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Marijuana Policy

Marijuana Policy Subtopics:
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Medical Marijuana
Marijuana Industry

HEMP MEDIA RELEASE: Police MardiGrass Invitation and Police Proper Ganders!

HIPPIES INVITE THE POLICE TO SMOKE THE PEACE PIPE and NIMBIN APRIL FOOLS DAY RAID, WAITING FOR THE TRUTH TO COME OUT “The last two evenings in Nimbin have seen mini convoys of up to six police cars cruising the deserted main street of Nimbin’s tiny village. The cost must be prohibitive but the propaganda to justify targeting Nimbin is the real joke”, said Michael Balderstone, Hemp Embassy President. “Instead of this waste of money we need Senior Police to join us at MardiGrass for sane discussion on alternative strategies for dealing with cannabis use. But will anyone take us, the users, seriously?” “It is not the Police’s fault, they are the meat in the sandwich, ’just doing their job’ so to speak, but we need their support in making legal changes, as has happened in the UK. Policing Nimbin with a National Party local MP has been costing a fortune for years, you’d think the Labor Party might be a fraction different.” “One option is a trial of a decriminalised supply of cannabis and at MardiGrass this year Dr. Alex Wodak from St. Vincents Hospital will be presenting a model for regulated and taxable cannabis supply. He will be supported by Paul Wilson, Professor of Criminology at Bond Uni. There are several working models overseas to consider and in the MardiGrass “Beyond Prohibition Forum’ we will have visitors from those countries to give us first hand accounts of how it works”. “We are especially inviting the law makers, the politicians, to come and hear these ideas borne of necessity out of desperation from worlds politicians rarely see. We also invite parents to the MardiGrass forums and it is worth remembering the Al Capone era in America ended when mothers marched against prohibition. Of course everyone is welcome, but we would especially love to see the gag taken off government employees like police and health professionals so they could join in the Forum”. At some point even the most hard headed must come round to seeing some merit in sitting down and talking a different approach to Nimbin’s unique situation. A few facts to consider please: A fast growing indigenous population in Nimbin would rather smoke yarndi, than get drunk. The local police would rather they did too! Dealing or stealing? Nimbin’s ‘refugee camp from the war on drugs’ sees all sorts of disadvantaged people finding their way here to ‘the last bus stop’ hoping to score a smoke, which is their favourite pain reliever. The catch is, they have little money and no land to grow their own so they join the growing throng of street “dealers” trying to catch the eye of someone visiting Nimbin to buy pot. They get a small cut, probably a smoke, for organising the deal. A huge risk just for a joint shows how desperate they are. It’s impossible for the police to bust all these people who rarely possess anything. Many backpackers come from countries where cannabis use is regulated. The current situation is teaching young people bad habits to say the least. No wonder disrespect is a boom industry. We notice young people in and out of jail lose their fear of it and even enjoy the gangster rap with police. Jail offers credibility in some cases, as well as study opportunities and a reliable bed and food. MardiGrass program details growing on www.nimbinmardigrass.com On April Fools Day the police ( with Lismore City Council inspectors} came with their media unit and supplied all the footage for channels Seven, Nine & Ten’s news stories that night, but the raid netted so little the story barely made it into the Sydney or Brisbane news. “The police media release announcing the raids came out at 11.41am. At 11.30 the search began in Nimbin. They arrived in riot gear, screaming and yelling like it was Nim Bin Ladin’s very own cave. They were in full battle dress and surrounded Nimbin’s two primary off the street (which is covered by cameras live to the copshop) tourist attractions, the Nimbin Museum and the HEMP Embassy, and cordoning them off for searches until well after the many school buses had unloaded. Hippies love their children and are angry about this insensitivity. Unable to answer back the battle dressed riot squad were fair pickings for some cheeky Nimbin kids who have grown up in a “criminalised cannabis culture”, other kids were shocked and scared at the show of force in their village. Many in the village think it is just anti-terrorist training on harmless hippies.” The pages and pages of Property Seizure Forms of what was confiscated in their raid is all tabled on www.hempembassy.net “Many of the items were not prohibited and will be returned when the police discover they are not illegal. Many of the food items were just that, with no cannabis in them.” “The cash collected, around five thousand dollars from so many sources was clearly no big deal. The Hemp Bar Activist’s Kiosk run by volunteers has no bank account but gets donations for drinks, etc. It apparently had ice cream containers full of ten and twenty cent coins. Perhaps this is the ‘large quantity of cash’ seized by police from our study of money listed on their Property Seizure forms.” “The eight arrests were in fact mostly Cannabis Cautions. We reckon five cautions for personal amounts, two small cannabis charges and one young Aboriginal male who was in breach of bail conditions by being in Nimbin. EIGHT ARRESTS! BIG DEAL!” “The five kilos of cannabis they claim to have seized was in fact mostly cookies making up the weight. FLOUR AND WATER! The “plants” they seized were in fact one tiny straggly male plant no one had noticed in the back yard of the HEMP Embassy! The cannabis ‘suppositories’, (ouch!), seized from the Hemp Bar we hear are tobacco plugs!” Further details of the raid with pictures and movies www.hempembassy.net Embassy… ph 02 6689 1842 ah 66897525

