The Feb. 24 column "Banks must just say no to drug money," by Robert B. Charles, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, was full of inaccuracies and highly suspect legal analysis. We can start with his assertion that marijuana is more dangerous - and even more addictive - than tobacco. Saying this in 2014 essentially puts Mr. Charles in the Flat Earth Society. Beyond that, his belief that banks, acting in accordance with Justice Department guidance, will be sued for allegedly wrongful acts by their state-regulated cannabis business customers does not seem to have any legal basis. Is Mr. Charles aware of any lawsuits along the lines of those he has outlined - suits filed against banks that have paid fines for money laundering? I'm not. [continues 92 words]
In the wake of a California budget agreement that even those who supported it loathe for its tax increases and deep cuts to education and health care, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) has offered a proposal that will bolster the state's budget while protecting our environment and helping keep drugs away from kids. Ammiano's bill, AB390, would put marijuana under the same regulatory system that now applies to beer, wine and liquor. It would end the bizarre and untenable situation in which California's largest cash crop - valued at $13.8billion annually - is almost completely untaxed. ("Almost" in the sense that Oakland voters recently passed an initiative taxing its legal medical marijuana dispensaries $18 per $1,000 in sales.) [continues 970 words]
The Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, called for a reform of Rockefeller-era drug laws yesterday, as state legislators renew talks this week on changing laws that carry some of the harshest penalties in the country. "I raise these issues now, in the hope that lawmakers, who will be back in Albany this week, will use the time to consider both changes in the law and more resources for treatment and prevention," Mr. Morgenthau said, referring to the 1973 law that imposes mandatory sentences for drug-related felony offenses. [continues 608 words]
A Useful Painkiller, Or Reefer Madness? Just days after Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion announced that marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes, the state's other 15 sheriffs have denounced the drug as harmful and deservedly prohibited. I think once you open the door to something like this, youire opening the floodgates to all kinds of other issues, said Sagahadoc County Sheriff Mark Westrum, president of the state sheriffs association. We have a hard enough time trying to control alcohol. The issue will be decided Nov. 2 when Maine voters will be faced with ballot Question 2 - Do you want to allow patients with specific illnesses to grow and use small amounts of marijuana for treatment, as long as such use is approved by a doctor? Dion announced over the weekend that he supports a Yesi vote because of the painkilling benefits marijuana would bring to the terminally ill. Should we stand in the way of possible relief to those who are suffering? asked Dion. Suffering is not a theory. [continues 220 words]
