While Cleveland billionaire Peter Lewis already had sent up smoke signals about organizing and funding a medical-marijuana ballot issue, another group quietly has been laying the groundwork for a constitutional amendment.

If approved by voters, the Ohio Medical Cannabis Act of 2012 would establish a regulatory system modeled after the Ohio State Liquor Control system. There would be an Ohio Commission of Cannabis Control, plus a state division and superintendent to run it. Marijuana purchases would require a doctor’s prescription and would be subject to state and local sales taxes.

Qualified purchasers could buy 60 grams of marijuana at a time and possess and transport up to 200 grams (about 7 ounces). They also could grow up to 12 marijuana plants for personal use, under the proposal. Permits would be required to cultivate and sell marijuana.

To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot, supporters first must gather 1,000 valid signatures of registered voters to submit language to the attorney general for approval. They then can begin collecting 385,245 signatures – the minimum number to qualify for the ballot.

Remember the days when we fought like hell to get medical marijuana on the ballot?  Now, Ohio may be looking at two initiatives, while Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and California may have two legalization initiatives each as well as other medical marijuana legislation.

Naturally the local anti-drug spokesperson was livid about the proposal, saying “Our conclusion is that the use of marijuana as medicine should not be a legislative or voter decision. We don’t vote on antibiotics. We don’t vote on antihistamines. If we’re going to look at the medical value, let’s treat it and study it like medicine.”  That’s always so quaint to hear when we know that DEA and NIDA block all attempts to do just that.  Medical marijuana supporters have always wanted that and only went to voters when dying people couldn’t wait any longer.

Besides, if you had a flesh-eating bacteria chomping away your thigh and I told you a cannabis-based salve would probably kill that bug and save your leg, would you need to wait for some scientist to prove that?  Patients have used cannabis for 5,000 years and discovered it works – how much more proof do you need?

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Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer files lawsuit to get federal decision on state’s medical marijuana liabilities
2. Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel resigns amid tales of players swapping memorabilia for weed
3. Florida woman sues police who mistook her sage for marijuana and gave her a body cavity search

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Cannabis Cure UK – the reform podcast for the United Kingdom

• Electric Tuesday: Satta Spliff – “Emperor Sellassie I”

Cannabis Community

• Dale Gieringer from California NORML on the latest estimates of over one million California medical marijuana patients

Radical Rant

• One Million Legal Marijuana Patients in USA

"Counter-culture" activists for NORML (L-R) Keith Stroup, Assem. Tom Ammiano, PBS Host Rick Steves... crazy hippies!

From time to time on blogs I read a complaint about NORML, like this one:

NORML hasn’t accomplish­ed anything since the disco era!  They haven’t done a damn thing in the last 30 years!  Paul A is the only good thing NORML has going; aside from him, this movement wouldn’t even notice if NORML ceased existing.

I will concur that Paul Armentano is an MVP All-Star in marijuana law reform.  You cannot find a person better educated on the science of marijuana.

But to conclude Paul is the “only good thing NORML has going” is to disparage the incredible work being done by hundreds of grassroots activists working in the NORML chapter network.  To wit:

More "counter-culture" activists with NORML

Chris Goldstein, Anne Davis, & NORML NJ – instrumental in negotiations with New Jersey lawmakers to bring about Gov. Corzine’s signature on the law making it the nation’s 15th medical marijuana state.

Derek Rosenzweig & PhillyNORML – uncovered and published research on Philadelphia’s racial bias in marijuana enforcement leading to a change in policy to end arrests of low level marijuana consumers in the city.

Another couple of "hippies"

Michigan NORML and MassCann/NORML laid the groundwork for 2008′s medical marijuana and decriminalization, respectively, in Michigan and Massachusetts by passing numerous municipal measures in support of marijuana.

Madeline Martinez and Oregon NORML led negotiations with lawmakers to set medical marijuana limits to 24 ounces and 24 plants, the highest statewide statutory limits in the nation (along with Washington State).

The "grass" in "grassroots" - so counter-culture!

Dale Gieringer, Bill Panzer, and California NORML helped co-author Prop 215 in California, worked for the clarifications found in SB420, worked with Assem. Ammiano to produce the first legalization bill in decades, helped shepherd the latest California decrim measure to Schwarzenegger’s desk, and are organizing with Prop 19′s leaders for a new legalization initiative in 2012.

Kandice Hawes and Orange County NORML held the nation’s first medical marijuana conference specifically for seniors… across the street from Disneyland!

No wonder "normal" people won't join... look at these two!

