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GOVERNMENT
Federal and state policy (e.g. ONDCP, NIDA, FDA), statements/ responses from elected officials
Montana legislature to debate medical marijuana and decriminalization this week
Subject: Montana Senate To Decide On Medical Marijuana; House To Debate Decriminalization We’re contacting you today with good news from the State House. First, the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled to hear testimony in favor of HB 541 — which would amend state law so that the possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana [...]
Montana Senate Panel OKs medical marijuana expansion
HELENA — A bill that would increase the amount of medical marijuana that registered patients can possess cleared its first hurdle on Friday as the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee passed the measure on a 5-2 vote. The bill also adds to the list of chronic or debilitating medical ailments the drug could [...]
Support Rhode Island SB 185 / HB 5359 (medmj compassion centers)
Subject: Rhode Island Legislature Considers Licensing Compassion Centers Some 600 seriously ill patients are registered with the state Department of Health to use medicinal cannabis under their doctor’s supervision. You may be one of them. Unfortunately patients in Rhode Island — as is the reality in most states – still lack a legal, regulated supply for their medicine. [...]
Oppose Zero Tolerance Marijuana DUI measure in Kentucky
Subject: Last Chance To Oppose Zero Tolerance Marijuana Measure Kentucky legislators are trying to misuse the state’s traffic safety laws to target and prosecute adults who use marijuana responsibly in the privacy of their own home. It’s up to you to stop them. Senate Bill 5, an act to criminalize anyone who operates a motor [...]
Illinois SB 1381 introduced (medmj)
Illinois NORML reports… SPRINGFIELD- Illinois could become the next state to protect the sick and terminally ill from arrest for using cannabis under the recommendation of their physician. State Senator William Haine introduced Senate Bill 1381 today, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, which would allow those with a physician’s recommendation to [...]
Obama administration selects Kerlikowske as Drug Czar
It’s official now: WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Obama administration has offered the position of “drug czar” to Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, a senior administration official confirmed to CNN Thursday. Kerlikowske has accepted the nomination for the cabinet-level post, formally known as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the official said. His [...]
NORML’s Dominic Holden: Obama’s Brilliant Pick for Drug Czar
Pot arrests have plummeted under Kerlikowske’s watch. When he took office in 2000, Seattle police arrested 332 people for misdemeanor marijuana possession (.pdf); by 2006, the number had dropped to 148. Some of that decline is likely due to Seattle passing Initiative 75, which made marijuana enforcement the city’s lowest law-enforcement priority. But Kerlikowske didn’t [...]
Montana HB 541 introduced to decriminalize marijuana
NEW SECTION. Section 4. Simple possession of marijuana as civil infraction — civil penalty — arrest prohibited. (1) A person commits the civil infraction of simple possession of marijuana if the person possesses not more than 30 grams of marijuana or any of its derivatives. (2) A person found to be in violation of subsection [...]
Stash Interview Special: Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper on Current Chief Gil Kerlikowske as potential Obama “Drug Czar”
My interview with NORML Advisory Board and LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) Advisory Board Member Norm Stamper, who was the police chief prior to Gil Kerlikowske in Seattle, Washington, on Kerlikowske’s rumored selection as President Obama’s next head of the cabinet-level position of director of Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Medical Marijuana Bill Passes Minnesota Senate Committee in Bipartisan Vote, 8-3
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — Minnesota’s medical marijuana bill, S.F. 97, cleared its first major hurdle this afternoon, passing the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee in a bipartisan vote of 8 to 3. The committee received spoken and written testimony from a number of patients and family members describing the relief provided by medical [...]