Washington Lawmakers Tell Congress To "Butt Out Of Our Marijuana Laws"

[Jacob Redmond]

State lawmakers are calling on the federal government to change its drug laws to let states experiment with marijuana and hemp policy.

The National Conference of State Legislatures, the de facto bipartisan group of lawmakers, passed a resolution at its annual meeting Thursday calling on the federal government to amend the Controlled Substances Act to authorize state marijuana laws and on the administration to keep its nose out of state pot policies.

"State lawmakers just sent a message to Congress that could not be any clearer," said Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, which has been instrumental in the movement to legalize the drug for recreational use. "It's time to end the federal prohibition of marijuana and let the states decide what policies work best for them."

Resolutions passed at the meeting will guide the group's federal advocacy in the year ahead. In order to be approved, the resolution had to earn majority support from three-fourths of the states in attendance at Thursday's meeting in Seattle.

The resolution, introduced by New Hampshire state Rep. Renny Cushing, lays out the argument that with 23 states and D.C. having passed medical marijuana laws and four others – Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington – having approved marijuana for recreational use, it is time for the federal government to explicitly legalize those policy experiments.

It also points to the difficulty marijuana businesses have had in securing financing – due to banks fearful of violating federal laws – and the potential medical benefits as reason for the change in federal laws.

While lawmakers may disagree on easing existing law, they do agree that "states and localities should be able to set whatever marijuana and hemp policies work best to improve the public safety, health, and economic development of their communities," the resolution concludes.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a 2016 presidential contender, recently said he would enforce federal drug laws in states that have legalized marijuana. However, some of his potential Republican opponents – like Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida governor Jeb Bush – have said that despite their reservations about the laws themselves, they support states' rights when it comes to passing and keeping them.

News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Washington Lawmakers Tell Congress To Butt Out Of Our Marijuana Laws
Author: Niraj Chokshi
Contact: Contact Page
Photo Credit: Marijuana Growers Headquarters
Website: The Washington Post

 

[whiteraven86]