Mary Mackenzie (apologies for the original name misspell – I sure know what that’s like!), AZ4NORML, and Phoenix NORML were the foot soldiers gathering the signatures that got MPP’s Arizona Prop 203 on the ballot.

Kelly Maddy, Joplin NORML, Dan Viets, Missouri NORML, all worked in Missouri to pass lowest-law-enforcement and other municipal initiatives.

These guys have done nothing since the disco era...

Ben Masel, Gary Storck, Madison NORML all have lobbied intensively for the Jackie Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, moving it farther along in the legislative process every year.

Colorado NORML, Mile High NORML, have worked with SAFER on their initiatives, gathering signatures that lead to Denver’s legalization and other low-priority initiatives.

Obviously too tie-dyed and love-beaded to make any difference

Isaias Valdez and Idaho NORML are beginning the grassroots education and activism in one of the most anti-marijuana states in the nation; the state currently has a medical marijuana bill in the legislature and the group is following up with a citizen’s initiative.

John & Heather Masterson in Montana NORML, battling to mitigate the perception of abuse of medical marijuana created by unethical “ganjapreneurs” and most recenlty providing live coverage of the DEA raids in Montana.

Sure, they're doctors... but they're "pot" doctors!

Then there are the hundreds of attorneys who make up the NORML Legal Committee, who have donated thousands of hours of pro bono time helping average cannabis consumers avoid jail and retain voting rights, also working on new laws.  For example:

Jeff Blackburn, who kept an AIDS patient out of a Texas prison with an affirmative defense that a jury agreed with in only 11 minutes of deliberation.  The patients’ original public defender only offered a plea deal that would have meant six months of drug testing that would’ve left the patient without his medicine, wasting away.

And that whole "boobs and buds" issue turns women off to the cause...

Doug Hiatt, who fought for the life of Hep C patient Tim Garon, denied a liver transplant because his legal medical marijuana use in Washington State made him a “drug addict” in the eyes of the hospital.  Hiatt is now behind the Sensible Washington effort to fully legalize by citizen initiative.

Let’s not forget the national staff (like me) who constantly educate, advocate, interview, debate, advertise, litigate, lobby, and keep the conversation on marijuana legalization moving forward.

No wonder nobody wants to legalize pot - look at these people!

I’ve already written way too much for a comment and that is just reviewing my own memory of NORML Activism within the four years I’ve worked for NORML.  And remember, aside from the lawyers (sometimes), NONE of these activists made a single dime for performing these heroic acts.

As far as I’m concerned, all of the groups involved in marijuana law reform have an important role to play.  It’s like the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard – we have different jobs and different specializations in service of the same goal.  Sure, we have internecine grudges and rivalries.  Just as jarheads goad sailors, just as grunts tease flyboys, drug war reform groups may also grouse about each other, but when the rubber hits the road, we’re all fighting for the good ol’ U S of A.

For me personally, there are some important differences.  DPA is about drug policy – they think drug prohibition sucks.  MPP is about marijuana policy – they think marijuana prohibition sucks.  SAFER is about offering choice – they think alcohol sucks compared to marijuana.  ASA is about medical marijuana – they are silent on healthy people’s use.  LEAP is about cops’ expression of drug war failure – they think drug prohibition sucks.

NORML, of all the groups, is the one that doesn’t just think marijuana prohibition sucks, but that cannabis use is a positive.  We’re not just anti-prohibition, we’re pro-cannabis!

Finally, to the disparagement of the counter-culture you believe NORML represents: in actuality, most of our NORML Affiliate and Chapter leaders are far from what anyone would consider “hippie”.  Anne Davis, head of NORML NJ, is a successful attorney and mother of two.  Tonya Davis, head of Central Ohio NORML, is a disabled patient in a wheelchair.  Clif Deuvall, head of NORML of Waco Texas, is a disabled veteran.  Isaias Valdez, head of Idaho NORML, is a clean-cut college student.  I can’t speak to what you may have seen from NORML in the 1980′s or 90′s, but I know since my involvement I have never met a better representative group of average cannabis consumers.  In my tenure, we have instituted sixty new state, local, and college affiliates, so it seems to me plenty of people are eager to organize under the NORML banner.

There is a drug reform group for everyone.  I don’t care what acronym you want to associate with so long as you’re on this side of the battle over prohibition.  But to dismiss and disparage NORML’s role in the war is to vilify the most committed activists in the battle – the ones not doing it for some billionaire’s largess.  If you think someone might not support ending prohibition because someone in a NORML T-shirt might have long hair, piercings, or tattoos, then you aren’t very good at illustrating the need to end the drug war.

