Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 11:29 am | By: Radical Russ
(PhillyNORML: Chris Goldstein & Derek Rosenzweig) Philadelphia could save more than $3,000,000 annually by not taking pot smokers in for mugshots.
Minor marijuana possession arrests in Philadelphia are handled with mandatory custody; this is a different process than every other county in Pennsylvania costing the city millions of dollars. A disproportionate number of citizens (84%) arrested for marijuana possession in the city are black.
Research by PhillyNORML this year has uncovered these two disturbing trends that present serious challenges to the city. But in a sign of a pragmatic shift in attitudes, city officials have held an ongoing dialogue with reform advocates to proactively address these concerns.
In March of 2009 the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws performed their annual observation of the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Report data for the marijuana arrest numbers. At the same time, the city was beginning to face a heartbreaking economic plight that pitted police jobs against a lack of Public Safety Budget funds.
Data indicates that 4,716 adults were arrested in 2008 on the singular criminal misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession less than 30 grams. In Philadelphia such arrests are required to be custodial. For even a single cannabis joint this means an offender must be handcuffed, transported to a holding cell, photographed and perhaps make bail before release. In every other county in Pennsylvania there is no mandate for the custodial arrest of citizens found with small amounts of marijuana. Instead, summary violations are issued along with a date to appear in court.
PhillyNORML is a sterling example of how ordinary cannabis consumers can band together under the NORML banner and affect real change at the local level. Reformers at the national level don’t have the on-the-ground knowledge of local politics like everyday citizens living in cities like Philadelphia. Local reformers can better cultivate personal relationships with mayors, city councils, and all their staff, as well as integrate with groups as disparate as unions and libertarian groups, parents and police, and churches and universities.
If you’re sitting around wondering when they are going to legalize pot, you’re part of the problem. YOU have to legalize pot. You and your like-minded pot smokers, cannabis consumers, medical marijuana patients, and lovers of liberty, peaceably assembled to exercise your free speech and to petition your government for a redress of grievances… there’s nothing more American than being NORML.
Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 10:51 am | By: Radical Russ
I’m proud to announce the affiliation of two new college chapters in the NORML network.
Andrew Ball is the founder of a new chapter at the University of Texas San Antonio.
Donald Brooks is the founder of a new chapter at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.
Welcome aboard! And if you’re interested in starting a NORML Chapter at your college campus, send me an email with the subject College Chapter to stash@norml.org.
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 1:22 pm | By: Chris Goldstein
Medical Marijuana Hearings Scheduled in PA
Philadelphia- Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana (PA4MMJ) is pleased to announce that the PA House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee will have hearings on HB 1393, The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.
PA4MMJ and Rep. Mark Cohen at the candlight vigil for medical marijuana in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall
Scheduled in Harrisburg on December 2, 2009 these will be the first public hearings on medical cannabis in the history of the Commonwealth.
On April 29, 2009 Rep. Mark B. Cohen, the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, introduced the bill to legalize medical marijuana with Chris Goldstein of PA4MMJ. HB1393, is solid legislation that would allow registered patients to grow six plants or purchase cannabis through Compassion Centers. A provision in the bill allows these medical cannabis sales to be taxed.
Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 6:11 pm | By: Legalize-SaveLives
After the groundbreaking announcement on Tuesday about the Pennsylvania HHS deciding that medical marijuana “has merit” we’re now given inside information about the opportunity present in PA and how best to capitalize on it. Tuesday’s announcement can be found here.
Thanks to Dev Meyers who announced the PA HHS decision on Examiner.com we’re now given these details:
Hi – It’s Dev Meyers -Cannabis Revolution Examiner.com – I am the one who telephoned Stanley Mitchel at Oliver’s office. I had telephoned Mark Cohen. who sponsored the bill. I have been speaking with him every couple weeks. You can look through the articles on my site. Cohen told me now that PA HB1393 has moved into the hearing phase it is an important step forward. Everyone needs to testify. Stanley wants to hear more from groups. So it is important to channel your testimony if you have one through a group. PAMMJ or Medical Movement and so forth.
