Joomla! site syndication http://www.conorml.org Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:32:09 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.conorml.org/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.conorml.org Joomla! site syndication http://www.conorml.org/content/view/44/29/ President Bush's drug warriors must really, really want to protect their ability to throw non-violent marijuana users in jail. The White House sent at least three party crashers to a press conference Wednesday with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who has introduced a pot-decriminalization bill. The Office of National Drug Control Policy's "chief scientist" and two aides who were dispatched to provide instant rebuttal to Frank and the bill's cosponsors, all of whom acknowledged that marijuana was likely to remain very much illegal in the foreseeable future. Given the bill's essentially non-existent chances of passage, ONDCP's Dr. David Murray's impassioned arguments that seemed more appropriate in Reefer Madness were greeted with plenty of puzzled glances. Why did the White House feel it necessary to send at least three staffers to Capitol Hill to place in every reporter's hand a copy of its 20-page, color-copied "2008 Marijuana Sourcebook?" RAW STORY posed this question to Murray. "It is our responsibility to be aware of policy developments," said Murray, who clarified that he had a PhD and was not a medical doctor. He explained that Frank's attempt to modify the controlled substances act was very much of interest to the Bush administration's pot prohibitionists. The Marijuana Policy Project's Rob Kampia, who stuck around to listen to Murray's post-press conference diatribe, said he suspected ulterior motives behind the propagandistic pontificating. "Nothing's going to happen on this before he loses his job," the decriminalization advocate said, acknowledging that Frank's bill won't move forward until at least next year, when President Bush -- and his appointees -- would be out of office. "This is him emptying the clip." To its defenders, Frank's bill is a common sense move aimed at protecting letting states institute marijuana policies as they see fit, protecting patients in the dozen states that have legalized medical marijuana and generally telling the government to butt out of people's private lives. To its opponents... "I don't think that it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time," Frank said of his bill, which would eliminate federal penalties for individual possession of up to 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) of marijuana. Frank's proposal is aimed only at decriminalizing individual possession, so it alone would not end raids by the Drug Enforcement Agency on medical marijuana dispensaries in states like California. Frank said he's authored separate medical marijuana legislation that he would introduce in concert with the individual bill. Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) criticized the government for wasting billions of dollars on a "phony war on drugs" that's done virtually nothing to actually stop anyone from using drugs. One presumes that some of those billions were spent on the glossy Office of Drug Control Policy report with the Dr. Strangelovian title, "Marijuana: The Greatest Cause of Illegal Drug Abuse." Naturally, if marijuana were decriminalized, that wouldn't be the case, but such nuance is lost on drug war defenders. The press conference also featured marijuana defenders pointing out that the drug has caused none of its users to die, unlike alcohol and tobacco -- both of which are legal. "We do not arrest and jail responsible alcohol drinkers; this should be our policy with marijuana as well," said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The NORML representative was sporting a small gold marijuana leaf pin on his lapel, where miniature American flags are a more common Capitol Hill accessory. Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said his decriminalization bill would fall under the purview of the House Judiciary Committee, which he hoped would hold hearings on the proposal next year. A Judiciary Committee spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Asked specifically if he thought his bill would become law, Frank said more shifts in perception were needed first. "The chances are not high at this point," the lawmaker said, a knowing chuckle letting the audience know his pun was very much intended. The following video and the above photos were taken Wednesday by Nick Juliano. News - News Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:04:17 +0100 http://www.conorml.org/content/view/43/29/ Police seize medical marijuana, patient recordsCo-op searched after officers smelled the drugBy MOISES MENDOZAP-I REPORTERPolice searched a medical marijuana cooperative in the University District on Tuesday evening, seizing 12 ounces of marijuana and more than 500 patient medical records, medical marijuana advocates said.The search was carried out after police officers smelled the odor of marijuana on the street, entered the Life Vine cooperative on Northeast 50th Street and University Way Northeast and later obtained search warrants.A spokesman at the