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Contact: Tom Angell – 202-557-4979 or [email protected]

Trevor FitzGibbon - 202-406-0646

US Law Enforcement Group Urges President Obama to Join Mexican President Calderon in Debate on Legalizing Marijuana

Responding to out-of-control violence related to the illegal drug trade, Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday said that he is open to a debate on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. Calling the increasingly widespread public discussion of legalization “a fundamental debate,” Calderon said, “You have to analyze carefully the pros and cons and the key arguments on both sides.”

In response to President Calderon’s call for a debate on drug legalization, Norm Stamper, a 34-year veteran police officer who was Seattle’s chief of police and is now a speaker with the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and an adviser to the Just Say Now campaign, called on President Obama to join the debate on legalizing marijuana:

     “President Calderon’s call for a debate on legalization is a big step forward in putting an end to the war raging in Mexico and along our borders. More than 28,000 people have been killed by Mexico’s drug cartels since 2006 – including 1,200 in July, the deadliest month yet in this drug war.

     “Legalizing marijuana is the most sensible approach to stopping this border war. Cartels thrive on marijuana prohibition. Around 70% of the cartels’ profits come from the illegal sale of marijuana, which they turn around to buy guns that have killed thousands of Mexicans and that terrorize police on America’s streets.

     “Just Say Now welcomes President Calderon to this debate. We hope that President Obama will join this debate to end the war on marijuana.”

Previously, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, said that, “Those that suggest that some of these [legalization] measures need to be looked at understand the dynamics of the drug trade” and that the idea “needs to be taken seriously” by officials on “both sides of the border: both in producing, in trafficking, and in consumption countries."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

AUGUST 3, 2010

Colorado Nets $7,340,000 From Medical Marijuana Dispensary License Applications

Seeking Regulation and Legitimacy, More than 700 Apply for Licenses that Will Generate Millions in New Revenue for Colorado

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or 443-927-6400

DENVER, COLORADO —  More than 2,000 people in Colorado applied for licenses to run state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries, growing facilities or related businesses before this weekend’s application deadline, according to state officials. In total, the state made $7.34 million from application fees alone.

         More than 700 applied specifically for dispensary licenses, far exceeding the number expected by state officials, who estimated that only half of the state’s roughly 1,100 pre-existing dispensaries would apply for licenses. State officials will now conduct thorough background checks on applicants before awarding licenses, which are expected to generate additional millions in annual revenue for Colorado. 

         “This outpouring of applications is another sign of how willing and eager marijuana business owners are to be taxed, regulated, and given equal treatment to other legitimate establishments,” said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. “By sensibly regulating its medical marijuana industry, Colorado stands to gain untold millions in new revenue while at the same time providing legal clarity and rational oversight to what may soon be the largest regulated marijuana market in the world.”

         In June, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (D) signed legislation designed to regulate the state’s medical marijuana industry through a system of local and state licenses. A state-licensed medical marijuana program is up and running in New Mexico, and similar programs will soon be operational in Rhode Island, Maine, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. – but the number of sanctioned dispensaries to be allowed in each of those states is fewer than 10. Colorado’s law will authorize hundreds, and potentially more if future demand increases.

         A Rasmussen telephone poll released May 15 showed that there is also plurality support among Colorado voters for further expanding the state’s marijuana laws. Forty-nine percent of likely voters said they support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, with an additional 13 percent still undecided.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

AUGUST 3, 2010

Gubernatorial Candidate Peter Shumlin to Discuss Marijuana Policy Reform at University of Vermont

Former State Rep. Daryl Pillsbury Will Also Speak At Aug. 10 Event

CONTACT: 802-579-1377 or [email protected]

BURLINGTON, VERMONT — Next Tuesday, Aug. 10, the University of Vermont will be the setting for a discussion on current marijuana laws in Vermont and efforts to decriminalize the substance in the Vermont legislature. Speakers will include Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Pete Shumlin, as well as former Vermont State Representative Daryl Pillsbury. The event will be sponsored by Marijuana Resolve, a Vermont non-profit focused on marijuana policy reform issues.