Adrianne Curry to host MPP's party at the Playboy Mansion

[Courtesy of MPP] 

I’m excited to announce that reality TV superstar and fashion model Adrianne Curry is slated to host MPP’s third annual party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles on June 12. This year’s party is quickly shaping up to be our best yet.

adrianne curry
MPP VIP advisory board member Adrianne Curry

Please visit www.mpp.org/playboy to purchase your tickets today, since the price will soon increase.  (The ticket price is $850 now but will jump to $1,000 on May 13.)

Adrianne attended our party at the Playboy Mansion last year and, shortly afterwards, joined our VIP advisory board. She has since been an outspoken advocate for marijuana policy reform. She is married to Christopher Knight (Peter Brady from “The Brady Bunch”), and together they star in the extremely popular VH1 reality television show “My Fair Brady.”

I hope you’ll join me, Adrianne, and other celebrities and supporters of marijuana policy reform at our party at the Playboy Mansion: Buy your tickets today.

Party-goers will get to explore the Playboy Mansion's grotto, grounds, and exotic zoo. Only a lucky few have seen the inside of the grotto, which includes three hot tubs and cushion love seats built into the stone walls.

Plus, an array of exclusive art, famous photographs, and celebrity memorabilia will be available for purchase at the event via live and silent auctions.

I look forward to seeing you at the Mansion on June 12!

Cheers,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your ticket purchase will be doubled.

P.P.S. You can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in the e-mail alerts I send you in 2008 by visiting www.mpp.org/2008optoutpreference at your convenience.

Nimbin April Fools’ Day Police Raids

PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE NIMBIN APRIL FOOLS’ DAY POLICE RAIDS Michael Balderstone, President of the Nimbin Hemp Embassy, was sitting in the backyard of the Museum. “I thought it was the musicians arriving for our “Fossil Fools’ Day Event”, but the van door slid open and police poured out in riot gear screaming like on American TV – ‘NOBODY MOVE – IT’S A CRIME SCENE’ etc etc……” Possibly seventy police spent the day in Nimbin trying to make a difference in our village. But they can’t be here every day, and hippies are never going to stop smoking pot, so when do we start talking and creating real solutions? If only government employees could speak their mind. Many of them know what we all know - drug use is a health issue and I have no doubt many of the police in Nimbin today quietly questioned the morality of their operation and how worthwhile it was. They know the difference between a pot smoker and a real criminal, and they know pot is the least harmful of all the illegal substances. They also know pot is the easy bust and the harder they target cannabis in Nimbin the more people will use easily hidden powders and pills and drink a lot more alcohol. In California today there are about four hundred vending machines which spit out a bag of pot if you put in a fifty dollar note! And this, in the country which started the war on drugs. Hopefully Kevin Rudd’s closer look at youth binge drinking might lead him to some understanding of all youth drug use. Why are they so reckless? Why is disrespect for authority a growth industry? Why don’t the police lobby for more leeway with cannabis users as has happened in the UK? Making the hippies’ favourite medicine illegal has created widespread generational disrespect for the laws and lawmakers, not only in our community but throughout the land. Unfortunately the police are the meat in the sandwich, ‘just doing their job’. The most distasteful part of today is that police co-ordinated their raid with Lismore City Council departments….the crudest way possible for the LCC to communicate with this community. Clearly they are keen to make us as ‘normal’ as possible, which will sterilise the thriving tourism industry here and kill the Aquarian spirit which has brought so much colour to the north coast. Ironically today our planned event was to ask LCC to let us be nothing like normal, because ‘normal’ has nearly killed the planet, as our press release said. It also appears they want the Museum closed, if not the Hemp Embassy and it’s incorrect of Commander Lyons to say he has the community’s support for his operations. The majority of this community is sick to death of the consequences of cannabis being illegal and he needs to lobby Sydney for us to trial something different instead of just getting more and more police. His job, above all, as I understand it, is to keep the peace. Our annual MardiGrass and Cannabis Law Reform rally, on the first weekend in May will show him how much support for change there is in the community. Many people in the large crowd witnessing the police today were galvanised for the coming rally. Many other people in the crowd were asking “Where are you when the pub shuts” or “Where are you on Friday night”? We all know these days that respect is the critical ingredient. When cannabis users are respected for their choice of medicine, the laws and lawmakers may start to be respected again. More information at Nimbin Hemp Embassy 02 6689 1842, after hours 6689 7525

