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Trekt Uw Plant Counts on Being Acquitted

Dear friends, Today, the case in appeal against the conviction of the Cannabis Social Club Trekt Uw Plant and 5 of its members because of possessing 1 cannabis plant per person has taken a strange direction today. The Prosecutors Office has requested the Court of Appeal to acquit us because of the fact that too much time has passed since the date of the facts (12 december 2006). According to the prosecutor we can only be accused of growing cannabis for personal use, which is not considered a crime but an offense, which can only be punished by so-called police convictions (fines or community work) and because this offense has been committed more than 1,5 years ago he requests to acquit us. This seems to be a childish trick in order not to have to deal with the principle matter: the Prosecutors Office itself had requested in January 2008 to postpone the case until June, possibly in order to be able to request acquittance and in this way dismiss the case. But in fact it means that the possession of 1 plant by adult citizens is tolerated also by the highest echelons of the legal system. On June 26th we will have the final sentence, but due to the fact that the court of appeal has not even heard our defense lawyer (who made his extensive preparation - referring to the legality principle included in the European Convention on Human Rights - for nothing) it is quite sure that we will be acquitted. The next step is to find out what this means concretely for our club. But today is a happy day :-) best wishes Joep / Philippe / Kris www.trektuwplant.be -- EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES Lange Lozanastraat 14 - 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 - Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644 E-mail: [email protected]

Repression on Brazil GMM

On past May Brazil revived situations that reminded the period of the Military Dictatorship, when freedom of expression was suspended, social movements were violently repressed and protesters were considered criminals and punished by law. These events reveal the country still has a long way to go to consolidate itself as an effectively democratic nation.

The Marijuana March that was expected to happen in 14 cities was forbidden in Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, João Pessoa, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo and Santos. In these cities hundreds of people attended the manifestation, many not knowing the March had being prohibited. More than 50 protesters were arrested and charged with "crime apology", including some who were victims of police violence.

The event took place only in Recife, Porto Alegre, Vitória and Florianópolis, where thousands of people manifested peacefully and the announced "apologetic behavior" did not come about. Still today some activists are being investigated in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, accused with practicing "crime apology", including researchers that are know nationally and internationally, such as Sergio Vidal and Edward MacRae. Both are at risk of being criminally charged with "inducing, stimulating or motivating drug abuse", article 33 of the new drug law that was passed on August 2006.

The independent media has registered some situations that may help to put together the absurd scenery of those facts:

General Vídeo 01 Vídeo 02

Belo Horizonte Vídeo 01

Brasília - DF Vídeo 01

Curitiba Vídeo 01 Vídeo 02 Vídeo 03 Vídeo 04

Florianópolis Vídeo 01

João Pessoa Vídeo 01 Vídeo 02

Recife Vídeo 01 Vídeo 02 Vídeo 03 Vídeo 04 Vídeo 05 Vídeo 06

Rio de Janeiro Vídeo 01

São Paulo Vídeo 01 Vídeo 02 Vídeo 03 Vídeo 04

TV videos Vídeo 01 Vídeo 02 Vídeo 03 Vídeo 04 Vídeo 05 Vídeo 06

Translatade by: Luiz Paulo Guanabara

Posted By: Sergio Vidal

Sergio Vidal (71) 81771488

Secretário do GIESP; Pesquisador do NEIP;

Press Release -- CDC Survey: As Many Teens Smoke Marijuana as Cigarettes, Cigarette Use Dropping Faster

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 4, 2008

CDC Survey: As Many Teens Smoke Marijuana as Cigarettes, Cigarette Use Dropping Faster
Crackdown on Tobacco Sales to Kids Continues to Reduce Teen Access to Cigarettes

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-668-6403 or 202-215-4205

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two just-released federal reports indicate that regulation of tobacco continues to produce a steady drop in teen cigarette use and teen access to tobacco, with current cigarette use by high school students dropping markedly faster than use of marijuana.

The just-released 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports rates of current cigarette use and current marijuana use among teens in grades nine through 12 in a statistical tie at 20 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively. The cigarette use figure represents a sharp drop from the 2005 survey, when it was 23 percent. Marijuana use, at 20.2 percent in 2005, showed a much smaller decline.

Another report released this week, the Fiscal Year 2007 Annual Synar Report on tobacco sales to youth, showed the 10th straight annual decline in the rate of illegal tobacco sales to minors. In 1997, 40.1 percent of retailers violated laws against tobacco sales to minors. In 2007 the rate had dropped to just 10.5 percent, the lowest ever.

"Efforts to curb cigarette sales to teens have been wildly successful, and it's past time we applied those lessons to marijuana," said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "Tobacco retailers can be fined or put out of business if they sell to kids, but prohibition guarantees that we have zero control over marijuana dealers. Foolish policies have guaranteed that the marijuana industry is completely unregulated.

