The supporters of prohibition reform have marijuana-related legislation pending in Hawaii, Vermont, Hew Hampshire, California, New Jersey, Missouri, and Maryland. Here are the details:

Hawaii: The House Health Committee passed HB2675 HD1 Relating to Medical Marijuana with the following provisions:

1. Increase the adequate supply from 7 plants to 14 plants (deleting reference to mature and immature plants) and allowing one ounce of usable marijuana per plant.
2. Establishing a task force within the UH College of Tropical Agriculture to study safe growing facilities, seek possible solutions to inter-island transportation of medical marijuana. It also names who should be on the task force.

Vermont: The Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 238. As amended, SB 238 would replace existing criminal sanctions outlawing the possession of up to one ounce of cannabis with civil sanctions punishable by a fine, but no criminal record.

The House Agriculture Committee recently passed legislation, House Bill 267, that seeks to define industrial hemp as an “agricultural product” and establish regulations for its production by state-licensed farmers.

New Hampshire: Thursday, March 5, the New Hampshire House of Representatives is scheduled to debate HB 1623.

As amended, the bill would impose a civil penalty of no more than $200 upon first-time offenders found guilty of possessing up to one-quarter ounce of marijuana.

California: SJR 20, a resolution stating the Senate’s opposition to the federal government’s crackdown on local medical cannabis providers, has been introduced in the California State Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Health. This resolution would reinforce the Senate’s opposition to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s raids on medical marijuana facilities that pay sales tax and comply with California law. If passed, the California State Senate will forward copies of this resolution to the President, Vice-President, Speaker of the House, and all California representatives and senators, urging them to respect California law.

Senate Bill 1098, a bill to provide tax amnesty for state medical cannabis dispenasaries, has been introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation. If approved, this measure would relieve California’s medical cannabis dispensaries from liabilities for previous years’ sales taxes provided they promptly comply and register with the Board of Equalization.

AB 2279, introduced Wednesday, would prohibit employment discrimination against those who use marijuana as medicine in compliance with state law away from the workplace. It would leave intact already-existing provisions barring consumption in the workplace, and would protect employers from liability by carving out an exception for safety-sensitive jobs. Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, had vowed to introduce such a bill last month after the state Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that an employer can fire a worker solely because he or she uses medical marijuana outside the workplace.

AB 2389 would require random drug testing of all welfare recipients for all Schedule I drugs (and cocaine, meth & opium, which are Schedule II). This would include marijuana. The ostensible purpose is to prevent birth defects from drug use. However, there’s no evidence that marijuana causes birth defects in the first place. There is much more persuasive evidence that both tobacco & alcohol cause birth defects, but the Benoit bill wouldn’t check for these. In fact, by discouraging marijuana, it might well promote more harmful drug use.

New Jersey: Republican Assemblyman Michael P. Carroll has proposed a bill that would allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. Carroll wants the state Department of Health to create a registry card that would allow patients suffering from a “debilitating medical condition” to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for their own use.

Missouri: HB 1830 seeks to establish a comprehensive medical cannabis program in Missouri, while protecting both patients and caregivers. The bill would, among other things:

1. Remove marijuana from the Schedule I classification for controlled substances and reclassifies it under Schedule II;
2. Gives medical marijuana patients the same rights as other pharmaceutically medicated individuals relating to routine traffic stops, interaction with law enforcement that does not involve an illegal act, employer interaction, and drug testing pertaining to marijuana and its metabolites;
3. Requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to develop rules for governing the issuance of registry identification cards. A qualifying patient and primary caregiver are required to submit certain information before receiving the card. Possession of the card by a qualifying patient or a primary caregiver is required;
4. Requires an organization to register with the department to sell, administer, deliver, dispense, distribute, cultivate, or possess marijuana or related supplies for medicinal use.

Maryland: Drug Policy Alliance, in cooperation with Americans for Safe Access, will hold teach-ins and trainings about modifying Maryland’s flawed medical marijuana law. Maryland passed a medical marijuana law in 2003, but it does little to protect patients. If legitimate medical marijuana patients are arrested, they are slapped with a criminal conviction–even if a court determines that they are using marijuana out of medical necessity. This means that even a successful court defense results in a permanent criminal record, which poses barriers to financial aid, housing, employment, and more. The events will take place in Baltimore on March 11, Salisbury on March 18, Silver Spring on March 20, and Hagerstown on March 25. If you live in Maryland and want more information, you can contact Naomi Long, at nlong@dpa.org.

Tags: California, Hawaii, Hew Hampshire, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Vermont

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 11:05 pm and is filed under Cannabis Community, Medical Marijuana, Pot 'n' Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a trackback from your own site.