Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 9:55 am | By: Justice
End the Rockefeller Drug Laws
The hold up on repeal of the harsh Rockefeller Drug Law is the end of mandatory sentencing for second time non-violent violators. The editorial board of New York Times has taken the stand that the end of mandatory sentencing for non-violent offenders is necessary to restore judicial discretion to drug cases. The holdouts are well to familiar to us in the reform community.
Mr. Paterson and his allies in law enforcement believe that would send the wrong message to the communities where drug crimes are committed and to the police officers who have worked hard to make these cases. They also fear that without mandatory sentences, some offenders might ignore treatment sanctions.
The Times editorial board thinks the Assembly Bill adequately addresses this issue.
The Assembly bill provides for judicial discretion for a well-defined group of second-timers while preserving lengthy, mandatory sentences for second-timers with either histories of violence or records of having committed sex crimes or sold drugs to children. The provision protects the public safety by making sure that dangerous offenders go to jail.
If you live in New York, contact your state chapter of NORML and help make your voice for reform heard.
Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at 5:54 pm | By: Radical Russ
The time has come! Â Registered Stashers have been enjoying a sneak peek at my favorite ads from NORML’s $10,000 Pro-Cannabis Ad Contest all week long, but now the 25 finalists have been announced and you can vote for your three favorites.
Voting online for the winners will last one week and end at midnight (PST), Sunday, February 7, 2009.
There is a terrific variety of videos, artistic creativity and passion for marijuana law reform represented in these top #25 contest submissions, and I want to personally thank the hundreds of NORML supporters who submitted videos and flash animations into NORML’s ad contest for consideration.
Advice for watching and judging NORML Ad Contest Videos:
Mindful that you can vote one time and only choose your top three picks for winners, my recommendation is to watch the videos a number of times this week—possibly in different states of consciousness—and then hone in on your top three video choices for NORML’s best pro-marijuana reform ads.
Like last year’s winning ad, and because of the generous financial support of NORML’s members, this year’s winning ad(s) will air in selected, local television markets in the United States, including President Obama’s new neighborhood here at the end of 16th Street, in the northwest section of Washington, D.C.
Thanks again to this year’s contestants for standing up for what is right and for the many online voters who’ll pick this year’s winning pro-marijuana ad contest video or flash animation.
Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 11:59 am | By: Radical Russ
“You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”
Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”
Today our nation honors what would’ve been this week the eightieth birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., on the eve of the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th president of these United States. Â I was sixty-four days old when an assassin’s bullet cut down Dr. King in the prime of his life. Â Today I am six-hundred forty days older than Dr. King when he was killed. Â Tomorrow I will see something few people my age and older thought we’d ever see, yet something Dr. King had dreamed from the start.
There remains a grave injustice to be battled, the most unjust of laws to be disobeyed, a law that by its definition is not rooted in eternal law and natural law: the man made code that declares nature itself to be illegal, the prohibition on cannabis. Â Yet when I mention marijuana law reform in the context of the great civil rights struggles in America, so many are quick to dismiss me with snickers of derision. Â ”You just want pot legal so you can get high!” is a common refrain.
Legalizing marijuana was the top idea at Change.org by almost 5,000 votes. Â It beat the next closest competitor by 30%. Â It took almost a full 3% of all the votes cast and 15% of the Top Ten votes.
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 at 11:45 am | By: Radical Russ
Our Deputy Director, Paul Armentano, has another piece posted on the influential Capitol Hill blog, “The Hill”, read by the Beltway-insiders. Â His posts on marijuana legalization are consistently the most-commented-on posts on that blog. Â Surf on over and leave your own comment for our elected officials to read.
Is it at all surprising to see that the Obama team has decided to hide their collective heads in the sand when it comes to the issue of reevaluating America’s ineffective and antiquated marijuana policies? Not at all. But by doing so, the President-Elect and Congress are missing the bigger picture.
The overwhelming popularity of the marijuana reform issue — as manifested on Change.gov, Change.org (which is conducting its own online poll of the top issues facing America; the legalization of marijuana tops the list), and even here on the Hill (where my most recent blog posts have each garnered several hundreds of readers’ comments, almost all of them supportive) — illustrate two important points.
One: there is a significant, vocal, and identifiable segment of our society that wants to see an end to America’s archaic and overly punitive marijuana laws. Two: the American public is ready and willing to engage in a serious and objective political debate regarding the merits of legalizing the use of cannabis by adults.
RevRayGreen: I'll post a pic of me and my son....gimme a minute
Missippi Hippy: Guess what... I'm gonna be a new... ummmmm well, my pet piggie Ganja is in labor and they ain't mine in the same sense. See what your wife [...]
RevRayGreen: days they didn't talk back..or act disrespectful..
RevRayGreen: feel so lucky my son is 18 going 19 and my daughter 16 going on 17..relish the days that can't talk back
Urb Age: Congrats Spof thats awesome. My little Clara is about to hit 20 months. Im not the activist I used to be, but its made me a better man.
Urb Age: Heck I was gonna go up there, but just not feeling well this weekend..Dang it, I hate it when that happens..
RevRayGreen: wishing I was hanging at NORML cafe...
JohnH: Just a quick comment about tokin' and sperm motility....been tokin since age 14 and have 8 kids ranging in age from 30 to 9...(what can I say, I found 2 [...]
slash5city: really ..oprah 35 yr or more in the closet toker ...outed ....o my god !!
SneakerPimp: that would be huge news just imagen the headline
RevRayGreen: maybe Oprah smokes and keeps it on the DL...
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. […]
NYT: End the Rockefeller Drug Laws
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