Hardrock69's Reefhead Madness Thread

[PETE'S BROTHER]

[Hardrock69]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/oct/15/decriminalise-drug-use-say-experts

Decriminalise drug use, say experts after six-year study

Advisors say no serious rise in consumption is likely if possession of small amounts of controlled drugs is allowed




A six-year study of Britain's drug laws by leading scientists, police officers, academics and experts has concluded it is time to introduce decriminalisation.

The report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), an independent advisory body, says possession of small amounts of controlled drugs should no longer be a criminal offence and concludes the move will not lead to a significant increase in use.

The experts say the criminal sanctions imposed on the 42,000 people sentenced each year for possession of all drugs – and the 160,000 given cannabis warnings – should be replaced with simple civil penalties such as a fine, attendance at a drug awareness session or a referral to a drug treatment programme.

They also say that imposing minimal or no sanctions on those growing cannabis for personal use could go some way to undermining the burgeoning illicit cannabis factories controlled by organised crime.

But their report rejects any more radical move to legalisation, saying that allowing the legal sale of drugs such as heroin or cocaine could cause more damage than the existing drugs trade.

The commission is chaired by Dame Ruth Runciman with a membership that includes the former head of the British Medical Research Council, Prof Colin Blakemore, and the former chief inspector of constabulary, David Blakey.

The report says their analysis of the evidence shows that existing drugs policies struggle to make an impact and, in some cases, may make the problem worse.

The work of the commission is the first major independent report on drugs policy since the influential Police Foundation report 12 years ago called for an end to the jailing of those possessing cannabis.

The UKDPC's membership also includes Prof John Strang, head of the National Addictions Centre, Prof Alan Maynard, a specialist in health economics, and Lady Ilora Finlay, a past president of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The report says that although levels of illicit drug use in Britain have declined in recent years, they are still much higher than in many other countries. The UK has 2,000 drug-related deaths each year and more than 380,000 problem drug users.

The 173-page report concludes: "Taking drugs does not always cause problems, but this is rarely acknowledged by policymakers. In fact most users do not experience significant problems, and there is some evidence that drug use can have benefits in some circumstances."

The commission's radical critique says the current UK approach is simplistic in seeing all drug use as problematic, fails to recognise that entrenched drug problems are linked to inequality and social exclusion, and that separating drugs from alcohol and tobacco use makes it more difficult to tackle the full range of an individual's substance use.

It says the £3bn a year spent tackling illegal drugs is not based on any evidence of what works, with much of the money wasted on policies that are not cost-effective.

It argues that even large-scale seizures by the police often have little or no sustained impact on the supply of drugs; that Just Say No campaigns in schools sometimes actually lead to more young people using drugs; and that pushing some users to become abstinent too quickly can lead to a greater chance of relapse or overdose and death.

The commission argues a fresh approach based on the available evidence should be tested. Its main proposals include:

• Changing drug laws so that possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use would be a civil rather than criminal offence. This would start with cannabis and, if an evaluation showed no substantial negative impacts, move on to other drugs. The experience of Portugal and the Czech Republic shows that drug use would not increase and resources can be directed to treating addiction and tackling organised crime.

• Reviewing sentencing practice so that those caught growing below a specified low volume of cannabis plants faced no, or only minimal, sanctions. But the production and supply of most drugs should remain illegal.

• Reviewing the level of penalties applied against those involved in production and supply, as there is little evidence to show that the clear upward drift in the length of prison sentences in recent years has proved a deterrent or had any long-term impact on drug supply in Britain.

• Reviewing the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act so that technical decisions about the classification of individual drugs are no longer taken by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) or politicians but instead by an independent body with parliamentary oversight.

• Setting up a cross-party forum including the three main political party leaders to forge the political consensus needed to push through such a radical change in approach.

Blakemore said: "Medicine has moved past the age when we treated disease on the basis of hunches and received wisdom. The overwhelming consensus now is that it is unethical, inefficient and dangerous to use untested and unvalidated methods of treatment and prevention. It is time that policy on illicit drug use starts taking evidence seriously as well."