"This isn't about whether you think marijuana is good or bad, it's about common sense," Houston, a father of three children, continued. "If you think marijuana is bad, why would you want it controlled by unregulated criminals, which guarantees that kids have greater access to it?"

The full CDC report is available online at http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdf/yrbss07_mmwr.pdf. The 2007 Annual Synar report is at http://prevention.samhsa.gov/tobacco/synarreportfy2007.pdf.

With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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Meet Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction at MPP's party at the Playboy Mansion

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project] 

Dear friends:

I'm pleased to announce that Perry Farrell from Jane's Addiction will be DJ'ing and performing at MPP's third annual party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles on June 12.

Other confirmed celebrities include comedians Margaret Cho, Bill Maher, and Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling, as well as “L.A. Ink” star Kat Von D, with many more celebrity RSVPs expected in the coming weeks. And reality TV superstar and fashion model Adrianne Curry is hosting the event.

The party is just two weeks away, so if you haven't already purchased your ticket(s) for this year's hottest marijuana policy reform party, please reserve your ticket(s) now!

We'll be auctioning off some exclusive items at the party, including vintage photographs of James Dean, Frank Sinatra, and Jimmy Hendrix, as well as VIP tickets to Craig Ferguson's “Late Late Show.”

I hope you'll join me, Adrianne, and a small gaggle of celebrities and supporters of marijuana policy reform at our party at the Playboy Mansion ...

Buy your tickets today.

All proceeds will benefit MPP's efforts to end marijuana prohibition in the U.S.

See you at the Mansion on June 12 ...

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 donation today will be doubled.

Sensible Colorado: The Mayor's Panel and YOU

 

 
GOOD NEWS!
The Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper has officially recommended that the Denver City Attorney's Office STOP prosecuting adults for marijuana possession in Denver!

 

Now we need your help!


 

 


It is critical that we demonstrate the strong sentiment of the public in favor of implementing this recommendation. You can help bring about change in how Colorado's capitol city handles marijuana by taking just one or two minutes to send a message to Denver city officials urging them to support and/or follow this recommendation.

You do NOT need to live in Denver OR Colorado to lend your voice to this effort!
Here's how to help:

Step 1: Open a blank e-mail

Step 2: Copy and paste the following address list, subject, and message into your e-mail

Step 3: Hit send!

Address list:
http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected], http://b8.mail.yahoo.com/ym/sensiblecolorado.org/[email protected]

Subject: Support Mayor's panel recommendation

Message: (Be sure to include your name and address if you reside in Denver)

I am writing to encourage you to support the implementation of the first recommendation of the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel.

The majority of the panel approved the recommendation, which calls for the Denver City Attorney's Office to adopt an official policy to no longer prosecute cases of private adult marijuana possession.

The Marijuana Policy Review Panel was appointed by the mayor to implement the "lowest law enforcement priority" ordinance approved by Denver voters to the greatest extent possible, and this recommendation would bring about the changes the majority of voters wish to see. Denver voters have made it clear they do not think adults 21 and older should be punished simply for possessing a drug less harmful than alcohol, and it is my understanding that the Denver City Attorney's Office is able to refrain from prosecuting in such cases. Thus, I hope you will urge that office to follow the recommendation.

In Missoula, Mont., where a similar "lowest law enforcement priority" initiative was adopted in 2006, the Missoula County Attorney's Office adopted an official policy to uphold the new ordinance and stop prosecuting in cases of simple adult marijuana possession. Seattle and a number of California cities have also adopted "lowest priority" ordinances and experienced a decline in prosecutions for marijuana possession. Like the people in those cities, Denver citizens are ahead of the curve when it comes to reforming marijuana laws and policies, and we too can take a more common-sense approach to marijuana use by adults.

Although marijuana possession is only punishable by a $100-$200 fine in Denver, it is important that you understand the detrimental effect a marijuana arrest can have on an individual. Everyone who pays their citation (and thus pleads guilty) receives a permanent drug conviction on their criminal record; people can lose their jobs, college financial aid, professional licenses, public housing benefits, and more; and those on parole or probation could find themselves in one of our already overcrowded jails or prisons.

For those reasons and more, the voter-approved ordinance was endorsed by the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, the ACLU of Colorado, the National Lawyers Guild Colorado Chapter, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, the Libertarian Party of Colorado, the Green Party of Colorado, ProgressNow Action, and Sensible Colorado, among others.

I hope you will join these organizations, the majority of Denver voters, and me in standing up for a more rational approach to adult marijuana possession in Denver.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing where you stand on the panel's recommendation.

Sensible Colorado | PO Box 18768 | Denver CO 80218

What does MPP do with your money?

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project]

Dear friends:

Have you ever wanted to get a closer look at how MPP operates?

