Latest

[Courtesy of Americans for Safe Access] For Immediate Release: March 17, 2008 Contact: ASA Media Liaison Kris Hermes (510) 681-6361 or, in Sacramento, ASA California Director Don Duncan (323) 326-6347 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to Testify at Taxpayers' Hearing in Sacramento Patients and their providers pay more than $100 million in sales tax annually Sacramento, CA -- More than a half-dozen medical marijuana dispensary operators from across the state are expected to testify tomorrow at 1:30pm before the State Board of Equalization (BOE) at its Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Hearing. Dispensary operators from southern and northern California, joined by medical marijuana advocates, will be in Sacramento to discuss the significant contribution of $100 million in annual sales tax revenue to an ailing state budget. While sales tax on medical marijuana clearly benefits the fiscal health of the state, that funding is threatened by increased interference from the federal government. What: Medical marijuana dispensary operators and advocates testify at the Board of Equalization's Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Hearing When: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 1:30pm Where: Hearing Room 121 at the BOE, 450 N Street in Sacramento Why: Medical marijuana annual sales tax revenue of $100 million is threatened by continued federal interference Who: Testimony will be heard from dispensary operators in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz "Medical marijuana dispensaries are doing their best to comply with state law," said Kris Hermes, spokesperson for Americans for Safe Access (ASA), one of the advocacy groups testifying tomorrow. "One hundred million dollars annually in sales tax revenue is not small change," continued Hermes. "However, by continuing to shut these facilities down, the federal government deprives the state of this money at a time of fiscal crisis." According to recent estimations by multiple advocacy groups, California's hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries contribute to the state budget at least $100 million annually in sales tax revenue. The State of California began collecting sales tax revenue from medical marijuana dispensaries in October 2005, after a policy decision that year by the BOE. However, the same facilities that are expected to comply with this policy are currently under attack by the federal government. Enforcement tactics by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have had a devastating impact on dispensaries in California. In 2007 alone, the DEA raided more than 50 medical marijuana dispensaries in at least 10 different counties across the state. Also, in 2007, the DEA launched a new tactic in its attempts to undermine state law by disseminating more than 300 letters to landlords of dispensaries, threatening the property owners with criminal prosecution and asset seizure if they continued to lease to dispensaries. "The sales tax collected by medical marijuana dispensaries in one year could fund the construction of two large schools or 2,000 elementary and high school teachers," said ASA Chief of Staff Rebecca Saltzman. "By robbing California of this much needed revenue, the federal government is not only harming thousands of patients that rely on this medicine, it is also impeding the state's ability to fund critical aspects of its infrastructure." The federal government's efforts to undermine California's medical marijuana law have not gone unnoticed by local and state lawmakers. Letters from concerned local officials in 2007 prompted U.S. House Judiciary Chair John Conyers to issue a statement in December expressing his deep concern and calling for DEA oversight hearings. Since then, Mayors from Oakland and Santa Cruz, as well as the Berkeley City Council and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, have all registered their opposition to federal enforcement against medical marijuana. In addition, State Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) introduced SJR 20 earlier this year, calling for an end to federal interference and urging Congress and the President to establish policy consistent with the compassionate use laws of California. Most recently, in February, former BOE Chair Betty Yee co-authored an opinion piece with Senator Migden harshly criticizing DEA tactics in California, emphasizing the harm to both patients and the state. Further information: ASA Fact Sheet on Sales Tax: http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/sales_tax_fact_sheet.pdf Copy of State Senate Joint Resolution 20, calling for an end to DEA interference: http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/SJR_20.pdf BOE notice sent to dispensaries in 2007 alerting them to the new sales tax policy: http://www.boe.ca.gov/news/pdf/medseller2007.pdf Opinion piece by Betty Yee & Carole Migden: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/15/ED0UV1RNP.DTL