HEMP Party still alive

HEMP PARTY-NOT DEAD YET The Nimbin based HELP END MARIJUANA PROHIBITION party is in limbo, undead, neither registered nor de-registered. We did not contest the 2007 Federal elections because we had not been re-registered in time. The Howard government had arbitrarily de-registered all political parties, without a current representative in Parliament in December 2006. Our application for re-registration, complying with all the requirements of the Electoral Act, was submitted early in April 2007. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) took until August, three weeks before the election was called, to advise us that we had failed their membership test. We replied asking that our application be accepted as is, or be reviewed by the commissioners. We intended to appeal any negative review. The calling of the election froze this process and nothing has happened since. Last month the AEC informed us that they would be reviewing their own test. Apparently they have taken our objections on board. So we wait for their new test before deciding whether to resubmit or continue with an appeal. If we do resubmit we will probably still need a membership whose addresses and phone numbers are current and contactable and who will not ignore an enquiry from the AEC. This has been the crux of the test. A random sample of members contacted by the AEC must all say – YES, I am a HEMP party member. (And try not to feel afraid of Big Brother!) To this end a membership drive will be conducted at MardiGrass. We want brave new members with established addresses. We want old members to update their contact details. Anyone who supports our campaign for cannabis law reform can join, or re-join, at the Information booth outside the Town Hall, or Dutchies Café in Peace Park during MardiGrass, or the HEMP Embassy anytime. Membership is free. With little chance of getting anyone elected why do we want a registered political party at all? Because the $1500 it costs to put our name on the Senate Ballot paper buys us more access to the corridors of power than any number of $10,000 a plate political fund raising dinners. See you at MardiGrass.

MPP's legislation in jeopardy because of prostitution?

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project] 

In case you’re wondering, MPP's medical marijuana bill in New York probably isn’t in jeopardy because of the resignation today of Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D). (As you've probably seen in the news, the FBI recently discovered he was spending large amounts of money on prostitutes.)

Back in June, Gov. Spitzer indicated he was open to signing our medical marijuana legislation into law, telling reporters, “We've taken a hard look at it over the past number of months, and I'm open to signing a bill that is properly structured for appropriate use based upon the evidence that has been presented to me.”

I'm told that incoming Gov. David Paterson (D) is also likely to be supportive of our legislation, which passed the New York Assembly in June by a 95-52 vote. Our sights are focused on the Republican-controlled Senate, where our legislation has been pending for quite some time.

This spring, MPP will continue to push hard in New York — as well as in the other states detailed below. Would you please consider automatically donating $5 or more on your credit card each month to support our long-term state legislative efforts?

As you can see, MPP and MPP grantees have been extremely busy — and making progress — so far this legislative session. I hope you’ll become a monthly pledger to support our efforts in the months to come. Thank you ...

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your monthly pledge will be doubled.

Join MPP for Happy Hour and/or for League Soccer

[Courtesy of MPP]

Please join the Marijuana Policy Project on Thursday, March 20, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Madam's Organ in Adams Morgan.

As per the bar's Thursday night custom of supporting area nonprofits, $1 from each drink sold and 20% of food sales during the event will go to MPP, so please invite your friends to eat and drink in support of ending marijuana prohibition!

We'll also be giving away MPP literature, selling MPP merchandise, and raffling off a few decks of MPP's exclusive “The Deal on Marijuana Policy Reform” playing cards.

non-mmj playing cards

What: MPP Happy Hour
When: Thursday, March 20, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Where: Madam's Organ, 2461 18th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009

And MPP's Rob Kampia is looking to put together an MPP soccer team for the Washington D.C. Jewish Community Center's league. Games are played on Sunday mornings and afternoons from April through July. Come to the happy hour, or e-mail him at [email protected] if you're interested. You can find more information about the league here.

