Politics & Advocacy
NIDA seeks a marijuana grower, South Dakota state fair medical marijuana protest, an LSD lifer seeks his freedom, Gambia to reduce marijuana penalties, and more. Let's get to it:
South Dakota medical marijuana and hemp protest organizer Cody Gardner in downtown Huron. (Facebook)
Nevada Legalization Initiative Effort Ongoing. The effort to legalize marijuana in Nevada continues. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Nevada has until November 11 to collect just over 100,000 valid voter signatures for its legalization initiative. If they succeed, the measure goes to the legislature next year, and if the legislature does not approve it, it goes to the voters in 2016. In addition to urging people to sign up now, the campaign is also looking for signature gatherers. Click on the title link for more information.
Brookings Institution Report Finds Washington Legalization Doing Well. The report is Washington's Marijuana Legalization Grows Knowledge, Not Just Pot. Author Philip Wallach likes the built-in funding for research, the coordination of efforts across state agencies, the mandated cost-benefit analysis, and more.
NIDA Seeking a Marijuana Farmer. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is preparing to solicit proposals from people who can "harvest, process, analyze, store and distribute" marijuana, the agency announced Tuesday night. The research agency is looking for someone who can produce between 400 and 700 kilograms of raw marijuana, rolled joints, and extracts.
Medical Marijuana
New Hampshire About to Enter Formal Rule-Making Phase for Dispensaries. Long-delayed dispensaries are about to get a bit closer. The Department of Health and Human Services has produced its first draft rules, and after public comment ends tomorrow, will enter its formal rule-making phase. Click on the link for more details, or visit the state's Therapeutic Cannabis Program.
Medical Marijuana, Hemp Protest at South Dakota State Fair Tomorrow. South Dakotans Against Prohibition is holding a march in support of medical marijuana and industrial hemp at the state fair in Huron tomorrow. The march starts at the fairgrounds and ends at Campbell Park in downtown Huron. This is the hometown of your correspondent. Go, neighbors!
Harm Reduction
North Carolina Overdose Awareness Day Events Planned. The North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition is organizing events statewide for International Overdose Awareness Day. There will be events in Fayetteville, Franklin, and Greensboro. Click on the title link for more details.
Sentencing
Petition Drive to Free LSD Lifer Roderick Walker. Deadhead Roderick "Rudd" Walker is more than a decade into a life sentence in what the federal government claimed was a major LSD trafficking conspiracy. But Walker was never caught with any LSD; instead he was convicted and sentenced to life based solely on the testimony of others, including federal agents. There is now a petition drive. Visit and like the Free Roderick "Rudd" Walker page on Facebook and sign the Change.org petition to free him, which has already garnered more than 79,000 signatures. If it gets more than 100,000 signatures, the White House will respond.
International
Medical Marijuana Clinical Trials Coming to Victoria, Australia. Victoria Health Minister David Davis has announced that he will amend state law to allow medical marijuana clinical trials. The move comes one day after the Labor opposition announced it would legalize medical marijuana if elected.
Guatemalan President Says US More Open to Discussing Drug Legalization. In an interview with the Spanish EFE news agency, President Otto Perez Molina reiterated his support for some drug legalization and said the US seemed more open to discussing the issue than in the past. "From totally rejecting and avoiding the topic (of drug legalization), the US has moved on to say that they are ready to discuss the issue even though they may not agree with it, which is a significant change," he said. "I am convinced that we have to do things differently from how they have been done over the last 50 years," he said, adding that "prohibition has not worked for us" in the battle against drug trafficking. Click on the link for additional comments.
Gambia Legislature Votes to Reduce Marijuana Possession Penalties. The National Assembly has voted to reduce penalties for possession of less than 150 grams of marijuana. Currently, offenders face a large fine and up to three years in jail, but under the new law, the fine would drop by 60% and the maximum jail sentence would be one year. Since the current tough law was introduced in 2010, the prison population has increased under the weight of marijuana offenders, putting pressure on prison authorities.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
100,000 is no gaurantee
The White House was sent well 100,000 signatures regarding the Marine imprisoned in Mexico for accidently crossing the border with a rifle. The reply time came and went and this story got a lot of coverage. In fact, the signature threshold was met three months ago and they still haven't responded as The Obama administration chose to ignore those petitions. I hope they prove me wrong, but I doubt they'll follow their own policy of 100,000 signatures on this important case.
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