Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 3:00 pm | By: Lynnette
Thank you for contacting me regarding legislation aimed at the legalization of marijuana. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue. As you may know there are several pieces of legislation that would eliminate most Federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use.
There has been continuous debate regarding marijuana, and its proposed medical use in treatment in the United States. Congress has voted on several bills to legalize the medical use of marijuana; however none of those bills passed the House of Representatives. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has five criteria for reclassifying marijuana’s schedule, and it believes that marijuana has not met those criteria. In June 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that federal
laws against marijuana, including its medical use, are valid.
Please know that I understand your concerns and that your input on this issue is important to me. Drugs are not approved for medicine until there is a consensus of the national community of experts. At this time, there is no consensus on this issue. Please be assured that I will continue to monitor this issue and will keep your views in mind if I am asked to vote on any related legislative initiatives.
Thank you again for contacting me. If I can ever be of any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me in my Washington, D.C. office, or district office most convenient to you.
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm | By: Lynnette
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for the legalization of marijuana. It was good to hear from you.
Like you, I am concerned about the strains placed on our criminal justice system by current efforts to reduce the harmful effects of illicit drug abuse. In fact, I have been a strong supporter of using drug courts as an alternative to incarceration for many nonviolent offenders, and I have led efforts in the House of Representatives to increase funding for our drug court programs. However, while I understand your reasons for supporting the legalization of marijuana, I respectfully disagree. Illegal drugs are the number one cause for crime and violence in our nation, and drug abuse has harmed many families. I feel legalization would reduce many people’s perception of the risks and costs of drug abuse and have many negative consequences.
No, prohibition of drugs is the number one cause of crime and violence. Heard of any “beer gangs” lately?
You also mentioned concerns that federal financial aid is cut off for some students due to “minor marijuana possession offenses”. We need to consider how current law affects hardworking students who have paid their debts to society and are trying to get back on the right track. Under current law, a student may reestablish eligibility depending on several factors, including: 1) length of time since the conviction, 2) the number of prior convictions, and 3) whether the conviction was for selling or possessing a controlled substance. Like you, I believe that we should help students who have completed their sentences find the path to success by providing them an equal opportunity to education.
In other words, punish the student for smoking a joint by making it impossible for them to attend school for a certain period of time. If they want to approach coma and death by power chugging a beer bong at a frat party, they’re welcome to come in hungover to class the next day, but smoke a joint and they need to be kicked out of school and work a menial job in the hopes of scraping up enough money to pay for school on their own. Hmm, maybe they can sell weed to make their tuition money!
Finally, I understand many people believe that marijuana should be legalized in order to relieve suffering. As a member of the medical community, I am aware that leading healthcare groups, such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) have strong concerns about the “medicinal” use of marijuana. Many health experts argue that people who smoke marijuana frequently are exposing themselves to a rather crude and potentially harmful drug delivery system. The smoke from a burning marijuana cigarette contains a variety of toxic chemicals that could be harmful, especially to users whose medical condition might be compromised further by choosing to smoke the drug for self-treatment.
How many toxic chemicals are in a pot brownie, sir? Or a vaporizer bag?
I do support research into the safety and effectiveness of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is believed to be the primary chemical component responsible for marijuana’s psychopharmacological effects. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has provided grants for such studies. As a result of such research, dronabinol, the synthetic form of THC, has been available as an oral prescription drug since 1986 under its brand name “Marinol.”
Here you go, puking chemo patient, swallow this pill and keep it down for 45 minutes.
By the way, how is it that 100% highly-psychoactive THC in a sesame-oil-base pill is safe and effective, but 10% THC balanced by psychoactivity-moderating CBD in raw plant form needs more research?
For these reasons, I do not support any reduction in our policies designed to discourage marijuana use. Although we do not see eye-to-eye on this issue, I really appreciate the time you took to contact me. I assure you that your opinion matters to me, and I hope to hear from you regarding any future concerns you may have.
Again, thank you for contacting me on this very important issue.
Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 2:20 pm | By: Radical Russ
[Fayetteville, Arkansas] Aldermen with a 1-7 vote did not pass an ordinance also proposed by Petty to create a Marijuana Policy Review Panel. The panel would oversee enforcement of an initiative passed in November making prosecution of marijuana offenses a low priority in the city.
