RAND Study Finds No Link Between Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Crime

 Posted by at 12:03 AM on September 21, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition, Medical Marijuana Policy  2 Responses »
Sep 212011
 
RAND Study Finds No Link Between Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Crime

Report affirms claims of patient advocates and officials from cities that regulate distribution The RAND Corporation issued a report today dispelling the myth that there are inherent links between medial marijuana distribution centers and crime. The study on which the RAND report is based claims that crime was as much as 60 percent greater around medical marijuana dispensaries that had been shut down by the City of Los Angeles compared to those areas with open dispensaries. “[W]e found no evidence that medical marijuana dispensaries in general cause crime to rise,” [Continue Reading]

Banks Refusing To Do Business With Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

 Posted by at 11:31 PM on September 20, 2011  Medical Marijuana Policy  2 Responses »
Sep 202011
 
Banks Refusing To Do Business With Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott of Toke of the Town Even as protesters decrying how out of touch bankers are with everyday Americans are occupying Wall Street, home of America’s banking industry, many financial institutions in states where medical marijuana is legal are refusing to do business with cannabis dispensaries. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized medicinal marijuana, but possession or sale of cannabis for any use is still illegal under federal law. It is this disconnect that is giving rise to an unwillingness on the part of many [Continue Reading]

Washington State Voters Show Support For Marijuana Legalization In Latest Poll

 Posted by at 6:19 PM on September 19, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition  No Responses »
Sep 192011
 
Washington State Voters Show Support For Marijuana Legalization In Latest Poll

by Phillip Smith Washington state voters are evenly divided on the question of marijuana legalization, according to a poll released Monday. The Strategies 360 Washington Voter Survey found that of likely voters surveyed, 46% supported pot legalization and 46% opposed it. The poll comes as advocates organized as New Approach Washington are in the midst of a signature-gathering campaign to place a legalization initiative, I-502, on the November 2012 general election ballot. These early poll results could be a blow to that effort. The conventional wisdom among initiative campaign veterans [Continue Reading]

Latest FBI Report Shows One Drug Arrest Every 19 Seconds

 Posted by at 2:34 PM on September 19, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition  No Responses »
Sep 192011
 
Latest FBI Report Shows One Drug Arrest Every 19 Seconds

New FBI Numbers Reveal Failure of “War on Drugs” A new FBI report released today shows that there is a drug arrest every 19 seconds in the U.S. A group of police and judges who have been campaigning to legalize and regulate drugs pointed to the figures showing more than 1.6 million drug arrests in 2010 as evidence that the “war on drugs” is a failure that can never be won. “Since the declaration of the ‘war on drugs’ 40 years ago we’ve arrested tens of millions of people in [Continue Reading]

Was Mark Twain Inspired By Eating Cannabis?

 Posted by at 1:00 AM on September 19, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition  1 Response »
Sep 192011
 
Was Mark Twain Inspired By Eating Cannabis?

By Ellen Komp Mark Twain turned to writing humor after meeting the author of The Hasheesh Eaterin San Francisco — and possibly trying it himself. This Saturday will be the anniversary of a certain stoned stroll down Clay Street in San Francisco in the ’60s — the 1860s, that is. The San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle (which you can hold in your hands today as the Chronicle) ran this little item on Sept. 18, 1865: It appears that a “Hasheesh” mania has broken out among our Bohemians. Yesterday, Mark Twain and [Continue Reading]

Boston Rallys For Marijuana Legalization

 Posted by at 12:38 AM on September 19, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition  1 Response »
Sep 192011
 
Boston Rallys For Marijuana Legalization

by Megan Riesz Thousands of pro-marijuana Bostonians attended the 22nd annual Freedom Rally, commonly known as “Hempfest,” on the Boston Common Saturday afternoon to listen to live music and protest for federal legalization of marijuana. Since cannabis was decriminalized in Massachusetts in 2008, making it illegal to arrest anyone carrying up to one ounce of marijuana, Hempfest has served both as a celebration and a rally against federal prohibition of the plant. This year, the Common hosted 21 musical acts and booths of organizations such as the Mass. Cannabis Reform [Continue Reading]

Former Colorado Cop Playing Key Role In Effort To Legalize Marijuana

 Posted by at 9:30 PM on September 18, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition  2 Responses »
Sep 182011
 
Former Colorado Cop Playing Key Role In Effort To Legalize Marijuana

Colorado activists want voters to decide whether recreational marijuana should be legalized. Learn more about legalization efforts and the former Denver police officer who is playing a key role. Blame it on the brisk mountain air: an enterprising pioneer spirit has long infused the Centennial State. Forward-thinking Coloradoans were among the nation’s leaders in passing medical marijuana legislation back in 2000, and to top it off, they did it by amending the state constitution through a ballot initiative. But, is Colorado ready to outshine its past cannabis achievements by being [Continue Reading]

Oregon Police Harass Federal Medical Marijuana Patient Elvy Musikka

 Posted by at 10:03 PM on September 17, 2011  Medical Marijuana Policy  2 Responses »
Sep 172011
 
Oregon Police Harass Federal Medical Marijuana Patient Elvy Musikka

By Steve Elliott of Toke of the Town Elvy Musikka, one of four surviving patients in the federal medical marijuana program, was detained by Oregon State Police early Thursday morning following a town hall meeting on medical marijuana. Musikka was detained along with other registered Oregon medical marijuana patients after a state trooper staked out the co-op 45th Parallel and harassed cardholders as they left the building, reports Russ Belville in the Examiner. Several members of the patient cooperative were detained by the trooper, who issued citations including a $1,000 [Continue Reading]

New Cannabis Pill On Track For 2012 Debut

 Posted by at 9:21 PM on September 17, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition, Medical Marijuana Policy  2 Responses »
Sep 172011
 
New Cannabis Pill On Track For 2012 Debut

By Barbara Venezia Those who believe they’re on the cutting edge of the medical marijuana bubble are passionate, and in some cases, quite controversial. One such figure is Steele Smith, who started the first medical marijuana collective in Orange County in 2005. He and his wife, Theresa, face federal charges of cultivation of at least 1,000 marijuana plants in a November 2007 case. They are slated to go to trial Oct. 4 in Santa Ana and could face up to 10 years in prison, officials say. But even with the [Continue Reading]

ACLU Blocks Missouri College From Drug Testing Students

 Posted by at 9:25 AM on September 17, 2011  Ending Marijuana Prohibition  2 Responses »
Sep 172011
 
ACLU Blocks Missouri College From Drug Testing Students

by Phillip Smith A Missouri technical college’s plan to force incoming students to undergo suspicionless drug testing is on hold after the ACLU of Eastern Missouri successfully sought a temporary injunction in federal court in St. Louis Wednesday. With assistance from Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the group has filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Linn State Technical College students to challenge the constitutionality of the drug tests. Federal courts consider a drug test to be a search under the Fourth Amendment and have allowed only limited exceptions to [Continue Reading]

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