BREAKING:  Legal Victory for Patients and Providers

This morning, Sensible Colorado attorneys delivered a victory in overturning the Board of Health's 10/19/9 decision which limited patients rights.   See coverage of this story HERE

As background, late on Monday Nov. 2, Sensible Colorado received word that the state was holding a stealth meeting to narrow the definition of who could provide medical marijuana.  Our staff immediately sent out an alert and over 200 of our supporters responded by either calling-in or attending the Board's 11/3 meeting.  At that meeting, after refusing to hear from any affected patients or caregivers, the Board voted to require caregivers to provide supplementary-- and often unnecessary services-- beyond supplying medical marijuana to sick patients.

Today, Sensible Colorado Board member Robert Corry, along with staff member Brian Vicente, and attorney Lauren Davis, successfully argued that the 11/3 "stealth" meeting was a violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law.  After hearing about the state's complete disregard for public testimony and their lack of notice to affected parties, Chief Denver District Chief Larry Naves ruled in favor of patients and invalidated the Board's recent finding.

Sensible Colorado wants to thank the two patients involved in this lawsuit, as well as the hundreds of patients and supporters who attended-- or tried to attend-- these hearings. 

What does this mean for patients and providers?  Judge Naves ruling means that, under Colorado law, medical marijuana caregivers can continue to simply provide medical marijuana for patients and are not required to provide supplementary services.  Please stay tuned for further alerts, as this area of the law is dynamic.

We can't do this without your help!!  Please support the work of Sensible Colorado by becoming a monthly donor today.  Click HERE to help.

Drug policy reformers did a double-take today when the following "Budget Suggestions" were discovered on the website of Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell:

January 9, 2009: Decriminalize marijuana – allow for medicinal purposes and collect taxes on it purchase. Create a tax stamp for these packages – anyone caught with a bag of marijuana without the stamp should face harsher penalties than someone caught with a bag with a stamp.

February 3, 2009: Legalize marijuana and have the Department of Agriculture grow it for sale in 1 ounce bags -- sell it over the Internet.

March 2, 2009: Increase revenue by legalizing marijuana and administering its sale and tax to be sold in pharmacies as well as in liquor stores. Apply law enforcement standards currently used for alcohol. This would save money in not having to chase drug dealers and generate huge revenues.

This is surprising stuff to see on the site of a governor who'd vetoed medical marijuana legislation. And, unfortunately, it was too good to be true.

It turns out these ideas came from unnamed current or former state employees as part of a program called the Innovative Ideas Initiative. They're not endorsed by the Governor's Office, although a much better job could have been done to explain the source of the proposals when posting them under a picture of Gov. Rell. It wasn't until reporters started calling her office today asking about marijuana legalization that the whole story emerged.

So I suppose you could argue that there's not much of a story here, but I do find it amusing to see the debate over marijuana legalization popping up where you least expect it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2009
CONTACT: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 or Tommy McDonald at 636-335-2242

Montel Williams, Celebrated Talk Show Host and Medical Marijuana Patient/Advocate, to Receive Award at International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Mexico

Award Recognizes Williams' Pioneering Advocacy for Compassionate Drug Laws and Safe Access to Medical Marijuana

Montel Williams, veteran TV talk show host and currently the host of Montel Across America, a nationally syndicated daily radio show, will receive the The Edward M. Brecher Award for Achievement in the Field of Journalism at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Nov. 13, 2009. Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses medical marijuana to relieve chronic nerve pain, is being honored by the Drug Policy Alliance for his groundbreaking journalism and outspoken advocacy on behalf of medical marijuana patients and providers. Williams will accept the award during the conference awards dinner, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.

Since going public with his personal medical marijuana use in late 2003, Williams has tirelessly campaigned for changes in state and federal laws to expand access to marijuana as a medicine. In addition to writing Climbing Higher, his 2004 autobiography that detailed his struggle with MS and the therapeutic effects of cannabis, Williams has hosted TV shows on the topic of medical marijuana, authored Op-Ed pieces in major newspapers and used his platform as a public figure to press legislators across the country to enact new drug policies based on compassion, reason and science. In particular, Williams traveled to state capitals in Albany, NY and Trenton, NJ, as well as Washington, D.C., to urge elected officials to pass medical marijuana legislation.

"I utilize medical marijuana to help alleviate the extreme neuralgic pain I suffer from," said Montel Williams. "I am not alone. There are thousands of patients like me, and we should not be treated as criminals."

“Montel is in a league of his own insofar as the effort to legalize medical marijuana is concerned,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “No one has used his media pulpit as effectively and passionately as he has in combating drug war intransigence.”

The Drug Policy Alliance, the nation's leading organization promoting policy alternatives to the drug war, bestows the biennial Edward M. Brecher Award to media figures who show the courage and leadership to question official drug war propaganda. Previous recipients include: ABC News Anchor Hugh Downs; Cartoonist Gary Trudeau; The Economist magazine; Rolling Stone magazine; William Finnegan, staff writer for The New Yorker; and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness, among other distinguished honorees.