Blakey, who is also a former president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said the current approach of police taking action against people using drugs was expensive and did not appear to bring much benefit. "When other countries have reduced sanctions for low-level drug users, they have found it possible to keep a lid on drug use while helping people with drug problems to get into treatment," the former chief constable said. "But at the same time, we need to continue to bear down on those producing and supplying illicit drugs. This is particularly important for those spreading misery in local communities."

Runciman said government programmes had done much to reduce the damage caused by the drug problem over the past 30 years, with needle exchanges reducing HIV among injecting drug users and treatment programmes which had helped many to rebuild their lives. The commission's chair said: "Those programmes are supported by evidence, but much of the rest of drug policy does not have an adequate evidence base. We spend billions of pounds every year without being sure of what difference much of it makes."

The home secretary, Theresa May, last month ruled out any moves towards decriminalisation, saying it would lead to further problems.

She told MPs she considered cannabis a gateway drug: "People can die as a result of taking drugs, and significant mental health problems can arise as a result of taking drugs."

[Hardrock69]

Voters in Massachusetts to consider ballot measure on medical marijuana

http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/voters_in_massachusetts_to_con.html

By Dan Ring, The Republican
on October 28, 2012 at 5:00 AM, updated October 28, 2012 at 5:03 AM

Four years after Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved an initiative to decriminalize a small quantity of marijuana, advocates are promoting a measure on next month's ballot that would go a step farther by legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

If approved by voters, Question 3 on the ballot would allow people who have certain illnesses, including cancer, glaucoma and Parkinson's disease, to legally obtain marijuana as therapy for their symptoms. Eligible people would need to obtain a certificate from a physician to buy marijuana at centers that would be established for the first time in the state.

In 1996, California voters approved a ballot law, making the state the first to approve the use of medical marijuana. Since then, 16 other states and the District of Columbia have adopted medical marijuana laws, including Connecticut in June.

In 2008, about 65 percent of voters in Massachusetts approved a law that replaced criminal penalties for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana with a civil fine of $100, about the same as getting a traffic ticket.

A series of polls have shown that voters will probably approve the medical marijuana measure.

Opponents, including doctors, parents and law-enforcement officials, said they fear that legalizing medical marijuana would make it more available in general and easier for teenagers to abuse. They warned that medical marijuana is illegal under federal law and that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is leading a crackdown on medical pot stores in California, where about 1,000 operate in Los Angeles alone.

Dr. James B. Broadhurst, a Worcester doctor with a family practice who also treats people with addictions, said approval of the ballot question would be a tragedy for the state.

Broadhurst cited statistics from Colorado, which legalized medical marijuana in 2000, showing that drug violations reported by Colorado’s kindergarten to grade12 schools have increased 45% in the past four years while the combined number of all other violations has dropped.

Broadhurst said the proposed law contains a major loophole that could allow any patient to get marijuana for virtually any reason. According to the measure, a physician could prescribe a 60-day supply of marijuana to a patient with a "debilitating medical condition," including a broad category defined as "other conditions." Broadhurst said the allowance for "other conditions" is a loophole that clears the way for widespread abuse.

He said that the measure goes too far in establishing marijuana stores around the state. The law would permit up to 35 nonprofit dispensaries or treatment centers around the state, including at least one and not more than five in each county.

"I'm very concerned that this law would be bad for Massachusetts," said Broadhurst, the chairman of the Vote No on Question 3 coalition, which has created a website to educate people. "It will create many more problems than it will solve."

Supporters of the ballot question are backed by some big out-of-state money. Noted marijuana supporter Peter B. Lewis , the non-executive chairman of insurance giant Progressive Corp., has now contributed $1.022 million, including $525,000 last year, to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, the organization leading the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Massachusetts. The committee has spent about $1 million in the effort to approve the ballot question.

Jennifer Manley, spokeswoman for the committee, emphasized the benefits of marijuana for people who suffer from debilitating diseases.

