Here is why I am against limiting the number of marijuana dispensaries. The fewer dispensaries there are, the higher the cost of medicine will be. With little competition they can charge whatever outrageous prices they wish for making consumers spend hundreds of dollars a month for their medicine. This drives clients to seek a cheaper alternative. A small amount may cost the same, whether from a dispensary or from the guy on the street. But for a larger amount, no one can get a price break from spending more money with that same guy on the street, whereas you would spend the same amount of money at a dispensary for a large amount, as if you were to go back to the dispensary four times and buy smaller amounts. Even supermarkets give better deals when you buy in bulk. The dispensary owners are greedy and push all their business into the street into the illegal market. We need more dispensaries, not less. Misty Medvin Lakeport [end]
The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 is gaining momentum, and its key advocate isn't your stereotypical, hippy-dippy, pot-smoking liberal. It's a Republican former federal prosecutor and retired Superior Court judge James Gray. Those in the Newport/Costa Mesa area are probably most familiar with Jim through his weekly Daily Pilot columns, "It's a Gray Area." He's a guy with strong opinions and never one to shy away from controversy. A few weeks ago, I asked Jim why he's co-authored this act and why he feels it has legs in 2012. [continues 476 words]
Voters in Miami Beach could make it the first city in Florida to decriminalize marijuana possession after campaigners announced Tuesday they had turned in more than double the number of voter signatures needed for their initiative to make the ballot. They needed 4,300 signatures and turned in more than 9,000. The initiative is sponsored by the Campaign for Sensible Marijuana Policies in Florida. Under the initiative, people caught in possession of up to 20 grams of pot would face no more than a $100 fine. Under Florida state law, possession of up to 20 grams is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. [continues 254 words]
Citing federal interference, the legislature has exempted Texas from federal energy standards regarding light bulbs. Texas State Rep. George Lavender hopes incandescent light bulb manufacturers will move to Texas and create jobs and tax revenue. In contrast, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, says he will not give U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's "Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011" a hearing. This is a pure states' rights bill. It makes no new law. According to Harvard economist Jeffery Miron, Texas spends $644,477,000 every year enforcing federal marijuana prohibition and loses potential tax revenue of $171,430,000. Where are conservative principles when we need them? Suzanne Wills Dallas [end]
PHOENIX -- You could soon have a marijuana club down the block or around the corner. An entrepreneur in the state's nascent medical marijuana industry has found what he believes is a loophole in the law that restricts the distribution of the drug to just 125 specially licensed dispensaries. Allan Sobol already has opened his first club in North Phoenix and has plans with his business partners to expand elsewhere. But the exception Sobol has found means more than the possibility of these clubs showing up in every strip mall. It also gets around the fact that health officials are refusing to even accept applications for those who want to operate one of those limited number of heavily regulated dispensaries. [continues 923 words]
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Last year, after more than two decades of debate, Congress finally addressed a gross disparity in sentencing for crimes involving different types of cocaine, crack and powder. Now, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has adopted federal sentencing guideline revisions that would allow thousands of convicted drug offenders to petition for reduced prison terms. It's not a universally popular move, but it's a revision that makes sense. The federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine were well-intentioned but turned out to be an overreaction to drug-related violence in the mid-1980s. Lawmakers, concluding that crack was far more dangerous than the powered form of the drug, made mandatory minimum sentences for crack 100 times higher than those for powder. [continues 435 words]
A Victoria Police Department video on how to make crack cocaine has drawn criticism as being inappropriate. The department posted the 55-second video on its YouTube channel on Wednesday. The film shows Victoria Police drug expert Conor King explaining the process of turning the powder form of cocaine into crack, the rock. The department used Twitter to publicize the video, which prompted Twitter account user @Tchewpoy to question why the police are showing people how to cook up the street drug. [continues 314 words]
Conservatives Are Starting to Adopt a More Liberal Stance on The Narcotics Campaign. IN 2011, the war to end the war on drugs is now being led by conservative voices, not radical ones. In March, three federal Liberal backbenchers - Mal Washer, Judi Moylan, and the Victorian Russell Broadbent - came out against the criminal status of drug use, going so far as to argue that heroin and cocaine should be legalised. Dr Washer described the war on drugs as a "crime against humanity". [continues 748 words]
Disappointing, but not surprising that the Nevada County Board of Supervisors voted to ban a marijuana dispensary on Tuesday, July 12. When I testified, I reminded them that whether it's governments or "we the people," it's important to uphold our U.S. Constitution. This is about patients' rights! Banning this would be unconstitutional! In the past, there are many times in our history the Constitution hasn't been upheld. Governments, justices and the people have failed to provide equal treatment and justice to African Americans, Native Americans, women, immigrants, gays and lesbians, etc. [continues 115 words]
Last month marked the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon launching the "war on drugs." Nobody celebrated or reminisced about milestones achieved, victories won or battles fought. Rather, a rising chorus pleaded for an end to the war. "The global war on drugs has failed," the Global Commission on Drug Policy said last month in a scathing report. The commission comprises such political heavyweights as current and former leaders of five countries, the former United Nations secretary-general and the former chairman of the Federal Reserve. The report urged "fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies" and treating drug addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal one. [continues 641 words]
