Marijuana prohibition has not achieved its goals, but has inflicted significant costs on society and individuals, a pair of University of Washington researchers concluded in a report released last

Work is getting underway in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on getting an initiative making adult marijuana possession offenses the lowest law enforcement priority on the ballot, the

• read full post
• 14 comments

Barack Obama wasn't the only big winner in Tuesday elections; marijuana polled just as well, if not better.

With election day little more than a month away, it is time for a round-up of drug policy reform initiatives facing voters in November.

With election day little more than a month away, it is time for a round-up of drug policy reform initiatives facing voters in November.

Fayetteville, Arkansas, will be the latest locality to vote on an initiative that would make adult marijuana poss

Fayetteville, AR: Fayetteville voters will have the choice on Election Day to vote on making adult marijuana possession the lowest police priority. Sensible Fayetteville initiative sponsors turned in just over 1000 additional signatures on August 29 to meet a shortfall of 310 valid signatures. City Clerk Sondra Smith contacted campaign coordinator Ryan Denham today to say that the petition has qualified with over the total of 3686 signatures required.

Denham praised the city clerk and staff for their professional conduct and courtesy during the laborious verification process. "They worked hard. We were impressed by city operations."

"Now we turn our attention to providing more in-depth information to the voters leading up to Election Day. This initiative offers residents an important opportunity to help guide Fayetteville's future through better allocation of our resources. It also shows that Fayetteville is willing to take a leadership role among other cities across the nation in addressing failed public policy. And we believe this will benefit Fayetteville's largest industry, the University of Arkansas, by reducing the number of students penalized with loss of financial aid for marijuana prosecutions. We respect the dedication of our police and prosecutor and believe this measure spells out the public's full support for their use of enforcement discretion."

Sensible Fayetteville formed in 2007 as a coalition of OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, & Ecology, the Green Party of Washington County, the University of Arkansas student group NORML-SSDP, and the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, Inc.

The measure, entitled "Lowest Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Priority Policy Ordinance," would require Fayetteville police and prosecutor to treat adult marijuana possession offenses as their lowest priority. Further, the measure requires the city clerk to send an annual letter to state and federal legislators, governor, and president stating: "The citizens of Fayetteville have passed an initiative to de-prioritize adult marijuana offenses, where the marijuana is intended for personal use, and request that the federal and Arkansas state governments take immediate steps to enact similar laws." This duty shall be carried out until state and federal laws are changed accordingly.

The full text of the proposed ordinance can be viewed at www.sensiblefayetteville.com Similar laws have been passed by communities in Missouri, Montana, Washington, California, and Colorado. In Arkansas, a similar measure in Eureka Springs passed with 62% of the vote in 2006. Sponsors state that more than one survey by Zogby International have show that over two-thirds of Arkansas voters support reforms that would reduce penalties for adult marijuana use.

Denele Campbell, Executive Director
Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas,Inc.
"The Alliance" www.arkansasalliance.org
ardp@windstream.net
P O Box 692 Fayetteville AR 72702
"Taking Action on Failed Drug Policy"

A municipal initiative that would add Fayetteville, Arkansas, to the growing list of cities and counties that have adopted lowest law enforcement priority initiatives for adult marijuana possession

Petitioners for an initiative making adult marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority on Hawaii's pot-friendly Big Island failed to gather enough valid signatures to qualify for the Nov

In June, foes of Mendocino County, California's relaxed marijuana cultivation ordinance, managed to narrowly r

An initiative that would make adult marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is now in the signature-gathering phase.

Two weeks ago, we reported on the battle over Measure B in California's Mendocino County.

Eight years ago, voters in Northern California's Mendocino County passed the groundbreaking Measure G, which allowed people to grow up to 25 marijuana plants for medical or personal use and directe

By the narrowest of margins, the Aloha State's Big Island Hawaii County Council has rejected a state and federally funded marijuana eradication program known as "Green Harvest." The action came dur

For the second time in less than a year, voters in the Sun Valley town of Hailey, Idaho, have approved a trio of marijuana reform initiatives.

[Courtesy of Denver 420 Coalition]

[Denver] -- Congratulations to the Denver Police Department and the Mayor's Office for accomplishing a "low priority" event at the 4/20 Rally in Civic Center Park this year.

4/20 is International Cannabis Day, celebrated by millions of people throughout the world. Every year on 4/20 at 4:20 pm, citizens worldwide gather together to celebrate their favorite plant.

The Denver 4/20 Rally was the first 4/20 Rally to be held since the passage of a "lowest priority" law in 2007 that makes cannabis possession the "lowest priority" for law enforcement in the city of Denver. Denver citizens have been outspoken in favor of legalization of cannabis for adults. In addition to the lowest priority vote last year, they voted in 2005 to make small amounts of cannabis legal for adults and voted in 2006 to pass the same measure statewide. Despite these 3 votes, cannabis arrests have continued to rise.

Participants of the 420 Rally in Civic Center Park were happy to see that the Denver Police were present, but not actively enforcing state laws against marijuana possession as they had in the past. The numbers are not yet finalized, but estimates are that only a handful of people experienced any interaction with law enforcement at all. Last year, there were over 100 police that made over 60 arrests. Perhaps this signals a change in policy for the Denver Police and arrests will continue to drop overall.

Since opponents of cannabis relegalization are likely to be vocal in their opposition to the police standing by while thousands of people smoked cannabis openly, we are encouraging supporters of cannabis to contact the Denver Police, Mayor's Office and City Council and to say THANK YOU for making marijuana law enforcement a low priority on 4/20/08 in Civic Center Park.

Also tell them that they hope they maintain the same non-confrontational tactics when thousands of protesters converge on Denver for the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 25-28, 2008.

Denver Police Department
Internal Affairs Division (handles compliments and complaints) 720-913-6019 Click below to fill out an online ommendation form: ttp://www.denvergov.org/OIM/ComplaintCommendationForm/OnlineComplaintCommendationForm/tabid/425496/Default.aspx

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper
Phone: 720-865-9000 (Denver 311)
Ask for the Mayor's Office
E-mail: MileHighMayor@ci.denver.co.us
Website: www.denvergov.org/mayor

Denver City Council
Phone: 720-865-9534
Email: dencc@ci.denver.co.us
Website: www.denvergov.org/CityCouncil
***************************************************************************
Presented as a Public Service by the:
Denver 420 Coalition
Promoting Cannabis-related Tourism in Denver and Colorado http://www.denver420.com/
***************************************************************************

VIDEOS
Vflog video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6XqSzjL7_E

CapnCannabis Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3X1Mavc63s

Last month, voters in tiny Hailey, Idaho, approved three municipal initiatives that legalized medical marijuana, cultivation of industrial hemp, and ordered the city to make enforcement of state an

A week after voters in Denver for the third time in as many years sent a strong signal that they don't want adult marijuana smokers arrested, the city of Denver is moving to comply with the will of

Voters in small-town Hailey, Idaho, Tuesday approved three out four marijuana initiatives placed on the ballot over the objections of town officials.

For the third time in as many years, voters in Denver told local officials to quit arresting people for marijuana offenses.