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, co-hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance in Albuquerque, NM from Nov. 12-14, 2009, brings together nearly 1000 leading international experts, treatment providers, researchers, policymakers and key activists at the leading global forum on drug policy reform. For more information or to register for the conference, please visit www.reformconference.org. To purchase tickets for the awards ceremony: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=784745.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2009
CONTACT: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384

NY State Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, Chief Sponsor of Historic Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Legislation, to Receive Award at International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Mexico

Award Recognizes Aubry's Leadership and Tenacity in Successful Effort to Roll Back Draconian New York State Drug Laws

New York State Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a longtime champion of efforts to reform New York's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, will receive the Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for Achievement in the Field of Law at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Nov. 13, 2009. Aubry, who introduced bills to repeal New York's mandatory drug sentencing laws in every legislative session since 1997, is being honored by the Drug Policy Alliance for his unyielding commitment to reform culminating in this year's passage of sweeping changes to the Rockefeller laws.

The Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for Achievement in the Field of La is bestowed on those involved in the law who work within official institutions to challenge traditional drug war orthodoxy. Previous recipients include: Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI); federal judges Robert Sweet (NY) and John Kane (Denver); former police chiefs Joseph D. McNamara ( Kansas City and San Jose) and Nicholas Pastore (New Haven, CT); Canadian Member of Parliament Libby Davies; and other distinguished attorneys, activists, judges and others.

Aubry, chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, led the successful fight to repeal mandatory minimum sentences for most low-level, nonviolent drug offenses in New York and instead return discretion to judges to determine whether to divert individuals to treatment or probation instead of incarceration. The reforms, signed into law in April by New York Gov. David Paterson and enacted in October, signal a shift toward treating drug use as public health issue rather a criminal justice matter.

"Thirty-five years of a drug policy focused on punishing drug users and spending billions of dollars on incarceration has failed to reduce drug use or drug-related crime," Aubry said. "Unfortunately, we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars locking up individuals, mostly African-Americans and Latinos, with drug abuse problems rather than offering them needed drug treatment. This historic reform enacts a sensible, comprehensive and cost-effective approach for dealing with nonviolent drug offenders and will ensure that drug abusers are able to access effective substance abuse treatment and counseling."

Aubry has represented the 35th Assembly District in Queens since 1992. He previously served as Director of Economic Development for the Borough President's Office of Queens. For 16 years, he worked in the drug treatment program at Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, one of the largest nonprofit social service agencies in Queens.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said, “I don’t know of any state legislator in the country who has fought so long, so hard, and now so successfully to reform a drug war injustice as Jeff Aubry.”

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, co-hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance in Albuquerque, NM from Nov. 12-14, 2009, is the outstanding gathering in the world of people working to reform local, national and foreign drug policies. For more information or to register for the conference, please visit www.reformconference.org. To purchase tickets for the awards ceremony: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=784745.

For years, getting caught trying to smuggle drugs across the US-Mexican border meant being handed over to US authorities for prosecution.

A poll released this week suggests backers of California marijuana legalization initiatives have their work cut out for them.

Residents of the Colorado ski town of Breckenridge overwhelmingly voted to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana Tuesday. Early returns had the local measure passing with 72% of the vote.

That means as of January 1, people in Breckenridge can legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana under local ordinance. The measure also legalizes the possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

"This votes demonstrates that Breckenridge citizens overwhelmingly believe that adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol," said Sean McAllister, Breckenridge attorney and chair of Sensible Breckenridge, a local project of the statewide marijuana law reform group Sensible Colorado.

"As state and national focus grows on this important issue, the popular ski town of Breckenridge has taken center stage on marijuana reform-- and not just for medical purposes," said Brian Vicente of Sensible Colorado. "With this historic vote, Breckenridge has emerged as a national leader in sensible drug policy"

The campaign, which had no formal opposition, received a chorus of local support including endorsements from Breckenridge Town Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron, former. Colorado State Representative and Breckenridge resident, Gary Lindstrom, and the Summit Daily News.

Measure 2F was placed on the ballot when over 1400 local supporters signed a petition supporting the reform measure.

Under Colorado state law, possession of up to an ounce is decriminalized and punishable by a $100 fine. But Breckenridge police will "still have the ability to exercise discretion," said Chief Rick Holman. “It's never been something that we've spent a lot of time on, so I don't expect this to be a big change in how we really do business,” he told the Summit Daily News.

Breckenridge residents had voted for Amendment 44, a statewide legalization initiative, by the same percentage in 2006. That initiative won only 41% of the vote statewide.

Denver became the first city to vote to legalize marijuana possession under municipal ordinance in 2005.

Three months after New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) vetoed a medical marijuana bill, bill supporters attempting to override the veto came up one vote short in the state Senate Wednesday.

In an historic hearing Wednesday, the California legislature examined the pros and cons of marijuana legalization.

In an opinion released Thursday, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that persons designated as "caregivers