The War To End The War On Pot 2016

[Robert Celt]

Here's the latest situation report from the war to end the war on marijuana.

First the good news.

Since the first of the year, the polling has been going our way.
In New Mexico, a poll taken by Research & Polling Inc. for the Drug Policy Alliance found 61 percent support for legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana sales to those age 21 and older.

Support rose to 69 percent when pollsters indicated that tax revenues would be used to fund health-related programs.

In Virginia, a Virginia Commonwealth University poll found 62 percent of those polled strongly or somewhat agreed that recreational use of marijuana should be legalized. Almost 8 of 10 respondents favored reducing the penalty for possession of small amounts of pot to a $100 fine from a misdemeanor.

In Maryland, a poll done by Gonzalez Research & Marketing Strategies for the Marijuana Policy Project found 53 percent support for allowing "marijuana to be regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol" for use by adults aged 21 and older.

In Florida, a poll done by Public Policy Polling found 65 percent of those surveyed favored amending the state constitution to legalize medical marijuana. The amendment needs a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

In Vermont, a Vermont Public Radio poll found 55 percent support for legalization of recreational pot.

In Utah, a poll conducted by Survey USA for the Salt Lake Tribune found 61 percent support for medical marijuana, a 10 percentage point increase from a year earlier.

In California, a poll by Probolsky Research found nearly 60 percent of likely voters would definitely or probably support marijuana legalization. Backers of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) legalization initiative have petitions in the field and appear to have already collected 25 percent of the signatures they need to get on the ballot.

The State Senates in Vermont and Utah have been responsive to public opinion on pot in their states; the New Mexico State Senate not so much.

The Vermont State Senate has passed a legalization bill and sent it to the State House, where its fate is said to be uncertain. The measure has the strong support of the governor, however.

The Utah State Senate has passed two bills to legalize medical marijuana, albeit relatively weak ones. One legalizes CBD products with only minor amounts of THC in them. The other allows products with both THC and CBD in them, but limits the illnesses for which the ones with THC can be used. Still, passage of the measures in a state as socially conservative as Utah is little short of mind-boggling.

Now for the bad news.

In New Mexico, the State Senate killed a measure that would have put a proposal to legalize recreational pot on the State's November ballot as a state constitutional amendment. The vote was 24-17. New Mexico doesn't allow citizen initiatives; only the legislature can put measures on the ballot.

A nastier setback occurred in Maine, where a recreational legalization initiative sponsored by The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Maine was denied a place on the ballot after the Maine Secretary of State disqualified petitions containing 17,000 signatures -– not because there was anything wrong with the signatures on the petitions but because the signature of the single Notary Public that had notarized the petitions did not precisely match his/her signature on a document that had been filed with the state five years ago. The petition sponsors say they will ask a court to reverse the decision.

This is exactly the sort of thing that is causing millions of Americans to conclude (not unreasonably) that politicians are corrupt and the system is rigged.

Maine's Secretary of State is Matthew Dunlap, a Democrat. If his decision isn't reversed in court, the Maine Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol should devote the energy and resources it otherwise would have devoted to passing the initiative to extracting him from office.

News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The War To End The War On Pot 2016
Author: Paul Danish
Contact: Boulder Weekly
Photo Credit: Beth Nakamura
Website: Boulder Weekly

 

[cindysid]

We can only hope that the insanity of the drug war will soon be over. Sometimes that hope wears a bit thin. My hubby uses cannabis oil to keep his prostate cancer at bay. As a bonus, he also no longer has to take his blood pressure meds or his diabetes meds. The cannabis oil took care of that too. We also learned that the bp med (lisinopryl) caused the high blood sugar in the first place...duh! We would all be healthier if cannabis were legalized.

 

[Happy Hemper]

Prior to the last election the support for Medical Marijuana in Floriduh was, depending on the poll, higher than 65 percent. Sheldon Adelson then dumped a small fortune into a fear campaign against the initiative in Floriduh just before the vote and we lost by less than two percentage points. The initiative, slightly altered, will be on the ballot again this year and hopefully will pass but it is a weak initiative that will exclude many of those in need and those who desire alternatives to the pharmaceuticals it also prohibits smoking and personal production which will further exclude those in need due to the cost of the commercial product.

 

[LEDBud]

The Populous of the World has been Pigpen holed into drinking Alcohol then punished for choosing something safer milder and more enjoyable.

Finally change is in the Air

 

[atthehelm]

"A nastier setback occurred in Maine, where a recreational legalization initiative sponsored by The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Maine was denied a place on the ballot after the Maine Secretary of State disqualified petitions containing 17,000 signatures -– not because there was anything wrong with the signatures on the petitions but because the signature of the single Notary Public that had notarized the petitions did not precisely match his/her signature on a document that had been filed with the state five years ago. The petition sponsors say they will ask a court to reverse the decision.

This is exactly the sort of thing that is causing millions of Americans to conclude (not unreasonably) that politicians are corrupt and the system is rigged."

Man this is exactly why we need to attack the For Profit Prison system. I think it should be illegal for any person serving a public service position (judge, DA, sheriff, et al) to own stock in the prison industrial complex.
It is a conflict of interest we have seen play out recently with the cash for kids scheme in Chicago-

 

[Gaffle]

If MI is able to get this Abrogate initiative on the ballot we will be the first state to end the prohibition of marijuana. MI was the first state to end the prohibition of alcohol. A possible historic moment is upon us.