Russ Belville

NORML Outreach Coordinator

P.S. If you really want to know what is going on in grassroots reform, check out the podcasts from all around the nation and even England at The NORML Network – http://live.norml.org

Another example of cannabusiness being an important part of the economy.  Just be careful Ohio marijuana farmers, according to Melinda Haag, it’s still illegal.

yahoonews Medical marijuana measures have seen both success and failures across the United States. The nonprofit coalition is working with an Ohio attorney to sidestep obstacles similar ballot initiatives have encountered before placing the measure on the ballot next year. According to a release by the coalition, 73 percent of Ohioans favor cannabis regulation. If voters in the Buckeye State agree with the statistic, regulated medical marijuana farms and greenhouses would be created in the state. From a strictly fiscal standpoint, jobs and tax revenue could be a welcome shot in the arm to Ohio’s struggling economy.

Pending legislature measures in Ohio may mean the timing is right to allow controlled growth and use of organic marijuana. The rising cost of housing nonviolent inmates who have been convicted of growing even small amounts of cannabis has been a burden on municipalities and the state prison system. Newly appointed Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Director Gary Mohr stated in an interview published in the Columbus Dispatch that he supports measures to allow specific inmates to reduce their sentences by participating in substance abuse programs. While offering “good time” sentence reductions for substance abuse may not seem like a positive for supporters of organic or medical marijuana, it just may the change in attitude the group needs to succeed.

Ohio’s prisons are in dire financial straits, the controlled use of marijuana would eliminate the need to incarcerate those partaking in legalized use of the organic drug. Abuse and use are at different ends of the mental and physical spectrum. If you are 21 years old you can drink alcohol, but if you abuse the liquid drug and drive, then you go to jail. A similar philosophy could easily be applied to the controlled growth and sale of medical marijuana. Thousands of dollars in eradication efforts could be saved from local government budgets if such a law were to pass. If a medical prescription becomes available, illegal pot growers may soon become a thing of the past.

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Hemp Headlines

1. Illinois House Committee forwards medical marijuana bill on 6-5 vote
2. New Jersey doctor busted for growing 58 plants, smoked “30 joints a day”
3. Hawai’i Senate passes five pro-marijuana bills with near unanimity

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by John Doe Radio.com

• Groovin’ Thursday: Pace Won & Mr. Green – “Can You Hear Me?”

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Speaker’s Corner

• Live in studio: Shelley Fox-Loken, former Oregon probation and parole officer

NORML Newsmakers

• Cher Neufer from Ohio NORML on Lodi’s mayor vs. the NORML Store

Ohio is one of the thirteen states that has decriminalized possession of marijuana, meaning that possession of a personal amount is punishable only by a ticket and fine, with no criminal record and no jail time. Of the thirteen decrim states, Ohio’s definition of “personal amount” is the greatest, with possession of 100 grams of cannabis or less (about 3.5 ounces) defined as a “minor misdemeanor” (no criminal record) – a $150 fine and six month to five years driver’s license suspension.

Except in the city of Cincinnati.  There the city had adopted Municipal Code Sec. 910-23 dealing with the possession of marijuana:

(A) No person shall knowingly obtain, possess, or use marijuana, in an amount less than two hundred grams.(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of possession of marijuana. Except as otherwise provided in this division, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of this section, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor of the first degree.

This means anyone caught in Cincinnati with 1-100 grams is treated as the state treats people caught with 101-200 grams.  That 4th degree misdemeanor does go on one’s criminal record and carries a fine of $250, six months to five years driver’s license suspension, and up to thirty days in jail.  If it is your second strike in Cincinnati, that 1st degree misdemeanor equals $1,000 fine, six months to five years driver’s license suspension, and six months in jail.

The activists at Prioritize Cincinnati did a fantastic job educating their lawmakers and the public about the unintended consequences of the city marijuana possession ordinance:

Prioritize Cincinnati seeks the repeal of Ordinance 910-23, which increased the penalty for marijuana possession. We want to repeal this law for three reasons:

• 910-23 was enacted to reduce the number of handguns on the streets. Instead, handgun seizures have decreased by 25%.
• By reducing the number of handguns on the streets, this law was supposed to reduce handgun crimes. Instead, handgun crimes have increased by 56%.
• At a time when Cincinnati is struggling with a budget deficit, marijuana possession enforcement costs have increased by $181,000.

Note: All statistics on this site are based on information from the Cincinnati Police Department.