There is absolutely no reason that cannabis should remain as a schedule one narcotic. It should either be moved to schedule three or declassified entirely.
Here is why:
*****
Studies and research:
1. 1944, La Guardia Report:
Conclusions; Incorrect to call cannabis a narcotic.. it is a mild euphoric, is not addictive, does not cause insanity, sexual deviance , violence or criminal misconduct.
2. 1968, Wooten Report by the British Parliament:
The report stated that cannabis was very much less dangerous than opiates, amphetamines, barbiturates or even alcohol. Cannabis did not lead to violence, psychosis, or dependence in normal people. That the long-asserted dangers of cannabis are exaggerated and laws against it are socially damaging if not unworkable.
3. 1972, Shafer Commission Report under Nixon administration:
Touted as the most in depth study of cannabis done in the U.S. at that time at 1,184 pages; found that…
Marijuana use does not cause physical or psychological harm; there are no significant withdrawal symptoms when use is stopped, it does not cause brain damage or birth defects, does not cause a compulsion to use hard drugs, has never caused a human fatality and neither cannabis or its use can be said to constitute a danger to public safety. Nixon was so mad that this study did not agree with his false beliefs that he buried it.
4. Mar. 1, 2011 European Journal of Neurology
"Spasticity is a disabling complication of multiple sclerosis, affecting many patients with the condition. Subjects were treated with nabiximols [Sativex], as add-on therapy, in a single-blind manner... This study has shown Sativex to improve spasticity in patients who had failed to respond adequately to other antispasticity medications..."
“Sativex is a tincture made from all the cannabinoids present in the cannabis plant.” (my add)
Mar. 1, 2011 - Alena Novotna, MD
5. Aug. 30, 2010 Canadian Medical Association Journal
"Adults with post-traumatic or postsurgical neuropathic pain were randomly assigned to receive cannabis at four potencies (0%, 2.5%, 6% and 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol) over four 14-day periods in a crossover trial. Participants inhaled a single 25-mg dose through a pipe three times daily for the first five days in each cycle, followed by a nine-day washout period. Daily average pain intensity was measured using an 11-point numeric rating scale.
Conclusion
A single inhalation of 25 mg of 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol herbal cannabis three times daily for five days reduced the intensity of pain, improved sleep and was well tolerated."
Aug. 30, 2010 - Mark A. Ware, MD, MSc
Aug. 30, 2010 Canadian Medical Association Journal
"The primary analysis of change from baseline in mean pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score was statistically significantly in favor of THC:CBD compared with placebo...
Conclusion
This study shows that THC:CBD extract is efficacious for relief of pain in patients with advanced cancer pain not fully relieved by strong opioids."
Nov. 6, 2009 - Jeremy R. Johnson, MBChB
6. June 2008
Thirty-eight patients underwent a standardized procedure for smoking either high-dose (7%), low-dose (3.5%), or placebo cannabis; of these, 32 completed all three smoking sessions. The study demonstrated an analgesic response to smoking cannabis with no significant difference between the low and the high dose cigarettes. The study concluded that both low and high cannabis doses were efficacious in reducing neuropathic pain of diverse causes."
June 2008 - Barth Wilsey, MD
7. Alcohol use contributes to aggressive and violent behavior. Marijuana use does not. Studies have repeatedly shown that alcohol, unlike marijuana, contributes to the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior. An article published in the Journal of Addictive Behaviors reported that "alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication-violence relationship," whereas "cannabis reduces the likelihood of violence during intoxication."
8. • Alcohol use is a major factor in violent crimes. Marijuana use is not. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates that 25-30% of violent crimes in the United States are linked to the use of alcohol. According to a report from the U.S. Dept. of Justice, that translates to about 5,000,000 alcohol-related violent crimes per year. By contrast, the government does not even track violent acts specifically related to marijuana use, as the use of marijuana has not been associated with violence. (Of course, we should note that marijuana prohibition, by creating a widespread criminal market, is associated with acts of violence.)
9. • Alcohol use contributes to the likelihood of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Marijuana use does not. Alcohol is a major contributing factor in the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault. This is not to say that alcohol causes these problems; rather, its use makes it more likely that an individual prone to such behavior will act on it. For example, a study conducted by the Research Institute on Addictions found that among individuals who were chronic partner abusers, the use of alcohol was associated with significant increases in the daily likelihood of male-to-female physical aggression, but the use of marijuana was not. Specifically, the odds of abuse were eight times higher on days when men were drinking; the odds of severe abuse were 11 times higher. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) website highlights alcohol as the "most commonly used chemical in crimes of sexual assault" and provides information on an array of other drugs that have been linked to sexual violence. Given the fact that marijuana is so accessible and widely used, it is quite telling that the word "marijuana" does not appear anywhere on the page.
So why is it demonized?
Who really is against both industrial hemp and psychoactive cannabis being made totally legal?
1. Clothing made from hemp fiber is softer, stronger and lasts longer than cotton so cotton farmers and the cotton industry oppose it. Where do you think the name CANvas came from?
2. Cotton uses massive amounts of herbicides and is a multibillion dollar a year business so the herbicide producers, shippers and applicators oppose it.
3. Every part of the Hemp plant can be used; stalks for fiber, seeds for oil, biodiesel or cooking and the rest of the plant for animal feed.
4. Pharmaceutical companies that make pain killers, muscle spasm relief medicine and other maladies treated with medical cannabis oppose it because it would cut into their profits.
5. Liquor, beer and wine makers oppose it because people can grow their own, get stoned and not have a hangover the next day. Oh yea and too much alcohol can not only kill brain cells, other organs and even you. Cannabis by itself has never caused a human fatality from being ingested in any form.
All of the above give massively to political campaigns.

 

[4/20/08]

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

this ends this now! It is not a fed issue so they can kick rocks the feds dont have the right to make laws on this issue