http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/ Oakland County NORML en-us Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:46:02 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly Oakland County NORML News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/images/logo.gif http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/ http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=463 High times: New law allows legal marijuana use High times: New law allows legal marijuana use Mining Journal reporter Claire Abent investigates process to legally use the drug for medical purposes; her first-person account follows By CLAIRE ABENT Journal Staff Writer POSTED: February 4, 2010 MARQUETTE -My knowledge of medical marijuana used to come mostly from the TV show "Weeds" - the episode where Kevin Nealon feigns illness to get an ID card. But somehow I always suspected it doesn't work like that. When The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a non-profit organization, brought their traveling clinic to Marquette last week, I took the chance to see what it actually takes to get certified and registered for medical marijuana in the state of Michigan, since I apparently have a qualifying condition - migraine headaches. I approached the clinic, held in one of the Ramada Inn conference rooms, not having any idea what to expect. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be a bunch of hippies sitting in a cloud of smoke listening to the Grateful Dead, but I wasn't sure what it would be. As a reporter, I'm used to not always knowing what kind of situation I'm going into, but this seemed different. The clinic was just a room with some tables and chairs. It wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be. A DVD about medical marijuana use and laws was playing for those who were waiting. Privacy areas were set up in two corners. I was greeted warmly at the table by the door and asked to fill the preliminary paperwork.Web Page Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:46:02 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=462 Slowly, states are lessening limits on marijuana By William M. Welchand Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY LOS ANGELES — James Gray once saw himself as a drug warrior, a former federal prosecutor and county judge who sent people to prison for dealing pot and other drug offenses. Gradually, though, he became convinced that the ban on marijuana was making it more accessible to young people, not less. "I ask kids all the time, and they'll tell you it is easier to get marijuana than a six-pack of beer because that is controlled by the government," he said, noting that drug dealers don't ask for IDs or honor minimum age requirements. So Gray — who spent two decades as a superior court judge in Orange County, Calif., and once ran for Congress as a Republican— switched sides in the war on drugs, becoming an advocate for legalizing marijuana. "Let's face reality," he says. "Taxing and regulating marijuana will make it less available to children than it is today." Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:12:16 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=461 Real World Ramifications of Cannabis Legalization and Decriminalization Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:16:39 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director Last week Rhode Island became the fifth state this legislative session to introduce legislation seeking to legalize and regulate the adult use, possession, production, and distribution of non-medical marijuana. Also last week lawmakers in the Hawaii Senate approved legislation seeking to ‘decriminalize’ (replace criminal penalties with civil fines) marijuana possession offenses — a policy reform that now exists in thirteen states. Opponents of such liberalization proposals inevitably argue that any efforts toward decriminalizing or legalizing cannabis will adversely impact the public’s use of marijuana and/or young people’s attitudes toward it. Yet regional data gleaned from around the word consistently demonstrates that the imposition and enforcement of harsh criminal marijuana penalties do not dissuade cannabis use, and moreover, that criminalization is an objectively ineffective public policy. To better educate lawmakers, opinion leaders, and our own constituents of this consistent, comprehensive, and growing body of scientific literature, NORML has authored the following white paper, Real World Ramifications of Cannabis Legalization and Decriminalization. This paper reviews dozens studies that have examined this issue in regions that have either: a) regulated marijuana use and sales for all adults; b) decriminalized the possession of small quantities of marijuana for adults; c) medicalized the use of marijuana to certain authorized individuals; or d) deprioritized the enforcement of marijuana laws. NORML’s paper also proposes general guidelines to govern marijuana use, production, and distribution in a legal, regulated manner. Based on the multi-decade experiences of various states and nations that have enacted various versions of marijuana decriminalization and/or legalization, NORML maintains that: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:30:24 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=460 Rhode Island Lawmakers Introduce State’s First Ever Marijuana Legalization Bill House lawmakers today for the first time introduced legislation that seeks to legalize the production, distribution, and personal use of marijuana for adults age 21 and older. As introduced, House Bill 7838: The Taxation and Regulation of Marijuana Act, would exempt adults from any statewide criminal or civil penalty for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, the not-for-profit transfer of small amounts of marijuana, and/or the cultivation of up to three marijuana plants. The proposal also establishes licensing requirements for the commercial cultivation and distribution of marijuana via retail facilities. The measure states that “at least one” marijuana retailer shall exist per county within one year following the passage of this act. Licensed commercial producers will be imposed a $50 per ounce excise tax under the measure. Full text of this legislation is available here. House Bill 7838 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. For your convenience, pre-written letters will be e-mailed to your member of the House when you enter your contact information below. Thank you for supporting NORML's marijuana law reform efforts in Rhode Island. