With four months to go before the election, an initiative campaign to legalize marijuana for adults in California has a $5.5 million war chest. Promoters of Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, got a $2 million boost in donations this week from two key financial backers. Sean Parker, who co-founded Napster and was Facebook's first president, gave an additional $1.25 million, bringing his total contributions to $2.25 million. The New Approach PAC, which is a legacy of Progressive insurance mogul and legalization activist Peter Lewis, gave an additional $750,000. The PAC has now contributed $1.5 million. [continues 226 words]
An initiated act aimed at legalizing medical marijuana has been cleared for the Nov. 8 general election ballot, but the proposal faces opposition from three fronts - the backer of a competing constitutional amendment, a conservative organization and the governor. The Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act received enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot, Melissa Fults, campaign manager for Arkansans for Compassionate Care, said in an interview Thursday. Kerry Baldwin, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, confirmed that the group did meet the signature threshold. It is the first initiated proposal to clear that hurdle; today is the deadline for submitting petitions for a general election ballot proposal. [continues 1171 words]
It's a widely abused practice that was imposed on America by past state legislatures and the federal government. Civil asset forfeiture has been used to take innocent people's property for decades, and is perhaps better known as "legal plunder." As such, there's nothing particularly "civil" about civil asset forfeiture, and a California state senator wants to do something about that in the Golden State. In many states, under civil asset forfeiture, law enforcement can seize private property without a search warrant or an indictment, much less a conviction, based solely on suspicion that the property has been involved in, or is the ill-gotten gains of, criminal activity. [continues 629 words]
Newsom Tells Cannabis Industry to Help Pass November Ballot Initiative. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom warned a conference of cannabis industry representatives Tuesday that they need to get involved in passing a marijuana legalization measure on the November ballot or the cause will be set back nationally. Newsom also chided fellow Democratic elected officials for not doing more to change the law even though, he said, the war on drugs has been an "abject failure." "I kind of got frustrated by some of our colleagues because they weren't leading," Newsom told about 2,000 industry activists and entrepreneurs at a conference in Oakland sponsored by the National Cannabis Industry Assn. [continues 381 words]
Rx Push for Ballot 1st With Signatures Backers of an initiated act to legalize medical marijuana became the first group this year to submit signatures for a ballot proposal when they delivered petitions to the Arkansas secretary of state's office Monday. The petitions, bearing about 117,000 signatures, were submitted almost three weeks ahead of the July 8 state deadline. The next step is for validation by the secretary of state's office; 67,887 signatures from at least 15 different counties are needed for an initiated act to land on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. [continues 966 words]
Committee Tries to Understand Supervised Clinic Concept As Crosstown Clinic Physician Testifies to Its Efficacy Members of a U.S. Senate committee looking to confront drug abuse struggled with the concept of prescription heroin and raised concerns about supervised-injection sites increasing crime as they heard testimony on Wednesday from a B.C. doctor who helped lead one of the most radical interventions in North America. Scott MacDonald, physician lead at Providence Health Care's Crosstown Clinic in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs at a hearing in Washington titled "America's Insatiable Demand for Drugs: Examining Alternative Approaches." He was one of four experts invited to speak, and the only one from outside the United States. [continues 568 words]
ARLINGTON - Arlington's chief of police wasn't in his office on Wednesday, June 15. Instead, he was in Washington D.C. Arlington Police Chief Fred Ryan was testifying before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs at a hearing on alternative approaches to combating the opioid addiction crisis. He was speaking as a representative of the Police-Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative (PAARI), sharing his experiences fighting heroin and other drugs in Arlington with an approach emphasizing getting opioid users into treatment. [continues 492 words]
Let's Twist Up a Fattie... of News! Halfway There!-What's round at both ends and high in the middle? Snoop Dogg standing between two medicine balls. Also, Ohio! Governor John "Welp, I Tried" Kasich signed a bill this month to legalize medical cannabis, making the Buckeye State the 25th state. It won't go into effect for 90 days, and when it does, it will have some restrictions: Although residents with a doctor's recommendation will be allowed to use cannabis, there will not be any (legal) licensed growers or dispensaries in the state until 2017 or 2018. [continues 561 words]
Bill Targets the Taking of People's Property Without a Conviction. SACRAMENTO - Almost a year after California lawmakers rejected legislation that would restrict police departments' ability to take cars, cash, homes and other property from suspected criminals without a conviction, the bill's author is trying again as similar efforts succeed across the country. The practice, known as civil asset forfeiture, gained currency during the height the drug war in the 1980s as a way for law enforcement to financially cripple drug lords and fund anti-narcotics operations. But advocates for reforming the laws say too often police officers ensnare innocent residents who are poor and have few resources to ensure their property is returned. [continues 871 words]
Personal pot possession in California was reduced from an arrest to an infraction in 2010, but systemic racism around pot enforcement continues, a new study finds. The American Civil Liberties Union of California, in conjunction with the Drug Policy Alliance, published a groundbreaking, heavily reported piece of research Monday that concludes that the Black community in California faces ticketing for pot at a rate four times as high as whites. Latinos have about double the rate of pot tickets as whites. [continues 1008 words]