Want to see some of what we have accomplished over the years and see exactly where your donations go?

Please click on the image below to watch our new five-minute video ...

Why Donate video

If you haven't yet donated to MPP, I hope this video will inspire you to become a dues-paying member. If you're already a member, I hope this video makes you feel good about how we use your generous funding.

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 donation today will be doubled.

Help decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project]

The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) has just begun the second and final stage of the signature drive to place a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the Massachusetts ballot ... giving voters the chance to decriminalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use in the state.

Last November, after two months of petitioning, CSMP turned in more than 105,000 signatures to qualify the initiative for the November 2008 ballot. State law then required the state legislature to consider the initiative between January 2 and May 6. That period is now over, and CSMP began the second stage of the signature drive, which requires another 11,099 valid signatures by June 18. To ensure a place on the ballot, the campaign must collect approximately 20,000 raw signatures — at a cost of about $65,000.

Would you please consider making a contribution to the campaign to ensure that voters have the chance to decriminalize marijuana this fall?

This is the first time in history that an initiative to decriminalize marijuana will be placed on any statewide ballot. And winning in Massachusetts could dramatically advance marijuana policy reform elsewhere in the country.

So far, the campaign has done everything right, including successfully completing the first part of the signature drive and lobbying the legislature not to take any actions that would harm the campaign.

But now the campaign must raise the money that's needed to complete the second phase of the signature drive. Will you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org/donate to donate $10 or more today?

Thank you,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

ALERT: #365 Drug Czar Walters Exaggerating Again

[Courtesy of DrugSense] Well if we didn't already know it was the month of May, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in Washington DC led by Drug Czar John Walters is doing their best to remind us - again. For the eighth year in a row under Walters' lead, the ONDCP has used the first half of May to release their annual "latest scary facts about marijuana" press release. Packaged and carefully crafted in the guise of a scientific study, the ONDCP has again done nothing more than take a few correlative facts about teenagers and marijuana use and then 'conclude' that the pot use creates causative and inescapable debilitating health effects for our youth. This year, it's "depression." Citing the results of a dubious survey from New Zealand wherein teenagers who acknowledged feeling depression also often cited use of marijuana, the ONDCP report concludes that teenagers who use cannabis face an increased likelihood of being depressed. Sadly, this is as scientifically causative as saying that many people who feel pain also use aspirin. And that therefore aspirin use causes pain. Even more grim is that such junk science press releases are used to add fuel to the fiery federal insistence that all marijuana use - even for adults, and even for appropriate medical use with a doctor's recommendation (currently legal in 12 U.S. states and Canada) - should remain a criminal offense - an offense worthy of arrest, prosecution, incarceration and a lifetime criminal record. Fortunately, based on our 11+ years of covering drug policy news at MAP, we've come to see that an increasing number of newspaper reporters and editors view information coming from the Drug Czar's office with a cocked eyebrow and/or even a smirking dismissal. That's in large part due to their receiving a steady diet of more honest and truthful information about marijuana - both it's negative effects and it's positive benefits. That flow of alternative personal and professional testimony comes from people like you - the users of MAP and the people most interested in a public drug policy that is founded on facts rather than emotionally driven misinformation. MAP has been archived news clippings that resulted from the ONDCP press release over this past weekend and will continue to add more as newshawks like you find more. All the clippings found so far start with a subject line of "US" and may be found here: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/depression Please consider writing and sending a Letter to the Editor to the listed newspapers of your choice and the newspapers people read where you live. If you write to more than one newspaper, we strongly suggest at least some modification of your message so that each newspaper receives a unique letter. Often the best targets for response are Opinion items (Editorials, OPEDs and other LTEs) which may be printed during the days ahead. Please recheck the link above during the week for additional targets for letters. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do. ********************************************************************** Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Or contact MAP's Media Activism Facilitator for tips on how to write LTEs that are printed. [email protected] ********************************************************************** PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list ( [email protected] ) if you are subscribed, or by e-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ( [email protected] ) will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

