Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
Marijuana legalization comes with some additional sentencing reforms in Oregon, Denver activists roll out a pot social club initiative, Louisiana becomes the latest medical marijuana state, Vancouver cannabis clashes, and more.
Cops and weed lovers squared off at Vancouver's Cannabis Day. (cannabisculture.com)
Oregon Governor Signs Legalization Implementation Law, Includes Sentencing Reform. Gov. Kathleen Brown Tuesday signed into law House Bill 3400, an omnibus bill designed to implement the Measure 91 legalization initiative approved by voters last November. In addition to implementing legalization, the new law reduces most marijuana felonies to misdemeanors or lesser felonies with significantly reduced sentences. These changes allow eligible persons with prior marijuana convictions to have their convictions set aside, sentences reduced, and records sealed. Click on the link for more details.
Denver Public Consumption Initiative Rolls Out. Some of the same folks who brought marijuana legalization to Colorado are now rolling out a Denver municipal initiative that would allow for limited public consumption of the weed. City officials today approved the final language for the measure, which would allow social use in businesses that choose to allow it. The initiative needs 4,700 valid voter signatures by September to qualify for the November ballot. Click on the link to read the initiative.
Medical Marijuana
Louisiana Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Bill. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) Monday signed into law Senate Bill 143, which allows doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical use. The law foresees an extensive regulatory process to select and supervise a state-authorized grower and 10 licensed distributors, but some advocates are concerned that the prescribing language will make the law meaningless. The DEA will pull prescribing privileges from doctors who prescribe marijuana, which is why other states say doctors can recommend it. The bill originally called for recommendations, but the language was changed at the behest of social conservative groups in the state.
Drug Policy
Jim Webb Talks Serious Drug Policy Reform. The former Navy secretary and US senator from Virginia formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination today. Earlier this week, speaking before the National Sheriff's Association Conference, Webb suggested he supported decriminalizing drug use. "Just as in mental health issues, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to put someone in jail when they have a disease, when they have an illness, a physical illness," Webb said Tuesday. "There've got to be better ways for us to approach the issues of drug use in America. We didn't make cigarettes illegal," said Webb. "We just got the information out there and educated people about the potential harm."
International
After City Vows Crackdown, Clashes Mar Vancouver's Cannabis Day. The pro-pot event organized by Vancouver's first couple of cannabis, Marc and Jodie Emery, had gone on peacefully for two decades, attracting thousands to downtown Vancouver to celebrate the herb. But this year, the city tried to block the event, and when Cannabis Day rolled around, police were out in force. When they tried to arrest someone for allegedly selling pot to minors, a fracas broke out, with police deploying pepper spray and physical force. Four people ended up being arrested, and angry crowd trailed police down the street, blocking an intersection. "I’ve never seen the cops act so violent," said Jeremiah Vandermeer, a Cannabis Day organizer and editor-in-chief of Cannabis Culture magazine. "I’m shocked and appalled. This is horrifying behavior from the police, I’ve never seen anything like this," Vandermeer said.
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Comments
prescription vs. recommend'n
People are seizing ridiculously on this ostensible distinction in terminology. It makes no difference, legally or otherwise. As Roberts on the US Sup. Ct. has ruled, it doesn't matter what you call something in law, all that matters is what it means. A prescription IS a recommend'n. Unless the law were to reference some defined term in statute by it (which it doesn't in this case), words have their general meaning. A prescription is just a piece of advice. If an authorized person makes out that prescription, it carries certain legal privileges, but that does not change the nature of what it is. In this case, all it is is the state adding a legal privilege in the case of pot prescriptions (or recommend'ns) as well. It doesn't conflict w the federal law, as it does not compel anyone to obtain pot; only the person actually dispensing it would be violating federal law, and it doesn't matter whether you call the advice on which that dispens'n is based a "recommendation" or a "prescription". The act of prescribing itself is protected by guarantees of freedom of speech that anyone, not just doctors, have. Remember, anyone can make prescriptions as long as they don't falsely represent the prescriber as a doctor.
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