All that hard work paid off, because after contentious end-of-year debates, the city council repealed 910-23 as part of its new budget:

(Cincinnati.com) It took until after midnight, but Cincinnati has a budget for next year – with no police or fire layoffs, no trash fee and no managed competition.

The budget uses $27 million in one-time sources, including borrowing from the workers compensation fund and emergency reserves. It also would pay an annual payment to Cincinnati Public Schools of $5 million from a Tax Increment Financing District fund rather than from the general fund. The money is part of a deal over construction of the stadiums.

It also cuts police overtime by $1.7 million, banks on $2 million from a tax amnesty program to be offered. Budget Director Lea Eriksen said the police would be “extremely challenged” by trying to come up with that size cut to overtime.It also would stop paying for crossing guards at parochial schools, repeal the city’s marijuana ordinance, borrow $2.4 million from a reserve account, borrow $1.9 million from an expected carryover next year and cut school nurses after June.

(Cincinnati.com) By a 5-4 vote, City Council passed a $340 million operating budget that fills a projected $54 million deficit without a $20 trash fee, without managed competition and without significant layoffs of police, fire or any other workers.

The final vote came about 10:15 p.m. The plan had passed the budget committee by the same margin earlier in the night.

In two news stories on the subject the part about repealing the marijuana ordinance is mentioned in passing deep into the article.  There was no debate about it and no controversy in repealing it.  This all took place in meetings and votes held a week ago and there hasn’t been any outcry from outraged Cincinnatians in that time.

Sometimes prohibition just quietly fades away.

Thank you for contacting me regarding efforts to legalize marijuana. I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with me.

Marijuana is illegal for sound reasons. Research shows that frequent use of marijuana suppresses the immune system, damages brain cells, and decreases short-term memory, which can be especially damaging to young people. Heavy use of this drug can also cause anxiety, hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. A long-term study of one thousand children found that those who used marijuana by age of 13 were over three times more likely to develop mental illness as a result.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I fully support efforts to both keep this drug illegal and to prevent it from being smuggled into the U.S. I am especially troubled by those who peddle the drug culture as a cure-all to the health care community. We must do all we can to prevent drug use while fostering healthy families and communities. This is why I strongly oppose H.R. 5843, the curiously named Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act, which was introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) on April 17, 2008. It is absurd to think that we can win the War on Drugs by retreating from the front lines. I assure you that I will continue to stand against attempts to legalize drugs.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any other concerns or questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at (202) 225-2676, or by e-mail through our website at http://jordan.house.gov.

Sincerely,
Jim Jordan
Congressman, Ohio 4th District

Dear Barry,

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the question of medical marijuana.
While I do support increasing the availability of medications and other items that serve a palliative function for the reduction of symptoms related to cancer, cataracts and other conditions, I am sorry to inform you that I do not support the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. As someone who has family members with a history of cancer, I am certainly sympathetic to the concerns and wishes of cancer patients, but I do not believe that the societal dangers that can come from the legalization of marijuana outweigh the function that it may be able to perform in the lives. Despite our disagreement, I hope you can accept my position on this important issue, even if you disagree with it.
If there is any other matter on which I may be of assistance, do not hesitate to contact my office.

Best wishes,
Dan Dodd
State Representative
91st House District

Dear Mr. Jackson:

Thank you for sharing your views on legalizing marijuana.

While it is important to consider the potential medical benefits of
marijuana, particularly for terminally ill patients whose quality of life
may hinge on effective pain management, there are risks associated with making marijuana legally available. The widespread popularity and use of this drug among our nation’s youth, as well as its role as a “pipeline” drug (potentially leading to the use of heroin and other lethal drugs) distinguishes it from other controlled substances, and we must be particularly careful before creating the potential for expanded access and use.

In the past I have cosponsored a bill that would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for simple possession, distribution, manufacturing, importation, and other drug-related offenses, and curb prosecutions of low-level drug offenders in federal court. I cosponsored this legislation because I believe we must restore integrity to the criminal justice system and find more constructive approaches to America’s drug problem. There is no current legislation in the Senate that addresses the issue of marijuana legalization. If such a bill is introduced, I will keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you again for being in touch with me.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown
United States Senator

If you smoked a joint last week, in eleven states you're as bad as a drunk driver.

