Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
A third marijuana legalization campaign is getting underway in Michigan, a New Mexico state representative tries again with a legalization bill, Mexican marijuana farmers are feeling the pinch from competition north of the border, and more.
Seizures of Mexican marijuana are down dramatically at the border. (wikimedia.org)
Third Michigan Legalization Initiative Okayed for Signature Gathering. An initiative from a group calling itself Abrogate Prohibition Michigan has been approved for signature gathering. It will need 315,000 valid voter signatures within six months to qualify for the November 2016 ballot. Two other groups have also filed legalization initiatives and are much further along in the signature gathering process.
New Mexico Legalization Bill Pre-filed. Rep. Bill McCamley (D-Las Cruces) has pre-filed a bill to legalize marijuana and hemp. The bill would allow people 21 and over to buy and use marijuana and allow the state to regulate pot commerce. McCamley authored a similar bill last year, only to see it killed in committee.
International
US Legalization Hurting Mexican Marijuana Farmers. Mexican pot farmers are getting creamed by competition from north of the border, with the farm-gate price per pound in Sinaloa now at $15, down from $50 just a few years ago. That's driving farmers out of the business. It's also showing up in declines in pot seizures at the border, which were down by a third in 2014 compared to the four previous years.
Tunisia Pirate Party Calls for Marijuana Decriminalization. The party has chosen a marijuana leaf as its symbol for the next election cycle, saying the country's main political parties have not revised the country's pot law, as they committed to do during the 2014 election cycle. Under current law, use or possession is punishable by a one-year jail sentence. The Pirate Party said the law "disrupts the power balance between the citizen and the police and is used to harass dissidents." The Pirate Party was formed in Sweden in 2006 and now has 41 affiliates in countries around the world. It advocates for "human rights and fundamental freedoms in the digital age, consumer and authors rights-oriented reform of copyright and related rights, support for information privacy, transparency and free access to information."
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