Press Release: Belgian Cannabis Social Club Challenges Prohibition

For Immediate Release: May 7, 2008 IS IT ALLOWED OR IS IT NOT? In the past days, Trekt Uw Plant has again tried to obtain a clear answer on the question if the possession of cannabis for personal use in Belgium is allowed or not. Again, the authorities refuse to give this answer. According to a ministerial guideline issued by the Belgian minister of Justice and the 5 Head Attorneys in January 2005, the registration by the authorities of the possession of an amount of cannabis for personal use (established at max. 3 grammes and one cannabis plant) by an adult, without the presence of aggravating circumstances or public disorder, will only lead to a Simplified Police Record (VPV). There will be no actions that lead to persecution and the cannabis will not be confiscated. On Saturday May 3d, during the Worldwide Marijuana March on the Vrijdagmarkt in Antwerp, three board members of Trekt Uw Plant were arrested after they had planted a cannabis seed in a flower pot. After six hours in a police cell, they were informed that they would be accused of "growing drugs in the possible presence of minors". There were some children on the Vrijdagmarkt indeed, yet at the moment the seed plant action took place, no minors were present. Besides, the cannabis seed itself is not a drug. A seed itself does not contain THC (active element of cannabis) nor is it sure that there will grow a THC containing plant out of it. On Monday 5 May the president of Trekt Uw Plant, Philippe De Craene, planted again a cannabis seed in an empty ruin on the "Konijnenwei" in Antwerp, where there is no possibility to create public disorder and without the presence of minors. Again he was arrested, and released after two hours. The accusation will probably be “privatisation of the public space”. Before the action we had involved the ruin in white clothes, so that no minor could see what was going on inside. Apparently this act can be described as privatisation, which is forbidden by law. Interesting detail is that one of the persons who attended the event was later searched by the police and appeared to have one gram of cannabis on him. When he refused to refrain from this, he was allowed to keep it. On the same place, possibly by the same police officer, the ministerial guideline was applied in one case, and in another not. The actions of Trekt Uw Plant have shown that there is an enormous lack of legal security and judicial arbitrarity concerning cannabis in Belgium. That is something which many young people, especially from non-Western origin, are confronted with every day. But in principle this legal insecurity affects all cannabis consuming Belgians (between 300.000 and 500.000 people) and millions of Europeans.... Trekt Uw Plant does not let itself be scared by police operations that are steered from up above. Next year on the first saturday in May we will again organise a Marijuana March in Antwerp. Thanks to the support of many sympathisers the event of last saturday was, also without us, a big success. That the intervention of the police created an atmosphere in which cannabis was publically used, also in the presence of minors, is not our fault. We had done everything to avoid this. Trekt Uw Plant maintains its objective. The association facilitates assistance to its members in growing their personal cannabisplant. The Antwerp judge declared on April 25, 2007 that the right to associate is guaranteed by the Constitution, and that the existence of the association is legal. People can associate themselves anonymously, although we should be able to establish that they fulfill the rules. Members of Trekt Uw Plant have to be adult, live in Belgium, aware of the risks of cannabis use and must adress themselves voluntarily. Everybody who fulfills these conditions is welcome. After the events of 3 and 5 May we look forward with great confidence to the coming courtcase in appeal on June 12 in Antwerp. We have appealed against the fine of 15 euro that some of our members have been condemned to (the sanction of the other members has been suspended) for establishing a collective plantation on December 12, 2006. Our case has only become stronger. Also the judges of the Court of Appeal must have noticed that the non-application of the ministerial guideline concerning the possession of cannabis for personal use is violating the principle of legality. This principle states that if the individual citizen cannot consult a clear piece of legislation which describes his act as illegal, this act cannot be punished. The final purpose of Trekt Uw Plant is to anchor the principle of the ministerial guieline, which is the respect for the cultivation of cannabis for personal use, in the Belgian legislation. This will create a legal alternative for 500.000 Belgians who regularly consume cannabis and who are now forced to smuggle the product into the Netherlands or to provide themselves at the illegal market. This illegal market does not apply public health norms or age limits. Trekt Uw Plant wants to be a signal. A signal of respect for Mother Nature. Of resistance against them who use fear as a political weapon in order to safeguard economic and other interests. Of hope on a world in which democratic decisions are being respected by legal authorities. Finally one thing: we need to conclude that indeed, the use of cannabis can truely lead to serious psychotic reactions, squizofrenia and loss of memory. But not in the user. On behalf of Trekt Uw Plant, Philippe De Craene, Kris Verdonck and Joep Oomen Lange Lozanastraat 14 2018 Antwerp Belgium [email protected] Tel. +32 3 293 0886 / +32 495 122 644 (Joep) / +32 494 807 350 (Philippe) / +32 486 - 357595 (Kris)

Last chance for early bird tickets to MPP's party at the Playboy Mansion

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project] 

Dear friends:

If you've ever wanted to go to the Playboy Mansion, here's what could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

MPP will be holding a star-studded party at the Playboy Mansion in L.A. on June 12 — and we're offering you the chance to buy tickets at a discounted rate of $850. That rate is only good through May 12 — then tickets go up to $1,000 apiece ... so buy now to lock in the lower rate.

The party will be hosted by reality TV superstar and model Adrianne Curry. Party-goers will get to mingle with celebrities, Playboy Playmates, and marijuana policy reformers while exploring 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 love seats built into the stone walls. You'll also be able to bid on auction items, including vintage photographs of James Dean, Frank Sinatra, and Jimmy Hendrix.

Be a part of MPP's biggest charity event and help us raise much-needed funds for our work. Please reserve your tickets today.

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 donation today will be doubled.

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