Police Chief Greg Tabor spoke against the measure.
“Our enforcement was a low priority then; nothing has changed, other than we do have some discussions to make sure we’re following the law,” Tabor said.
In other words, trust the police chief. He says that before Sensible Fayetteville’s lowest priority initiative passed, enforcement of marijuana laws was a low priority, and today nothing has changed.
From 1998-2007, Fayetteville police booked between 300-400 marijuana arrests per year, or an average of about one per day. If that’s the result of marijuana having been the lowest priority and “nothing has changed”, then you’re still arresting a person a day for marijuana, right Chief Tabor?
Look, Chief, in 2008 the people of Fayetteville voted 2-to-1 to make marijuana offenses the lowest priority. They would not have done that if they felt 1 arrest per day was reasonable. What this panel would have discovered is that, indeed, nothing has changed, despite two-thirds of the voters demanding that change.
Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 11:20 am | By: Radical Russ
FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville could have another advisory panel to add to its growing list of resident-led boards and commissions.
Matthew Petty, a city councilman from Ward 2, wants the council to adopt an ordinance establishing a marijuana policy review panel to oversee the city’s recently adopted Lowest Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Priority Policy Ordinance.
The ordinance, approved by 66 percent of voters last November, would have the Fayetteville Police Department and local prosecutors treat adult marijuana possession offenses as a low priority.
Petty proposes an eight-member panel appointed by the mayor and made up of a member from the city council, a representative from the Fayetteville Police Department, one representative from the Fayetteville City Attorney’s office and one at-large resident. Also, the panel would have one representative from drug and alcohol counseling, a public defender and a criminal defense attorney.
Wait a minute. The eight-member panel that is to review whether city government, through law enforcement, is adhering to the will of the people consists of:
A City Councilperson (city government)
A Police Officer (law enforcement)
A City Attorney rep (law enforcement)
A Resident (the people)
A Rehab rep (benefits from law enforcement)
A Public Defender (the people)
A Criminal Defense Attorney (the people)
That’s a seven-member panel chosen by the mayor with four members who either benefit from vigorous marijuana law enforcement or are part of the government and law enforcement that this panel is to review. Maybe the missing eighth person is from the marijuana law reform community that got the ordinance passed in the first place?
Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 8:20 am | By: Radical Russ
In the Associated Student Government election last week, the SAFER Referendum, which stated that marijuana offenses should not be punished by the university any harsher than alcohol offenses, passed with 67 percent of the student vote. The sanctions for marijuana possession and use have not yet been modified, but the changes will be discussed, said Daniel Pugh, vice provost for Student Affairs.
“Most of the students we see make the same poor decisions with marijuana that they do with alcohol,” Pugh said. “It’s not the usage itself that’s the bad thing.”
Proponents of the initiative are excited to meet with Pugh and other university officials to discuss where to go from here, said Robert Pfountz, campaign director for the initiative and a member of the campus chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
A workforce composed of law enforcement, professors, administrators and members of the SAFER campaign will discuss how to adjust the penalties, said Pfountz, who said he is optimistic that progress will be made because both Pugh and Chancellor G. David Gearhart seem open-minded.
Reducing penalties for marijuana use is a way to curb binge drinking, which is involved in 90 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses and 95 percent of violent crime, Pfountz said. Alcohol encourages violent behavior and contributes to 1,700 deaths on college campuses a year, he said.
Though they do not want to demonize alcohol, members of NORML maintain that it does more damage than marijuana, so the university should not punish people for choosing a safer alternative, Pfountz said.
“There is an epidemic across college campuses of kids being hurt very badly,” he said. “Some may scoff at promoting marijuana over alcohol, but we believe it is a matter of life and death.”
Ronald Reagan for Chesterfield Cigarettes (tvparty.com)
It’s not really about promoting marijuana over alcohol. It’s really about not promoting alcohol over marijuana! Think about this: how many alcohol ads do you see on TV in a day? Plenty. Now, how many tobacco ads do you see on TV in a day? None.
On April 1, 1970, President Nixon signed legislation banning cigarette ads from airing on television and radio. The ban took effect at midnight on Jan. 2, 1971.