We look forward to seeing you — and all of your friends — on the 20th for happy hour and this spring for soccer!

Different lipstick, same old pig

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project] 

“Different lipstick, same old pig.”

That was the title of a Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial on Monday, referring to a quote by MPP’s Neal Levine, who was artfully characterizing the unconstitutional ballot initiative law in Nevada that we’re going to overturn.

Last week, MPP and the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Nevada government to overturn its unconstitutional law, which requires signatures from voters in all of the state’s 17 counties in order to qualify a measure for the statewide ballot.

This is the second time MPP has sued the Nevada state government over the very same issue. We won in 2004, and we’re going to win this time, too, and the Nevada government is going to have to pay our legal fees in full — again.

In addition to the editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, one of the state’s biggest newspapers, a columnist for the Las Vegas Sun also weighed in on the situation.

Because MPP plans to run another ballot initiative campaign to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in Nevada in a few years, it’s vitally important that Nevada’s ballot initiative law not be overly burdensome.

The previous law we overturned in 2004 — which required signatures from voters in 13 of Nevada’s 17 counties — was correctly thrown out by a federal court as a violation of the “one man, one vote” rule. And the new law — which MPP’s Neal Levine told the Las Vegas Review-Journal was “a different shade of lipstick on the same old pig” — also violates the “one man, one vote” rule.

We’re so sure we’re going to win this lawsuit — and get our legal fees reimbursed by the incompetent Nevada government — that I’m not even going to ask you to donate money to help pay for it.

However, I hope you’ll consider joining our monthly credit card pledge program — even with just $5 or $10 per month — in order to support our other 2008 projects.

Thank you, as always, for supporting MPP’s work.

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your monthly pledge will be doubled.

Letter from the Drug Czar: Don't help the Marijuana Policy Project

[Courtesy of MPP] Dear MPP Supporter: Now that most of the 50 state legislatures are back in session — and many are considering marijuana-related bills — I’ve decided it’s time for me to lay down the gauntlet. I'm concerned. Last year, you and MPP made my life difficult by making Rhode Island’s medical marijuana law permanent and expanding the medical marijuana law in Vermont. Unfortunately, there’s an even bigger explosion of legislative activity in the state legislatures this year. So I’m ordering you not to make a monthly credit card pledge to MPP to support the following state lobbying activities this year: MPP has retained professional lobbyists to pass medical marijuana bills in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York — something my office isn’t permitted to spend money on. And in California, MPP’s Sacramento lobbyists and a wide coalition of medical marijuana supporters are working to pass legislation that would prevent local and state law enforcement officials from cooperating with the DEA in its raids on medical marijuana patients and providers. Worse yet, MPP is spending your money to pass marijuana decriminalization bills in New Hampshire and Vermont. Local press reports have been favorable to the efforts and — outrageously — the Vermont Judiciary Committee passed the decrim bill by a 4-1 vote just five days ago! In Ohio and Kansas, recipients of MPP grant money are working to pass medical marijuana bills in both states. And other horrible — you would probably call them “good” — marijuana-related bills are also pending or imminent in Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee. Some people say that I’ve been lying, propagandizing, and illegally spending taxpayer money for the seven years I’ve been in charge of the federal government’s drug war. But how could these claims even be true, given that MPP has continued to have success after success with a much smaller budget? This must stop now. It’s vitally important that you not join MPP’s monthly pledge program. With candor, honesty, and love, John Walters P.S. I was especially upset that MPP’s Rob Kampia referred to me as an "ugly man with a cold heart" in his interview with the Austin Chronicle in August. Who the heck does Mr. Kampia think he is? ========================================================= The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 180,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2008. Please visit http://www.mpp.org/donate to donate now. MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2008 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2008plan -- if you and other allies choose to fund our work.