King County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that a search was conducted but said a case hadn't been filed with the office.Police declined comment and referred questions to prosecutors.At least two patients were in the cooperative when officers showed up, but nobody was arrested, said Martin Martinez, who runs the cooperative and is the director of a local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.Nobody was smoking inside the cooperative when police officers arrived, said Douglas Hiatt, a lawyer representing the cooperative.He speculated that officers might have smelled marijuana leaves because the building's ventilation system is inadequate.Under a state law passed by voters in 1998 and amended last year, patients are allowed a 60-day supply of marijuana if a physician allows it.The cooperative, one of several similar organizations in the Seattle area, helps seriously ill patients get together and locate medical marijuana. It's rare for patients to be able to maintain a 60-day supply on their own, Hiatt said.Most then return home to smoke because the law specifies that medical marijuana must be used in private. Martinez says the cooperative collects patients' medical histories in order to produce identification cards for them. They can show those cards to police if officers confront them for possessing marijuana. Here, patients grow together and teach each other. It's just patients helping patients, Martinez said. We don't buy marijuana and resell it; we comply with all the laws. Hiatt and Martinez said they begged police not to search the property, but officers did it anyway after consulting with a prosecutor. I'm speaking with (the) King County Prosecutor's Office about this, and I don't expect that this is going to turn into a case, Hiatt said. There was no reason to do what they did. Patients' medical records, especially those of medical marijuana patients, deserve special protection because of their sensitivity, said Doug Honig, an American Civil Liberties Union spokesman. He said the ACLU was looking into the situation.From a legal standpoint, medical marijuana exists in a strange gray area. Although some states, such as Washington, allow its use in limited circumstances, marijuana is technically illegal under federal law.Nevertheless, cooperatives such as the Life Vine have proliferated where medical marijuana has been legalized, including Washington and California.P-I reporter Moises Mendoza can be reached at 206-448-8247 or moisesmendoza@seattlepi.com. News - News Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:50:16 +0100 http://www.conorml.org/content/view/42/29/ Powerful Congressman Challenges DEA TacticsHouse Judiciary Chair Questions Federal Attacks on Medical MarijuanaFederal attacks on medical marijuana patients have drawn the notice of a powerful congressman whose committee oversees the Drug Enforcement Administration. US House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has demanded that the DEA explain the raids and intimidation tactics it has been orchestrating against medical marijuana patients and caregivers in California and elsewhere. Rep. John ConyersOn April 29, Conyers (D-MI) sent a letter to DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart challenging her interference in state medical marijuana programs. Conyers' action resulted from months of nationwide activism by Americans for Safe Access and other patient advocates, as well as concerned elected officials.Conyers first voiced his concerns about DEA interference after a series of coordinated California raids in December. He is the highest ranking elected official to challenge the DEA's tactics since medical cannabis raids in California escalated dramatically in 2007. The congressman's letter is the first step towards Congressional hearings of the DEA by the House Judiciary Committee.Conyer's letter questions the DEA's heightened raid activity across California and its intimidation of property owners with threats of prosecution and asset forfeiture because they rent to medical cannabis dispensaries. In reference to letters the DEA has been sending landlords, Conyers pointedly asks, is the use of civil asset forfeiture, which has typically been reserved for the worst drug traffickers and kingpins, an appropriate tactic to employ against individuals who suffer from severe or chronic illness and are authorized to use medical marijuana under California law? Conyers letter also recognizes how the State of California benefits from the estimated $100 million in sales taxes medical marijuana dispensaries pay annually. He asks Leonhart whether she has considered that the DEA's actions are negatively impacting the ability of state and local officials across California to collect tax revenue, which they are entitled to under California law. Over the past several months, ASA and advocates all over the country have lobbied Congress to convene hearings on the DEA's attacks on medical marijuana patients. Dozens of legal, tax-paying dispensaries have been shut down from DEA raids or evictions by their landlords, and many more face the same fate if Congress does not intervene. Chairman Conyers' letter to DEA has emphasized the greater need to seek effective solutions