Medical Marijuana Growers Join Teamsters Union
As organized labor faces declining membership, one of the United States' most storied unions is looking to a new growth industry: marijuana.
Organizations
Prediction: Washington State Will End Marijuana Prohibition in 26 Months (Opinion)
Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, opines on why he is convinced that Washington state will probably be one of the first two states to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.
MPP Insider Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 8
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Marijuana prohibition has once again been proven to be a failure by our own government with the release of two reports this week. While the FBI's Uniform Crime Report showed marijuana arrests rising to 858,408 in 2009, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicated an eight percent rise in marijuana use among Americans. Given this kind of clear evidence that marijuana prohibition is not stopping marijuana use, why does our government want to continue to enforce policies aimed at arresting marijuana users? 
In what some may argue is a telling sign of their fear, the California Beer and Beverage Distributors made a $10,000 contribution to a committee opposing California's Prop. 19, a ballot initiative to tax and regulate marijuana in California. The alcohol lobby joins a large part of the state's law enforcement in opposing the bill, which could bring in more than $1 billion in revenue for the state. It would seem that having a safe alternative to alcohol and preventing the arrests of thousands of Californians each year just doesn't seem to be a priority for these groups. 
Kenneth Wells, a 57-year-old St. Charles man with no criminal record who was facing 5-15 years in prison for felony marijuana cultivation charges, has had the charges against him dropped. Mr. Wells suffers from chronic seizures and had been using marijuana to treat his symptoms with his doctor's recommendation. Although it was ruled that his doctor could not testify on his behalf, the charges were dropped when the prosecution determined it would be difficult to keep the details of his condition from the jury. 
In what can only be described as a step back for patients in Rhode Island, the health department there announced that it had rejected all 15 applications to open the state's first medical marijuana compassion centers. Among reasons cited for the rejections were that some applications had exceeded the allowable page limit. Setting and following guidelines can certainly be important in a process such as this, but should Rhode Island really be disqualifying applicants for being thorough? 
Marijuana Policy Project executive director Rob Kampia recently wrote a piece featured in the Huffington Post looking at how we frame the issue of medical marijuana policy reform in America. Rob points out that we have been successful not by promoting marijuana's safety or efficacy as medicine to many people, but rather because we've focused on what this issue is really about: compassion for people. 
In January 2003, 19-year-old Webster Alexander of Alabama received a 26-year prison sentence for selling $350 of marijuana within three miles of a school.Marijuana Use Increases While Arrests Approach Record Levels, Reports Show (Press Release)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 16, 2010
Marijuana Use Increases While Arrests Approach Record Levels, Reports Show
Marijuana Now Accounts for Half of All U.S. Drug Arrests, But Enforcement Efforts Have Done Nothing to Reduce Use
CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or 443-927-6400
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Marijuana arrests accounted for more than half of all U.S. drug arrests in 2009, while its use among Americans increased by 8 percent, according to two reports released this week by government officials.
According to the FBI’s 2009 Uniform Crime Report released yesterday, U.S. law enforcement made 858,408 arrests on marijuana charges — 88 percent of which were for possession, not sale or manufacture. Marijuana arrests peaked in 2007 at more than 872,000, and witnessed a slight dip in 2008 at 847,863.
In 2009, an American was arrested on marijuana charges every 37 seconds.
Meanwhile, an annual report released today by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 16.7 million Americans had used marijuana in the past month.
“It’s now more obvious than ever that decades of law enforcement efforts have absolutely failed to reduce marijuana’s use or availability, and that it’s simply an exercise in futility to continue arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans for using something that’s safer than alcohol,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “Rather than criminalize millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens and waste billions of dollars that could be better spent combating violent crime and other real threats to public safety, it’s time we embrace sensible marijuana policies that would regulate marijuana the same way we do alcohol or tobacco.”
With more than 124,000 members and supporters 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 www.mpp.org.
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Marijuana Law Reform is a Civil Rights Issue (Opinion)
Alice Huffman, president of the California State NAACP, opines on the civil rights aspects of legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana in California. She says the California NAACP does not believe maintaining the illusion that we're winning the "war on drugs" is worth sacrificing another generation of our young men and women.
Disenfranchisement News: Date Set for Disenfranchisement Court Case
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Law Enforcement Support for California Cannabis Initiative Growing (Press Release)
NEWS ADVISORY: September 10, 2010
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media//at//leap//dot//cc
LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT FOR CALIFORNIA CANNABIS INITIATIVE GROWING
Cops and Judges to Endorse Prop 19 at Simultaneous Northern and Southern California Press Conferences Monday, Sept 13 at 10:00 AM PDT
Campaign Also Holding Telephone Press Conference Monday Afternoon at 12:30 PM PDT
(OAKLAND, CA) -- A group of police officers, judges, and prosecutors who support Proposition 19, the California ballot measure to control and tax cannabis (marijuana), will hold simultaneous press conferences Monday, September 13 in front of Oakland City Hall and in West Hollywood Park near Los Angeles at 10 AM PDT to release a letter of endorsement signed by dozens of law enforcers across the state.
"At each step of my law enforcement career - from beat officer up to chief of police in two major American cities - I saw the futility of our marijuana prohibition laws," said Joseph McNamara, former police chief in San Jose and Kansas City, MO, now a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "But our marijuana laws are much worse than ineffective: they waste valuable police resources and also create a lucrative black market that funds cartels and criminal gangs with billions of tax-free dollars."