Kiza Park is located 3 miles north of Manderson SD, on BIA 33, near Wounded Knee, on the Pine Ridge Reservation. A hempcrete building project/workshop will be conducted at this site from May 11th through June 15th, supervised by American Limetec. We’re calling this project Maka Akan Wicoti (Community Upon The Earth), or Eco-Wicoti. For a variety of reasons, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota is one of the poorest locales in North America. The population grows while employment opportunities are nearly non-existent. Federal assistance under the Bureau of Indian Affairs is substandard. The supply of adequate housing diminishes each year. A crisis, (and now an opportunity) presented itself on December 20, 2007. The family homestead of Alex and Debra White Plume burned to the ground as the result of an electrical fire. The house was home to Alex and Debra, daughter Rosebud and her children, and grandchildren Tyson and Denise. The home served as the hub around which the White Plume clan turned. Many irreplaceable artifacts, ceremonial items, and records from their lifetime of work in human and indigenous rights are now gone. Alex has been Oglala Sioux Tribal President and Vice President. The White Plumes oversee a political action group called Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way) that is stopping uranium mining on the reservation and the Black Hills. Owe Aku is also active in protecting water, sacred sites, and economic development through renewable energy as well. In 2002, the White Plumes became the only farmers within the boundaries of the USA to have raised and delivered a crop of hemp since 1968. The United States quickly made it impossible to do so again. The Lakota Hemp Project is still fighting what they see as legal and political stupidity. Now, the perfect moment in time for the global hemp movement to take action has arrived. Building a home and community that demonstrates the potential of hemp to the world is now underway. Hempcrete is a building material that is formed by combining air-lime based binders with the chopped core of the hemp plant stem. It can be pored into a form almost identical to pouring concrete, or spray applied. Hempcrete homes are lightweight, fire, water, earthquake, and rodent resistant, have excellent thermal mass and insulation characteristics that allows the homes to breath, which saves money on heating and cooling costs, has high sound insulation, and good flexibility. This building technique also sequesters a lot of carbon, reversing the damaging effects of greenhouse gases, providing one the best value materials for low impact, sustainable and commercially viable construction. The Roman aqueducts were most likely built this way, as were still active bridges in France dating to the sixth century. Homes such as these are being built in Europe today, and a new Chicago company called American Lime Technology is ready to use this technique here in the U.S. The White Plume’s community center will be the first building of its kind in America. With help from friends, relatives, and the global hemp community, rebuilding efforts are now in progress. A surviving portion of the foundation of the burned home has been re-used to build a simple building to get the family under a roof. The community center, located above Kiza Park, will be the site for this hempcrete building project. The community center is intended for neighbors to use for wakes and meetings, while serving as the hub around which a sustainable community will be built. The community center needs to be rebuilt, because much of the building materials in it have been used to rebuild Alex and Debra’s new house. The community center already has a floor, a foundation, and a timber frame, which are the requirements for a hempcrete building. Underneath the siding is a plywood wall that will be used to facilitate the spraying of the Hempcrete. The roof on the center needs to be replaced. A green tin will be used, which lasts much longer than asphalt. Then a solar powered water heater will be installed over the tin. The center already has electric power, and an original homestead well is nearby where a solar well pump will be installed. The inside of the building needs funding and labor to finish the interior rooms, bathrooms, kitchen, and utility. Every possible conservation and sustainability technique will be incorporated into all aspects of the design, including water consumption, composting toilets, heating and cooling, and renewable energy. A green pool where plants instead of chemicals clean gray water for gardening is in the planning, as well as a greenhouse system. The entire lot will be fenced off to keep horses out of the gardens, which will have row covers to keep the grasshoppers out. Housing/rental bungalows built out of straw bale and cob will then be strung along the ridge beside the road all the way down to the Kiza Park. A natural amphitheater in front of Wounded Knee creek, and a bridge into the campground will then be built, linking the community center with Kiza Park. The idea is to create a thriving eco-community that provides workshops and information for others on Pine Ridge and around the region, teaching them how to live sustainable by providing a sustainable model. Then an eco-hemp store will be opened in Kiza Park to bring economic development and further knowledge to the area, which will be passed on to others, providing a location where tourists, hemp enthusiasts, and visitors can come and stay in a green cottage, ride horses and mountain bikes, take classes, and eat buffalo and other organically grown local foods, all in a comfortable and educational environment. The 8th Annual Hemp Hoe Down (May 8-10, 2008) at the Elkview Campground near Sturgis, South Dakota, will be held as a benefit for the White Plume building project. This year's event proceeds will be applied to help build the green home. The Hemp Hoe Down regularly features workshops regarding sustainability, and will be expanded this year to allow attendees the option to travel to Pine Ridge after the event and help participate in the construction of the home. Donations will be contributed to the construction of the house, and volunteers and workers are needed. Engineers, contractors, and others involved in construction are encouraged to attend to learn this amazing building technique. Hemp will have to be imported from Europe for the Hempcrete portion of the house, which will be expensive. However, American Limetec has graciously offered to do the construction and workshop without a fee. Join us! Learn sustainable building techniques. Email Jeremy Briggs at [email protected]. Please send donations to Alex White Plume, PO Box 71, Manderson, SD, 57756. For more information visit: www.bringbacktheway.com; www.hempheodown.com; www.kizapark.com; and www.americanlimetec.com.