that will advance safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research , said Caren Woodson, ASA Director of Government Affairs, who has been lobbying the offices of Conyers and Subcommittee Chairman Robert C. Scott about this issue for months. However, before we can begin to develop a sensible national policy on medical marijuana, we must end federal attacks on patients and their care providers. ASA's work with the House Judiciary Committee was bolstered by a statewide effort to get California's elected officials to call for an end to the harmful tactics of the DEA. ASA and its allies were successful in garnering strong letters of support from several elected officials, urging Chairman Conyers to hold hearings. Among those who spoke up were Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby, Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine, and the mayors of Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and West Hollywood.Visit AmericansForSafeAccess.org/ConyersLetter to read the letter from Chairman Conyers. News - News Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:34:19 +0100 http://www.conorml.org/content/view/41/29/ Colorado Editorial: Heed Voters on PotMay 30, 2008Rocky Mountain News The vote this week by Denver's Marijuana Policy Review Panel urging the city to stop convicting adults for simple marijuana possession reinforces the message voters have twice sent to local officials. It's a message law enforcement should heed.The panel voted 5-4 to ask the City Council to recommend an end to prosecution of simple possession cases for adults absent compelling reasons articulated ... in open court. The resolution echoes ballot questions passed in 2005 and 2007 that first legalized — although only in city statute books — adult possession of less than 1 ounce of pot and then instructed the city to make prosecuting simple possession the lowest priority for law enforcement. Voters backed both measures The vote this week by Denver's Marijuana Policy Review Panel urging the city to stop convicting adults for simple marijuana possession reinforces the message voters have twice sent to local officials. It's a message law enforcement should heed.The panel voted 5-4 to ask the City Council to recommend an end to prosecution of simple possession cases for adults absent compelling reasons articulated ... in open court. The resolution echoes ballot questions passed in 2005 and 2007 that first legalized — although only in city statute books — adult possession of less than 1 ounce of pot and then instructed the city to make prosecuting simple possession the lowest priority for law enforcement. Voters backed both measures — by 53 percent and 57 percent, respectively.We opposed both measures. After the first one passed we even said it would be wrong for police to stop enforcing the state law against marijuana possession. But given the unambiguous sentiment in Denver to end these prosecutions, we've since concluded that the city should back off on this matter.The problem is that no one outside law enforcement really knows how often people are punished for possession of a small amount of marijuana and nothing else. Three years ago, officials insisted that most pot charges were supplemental - add-ons to other charges and thus used as leverage to nail the offender. We have no objection to the use of the state pot law in this fashion.The panel seems to agree - its recommendation Wednesday acknowledged that pot prosecutions should be pursued for compelling reasons. Panelist Mason Tvert, who led the campaign to pass both measures, has cited police statistics indicating that adult misdemeanor marijuana arrests have gone up since the first initiative passed. Police made 1,059 such arrests in 2005, then 1,347 in 2006 and 1,587 in 2007.What's not clear is how many of those arrests were accompanied by other charges. The panel should have that information early next year (along with more current arrest data) when it formally makes its recommendation to the City Council.Local law enforcement agencies continue to resist both measures. The four panelists voting no Tuesday include Denver police Lt. Ernie Martinez and Assistant City Attorney Vincent DiCroce. DiCroce restated prosecutors' objection to the notion that the council might try to dictate law enforcement priorities.But the council can (and does) pass laws that prosecutors enforce. Voters can also modify the City Charter and the Municipal Code with ballot measures like the ones adopted regarding marijuana possession.The 2007 ordinance defines adult personal use as the possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana by an adult at least 21 years of age, where the marijuana is not used or displayed in public. The sale of marijuana . . . is not included in the definition of personal use and is subject to prosecution under existing state laws. Put simply, most Denverites believe police and prosecutors have better things to do than hassle adults who have a small amount of pot but aren't displaying, selling or lighting it in public. They've said so twice; their opinion should be honored.Indeed, the city seems to be coming around to that view, too. DiCroce revealed Wednesday that his office has been discussing