The last cigarette TV commercial (for Virginia Slims) was broadcast on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show at 11:59pm on January 1, 1971. It was expected to be devastating for the networks when tobacco ads were banned – but they did all right without them, in spite of immediately losing $220 million dollars a year in revenues.
Now they make more than that from anti-smoking ads!
Not only did cigarette advertising disappear from TV and radio, but also from all major sporting events as well. Even the most signature tobacco-sponsored event – NASCAR’s Winston Cup – had to become the Nextel Cup.
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The question on the petition asks students, “Do you agree that university sanctions for the possession and use of marijuana should be no greater than those imposed by the university for the possession and use of alcohol, and that the university should establish a task force to develop, implement and study such a policy?”
Students who visited a table hosted by SAFER and NORML in front of the Arkansas Union this week asked the groups a myriad of questions about the initiative, such as, “Will this actually do anything?” and “Can I get in trouble for this?”
I’ll answer those. Nothing will ever happen to reform marijuana laws on college campuses or in counties or states or on the federal level if we collectively do nothing. It is only a matter of time before Prohibition touches you: maybe a it’s a random police traffic stop that finds you in possession of a joint. Maybe you’ll have the misfortune of being diagnosed with cancer as I was and have no legal right to medicinal marijuana. Perhaps you’re a Texas resident and a member of your family in Mexico is kidnapped or killed by drug cartels.
Freedom of speech is one of our most cherished American rights. College years are arguably among the best years of your lives to become active in issues that involve you. You’re expected to dissent and call for change. It’s your country and your government. One of the great laments of the older generation is that the college generation of this century lacks passion and drive. Prove them wrong and make a difference in all our lives.
If you live in this country, the War on Drugs touches you. It makes no difference whether you are a marijuana user or not. We all pay for the billions wasted and mourn for the lives needlessly lost. We should not ask for change, we should demand it.
Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 10:46 am | By: Radical Russ
Hey there, boys and girls! Â Having trouble understanding the concept of “federalism”? Â You remember this vaguely from high school, don’t you, about how cities and counties can make laws, but those laws are subordinate to state laws, and state laws are subordinate to federal laws?
Apparently, they have trouble with this concept in Worcester, Massachusetts:
WORCESTER — A move is in the works on the City Council to have the city establish a civil penalty, and even the possibility of criminal indictment, for the use of marijuana on public property under the control of the city.Â
Under the ordinance being sought by the councilors, the use of marijuana would not be allowed on city streets, sidewalks, public ways, parks, playgrounds, public buildings, school grounds, parking lots and any other area under control of the city.Â
The passage of Question 2 reduces the penalty for less than an ounce of marijuana to a $100 civil fine. The three city councilors would like to see the city at least be able to assess an additional fine to those using marijuana on city property.Â
Prior to Question 2 becoming law this month, the state Executive Office of Public Safety encouraged cities and towns to pass new penalties for using marijuana in public. Attorney General Martha Coakley has even offered a sample bylaw that would include a $300 civil penalty and the possibility of criminal indictment for the use of marijuana on public property.Â
Excuse me? Â The state law enacted by 65% of the voters says:
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, possession of one ounce or less of marihuana shall only be a civil offense, subjecting an offender who is eighteen years of age or older to a civil penalty of one hundred dollars and forfeiture of the marihuana, but not to any other form of criminal or civil punishment or disqualification…. neither the Commonwealth nor any of its political subdivisions or their respective agencies, authorities or instrumentalities may impose any form of penalty, sanction or disqualification on an offender for possessing an ounce or less of marihuana.
Translation: We don’t like the state pot law, so we’ll follow a new local law.
Panel participants were asked: “In 2007, over 7,400 adults were arrested in Arkansas for misdemeanor possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, over half the state’s total drug arrests. According to a national 2005 study, state and local governments spend an average of $10,400 per arrest on police, courts, and jails. Based on that estimate, 2007 marijuana arrests will cost Arkansas taxpayers nearly $77 million dollars. Knowing this information, would you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose a law that would eliminate the penalties for adult marijuana possession of one ounce or less?”
More than half (53%) of Arkansas voters support a law that would eliminate the penalties for adult marijuana possession of one ounce or less, including one in three (35%) who strongly support such a law. Forty-five percent are oppose to such a law, including 38% who are strongly opposed. Three percent are not sure where they stand.