She also said the proposed Massachusetts law contains some safeguards and controls that are absent in other states. She said it would be the safest marijuana law in the country.

Matthew Allen, executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, said that unlike California, a potential patient in Massachusetts would need to have a "bona fide" relationship with a physician to obtain medical marijuana.

Before people can obain medical marijuana, they would need a written recommendation from a physician and also a registration card from the state Department of Public Health, he said.

The measure, which would become law on Jan. 1, requires the public health department to write high levels of regulations for medical pot within 120 days after passage, he said.

But until those regulations are complete, the measure also allows for a doctor's written recommendation to constitute a registration card for a patient, he said. In the period before the regulations are written, a person is likely to still be arrested if possessing more than an ounce of pot, but the recommendation could be used as a defense in court.

The measure contains enough protections to prevent marijuana from becoming any more available than it already is for youths, Allen said.

The ballot question includes "other conditions," because it is needed to cover certain illnesses or diseases that are not specified in the proposed law, Allen said.

The committee has featured a video of Lorraine E. Kerz, of Greenfield, who said that marijuana helped her son deal with anxiety and the side effects of chemotherapy before he died of cancer in 2008. Her son, Silas R. Bennett, used marijuana as a medicine to ease severe nausea and pain before he died at age 29 from cancer, said Kerz, one of the original signers of the petition for the proposed ballot question.

"Marijuana not only relieved his nausea and gave him back his appetite, it also helped alleviate the anxiety and despair he was feeling at the time," Kerz said.

In another key control, Manley said the measure calls for the state Department of Public Health to register qualifying patients, caregivers and centers that dispense marijuana. People who work at dispensaries would also need to register with the state.

She said the law would not require private insurance companies or government programs to reimburse for medical marijuana.

[Hardrock69]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/amendment-64-poll-52-perc_n_2079908.html

There are a LOT of links in the report below. IF you want to see what they are talking about in detail, just go to the original page....

Amendment 64 Poll: Colorado 'Set To Legalize Marijuana' On Election Day, PPP Survey Says

Posted: 11/05/2012 8:11 pm EST Updated: 11/05/2012 8:24 pm EST

With just hours before polling places open for Election Day, advocates for the legalization of marijuana in Colorado got some good news from Public Policy Polling about the popularity of Amendment 64, a ballot measure which seeks to regulate marijuana like alcohol, on Monday.

According to PPP, 52 percent of voters support Amendment 64 while only 44 percent are opposed to the measure leaving the state "set to legalize marijuana tomorrow," PPP's Tom Jensen writes about the results of their latest survey.

PPP also found that of the 1,096 likely Colorado voters, 56 percent favored the legalization of marijuana in general, while only 39 percent said the drug should remain illegal.

This is the highest percentage of support that PPP has found since they began surveying the issue of marijuana legalization. Back in September, PPP found 47 percent in favor of A64 and 38 percent against with 49 percent in favor of marijuana being legal, in general.

The highest support ever polled was from a June Rasmussen survey of 500 likely Colorado voters which showed 61 percent were in favor of legalizing marijuana if it is regulated the way that alcohol and cigarettes are currently regulated.

Voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington are all considering measures that would effectively end marijuana prohibition in their respective states. Marijuana legalization has become an issue that defies the stereotypes of party lines, garnering the support of key progressives and conservatives in Colorado, Washington and Oregon. And although all three states have pot initiatives on their ballots, Colorado and Washington's pot ballot measures appear to be quite popular with voters, according to recent polling.

If marijuana is legalized in Colorado under Amendment 64 it would be taxed and regulated similar to alcohol and tobacco. It would give state and local governments the ability to control and tax the sale of small amounts of marijuana to adults age 21 and older. According to the Associated Press, analysts project that that tax revenue could generate somewhere between $5 million and $22 million a year in the state. An economist whose study was funded by a pro-pot group projects as much as a $60 million boost by 2017.