with the chief county judge ways to streamline prosecutions. Under one proposal, people cited for possession would not have to appear in court. They could simply pay the $100 fine by mail, as they would a traffic ticket.Such a move would signal progress; speeders don't have to appear in court, and people caught with small amounts of pot - an act most Denverites don't think should be treated as an offense at all - shouldn't have to either if they choose not to fight the charges. by 53 percent and 57 percent, respectively.We opposed both measures. After the first one passed we even said it would be wrong for police to stop enforcing the state law against marijuana possession. But given the unambiguous sentiment in Denver to end these prosecutions, we've since concluded that the city should back off on this matter.The problem is that no one outside law enforcement really knows how often people are punished for possession of a small amount of marijuana and nothing else. Three years ago, officials insisted that most pot charges were supplemental — add-ons to other charges and thus used as leverage to nail the offender. We have no objection to the use of the state pot law in this fashion.The panel seems to agree — its recommendation Wednesday acknowledged that pot prosecutions should be pursued for compelling reasons. Panelist Mason Tvert, who led the campaign to pass both measures, has cited police statistics indicating that adult misdemeanor marijuana arrests have gone up since the first initiative passed. Police made 1,059 such arrests in 2005, then 1,347 in 2006 and 1,587 in 2007.What's not clear is how many of those arrests were accompanied by other charges. The panel should have that information early next year (along with more current arrest data) when it formally makes its recommendation to the City Council.Local law enforcement agencies continue to resist both measures. The four panelists voting no Tuesday include Denver police Lt. Ernie Martinez and Assistant City Attorney Vincent DiCroce. DiCroce restated prosecutors' objection to the notion that the council might try to dictate law enforcement priorities.But the council can (and does) pass laws that prosecutors enforce. Voters can also modify the City Charter and the Municipal Code with ballot measures like the ones adopted regarding marijuana possession.The 2007 ordinance defines adult personal use as the possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana by an adult at least 21 years of age, where the marijuana is not used or displayed in public. The sale of marijuana ... is not included in the definition of personal use and is subject to prosecution under existing state laws. Put simply, most Denverites believe police and prosecutors have better things to do than hassle adults who have a small amount of pot but aren't displaying, selling or lighting it in public. They've said so twice; their opinion should be honored.Indeed, the city seems to be coming around to that view, too. DiCroce revealed Wednesday that his office has been discussing with the chief county judge ways to streamline prosecutions. Under one proposal, people cited for possession would not have to appear in court. They could simply pay the $100 fine by mail, as they would a traffic ticket.Such a move would signal progress; speeders don't have to appear in court, and people caught with small amounts of pot — an act most Denverites don't think should be treated as an offense at all — shouldn't have to either if they choose not to fight the charges. News - News Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:57:44 +0100 http://www.conorml.org/content/view/40/29/ Colo.: Act today to end the senseless prosecution of adults who possess marijuana in Denver The Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel voted yesterday to make its first official recommendation — that the Denver City Attorney's office stop prosecuting adults for marijuana possession.To ensure this recommendation is followed, we need you to echo the sentiment of Denver voters and encourage Denver officials to follow the Marijuana Policy Review Panel's recommendation.Please help bring about this much-needed change in how Colorado's capital city handles marijuana possession by sending an e-mail to Denver city officials and urging them to support this recommendation.After you have e-mailed Denver officials, please follow up with a call urging them to follow this recommendation.Last November, 57% of Denver voters approved making adult marijuana possession the city's lowest law enforcement priority. One month later, Mayor Hickenlooper appointed the Marijuana Policy Review Panel to implement the new law. Yesterday's recommendation has the potential to bring about the changes that a majority of Denver voters obviously wish to see. Adults 21 years and older should not be punished simply for possessing a drug that has been scientifically proven to be less addictive and harmful than alcohol. However, because the Denver City Attorney's Office has thus far been unwilling to refrain from prosecuting such cases, we need you to urge that office to follow the Marijuana Policy Review Panel's recommendation. News - News Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:51:13 +0100