I will try to get more details about the hearings but everyone should go and let them know there is support for this – the perception is that there is not enough support to pass the bill in Pennsylvania.The politicians think that Pennsylvanians are too conservative to vote for the bill. [sounds like a challenge to me! lol]Everyone of them has told me that. Also the doctors are afraid to go on record because of their employers – for example mine wouldn’t go on the record because he is employed by UPMC. So the problem is that everyone is afraid to speak up.
It is really important to support this hearing because these politicians – Cohen, Mitchel, all of them down the line have been absolutely flabbergasted to find their phones ringing off the hook on this issue. Cohen’s right hand advisor had tried to steer him away from sponsoring the bill. Now the two of them joke – “Why didn’t we do this 10 years ago.” Cohen told me he never expected this much interest or activity when he introduced the bill in April.
If you want to visit Cannabis Revolution Examiner you can see a list of my recent articles and the text of this weeks AMA ruling.
So everybody in PA, this is YOUR opportunity!!
And to clarify the names used in the article – Stanley Mitchel is Rep. Frank Oliver’s Chief Legal Counsel. Rep. Oliver is the Chairman of Health and Human Services. And Rep. Mark Cohen introduced HB1393.
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 6:11 pm | By: Chris Goldstein
John Ray Wilson and Jim Miller in New Jersey
10/25/09 by Chris Goldstein
Scoop: Staffers at Americans for Safe Access met with Department of Justice officials before the memo on medical marijuana was released last week.
My role with several marijuana reform non-profits in New Jersey and Pennsylvania requires interaction with the national reform groups. One that has represented patients with great passion and success is Americans for Safe Access.
They have aggressively pursued issues related to medical marijuana laws and then the rights of patients under those laws. ASA has chapters in several states with main offices in California and Washington DC.
On Wednesday I called ASA’s DC office to check in about some literature for events. Their Director of Government Affairs is Caren Woodson. She’s an experienced beltway player who has led protests on the street and meetings on The Hill. We’ve interviewed many times for podcasts and radio and have been working together as advocates this year.
After talking business I asked her what she thought of the Department of Justice memo. Caren’s usual, very professional tone changed and there was excitement in her voice: She and Steph Sherer, ASA’s Director, had been invited for a meeting with DOJ officials the week before. This was the only known meeting of advocates with the DOJ on this issue.
That morning I had just happened to have wrapped up a telephone radio interview with an author of a book on public education. I asked Caren for an interview right away. The recording took 12 minutes and it aired that night on KSFR 101.1FM with my show Active Voice Radio.
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In the past, ASA was protesting in front of the Department of Justice: Loudly and very visibly protesting at that. Now they are invited in for meetings. There was no stronger indicator this week of this tangible shift in federal policy on medical cannabis.
The impact of the DOJ memo is already being felt locally in NJ/PA. Two major editorials were published in the immediate wake of the news. The NJ General Assembly is expected to see The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act in a floor vote this fall.PA should have the first public legislative hearings on the issue soon.
The Obama administration’s new policy on medical marijuana should make it easier for New Jersey and Pennsylvania to legalize its use for seriously ill patients. The Justice Department has removed a major legal hurdle by issuing a memo directing federal prosecutors in states that allow medical marijuana not to target patients or their sanctioned suppliers when the drug is purchased for legitimate purposes. Read Full Editorial
New Jersey legislators, poised to vote on the issue, may be encouraged by the federal change of heart. It reflects the opinion of a majority of Americans — and 82 percent of N.J. residents — who favor dispensing marijuana to patients. With the new federal policy in place, there is no reason for New Jersey to any longer delay legalizing medical marijuana. Read Full Editorial
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 3:40 pm | By: Radical Russ
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Pittsburgh firefighters soon will be randomly tested for drugs and can be fired for failing as part of the five-year contract agreed to by city and union officials last week, Public Safety Director Mike Huss said Monday.
“We still have the labor management committee working out the details, but at minimum, it will provide random testing for the first time,” Huss said. “They will immediately be terminated the next time there’s a problem.”