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:20:25 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=459 Hi All, Oakland County NORML will hold it's next meeting Monday evening at 6 pm on March the 15th at the Bloomfield Township Public Library. The library is located at 1099 Lone Pine Rd, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302. A map can be found here: http://www.oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=15" target="_blank" title="http://www.oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=15>http://www.oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=15" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">Oakland NORML MAP PAGE I am still finalizing the agenda, but I wanted to give you as much notice as possible. Hopefully my announcement for the next meeting will be 4 weeks in advance with a reminder 2 weeks out and 1 week out as well. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you all there, or at least as much as the room can possibly hold. As you may know the small room is free for us at the Bloomfield Township public library, but the big one costs $100 per night, so we don't reserve it unless we are expecting an unusually large crowd. Thanks, Neil Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:35:06 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=458 Demand CBS Reverse Decision Declaring Pro-Marijuana Ad “Too Political” Targeting: Leslie Moonves (CBS CEO), Dana McClintock (CBS Senior VP for Corporate Communications) and Jeremy Murphy (CBS Outdoor VP Communications) Started by: Change.org CBS, which recently ran a superbowl ad sponsored by the extreme right-wing group Focus on the Family, has just rejected an ad by NORML calling for the legalization of marijuana. The ad was supposed to run on Times Square billboards owned by CBS in New York City. The slogan at the end of the ad was simply “Legalize Marijuana – Billions in Taxes.” CBS previously rejected ads from a variety of progressive organizations including MoveOn and the United Church of Christ by saying that it didn’t accept “advocacy” ads at all. In response to the controversy surrounding the Focus on the Family ad, however, the company claimed it changed its policy and would now accept “responsibly produced” advocacy ads. An email from the ad buying company NORML used told the organization “that If CBS changes their morals we will let you know.” CBS is clearly acting in bad faith as it accepts conservative political ads but not progressive ones. The company is not only banning NORML’s message, it is implicitly endorsing Focus on the Family at the same time. Send an email to CBS and tell them to accept the NORML ad now! powered by Change.org Start a Petition » change_setup('300', '27147', '#1A3563'); http://www.change.org/actions/view/demand_cbs_reverse_decision_declaring_pro-marijuana_ad_too_political Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:38:38 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=457 2009: The Year In Review – NORML's Top 10 Events That Shaped Marijuana Policy December 24, 2009 - Washington, DC, USA #1 Obama Administration: Don't Focus On Medical Marijuana Prosecutions United States Deputy Attorney General David Ogden issued a memorandum to federal prosecutors in October directing them to not "focus federal resources ... on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana." The directive upheld a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, who had previously pledged that he was "not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue." Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7998. #2 Public Support For Legalizing Pot Hits All-Time High A majority of likely voters now support legalizing marijuana, according to a national poll of 1,004 likely voters published in December by Angus Reid. The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll results echo those of separate national polls conducted this year by Gallup, Zogby, ABC News, CBS News, Rasmussen Reports, and the California Field Poll each of which reported greater public support for marijuana legalization than ever before. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8054. #3 Lifetime Marijuana Use Associated With Reduced Cancer Risk The moderate long-term use of cannabis is associated with a reduced risk of head and neck cancer, according to the results of a population-based control study published in August by the journal Cancer Prevention Research. Authors reported, "After adjusting for potential confounders (including smoking and alcohol drinking), 10 to 20 years of marijuana use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma." Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7944. #4 AMA Calls For Review Of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status In November, the American Medical Association resolved that marijuana should longer be classified as a Schedule I prohibited substance. Drugs classified in Schedule I are defined as possessing "no currently accepted use in treatment in the United States." In a separate action, the AMA also determined, "Results of short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis." Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8020. #5 California: Lawmakers Hold Historic Hearing On Marijuana Legalization State lawmakers heard testimony in October in support of taxing and regulating the commercial production and distribution of cannabis for adults age 21 and older. Additional hearings, as well as a vote on Assembly Bill 390: the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act, are scheduled for January 2010. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8002. Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:40:35 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=456 Huge Signature Gathering Success Sends Pot Legalization to Ballot Posted by Daniela Perdomo, AlterNet at 12:42 PM on December 14, 2009. AlterNet broke the news that Tax Cannabis 2010 in California has gathered a surplus of ballot petition signatures, moving the state towards pot legalization. The Tax & Regulate Cannabis 2010 campaign has just achieved a major victory in its efforts to legalize marijuana for all adults in California -- they have gathered the signatures necessary for inclusion on the state's November ballot. "This is the next step to sane cannabis policies and the end to the hypocrisy and unjust prohibition of cannabis," pot entrepreneur Richard Lee told me Monday morning. He is the co-proponent and a major sponsor of the Tax Cannabis initiative and the force -- and money -- behind Oaksterdam, the successful marijuana-friendly section of Oakland. This win means that Californians will be the first in the nation to decide whether they believe marijuana ought be taxed and regulated for all adults over 21, much the same way alcohol is. The drug reform movement's eyes will be on California next year, because many advocates believe that if the initiative passes, many other states could follow. Support for marijuana legalization is at an all-time high, with polls ranging from 44 to 52 percent national support. In California, where marijuana has been legalized for medical use since 1996, 56 percent support legalization. This may be why the campaign's organizers were able to gather so many signatures -- nearly 700,000 -- so quickly. Lee tells me the signature-gathering effort was launched only two months before they had achieved that massive number, although legally they were allotted five months to come up with the signatures. Lee collected a couple hundred himself. Dale Sky Clare, the executive chancellor of Oaksterdam University, says there were at least 3,000 petitioners collecting signatures -- and they didn't have to work too hard to sell the cause. "Usually, before someone signs a ballot petition, they want to read it, see what it’s about, ask questions. But in our case, people didn’t even have to finish hearing the sentence -- 'legalize marijuana' was enough," Clare laughs. By the last week of November, Tax Cannabis had handily exceeded the 433,971 required signatures it needed for ballot qualification and ended the petitioning stage of its campaign. Clare and Lee share a celebratory and hopefully soothing joint as they field a barrage of calls from the mainstream media. They'll officially submit the signatures sometime in February, I hear Lee tell one reporter, so that they qualify for the November ballot instead of the one in June, which is expected to have a less favorable voter turnout. Once they submit the signatures, the state will have 90 days to verify them. As long as the minimum amount of the signatures are valid, the ballot is a go. Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:14:39 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=455 Majority of US citizens Support Legalization of Marijuana According to newest polls. Share This Page December 11, 2009 - San Francisco, CA, USA San Francisco, CA: A decade-long increase in public support to legalize marijuana would appear affirmed according to a newly released poll by AngusReid Public Opinion. In a national survey of 1,004 American adults, 53 percent support legalizing marijuana. This survey comports with a recent Zogby poll indicating over 50 percent support, as well as a Field Poll in California earlier this year that indicated 56 percent support for marijuana legalization in California. The AngusReid poll also found that 68 percent of the American public believe the 'War on Drugs' to be a failure, 8 percent believe it a success; with less than 10 percent support, Americans do not support legalizing so-called 'hard' drugs such as ecstacy, cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine. Two other notable and consistent demographic trends are highlighted: Democrats and Independent voters support reform, 61 percent and 55 percent respectively, whereas only 43 percent of Republican voters support legalization The South and Midwest are not as supportive for marijuana legalization as the West and Northeast "Whether it is these tough economic times, the ascension of more marijuana-friendly baby-boomers into positions of power and authority or the commonsense recognition that 73-years of marijuana prohibition needs to be replaced with a functional tax and control model, it would appear that an ever-growing majority of Americans want major marijuana law reforms—including legalization", said NORML executive director Allen St. Pierre. To view the AngusReid Public Opinion Survey data and cross-tabulations, see: http://www.visioncritical.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/2009.12.09_Drugs_US.pdf To view a NORML composite graph of the numerous marijuana legalization surveys and the upward trend since 1995, see: http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/pollDec09.png updated: Dec 11, 2009 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:39:18 GMT http://oaklandnorml.org/cms/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=453 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:48:53 GMT