            WHAT: Discussion of marijuana decriminalization efforts in Vermont

            WHO: Gubernatorial candidate Pete Shumlin and former State Rep. Daryl Pillsbury

            WHERE: University of Vermont, Ira Allen Lecture Hall, 42 University Place, Burlington, VT 05405

            WHEN: Tuesday, August 10, 7 to 9 p.m.

            Legislation that would have made possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a civil, rather than criminal violation, punishable by a $100 fine without the possibility of jail time was pending throughout the latest legislative session and had the support of Vermont voters. A 2009 Mason-Dixon poll of voters in the state showed 63% supported the measure with just 27% opposed, and a nonbinding resolution on the Montpelier town meeting day ballot urging the legislature to pass the bill got over 72% of the vote. Nonetheless, the bill never received a hearing.

            If elected, Shumlin has pledged he will work to pass such a measure, which has the support of at least one of Vermont’s State’s Attorneys, Windsor County’s Robert Sand. “Police officers could respond, but they could respond roadside and issue a ticket without the need to arrest, process, run a criminal history, prepare a docket for state’s attorney review,” Sand told the Rutland Herald last month. “That would be a significant savings in law enforcement time, which would allow police officers to then move on to what I would suggest are more pressing matters, like patrolling for drunk drivers or responding to crimes against persons.”

            Tuesday’s event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Vidda Crochetta,  Marijuana Resolve’s State Coordinator, at (802) 579-1377 or email [email protected].

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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Cultural Baggage * Century of Lies * 4:20 Drug War NEWS  *  Time 4 Hemp

Note:  We now produce a segment each Friday at 11:45 PM Central for Time 4 Hemp on American Freedom Radio (dot com)

Cultural Baggage for  08/01/10 29:00 Larry Talley, former naval intelligence officer now with LEAP + Jasmine Tyler of Drug Policy Alliance & Okla Atty Kevin Adams re ongoing police corruption scandal in Tulsa

LINK:   http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3006

TRANSCRIPT:  Tue

Century of Lies for  08/01/10  29:00  Joseph McNamara, former Police Chief of San Jose and K.C. + Leonard Pitts Jr. Pulitzer winning journalist from Miami Herald

LINK:   http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3005

TRANSCRIPT: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3005#comments

4:20 Drug War NEWS, 08/02 to 08/08/10  Link at www.drugtruth.net on the right margin -

Sat - M.J. Borden of Drug War Facts: Drug Policy + Fear = HIV Fri - Joseph McNamara, former Police Chief of San Jose & K.C. on why drug war a mistake Thu - Leonard Pitts Jr., Pulizer winning journalist: "Drug sentences create racial caste system"

Wed - Mothership G.M. & listeners defend Drug War NEWS against nay sayers on "Open Journal"

Tue - Okla Atty Kevin Adams re ongoing police corruption scandal in Tulsa Mon - Jasmine Tyler of Drug Policy Alliance on drug policy progress in D.C.

Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston, 90.1 FM.  You can Listen Live Online at www.kpft.org

-  Cultural Baggage Sun, 7:30 PM ET, 6:30 PM CT, 5:30 PM MT, 4:30 PM PT

-  Century of Lies, SUN, 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT & 5 PM PT

Who's Next?":  TBD 

Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and now at James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.  http://www.bakerinstitute.org/dtn

We have potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates.  You can tune into both our 1/2 hour programs, live, at 6:30 central time on Pacifica's KPFT at http://www.kpft.org  and call in your questions and concerns toll free at 1-877-9-420 420. 

The two, 29:00 shows appear along with the seven, daily, 3:00  "4:20 Drug War NEWS" reports each Monday morning at http://www.drugtruth.net .  We currently have 91 affiliated, yet independent broadcast stations.  With a simple email request to [email protected] , your station can join the Drug Truth Network, free of charge.

Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker  Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform.  "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, DTN Producer, 713-462-7981, www.drugtruth.net