Fayetteville and Eureka Springs have already passed lowest law enforcement priority initiatives. Â I wouldn’t be surprised to see a medical marijuana initiative coming up soon, or perhaps decriminalization. Â If we can pass a pro-cannabis ballot measure in a Bible Belt Southern state, to go with Michigan in the Midwest, the Northeast, and the West, politicians are going to have to adjust their thinking on the cannabis issue.
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 6:48 pm | By: Radical Russ
The results of the 2008 election are in and marijuana law reformers are big winners in state and local ballot initiatives.
Michigan became the 13th medical marijuana state with 63% of voters approving Proposal 1.
Massachusetts became the 13th state to decriminalize the personal possession of marijuana with 65% of voters approving Question 2.
Fayetteville, Arkansas voters decided marijuana offenses should be the lowest law-enforcement priority by 65%.
Voters on the Big Island (Hawaii County), Hawaii voted to make possession of 24 ounces and 24 plants the lowest law enforcement priority, and to forbid county officials from cooperating in or accepting funds for marijuana eradication efforts on the island.
In bad news, however, Oregon’s Measure 57 passed with 61% of the vote, establishing new mandatory minimum sentences for repeat drug offenders, among other things. Measure 61 was still at 50%, but even if it passes, it fails because 57 got more votes (61’s mandatory minimums would have included first-time drug offenders)
More bad news comes from California’s Proposition 5 (the Non-Violent Offender Rehabilitation Act) which failed with only 40% of the vote. In addition to diverting non-violent drug offenders to treatment, it would have decriminalized personal possession of marijuana.
But there were some successes in California. Proposition 6 was defeated by 70% of the vote, a measure that would have required the eviction of people from public housing for a recent drug offense. Berkeley, California’s Measure JJ passed with 62% of the vote, which will ease restrictions on zoning for medical marijuana dispensaries.
RevRayGreen: MASS TWEET THIS -@ChuckGrassley Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer sadness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
RevRayGreen: @ChuckGrassley http://bit.ly/55Ejsi Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer madness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
SneakerPimp: one last thing Puff puff pass to any one who wants it
SneakerPimp: i wanna here about the imminent MiniSpof sounds like time for some
SneakerPimp: im estatic and excited for NSL today.
SneakerPimp: mountain time wake n bake
SneakerPimp: oh yea also wake n bake
SneakerPimp: its central im high as a kite everybody
SneakerPimp: ill grab that WUD
WakeUpDead: @Russ, I dont think that wireless is going to work out for the show, it was choppy and studdered just like last week. Hardline may be the only way. Puff [...]
WakeUpDead: A MINI Spof, Lock up your Weed, in 18 years that is. Really Man congrats! Greatest days of my life when my kids were born, hell yeh, great news [...]
BenJaMin: Late night Stash!!!
SneakerPimp: heres a bong rip for spof
RevRayGreen: errr test over....
RevRayGreen: on hold..
RevRayGreen: @RR I'll try and lob a call to you.....
SneakerPimp: where is the first field of cannabis gonna be?
SneakerPimp: !
Radical Russ: Breaking News: MrSpof's wife's water just broke! A MiniSpof is imminent!
SneakerPimp: oh russ its not my fault that i dont understand choppy word:stoned:
SneakerPimp: @Mrspof congratulations tell us all about it tommrow
Radical Russ: OK, test over. Sorry. Only needed a half hour. Be back tomorrow afternoon.
slash5city: don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west
thaistik: Local Crime Stoppers notice.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Pot shop burglars sought
Crime Stoppers is looking for information on the suspects who police say burglarized a medical marijuana dispensary and stole cash, drugs [...]
American Medical Association Calls For Scientific Review Of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status; Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than European Average, Study Says […]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today's pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do. Moderator: Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com * Toby Grear, MMA fighter * Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmm […]
Cannabis Law Reform's Missing Link: Law Enforcement Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper; LEAP and NORML Advisory Board; Author of Breaking Rank Putting the Mexican Cartels Out of Business Mexican drug cartels now employ over 100,000 soldiers and are responsible for nearly ten thousand deaths per year. Their largest source of income is marijuana. […]
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) on Marijuana Law Reform
sounds like time for some 
mountain time wake n bake 
don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west 
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