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Hello! Here’s a rundown of today’s news:
New Hampshire’s House approves a decriminalization. For further analysis, check out Johnny’s take on the situation.
In a depression, this marijuana related business is thriving.
This is a cool site to check out for pot related media.
A few interesting comments about medical marijuana from a member of the Obama administration.
This is an interesting case out of California worth checking out.
The New Hampshire House voted 214 to 137 to decriminalize marijuana today, after recommendations from the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. However, the victory will be short lived (see link). Governor John Lynch has already said he will veto the bill if it makes it to his desk. The bill would have made possession of less than ¼ oz of marijuana a civil citation ($200) for people over 18. Currently the offense is a misdemeanor crime, punishable by a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. This isn’t the first time that the House passed this type of legislation. In 2008 the bill passed the house, only to die in the Senate after threats by the Governor’s Office that it would be vetoed.
When asked why Governor Lynch would veto the bill, he said, “Marijuana is a controlled drug that remains illegal under federal law. I share the law enforcement community’s concerns about proliferation of this drug. In addition, New Hampshire parents are struggling to keep their kids away from marijuana and other drugs. We should not make the jobs of parents, or law enforcement, harder by sending a false message that some marijuana use is acceptable.”
Rep. Joel Winters, D-Manchester, felt the bill was needed in order to keep prosecutors from pursuing small possessions. He said, “Prosecutors aren’t going to be able to threaten jail time for small amounts of marijuana.” Rep. Winters also pointed out that there is a provision in the bill that would require parental notification if a minor was in violation. Gov. Lynch vetoed medical marijuana legislation seven months ago, citing concerns over distribution and cultivation and the potential for abuse. Medical marijuana supporters said they would reintroduce the medical marijuana bill in 2011. I hope when Mr. Lynch is up for re-election, the voters of New Hampshire stick it to him. What a dick!
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100310/NEWS03/100319996/1030
The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan passed an ordinance yesterday that is going to change the way medical marijuana is grown and distributed within city limits. The ordinance is a pre-emptive action in lieu of future state regulations. The requirements are as follows:
1. All caretaker/growers are required to obtain a business license for their home based business (no storefronts allowed). I e-mailed the city to see if this implies that the caretaker/grower can operate at a profit, or if they are still bound by state law that bans compensation. If you are required to get a business license, then you are required to report the related finances on tax day. Otherwise a ‘non-profit’ license would be more fitting. I haven’t received a response, but it’s something to think about. The feds don’t like profiting off of medical marijuana, but they also don’t like tax evasion. This ordinance could be setting people up for legal ramifications.
2. The business location cannot be located within a 1,000 ft radius of a school. This is my biggest problem with this ordinance. When you consider public schools, private schools, home schools, community colleges, universities, etc, the available space for medical marijuana can be dismal, if not non-existent. I haven’t seen a map of what areas the ordinance would effect, but I would imagine it is a larger area than people would think.
3. All medicine must be in an enclosed, locked facility with security devices. I have no problem with this requirement; people should do that anyways, there are jackers out there!
4. Only one primary caretaker can service patients (no ‘staff’). This is to get around the loophole of operating as a ‘non-profit,’ while at the same time paying sizeable wages to several friends/family.
5. Caretakers can only service five patients per week. In my home state of Oregon, you can only be a caretaker for yourself and 3 other people, and it works fine here, so I don’t see this being an issue.
6. Only two customers can be at the location at any given time. ??? What purpose does this serve? If you can only have 5 people come in a week, why would it matter if they are there at the same time or not? I can understand residential areas don’t want a lot of foot traffic, but if five people are allowed to come over every week, whether it’s all at once or sporadic, it should really matter. I picture a patient really needing medicine, and in a hurry do to transportation/life constraints, and their grower says they have to wait until someone else leaves before they can come over. Then the patient that is waiting gets the shaft. What a stupid rule.
7. Business hours are restricted to between 7am and 8pm. Again, I can understand that residents don’t want foot traffic at all hours, but there should be some kind of exception to the rule. If a patient is coming from far away, and is late, they shouldn’t be banned from coming to get their medicine because it is 9:03pm. However, considering people are coming over to someone’s house, and not a storefront, it will be virtually impossible to determine the intent of the ‘visitor,’ so there should be ways around this rule.
There was a provision for open inspections upon request from law enforcement, no warrant required. However, this provision was dropped before the final ordinance was approved after the ACLU threatened to file a lawsuit. Could you imagine? You are sitting in your living room, medicating and eating a bowl of cereal, and in come the cops on a mission to sift through your underwear drawer for the fifth time in one day? Thank goodness that provision was dropped; otherwise it would be dangerous to be a medical marijuana caretaker/grower in Grand Rapids! Only time will tell how this ordinance is received and whether or not glitches will arise. Until then, stay tuned and stay active!
This is an e-mail that was sent to me last night by Americans for Safe Access – San Francisco. I thought it was interesting and figured I would post it on TWB:
So how much pot do Californians smoke? According to a recent state Board of Equalization report prepared for the Legislature, its 16 million ounces a year. That’s a little less than one-half an ounce for each resident in California, in case you’re counting every man, woman and child.
The analysis was prepared for legislation by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco that seeks to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana for use by California adults 21 and over.
Some other findings:
* California is America’s top pot producing state, with an annual yield
of 8.6 million pounds of weed valued at $13.8 billion. That’s more than
one-third of the cultivation across the U.S.
* Legalization of marijuana in California would cause the street price
of pot to drop by 50 percent, but prompt 40 percent more Californians to
turn to marijuana use. At least, that is, until a state tax kicks in.
* Once Ammiano’s plan to impose a $50 per ounce tax is in effect, it
would reduce consumption by 11 percent.
Here’s a rundown of today’s news:
Oregon NORML is standing up firmly for the rights of medical marijuana patients.
Medical marijuana dispensaries may be coming to Vermont.
This is a strange case out of Colorado worth checking out.
This is a very informative article on the current state of marijuana legalization in the US.
This man in Florida is pushing for action.