Joe King, president of the fire union, said random testing is the “prudent thing to do.”
“People in this society hold us to a higher standard and we agree, but it’s very complicated,” he said. “Everybody’s entitled to a second chance.”
State law says Pittsburgh firefighters can’t be fired unless the action is approved by a trial board of three other firefighters, something Huss said the city has “struggled with for a long time.” The new process will set aside the trial board for drug offenses only, he said.
“There are some cases we’ve been very frustrated with. It’s a small percentage, but we put a lot of trust in these folks and we have to make sure they’re clean and can function safely,” Huss said.
Let me get this straight. If Joe the Drunk Fireman who shows up for work hung over on alcohol and regularly violates some safety protocols, let’s say, then state law says that a board of three fellow firefighters must concur if the city wants to fire Joe. But if Bob the Pothead Fireman shows up for work completely sober every day and is a exemplary firefighter, only the positive result on a pee test is necessary if the city wants to fire Bob.
Pittsburgh’s firefighters will work a 24 hour shift followed by two days off. If we want to make sure they’re “clean and can function safely”, why do you have them working 24 hours at a time? Certainly they get the opportunity to sleep in the firehouse between calls, but on a busy day, isn’t it possible the firefighters wouldn’t be functioning safely due to drowsiness?
Furthermore, for the occasional user, especially a fit firefighter type with a high metabolism, most other drugs but cannabis will be undetectable after 24-48 hours. If Pittsburgh is really serious about making sure its firefighters can “function safely”, then it should employ simple non-invasive electronic testing that detects all forms of impairment regardless of source.
Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 10:24 am | By: Radical Russ
I returned from Idaho last night to find on my fax machine the incorporation paperwork for the new Pittsburgh NORML. No website yet, but you can find their contact information on the NORML website. Congratulations!
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Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 12:49 pm | By: Radical Russ
Midstaters who want Pennsylvania to become the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana use rallied Saturday on the steps of the Capitol.
About 20 people marched from the Capitol to the corner of Market and Second streets, holding signs and handing out literature on marijuana’s benefits to those suffering from cancer treatments, glaucoma and depression.
Chuck Homan, the York-area man who organized the event, said a bill is pending before the state Legislature — the most restrictive proposed to date — that would allow Pennsylvanians to purchase small amounts of marijuana for treatment purposes.
Dana Durec, 53, of McVeytown, Mifflin County, knows that first-hand. Injured in the line of duty as a Pennsylvania state trooper, Durec had several spinal fusions and is on a regimen of pain pills.
Durec, bearing a sign accusing lawmakers of caring more about suffering puppies than suffering people, believes he would be healthier, sleep more and have better pain relief if he was able to include marijuana as a treatment option.
As the group progressed toward Market Street, honks of support, and the occasional “Go home, hippies,” followed them down the city blocks.
As much as it amuses me to have a former state trooper being taunted as a “hippie”, I have to note how much hatred there is in that taunt. “Go home, hippies!” It reminds you that while we have all the facts, logic, science, and compassion on our side, marijuana prohibition is not about any of that. Prohibition is an emotional, tribal reaction against “the other”. It’s not that marijuana in and of itself will wreak havoc. In fact, when you delve deep into the prohibitionist brain (bring a flashlight) you find that many of them had smoked pot back in the day and may even know and like some pot smokers now. But the prohibitionist can compartmentalize such seeming contradictions better than a pro-family Clinton-castigating South Carolina governor with a love of hiking. You see, his pot smoking or his friend’s pot smoking isn’t like their pot smoking. He’s the “good people” and those people are no-good, pot-smoking, America-hating, socialism-loving, gun-hating, tree-hugging hippies. It is not unlike the racist who rails on day after day about those people but will tell you some of his best friends are black.
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 [...]
Marijuana-Related Health Costs Minimal Compared To Those Of Alcohol, Tobacco; California Medical Association Says Pot Prohibition Is A "Failed Public Health Policy"; Oregon: State NORML Affiliate Opens First 'Cannabis Café'. […]
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. […]
Philadelphia could save $3 million annually by ending marijuana mug shots
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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