[Courtesy of MPP] 

Meet MPP advisory board member Jim Hightower tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

The Marijuana Policy Project invites you to attend a reception for radio host and MPP VIP advisory board member Jim Hightower, who will be giving a talk about his new book, Swim Against the Current, tomorrow, March 18, at the Carnegie Institution building.

To watch a short video about Jim Hightower's views regarding marijuana policy reform, please click here, or to read a print version, click here.

The talk is from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., and the cost $20 per person. Admission for students and senior citizens is $15, and children under 16 are free. The event also features a VIP reception from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., which costs $50 per person or $80 per couple and includes a copy of Hightower's new book and admittance to the talk.

What: Jim Hightower VIP reception, book talk, and book signing
When: Tuesday, March 18, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 pm (VIP reception), 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (talk and book signing)
Where: Carnegie Institution building, 1530 P Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Cost: $50/person or $80/couple (VIP reception, book talk and signing, and copy of book); or $20/person (talk and book signing only); or $15/person (student and senior citizens).

Proceeds from the event will benefit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals.

Drug Truth Network Update: 4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston and dozens of radio affiliates in the US and Canada & on the web at www.kpft.org. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. 4:20 Drug War NEWS 03/17/08 to 03/23/08 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net Mon - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 1 of 5 Tue - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 2/5 Wed - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 3/5 Thu - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 4/5 Fri - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 5/5 Sat - Poppygate Report with Glenn Greenway Sun - NPR report on "The Wire" screenwriters article in Time Mag Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed (Now With Transcripts): - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Jim Hightower - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Doug McVay reports on UN Conf in Vienna Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net

[Courtesy of Just Say Know]

JUST SAY KNOW appreciates and commends the efforts of the drug policy reform organizations below and we thank them for their contributions to our drug policy reform work. Please visit their websites and support them to the best of your ability.

Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States.

NORML: Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana smokers. Email: [email protected]

Drug Truth Network is a media production organization, based at KPFT Radio Houston, TX. Cultural Baggage, hosted by Dean Becker, is the only nationally distributed radio program focused on discussing the war on drugs. Dean produces 9 radio shows each week about the harms of the drug war. Their shows are broadcast on more than 50 affiliates in the US and Canada. Call your favorite radio station and ask them to include these innovative radio programs.

SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation): SAFER is working with students, organizations and other individuals around the country and abroad to spread the message that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be treated as such.

FULLY INFORMED JURY ASSOCIATION (FIJA): Click here to learn about a powerful tool most people don’t know about that can be used to shut down prosecution of non-violent “drug offenders” on a case by case basis. It’s called Juror Nullification.

---------------------

Just Say Know

Visit Our Web Site:

If you’re using internet explorer web browser use this link: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/home

If you’re using any other web browser use this link: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/index.html

Please pass this message on to ALL your contacts in the USA and ask them to join our mailing list using the form on our website. THANK YOU! We never share email addresses from our mailing list with anyone.

Just Say Know works on your behalf toward drug policy reform, preserving and re-instating your legal rights. Since cannabis offences account for approximately half of all drug arrests, we believe taking away the ability of criminals to profit from cannabis will be an important initial step in drug policy reform. How? Just like it was done with alcohol, remove the prohibition and regulate legal adult use. As soon as alcohol prohibition ended, the crime and violence caused by alcohol prohibition ended. The year alcohol prohibition was repealed violent crime fell by sixty five percent. Drug policy and enforcement tactics are out of control and removing your rights at an alarming rate. Your financial contributions are greatly appreciated. To make a donation reply to this message with “donation” in the subject line and an associate will contact you by return email. If you wish to remain anonymous you can. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration. Don’t hesitate to contact us by replying to this message, we appreciate your comments, questions and concerns. Together we will make a difference!

The drug war is being used as an excuse to remove your Constitutional rights, steal your property, waste 69 billion tax dollars per year and a long list of other harms to citizens and society. There’s a mountain of evidence supporting the need for policy reform that will make citizens, their family, their livelihood and their property more secure. The right; to freedom of religion, free speech, a free press, to keep and bear arms, to be secure in your person, house, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure, to life, liberty and property, to be protected from having your property taken by the government without due process of law and without just compensation, to confront the witnesses against you, to be protected from excessive bail, excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment, to vote and other Constitutional rights have been denied to millions of Americans in the name of the drug war.

Tell your friends about the "Enough is Enough" petition to stop the reckless overuse of SWAT tactics and save the lives of civilians and police alike. This petition is sponsored by: StoptheDrugWar.org Click here for details.