However, the big unknown still is if the federal government would allow a regulated marijuana market to take shape. Attorney General Eric Holder, who was a vocal opponent of California's legalization initiative in 2010 saying he would "vigorously enforce" federal marijuana prohibition, has continued to remain silent on the issue this year.

In September, Holder was urged by by nine former heads of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to take a stand against marijuana legalization again. "To continue to remain silent conveys to the American public and the global community a tacit acceptance of these dangerous initiatives," the nine said in the letter to holder obtained by Reuters.

Earlier this month those same DEA drug warriors joined by former directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy on a teleconference call to put additional pressure on Holder to speak out against Colorado's marijuana measure as well as similar initiatives on the ballot in Washington state and Oregon.

The drug warriors say that states that legalize marijuana for recreational use will trigger a "Constitutional showdown" with the federal government.

In a report published Sunday by NBC News, President Obama's former senior drug policy advisor said that if the marijuana initiatives pass, a war will be incited between the federal government and the states that pass them. "Once these sates actually try to implement these laws, we will sen an effort by the feds to shut it down," Sabet said.

But proponents of the legislation say they don't foresee federal agents interfering in states that have legalized cannabis, citing the federal government's silence on the issue this election cycle.

With Election Day less than 24 hours away, the DOJ has yet to formally announce its enforcement intentions regarding the ballot measures that, if passed, could end marijuana prohibition in each state. The clearest statement from the DOJ came from Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who said his office's stance on the issue would be "the same as it's always been." During a recent appearance on "60 Minutes" Cole elaborated, "We're going to take a look at whether or not there are dangers to the community from the sale of marijuana and we're going to go after those dangers," Reuters reported.

[Kristy]

Hippie.

[Angel]

Time to wake and bake

Sent from my GS2, bitches

[Hardrock69]

Colorado

Amendment 64 amends the state constitution to allow the personal use and sale of recreational marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. Tax revenues go to school construction and the state's general fund.
Votes Percent
Yes 1,125,349 54%
No 964,267 46%
60% reporting


Oregon

Measure 80, endorsed by Willie Nelson, legalizes the personal use and sale of marijuana by adults. Tax proceeds go to the state's general fund and drug treatment.
Yes 549,617 45%
No 679,571 55%
56% reporting


Washington

Initiative 502 legalizes it — but only for people over the age of 21. And sorry green thumbs: personal cultivation without a license is still illegal.
Yes 1,030,005 55%
No 827,539 45%
50% reporting


Massachusetts

Question 3 follows the lead of neighboring Rhode Island, which has been bogarting all the medical marijuana in Narragansett Bay since 2006.
Yes 1,739,027 63%
No 1,005,938 37%
92% reporting


Arkansas

Issue 5 makes the state the first in the south to approve medical marijuana.
For 461,658 48%
Against 494,867 52%
89% reporting


Montana

Initiative 124 is a total buzzkill: it ratifies restrictions on medical marijuana that the state's legislature put in place in 2011.
For 108,764 57%
Against 82,213 43%
28% reporting

[Hardrock69]

Hippie.

Ahh you know you love me.

[Hardrock69]

Cities are beginning to take matters into their own hands.

Several years ago, Breckenridge, CO removed criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of pot, around the same time as several other cities in CO did.

Now it seems Michigan has taken that step. Detroit is flying the friendly skies!!!!

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121107/METRO/211070412/1409/metro/Pot-laws-eased-Detroit-Grand-Rapids-Flint

November 7, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Pot laws eased in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint

By Christine MacDonald and Darren A. Nichols
The Detroit News


Detroit — Final tabulations of Tuesday's elections show that city voters overwhelmingly approved a proposal to decriminalize marijuana.

With all precincts reporting, the measure passed 65-35 percent. It will allow adults older than 21 to possess less than an ounce of marijuana on personal property without criminal prosecution.

"This is no surprise," said Tim Beck, chairman of the Coalition for a Safer Detroit. "We knew we were going to win."