Former LAPD sergeant and Los Angeles County deputy district attorney William John Cox, added, "This November, Californians finally have a chance to flip the equation and put drug cartels out of business, while restoring public respect for the criminal laws and their enforcement by passing Proposition 19 to control and regulate marijuana."
Also speaking at the press conferences will be current Oakland city attorney John Russo, former LAPD deputy police chief Stephen Downing, former Oakland drug nuisance prosecutor James Anthony, retired Orange County Superior Court judge Jim Gray, former Torrance Police Department beat officer and drug identification expert Kyle Kazan, former Wheatland, CA police officer Nate Bradley, and others.
In the sign-on letter being released at the press conferences, dozens of law enforcers outline their reasons for supporting Proposition 19, detailing how it will:
* Put our police priorities where they belong, by ending the arrests of non-violent cannabis consumers, and enabling police to focus instead on preventing violent crime
* Cut off funding to violent gangs and drug cartels, who generate the majority of their revenue from illegal marijuana sales
* Protect the lives of police officers now at risk in the "drug war" line of fire
* Reduce marijuana access to children by instituting strict age-limits and public safety controls
* Restore mutual respect and good relations between law enforcement and communities bearing the brunt of the current marijuana laws
For journalists who can’t physically attend the press conferences, the Yes on 19 campaign will be holding a conference call featuring several anti-prohibition law enforcers on Monday at 12:30 PM PDT. For dial-in info, please contact Tom Angell at 202-557-4979 or media at leap dot cc.
These law enforcement leaders join the National Black Police Association, the California NAACP, doctors, Latino community leaders, faith leaders, labor, business leaders, elected officials, political parties, and more, in endorsing Proposition 19. For a full list of endorsements, please visit: http://www.yeson19.com/endorsements.
Similar to current alcohol and tobacco laws, Proposition 19 will give state and local governments the ability to control and tax the sale of small amounts of cannabis to adults age 21 and older. As the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), which provides non-partisan fiscal and policy advice, confirms, Prop 19 includes significant safeguards and controls: It maintains strict criminal penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana, increases the penalty for providing marijuana to a minor, expressly prohibits the consumption of marijuana in public, forbids smoking marijuana while minors are present, and bans possession on school grounds.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i821_initiative_09-0024_amdt_1-s.pdf,
http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2010/19_11_2010.pdf (Page 3)
California’s tax collector, the Board of Equalization (BOE), which currently collects alcohol and tobacco taxes, estimates that marijuana taxes could generate $1.4 billion in revenue each year, available to fund law enforcement, healthcare, and other critical needs.
www.boe.ca.gov/legdiv/pdf/ab0390-1dw.pdf
The California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) also says Prop 19 would enable California to put our police priorities where they belong, in that it “could result in savings to the state and local governments by reducing the number of marijuana offenders incarcerated in state prisons and county jails, as well as the number placed under county probation or state parole supervision. These savings could reach several tens of millions of dollars annually. The county jail savings would be offset to the extent that jail beds no longer needed for marijuana offenders were used for other criminals who are now being released early because of a lack of jail space."
http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2010/19_11_2010.pdf (Page 6)
Multiple polls show that a majority of California voters support Proposition 19.
http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contests/2010-ca-prop-19
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Tell Chairman Conyers It's Time for Truth! (Action Alert)
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Americans for Safe Access Monthly Activist Newsletter -- September 2010
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ACTION ALERT: It's Time for Truth!Recently, U.S. Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) sent a letter to Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) requesting that the Committee on the Judiciary hold a hearing to consider adopting the "Truth in Trials Act" (H.R. 3939). This important legislation would provide an affirmative defense for authorized medical cannabis users and caregivers who are facing federal prosecution in medical cannabis states. The growing divide between federal and state marijuana laws requires the leadership of Congress. "Truth" is a common-sense, reasonable solution. Tell Chairman Conyers that it's time for hearings on the "Truth in Trials Act!" Call his office in D.C. at 202-225-5126; send him a fax at 202-225-0072; or write to him at: Rep. John Conyers, Jr. 2426 Rayburn H.O.B. Washington, DC 20515 | ||||||||||||||
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The two principal co-sponsors of federal legislation to allow a medical defense in federal marijuana trials are pushing for action on the bill. Reps. Sam Farr (D, CA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R, CA) have sent a letter to Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D, MI), chair of the Judiciary Committee, requesting immediate hearings.
Concerned California citizens have begun a campaign to educate voters about the candidates for state attorney general. While the AG rase typically gets little attention, the holder of the office holds enormous power of the implementation and enforcement of state medical cannabis laws. Democrat Kamala Harris, currently the San Francisco District attorney, is facing Republican Steve Cooley, the longest-serving district attorney in Los Angeles history.
In contrast, Cooley says he interprets the law to say that no one can legally buy or sell medical cannabis in California, and he has repeatedly tried to undermine the operation of patient collectives in LA County. When the LA city council was creating regulations for dispensaries, Cooley denounced the council as "irrelevant," saying he would ignore anything they passed, and prosecute anyone operating a dispensary. His official spokesperson has even said that, if Cooley is elected attorney general, he may find "rare exceptions" to enforcing the law.Victory Stolen - Help Us Get It Back! (Action Alert)
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