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.

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Feature: Drug Policy Reform and Sentencing Initiatives on the November Ballot | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)

CALIFORNIA: Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA) would expand the number of drug offenders diverted from prison into treatment, expand prison and parole rehabilitation programs, allow inmates earlier release for participating in such programs, and cut back the length of parole. It would also decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. 

Proposition 6, the Safe Neighborhoods Act, is primarily aimed at gang members, violent criminals, and criminal aliens, but also includes provisions increasing penalties for methamphetamine possession, possession with intent, and distribution to be equal to those for cocaine, and provides for the expulsion from public housing of anyone convicted of a drug offense. The measure also mandates increased spending for law enforcement. Read the California League of Women Voters’ analysis of Prop. 6 here.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy is sponsoring an initiative that would decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. Known as Question 2 on the November ballot, the initiative builds on nearly a decade’s worth of work by local activists who ran dozens of successful ballot questions directed at individual representatives. Question 2 looks like almost a sure winner; it garnered 72% support in a mid-August poll. 

MICHIGAN: Michigan is poised to become the first medical marijuana state in the Midwest. An initiative sponsored by the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care and appearing on the ballot as Proposition 1 would allow patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, MS and other conditions as may be approved by the Department of Community Health to use marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. It would require the department to create an ID card system for qualified patients and their designated caregivers and would allow patients and caregivers to grow small amounts of marijuana indoors in a secure facility. It would also permit both registered and unregistered patients and caregivers to assert a medical necessity defense to any prosecution involving marijuana. A poll released this week showed the measure gaining the approval of 66% of voters. 

OREGON:  Ballot Measure 61, “Mandatory Sentences For Drug Dealers, Identity Thieves, Burglars, And Car Thieves,” is pretty self-explanatory. It would impose mandatory minimum sentences for the manufacture or delivery of cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine of 36 months in some cases and 30 months in others. It also lays out similar mandatory minimums for the other criminal offenders listed above. [Chief Petitioner Kevin] Mannix originally included a provision attempting to supplant the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, but dropped it when it became apparent it could drag down the entire initiative.

Another measure initiated by the legislature and referred to the voters, Ballot Measure 57, would also increase penalties for the sale or distribution of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and Ecstasy. It sets a sentencing range of 34 months to 130 months, depending on the quantity of the drug involved. The measure would also require drug treatment for certain offenders and impose sanctions for those who resist, provide grants to local jurisdictions for jails, drug courts, and treatment services, and limit judges’ ability to reduce sentences.

LOCAL INITIATIVES: In addition to the statewide initiatives mentioned above, there are also a handful of municipal initiatives on the November 4 ballot. Here they are:

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA: In Berkeley, Measure JJ seeks to broaden and regularize medical marijuana access. Supported by the Berkeley Patients Group and at least two city council members, the measure would expand the non-residential zones where dispensaries can locate, create an oversight commission including representatives from each of the three existing collectives to promulgate standards and determine whether relocating or future operators are in compliance, issue zoning certificates by right if operators meet standards, and bring Berkeley possession limits in line with recent state court rulings determining that such limits are unconstitutional. 

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: The local grassroots organization Sensible Fayetteville is sponsoring an initiative that would make enforcement of adult marijuana possession laws the lowest law enforcement priority. It also includes language mandating city officials to write an annual letter to their state and federal representatives notifying them of the city’s position and urging them to adopt a similar one. If the measure passes, Fayetteville will become the second Arkansas community to adopt such an ordinance. Nearby Eureka Springs did so in 2007.

HAWAII COUNTY, HAWAII: Hawaii’s Big Island (Hawaii County) will be voting on an initiative making adult marijuana possession offenses the lowest law enforcement priority. Ballot Question 1 not only makes adult possession offenses the lowest priority, it would also bar county law enforcement officials from accepting federal deputization or commissions to enforce laws in conflict with the initiative, prohibits the County Council from accepting or spending funds to enforce adult marijuana possession laws, and bar the County Council from accepting any funds for the marijuana eradication program. The initiative is sponsored by Project Peaceful Sky, a local grassroots organization whose name alludes to the disruption of tranquility caused by law enforcement helicopters searching for marijuana.

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It’s Not Your Parents’ Prohibition!

The 2008 NORML Conference will be held Friday, October 17 through Sunday, October 19 at the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Berkeley Marina in Berkeley, CA. Please mark your calendar now and plan to join us for our annual political conference where we focus on the latest marijuana policy developments at both the state and federal levels, celebrate our victories over the last year, analyze our losses, and hear from an array of the leading NORML activists and cannabis law reform organizers from across the country.

NORML is excited and pleased to convene the organization’s 37th annual conference in Berkeley, and additionally look forward to NORML’s social events planned in Oakland. Transportation from the Doubletree Berkeley Marina to events in Oakland will be provided to NORML’s guests.

We have negotiated extremely favorable room rates of $159 per night. Please make your room reservations early before the block of reduced rate rooms has been exhausted. NORML always sells out its allocated discount priced rooms– reserve your room today!

To enjoy the full scope of NORML’s 37th annual conference, you and your friends should plan to arrive in Berkeley no later than 3PM on Thursday, October 16 and plan to depart for home on Monday, October 20.

Similar in format to last year’s NORML conference in Los Angeles, the first two days are presented in typical plenary and breakout sessions. The conference’s last day is co-sponsored with the new Oaksterdam University and NORML’s Legal Committee of criminal defense attorneys, and will feature a day of unique classroom-style learning not yet found in American academia! The Sunday-only session teaches participants the legal and business ‘best practices’ for medical cannabis dispensaries and patient co-operatives, along with extensive coursework on botanical, historical and business marketing information concerning cannabis.

Let me just add that if you are seriously interested in expanding your cannabis activism, this conference is the place to be.  I attended my first conference in San Francisco in 2006, and it was there I met Chris Goldstein, the founder of this podcast, and that led to me talking to you right now.  You’ll meet all the top reformers from around the country, and everyone is so friendly that many of us now think of this event like a family reunion.

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