"I truly believe that the city will not use its resources to prosecute small time marijuana users. There is no upside."

Sgt. Eren Stephens, the Detroit Police Department spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the department had no comment on Proposal M's passage.

"We will be guided by the city of Detroit's law department," Stephens said.

A call to a spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

The effort came the same day that ballot measures relaxing laws on marijuana won approval statewide and nationwide.

In Grand Rapids, voters made marijuana possession a civil infraction punishable by a fine — rather than a misdemeanor that carried possible jail time — 59-41 percent. In Flint, allowing possession of less than an ounce for those older than 19 was leading 57-43 percent with 95 percent of precincts reporting.

Nationally, voters in Colorado and Washington became the first states to approve recreational use of the drug, setting up a potential showdown with federal authorities.

Federal law still classifies marijuana as an illegal drug and some local officials have been reluctant to allow local law to supersede federal regulations — as backers of a 2008 medical pot initiative in Michigan know well.

Statewide voters approved that measure in 2008, but much of that law is still being fought in court. Beck said Detroit users still could be charged under state law, but those charges would have to be heard in circuit court rather than local ones.

The Detroit initiative already survived one court challenge, when a judge this spring allowed it on the ballot after city officials protested that state law makes pot illegal.

The measure was one of six to pass in Detroit.

[Nickdfresh]

The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

[Hardrock69]

Well.....just as I said somewhere in all this mess.....once CO and WA legalized pot.....the other states are going to go for it as well....and now they are not going to wait for the voters to introduce referendums in 2014:

http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/14/state-legislators-in-rhode-island-and-ma

State Legislators in Rhode Island and Maine Are Announcing Marijuana Legalization Bills Tomorrow

Nov. 14, 2012 11:20 am

State legislators in Rhode Island and Maine will announce bills tomorrow to legalize recreational marijuana, a spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project announced today.

Rhode Island Rep. Edith Ajello and Maine Rep. Diane Russell will hold a conference call tomorrow with the Marijuana Policy Project to announce the legislation.

MPP says that "similar proposals will be submitted in at least two other states — Vermont and Massachusetts." A ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana passed in Massachusetts last week with more than 60 percent of the vote. Maine voters voted to expand the state's 1999 medical marijuana law in 2009 to include dispensaries. The Rhode Island legislature decriminalized marijuana earlier this year, and has had medical marijuana since 2006.

[Hardrock69]

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019689348_aplturuguaymarijuana.html

Marijuana law introduced to Uruguay congress

Uruguay is one step closer to turning the government into the country's leading pot dealer.

BY PABLO FERNANDEZ

Associated Press
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay —

Uruguay is one step closer to turning the government into the country's leading pot dealer.

The proposal formally introduced to Congress on Thursday would create a National Cannabis Institute with the power to license people and companies to produce marijuana for recreational, medical or industrial uses.

It also would allow anyone to grow as many as to six pot plants and produce up to 480 grams (17 ounces) of marijuana in their own homes.

People could join clubs of up to 15 marijuana users who together could grow up to 90 plants and stockpile 7,200 grams of marijuana a year. The identity of buyers would remain protected by law.

Ruling party Deputy Sebastian Sabini says the proposals now in committee are likely to pass Congress by year's end.

[Blaze]

Police protecting citizens! Effective government at work!

Seattle Police Department publishes how-to guide for smoking pot legally

http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2012/11/09/marijwhatnow-a-guide-to-legal-marijuana-use-in-seattle/

[Angel]

This opens the door for us. Now we don't have to worry about pissing off the neighbours anymore. We just have to get rid of our Conservative government...

[Nitro Express]

What's interesting is we have two states that have legalized a substance that is still illegal under federal law. This really is a case of states challenging the federal government saying we are going to go our own way. More of this needs to happen. It was always intended for the states to have most the power to govern their own affairs. Now the only question is how are the feds going to behave on the matter?

Talk to anyone who works in an emergency room or law enforcement. They will tell you pot causes far less problems than alcohol does.