Resolution Calling on Dutch Government to Resolve the Contradictions in the Netherlands Cannabis Policy

Participants argued that the Netherlands, in cooperation with other nations, should aim to revise the current framework of international law in order to achieve a more credible and effective alternative that is not just based on repression for the existing cannabis policy at the national level. The signatories of this resolution, I. concluded that the current cannabis policy: A. is based on an outdated international law framework created in the 1960s which is not appropriate to tackle contemporary problems resulting in a stagnation of the development of just and effective policies; B. is being implemented by a policy of tolerance (“gedogen”) on the basis of a justified lenient interpretation of the current international law framework and that this policy of tolerance is a practical solution but at the same time temporary response which on the long term will discredit the credibility of public authorities; C. is inconsistent and difficult to explain to citizens because use and sale of small quantities are not prosecuted in practice while production and large scale distribution are still prosecuted; is also inconsistent with policies regarding substances with a similar health risk such as alcohol and tobacco; D. is ineffective in several aspects: despite positive facets such as the separation of markets between soft and hard drugs and the limited involvement of criminals in the retail market, other policy options such as legal possibilities to control the quality of cannabis (THC content and pollution) and other measures to reduce health risks are lacking in the current system, which is still facilitating significant illicit gains at the level of production and wholesale and is encouraging in-house cannabis growing; E. is causing considerable and unbalanced administrative and judicial burdens and continuous criticism of some countries and UN drug control agencies. II. concluded furthermore that: A. attempts by the Dutch parliament and local authorities to address the inconsistencies in the current tolerance policy – such as proposing to tolerate production of cannabis for the supply of coffee shops – have been rejected by subsequent national governments on account of incompatibility with international agreements; B. there is a need for an international debate to explore the possibilities for an international framework that allows more room for manoeuvre by national governments to execute a consistent policy; C. more and more countries feel the need to reformulate their policies to achieve better protection of public health and combat organized crime; D. cannabis is grown and commercialised worldwide and is used by over 170 million people, consequently the production and distribution is a common problem for the international community; E. the 10-year review of the 1998 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs and the Ministerial meeting in 2009 devoted to this evaluation, offer an excellent possibility to put the issue on the international agenda. III. urge the Dutch government to: A. start an international debate with other likeminded countries in order to work out a credible and effective alternative for the current policy on cannabis; B. promote actively with those likeminded countries the formulation of proposals that can be presented in the context of the upcoming UNGASS evaluation; C. provide for human and financial resources to implement these efforts; The Hague, 31 October 2007 signed by * Mr. A.A.M. van Agt, former Prime minister 1977-1982 * Dr. E. Borst-Eilers, ex-minister of Health, Welfare and Sport * Drs. A. Apostolou, former member of Parliament * Kathalijne Buitenweg, MEP GroenLinks * Mr. R. Dufour, president Stichting Drugsbeleid * Drs. G.B.M. Leers, mayor of Maastricht * Dr. R.L. Vreeman, mayor of Tilburg * Mr. Th. C. de Graaf, mayor of Nijmegen * J.A.H. Lonink, mayor of Terneuzen * Dr. J.P. Rehwinkel, mayor of Naarden * W.J.M. Velings MOI, chief of police, region Limburg Zuid * F.J. Heeres MPSM, chief of police, region Midden- en West Brabant * Mr. A.D.J. Keizer, former policy official of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport * Mr. drs. V. Everhardt, drugs and alcohol prevention expert * Dr. M. Jelsma, Drugs & Democracy Programme, Transnational Institute

Government kills medical marijuana cancer patient

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project]

The story I’m about to share with you sickens me. It’s a story of how our government turns the prohibition of medical marijuana into an excuse for murdering a cancer patient.

Dallas resident Stephen Thorton was a thyroid cancer survivor who used marijuana to control chronic pain, eliminate nausea, and gain weight. In 2005, a federal court in Texas convicted Thorton of “possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance and for distributing marijuana and marijuana plants.”

In other words, this cancer patient faced a federal prison sentence for having a gun that would have been legal except for the presence of marijuana, which he was using to treat a life-threatening illness.

Thorton fled Texas in late 2005, fearing that his prison term would undermine his battle against cancer — and in the process became a fugitive who was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service. He took up residence in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he continued to grow his medical marijuana. Last week, he was shot and killed by law enforcement officers in a drug raid at his home.

Investigators said they thought Thorton was the “kingpin” of a marijuana manufacturing ring.

You can read more about this latest victim of our government’s war on marijuana users here.

While this story is outrageous, it isn't unique. On MPP’s Web site, you can read a whole series of stories about other drug war victims.

Please help end marijuana prohibition — and the frightening police actions that accompany it — by making a financial contribution today. We cannot keep fighting the federal government — including lobbying Congress to pass legislation to end the federal government’s raids on medical marijuana patients — without the generosity of people like you.

Thank you. I’m grateful for anything you can do to help end the government’s cruel war on the sick.

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

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