Marijuana, by Most Measures, Is Not the Scourge That Alcohol Is, Writes David Booth The National Post recently scandalized its famously conservative readers with a headline claiming that "about half of Canadians who drive while high insist pot doesn't impair them." The article - When is stoned too stoned? - further sensationalized the "crisis" by noting: "nothing would make (20 per cent of those surveyed) stop driving while stoned." With the Trudeau government poised to legalize marijuana, it was enough to send neo-cons into paroxysms of paranoia, fearing our roads would be turned into killing fields by the demon weed. [continues 996 words]
Doesn't Have the Impaired-Driving Threat of Alcohol Marijuana, by most measures, is not the scourge that alcohol is, writes David Booth The National Post recently scandalized its famously conservative readers with a headline claiming that "about half of Canadians who drive while high insist pot doesn't impair them." The article - When is stoned too stoned? - further sensationalized the "crisis" by noting: "nothing would make (20 per cent of those surveyed) stop driving while stoned." With the Trudeau government poised to legalize marijuana, it was enough to send neo-cons into paroxysms of paranoia, fearing our roads would be turned into killing fields by the demon weed. [continues 995 words]
BEHIND THE WHEEL: Recent studies indicate smoking marijuana far less dangerous than drinking booze The National Post recently scandalized its famously conservative readers with a headline claiming that "about half of Canadians who drive while high insist pot doesn't impair them." The article - When is stoned too stoned? - further sensationalized the "crisis" by noting: "nothing would make (20 per cent of those surveyed) stop driving while stoned." With the Trudeau government poised to legalize marijuana, it was enough to send neo-cons into paroxysms of paranoia, fearing our roads would be turned into killing fields by the demon weed. [continues 996 words]
Marijuana, by most measures, is not the scourge that alcohol is, writes National Post recently scandalized its famously conservative readers with a headline claiming that "about half of Canadians who drive while high insist pot doesn't impair them." The article - When is stoned too stoned? - further sensationalized the "crisis" by noting: "nothing would make (20 per cent of those surveyed) stop driving while stoned." With the Trudeau government poised to legalize marijuana, it was enough to send neo-cons into paroxysms of paranoia, fearing our roads would be turned into killing fields by the demon weed. [continues 996 words]
Marijuana, by most measures, is not the scourge that alcohol is, writes David Booth. The National Post recently scandalized its famously conservative readers with a headline claiming that "about half of Canadians who drive while high insist pot doesn't impair them." The article - When is stoned too stoned? - further sensationalized the "crisis" by noting: "nothing would make (20 per cent of those surveyed) stop driving while stoned." With the Trudeau government poised to legalize marijuana, it was enough to send neo-cons into paroxysms of paranoia, fearing our roads would be turned into killing fields by the demon weed. [continues 997 words]
Marijuana, by Most Measures, Is Not the Scourge That Alcohol Is, Writes David Booth National Post recently scandalized its famously conservative readers with a headline claiming that "about half of Canadians who drive while high insist pot doesn't impair them." The article - When is stoned too stoned? - further sensationalized the "crisis" by noting: "nothing would make (20 per cent of those surveyed) stop driving while stoned." With the Trudeau government poised to legalize marijuana, it was enough to send neo-cons into paroxysms of paranoia, fearing our roads would be turned into killing fields by the demon weed. [continues 996 words]
The National Post recently scandalized its famously conservative readers with a headline claiming that "about half of Canadians who drive while high insist pot doesn't impair them." The article - When is stoned too stoned? - further sensationalized the "crisis" by noting: "nothing would make (20 per cent of those surveyed) stop driving while stoned." With the Trudeau government poised to legalize marijuana, it was enough to send neo-cons into paroxysms of paranoia, fearing our roads would be turned into killing fields by the demon weed. [continues 997 words]
One of the chief arguments against legalizing cannabis in California is that legalization is not needed. In 2010, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill decriminalizing up to an ounce of cannabis for all adults, no medical-cannabis recommendation from a physician required. Possessing under an ounce is punishable by a citation, which carries a fine of no more than $100 (plus fees) - or a less serious offense than blowing a stop sign on a bicycle. Thanks to this, misdemeanor marijuana arrests nearly vanished in the state, tumbling by almost 90 percent from 2009 to 2011. Nobody really goes to jail anymore just for a little bit of weed, this argument goes. [continues 798 words]
The signatures are still being tallied and verified, but an initiative aimed at legalizing recreational use of cannabis in California is on track to easily qualify for the ballot this November. Early secretary of state reports show the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which is backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Sean Parker, submitted more than the needed 365,880 signatures just in Southern California. And more than three-quarters of the signatures sampled from counties that have completed the verification process - 15 out of 58 - have been deemed valid. In all, some 600,000 petition signatures were submitted earlier this month. [continues 951 words]
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a proponent of the legalization effort, should be reminded that his most important responsibility as an elected official is to protect the people from all enemies, foreign and domestic. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act is rumored to be bankrolled by billionaires who do not have California's best interest in mind. New York billionaire Sean Parker has purportedly been recruited to augment money that will flow from George Soros and the Drug Policy Alliance. They didn't earn billions because they are dumb, but apparently they think we are. Their stated benefits of legalization are frankly an affront to one's intellect. [continues 481 words]
