Chronicle AM: LatAm Leaders Call for Drug Decrim, NH House Approves Marijuana Decrim, More... (3/11/16)

Three former Latin American heads of state call for drug decriminalization, the New Hampshire House votes for pot decriminalization, medical marijuana dies in the Utah legislature, but will get a vote in the Pennsylvania legislature, and more. 

Canadian judges are wondering why they're still prosecuting pot possession cases as the wait for the Liberals to legalize it.

Maine Legislative Committee Rejects Marijuana DUID Bill. The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 7-4 Thursday to reject a bill that sought to set a blood level limit to determine whether a driving is impaired by marijuana use. A majority of committee members voiced concern that setting a legal limit (5 nanograms per milliliter of blood) would not be an accurate measure of impairment.

Michigan Bill Could Kill Legalization Initiative Ballot Push This Year. The Senate Thursday gave fast-track approval a bill seemingly designed to thwart the MiLegalize pot legalization initiative. The bill would close a loophole that would allow initiative campaigns to count signatures gathered outside the 180-day limit, which the initiative campaign had counted on to get sufficient signatures to make the ballot. The bill is expected to win quick passage in the House and then by signed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R). The group has about 250,000 raw signatures, but needs 253,000 valid ones to qualify. It argues that the time limit for signatures can be stretched if it can prove the signatures are still valid, but passage of the bill would make that argument moot.

New Hampshire House Approves Decriminalization Bill (Again)! The House Thursday rejected a negative recommendation from its Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and passed House Bill 1631 to decriminalize the possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana. This marks the seventh time the House has approved a decrim bill since 2008, but the Senate has failed to pass any of the previous bills. New Hampshire is now the only state in the region that hasn't decriminalized small-time pot possession.

Medical Marijuana

Pennsylvania House to Vote on Medical Marijuana Bill Monday. Ten months after the Senate approved Sen. Mike Folmer's Senate Bill 3, the House will finally vote on it next week.

Utah Legislature Kills CBD Cannabis Oil Bill. First, lawmakers killed an actual medical marijuana, Senate Bill 73, and Thursday, a watered-down substitute, Senate Bill 89 died as lawmakers could not come to agreement on late amendments on the last day of the session. The stage is now set for a medical marijuana initiative drive by patients and supporters frustrated with the legislature's inaction.

International

Three Latin American Leaders Call for Decriminalizing Drug Use. In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Colombian President  Cesar Gaviria, and former Mexican President Felipe Zedillo have called the war on drugs "an unmitigated disaster" and urged the decriminalization of drug use. They also critique the way global anti-drug bureaucrats have conducted the run-up to next month's UNGASS on Drugs, claiming that key documents have been drafted in a way that is "neither transparent nor inclusive."

Canada Judges Wonder Why They're Still Trying Marijuana Cases. Senior prosecutors told parliamentarians Thursday that some criminal trial judges are questioning why people continue to be prosecuted for simple marijuana possession while the Liberal government moves to legalize the plant. The government is spending $4 million a year pursing small-time pot offenders, and prosecutors said they would continue to enforce the law until it changes.