From the Obama Administration’s recently released National Drug Control Strategy (hat tip to NORML reader Glen):

Encourage States To Adopt Per Se Drug Impairment Laws [ONDCP]
State laws regarding impaired driving are varied, but most State codes do not contain a separate offense for driving under the influence of drugs (DUID). Therefore, few drivers are identified, prosecuted, or convicted for DUID. Law enforcement personnel usually cite individuals with the easier to prove driving while intoxicated (DWI) alcohol charges. Unclear laws provide vague signals both to drivers and to law enforcement, thereby minimizing the possible preventive benefit of DUID statutes. Fifteen states have passed laws clarifying that the presence of any illegal drug in a driver’s body is per se evidence of impaired driving. ONDCP will work to expand the use of this standard to other states and explore other ways to increase the enforcement of existing DUID laws.

Here are the states President Obama would like to emulate:

1. Arizona: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 24 hours jail, up to 6 months upon conviction.
2. Delaware: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites.
3. Georgia: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 24 hours jail, up to 12 months upon conviction.
4. Illinois: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, up to 12 months upon conviction.
5. Indiana: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, up to 60 days upon conviction.
6. Michigan: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, up to 93 days upon conviction, vehicle immobilization for up to 180 days.
7. Nevada: 15 ng/ml for cannabis metabolites.
8. Ohio: 15 ng/ml for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 72 hours in jail, up to 6 months upon conviction, 6 month to 3 year license suspension.
9. Pennsylvania: DUID for cannabis metabolites, amount unclear.
10. South Dakota: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites for persons under the age of 21.
11. Utah: Zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites, mandatory 48 hours jail, up to 6 months upon conviction.

Nine of the fifteen states cited have “zero tolerance for cannabis metabolites”.  What this means is that if the inactive (read: non-impairing) THC metabolite (THC-COOH) is detected in the urine of a driver, that driver is impaired in the eyes of the law.  (There are actually 17 states that have per se DUID laws, but Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin exclude metabolites of cannabis.)  Nevada and Ohio have 15 ng/ml levels which are very low; most workplace pre-employment screenings set the initial screening limit at 50 ng/ml.  At the confirmation level of 15 ng/ml, the frequent cannabis user will be positive for perhaps as long as 15 weeks.

Of course, faithful NORML readers and most of the public know that cannabis metabolites can remain detectable in the urine for up to 100 days or longer for a regular cannabis consumer and up to fifteen days for the casual consumer, even after quitting cold turkey.  Metabolites in urine don’t tell you a driver is actually impaired, they tell you someone used cannabis, but not when.  Even the US Department of Transportation admits that a positive test for drug metabolites is “solid proof of drug use within the last few days, it cannot be used by itself to prove behavioral impairment during a focal event.”

Cannabis metabolites are funny things; they don’t eliminate from the body in any predictable fashion. In fact, when you think about it, a metabolite is produced when the body metabolizes, or breaks down, a substance.  The presence of metabolites for THC tells you the body has already broken down the THC!  You could actually call a urine screening for metabolites a non-impairment test!

Now some of these laws do have per se standards for actual THC in the blood and you could argue that is a more realistic determinant of current impairment, but do you think most cash-strapped city, county, and state police are going to use an expensive, invasive blood test when a cheap urine screen is available and more likely to get them a conviction for DUID?

These per se DUID “zero tolerance” laws are nothing but discrimination against cannabis users, plain and simple.  Metabolites for every other drug, legal and illegal, are eliminated from the body much quicker:

• PCP (“angel dust”) = up to 2 days detection.
• Cocaine (and “crack”) = up to 2-3 days detection.
• Opiates (heroin, oxycontin, etc.) = up to 1-2 days detection.
• Amphetamines (meth, speed) = up to 1-3 days detection.
• Barbiturates (Seconol, etc.) = up to 3 days detection.
• Benzodiazepenes (Xanax, Valium, Clonopin, etc.) = up to 2-3 days detection.
• Alcohol (Budweiser, Jim Beam, Reisling, etc.) = you can actually be considered unimpaired with current blood alcohol levels up to 0.08%, so long as you pass the roadside sobriety test!
• Cannabis (marijuana, hash, pot) = up to 7-100 days detection.

So you could smoke some dust, snort some coke, shoot some smack, and pop some pills at the party Friday night, and possibly be considered an unimpaired driver by Monday (you could even have a couple of drinks before you got pulled over), but if you smoked a joint last month, in eleven states you could be going to jail and losing your license for endangering the public on the roadways.

These “zero tolerance” laws are criminalizing an entire population – cannabis users – for molecules in their bodies that have nothing to do with impairment or driving ability.  Can you imagine the uproar if police harassed drivers based on the melanin content of their skin… whoops, never mind.