voted for it SD still denies thos people of there rights!

A San Diego Superior Court judge rejected that argument in December 2006, after which Merced County opted out of the litigation and moved to set up a patient ID card system. The Fourth District Court of Appeal also rejected it in July of this year. The decision by the state Supreme Court not to review it means counties must set up an ID card program and, perhaps most importantly, as Joe Elford, chief council of Americans for Safe Access, noted, makes it clear “that federal law does not preempt state law relating to medical marijuana.” Read more…

Tags: California, DEA, Marijuana, Prop 215, San Diego, SB 420

U.S. Attorney General Says Justice Department Will No Longer Interfere With States’ Medical Pot Policies

Score one for the good guys!

Earlier this month, new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised a clean break from the policies of the Bush administration. Yesterday, during a live interview on C-Span, he affirmed that this change includes ending the DEA raids of state-authorized medical marijuana providers!

Responding to a reporter’s question regarding the DEA’s recent actions against several California medical cannabis providers, Holder stated: “What the President said during the campaign . . . will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement. . . What [President Obama] said during the campaign . . . is now American policy.”

Holder’s statement marks a dramatic shift in U.S. drug policy, and is a major victory for the 72 million Americans who reside in states where the use of medical cannabis is legal! It also lends support to the ongoing efforts in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — each of which are debating legislative proposals to make the production and distribution of medical cannabis legal under state law.

At this time, NORML would like to personally thank those of you who responded to our request to contact the Attorney General’s office and urge Eric Holder to call off the DEA raids. Your phone calls and e-mails have helped to change U.S. marijuana policy!

So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back. And while you’re at it, click here to thank the new Attorney General for supporting the will of the people and the health and welfare of seriously ill patients.

“Change we can believe in?” Yes it is, and it’s about time.

Tags: California, DEA, ending, Marijuana, medical, Obama, raids