Hawaii: Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana Task Force Measure - NORML
Honolulu, HI: The Hawaii legislature has approved legislation to establish the formation of an eleven-member task force to investigate options for providing legal cannabis for Hawaii’s state-qualified medical cannabis patients. The bill now awaits action from Gov. Linda Lingle (R).

An estimated 3,000 Hawaiians are registered to use medical cannabis under state law.

As approved by the legislature, House Bill 2675 calls on the task force to make recommendations regarding “the feasibility of developing safe growing facilities … for qualified patients with written certification to grow medical marijuana for their medical use.” The task force is also mandated to review statewide guidelines authorizing the amount of medical cannabis patients may legally use and possess under state law.

The task force must submit its recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 regular session.

Good news for our friends out on the islands, to be sure, but sometimes the pace of positive drug law reform seems so slow, doesn’t it? They aren’t moving to get medicine to patients, they’re moving to talk about how they might get medicine to patients.

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Volcano pot farmer given 20-year term | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser
HILO, Hawai’i — A Big Island man was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison yesterday for commercial promotion of marijuana, the only case in recent memory where a first conviction in a marijuana case prompted such a long sentence.

Volcano resident David Finley Jr., 65, was arrested Jan. 29, 2007, in a raid on his Volcano ranch that turned up three indoor growing operations on the property, including a greenhouse attached to Finley’s home, equipment for manufacturing hashish and more than 75 pounds of dried marijuana and other drugs.

The dried marijuana found on the property included 127 sealed 1-ounce packets labeled with prices of $280 to $300 each, according to court records.

Finley pleaded guilty on Feb. 14 to two counts of commercial promotion of marijuana, and yesterday told Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara that “I’m terribly sorry for what I’ve done.”

“I know I’ve done wrong, and I have to be responsible for that,” he said.

More than 90 letters of support were submitted to Hara asking for leniency, including letters from members of Finley’s church, his childhood friends, college friends and others.

Finley’s lawyer Brian De Lima asked that Finley be sentenced to probation, but Hara told Finley that “any sentence other than prison would undermine the community’s respect for the law.” He then imposed two 20-year terms that will run concurrently.

Prosecutors also filed to seize the Volcano ranch in a forfeiture, and De Lima said the Finley family will pay $85,000 to settle that case.

Two twenty year terms for gardening?  240 months!  Judge Hara, do you know that the average incarceration for murder and non-negligent manslaughter is only 232 months?  I hope we all feel safer, knowing that this 65-year-old churchgoing grandfather will probably die in prison.  That oughta send a message to the community, huh, Judge Hara?

The judge asked why a person with Finley’s background would be a commercial marijuana grower.  Uh, did you catch that part about an ounce of a dried weed costing about as much as pure palladium mined from the earth?  It’s the prohibition that creates the profits that leads to three indoor grow operations.

The war on marijuana is just a money-making venture for everyone involved.  Finley made money selling the marijuana, now law enforcement and the government get to make some money from asset forfeiture and the $85,000 fine

Marijuana use up in Hawaii workplace - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):
Marijuana use in Hawaii workplaces increased in the first quarter of 2008 since the detection threshold was lowered, according to statistics from Diagnostic Laboratory Services.

Marijuana use was up from 1.8 percent to 2.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008, with about 207 employees testing positive of the 9,000 tested.

“All in all these show no serious increase in drug abuse, other than the fact that we are seeing a truer picture of actual marijuana abuse in Hawaii,” said Carl Linden, scientific director of toxicology at Diagnostic Laboratory Services.

Linden said the first quarter was the first full quarter since the marijuana detection threshold was lowered.

Diagnostic Laboratory Services tested the 9,000 employees or potential employees between January and the end of March. The company conducts pre-employment and random drug testing for approximately 800 Hawaii businesses.

OK, here’s my problem with this article. First, the headline, “Marijuana use up in Hawaii workplace”. No, detection of marijuana users is up in Hawaii workplace. The way it is phrased makes it sound as if people are sitting at their desk passing around blunts.

Second is the quote, “we are seeing a truer picture of marijuana abuse”. Really? A whopping 2.3% of Hawaiians at work like a little pakalolo when they’re not on the clock? Wow, that’s more than one out of fifty, what a huge problem! I just have to ask this, if these 207 Hawaiians are in the workplace or applying for jobs, just how much of a problem is it?

Finally, interesting, is it not, that the lab has lowered the threshhold for detection. Apparently 1.8% wasn’t a big enough number to justify their operations. You know, if they lowered the threshhold to a true/false quiz (”Pakalolo” is Hawaiian for marijuana, true or false?) they might even bump that percentage into double digits!

Of course the whole thing is ridiculous, because as we all know, most marijuana users are excellent workers. The National Academy of Sciences put together a committee on drug use in the workplace, and they produced a book entitled Under the Influence: Drugs and the American Work Force that objectively studied this issue. They found “no difference in the annual incomes of households with and without current marijuana users.” They found that “workers testing positive at the time of hire were no more likely than workers testing negative to become involved in an accident.” They even found that “Firms with pre-employment testing, compared with firms with no drug testing at all, scored 16 percent lower on productivity measures.” The federal government found that the cost of each positive drug test worked out to about $77,000, and, in one study they found that “employees who tested positive at Georgia Power had a higher promotion rate than the company average, and workers that tested positive only for marijuana were absent 30% less often than the average.”

[Hat tip to the Cannabis Consumers Campaign]

Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2008-04-02

Wednesday is Cannabis Science day on the Stash, and coming up after the news, we’re separating the stems of propaganda from the buds of truth with Dr. Mitch Earleywine. Today Dr. Mitch takes on the myth of the amotivational syndrome supposedly suffered by longtime tokers. I was going to read up on those studies myself, but I was too busy working my four jobs.

Cannabis Karri is back for our musical break this hempday humpday with another slammin’ hip-hop duo from Suburban Noize Records with the appropriate name of “Potluck”. We’re getting’ jiggy with their new joint, “Get High”. (And I believe I just dated myself as being hopelessly un-hip by writing “jiggy”.)

Then we wrap things up with Iggy, who is a field director for Patients Without Time out on the island of Maui in Hawaii, to discuss the Hawaiian legislature’s latest attempts to modify Hawaii’s medical marijuana law.

Oh, and by the way, so sorry if I freaked anybody out with yesterday’s April Fools Day stories. Marijuana’s not really legal, Bush isn’t really letting out 70,000 pot-only prisoners, and ganja will not make your man parts any larger. But a podcast host can dream, can’t he?

So welcome to the show, grab your best glass and sit back with your favorite strain… This is your NORML Daily Audio Stash.

NORML Blog » Blog Archive » NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up
NEBRASKA: In a major victory for pot-law reformers, Legislative Bill 844 – which sought to recriminalize minor marijuana possession offenses in Nebraska — has been amended. Under current state law, first-time marijuana possession offenses are punishable by a non-criminal citation and a $100 fine. As introduced, LB 844 sought to impose a sentence of up to 90 days in jail for first-time marijuana offenders. As amended, the proposal would increase the maximum fine for pot possession to $300, but would not impose criminal sanctions. The bill now awaits action from full legislature.

CALIFORNIA: California’s Dale Gieringer submitted written testimony opposing Assembly Bill 2389, which seeks to require drug testing for recipients of certain state benefits or cash assistance. Gieringer will testify before the Committee on Human Services in opposition to the proposal at a legislative hearing on Tuesday, April 1. Gieringer will also testify at an upcoming hearing in support of AB 2279, which seeks to end state employment discrimination against qualified medical cannabis patients.

HAWAII: The House Judiciary this week passed an amended resolution (HCR 49) that seeks to allow for state-qualified farmers to provide medical cannabis to authorized patients. The Senate Judiciary is expected to vote imminently on a separate measure, House Bill 2675, which seeks to establish a legislative task force to study issues pertaining to the legal supply of medical marijuana for authorized patients.

And finally, in non-state related legislative news, several newspaper columnists and editorial boards this week have endorsed Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank’s pending legislation to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers.

Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2008-02-26

Remember, the government estimates that there are millions of Americans that have smoked marijuana in the past month. Congressmen are known to change their votes when they get a few hundred calls about an issue. If Congress had to hear a million phone calls asking for an end to adult marijuana prohibition, it would be a reality. Call your Congress at 202-225-3121 – they’ll ask your zip code and put you in touch with your elected officials. It still is a government of We the People, but you have to step up and do your part.

Tuesday is Government at Work day on the podcast, and coming up after the news, we take a look at marijuana related bills from around the country. Then we talk with NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano about the recent conference on drugged driving held in Washington DC by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Next we get our groove on with a British jam band called Giles and their song, “Freedom”. Then it’s on to my interview with Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Norm Kent about his recent article, “Pushing 60 with Pot”, and his thoughts on growing older in the cannabis community.

So sit back and relax with your favorite strain – this is the Daily Audio Stash.

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.

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House Bill 2067: HB 2067 and its companion bill in the Senate (SB 2547) seek to amend existing limits regarding the amount of cannabis patients may legally possess and grow, prevent employers and landlords from discriminating against medical cannabis patients, and impose legal liability on law enforcement officials who improperly seize cannabis from state-authorized patients.

House Bill 2673: HB 2673 seeks to protect those medical marijuana patients in the public workforce who may be subjected to random  drug testing. Under current law, state-authorized patients may be penalized or even terminated by their employer for their off-the-job use of medical cannabis. Passage of HB 2673 would grant these patients the same legal protections already afforded to employees prescribed other prescription medications — including oral THC (aka Marinol) — and would not jeopardize on-the-job safety or performance.

House Bill 2677: HB 2677 seeks to limit the criminal prosecution of adults who possess small amounts of cannabis in the privacy of their own home. Specifically, this bill would encourage local police to establish a policy that sets private adult marijuana offenses as the “lowest priority for investigation, citation, and arrest.”  Similar ‘deprioritization’ policies have been enacted in several metropolitan areas — including Oakland, California and Seattle, Washington — and the results have been overwhelmingly positive.