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Aaron Houston is a Patriot and a Hero

This week, famous marijuana lobbyist Aaron Houston takes over as Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Count me among the many who are pretty damn excited about it. Aaron is a cool dude and a warrior of justice who has the skills to give the right marching orders in the student movement to end the war on drugs. He even had the willpower to turn down Doritos from Steve Colbert:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Aaron Houston
www.colbertnation.com
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If you're a student who's reading this blog, but you haven't gotten involved in SSDP, you're missing out on all sorts of things. Your school needs a chapter, and if you're reading this, then you're the right person to get it started. It's easy to do, and you'll have twice as many Facebook friends within a year. If you think you won't have time, you're wrong, because SSDP will teach you to be better at everything you do. Your summer break is a great time to get a head start, so click here for step #1.

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Marijuana Legalization: California Tax and Regulate Has Eight-Point Lead in Latest Poll, But Still Under 50%

According to a Los Angeles Times/USC poll released Tuesday, the California Tax and Regulate Cannabis initiative has the support of 49% of voters, while 41% are opposed, and 10% are undecided. The figures are in line with other recent polls. Two weeks ago, an internal campaign poll had support at 51% and another public opinion poll had it at 49%. The bad news for initiative supporters in the latest poll is that it needs 50% plus one vote to win, and it isn't there yet. The good news, however, is that the initiative only needs to pick up one out of five of those undecided voters to go over the top. Or, as Dan Schnur, director of USC's Jesse M. Unruh institute of politics put it: "The good news for proponents is that they are starting off with a decent lead. The good news for the opposition is that initiatives that start off at less than 50% in the polls usually have a hard time." The poll also questioned voters about their marijuana use histories, finding that 37% had tried pot and 11% had smoked it within the last year. Not surprisingly, those who had smoked within the last year favored the initiative by more than four-to-one (82%). This latest poll, like previous ones, points to women, especially married women, as a key demographic. While men favor the initiative, women are split, and among married women, 49% oppose the initiative while 40% are in favor. Pollsters also asked about some of the key arguments made by supporters and opponents of the initiative. When asked whether they thought legalization marijuana could raise a billion dollars in revenue, 42% said yes, while 38% said that figure was wildly exaggerated. Voters in Los Angeles, where dispensaries spread like wildfire in the last half of the last decade, were most likely to believe that such revenues could be generated. When asked whether legalizing marijuana would worsen social problems, voters were similarly split, although such concerns especially resonated with those who oppose the initiative. Of that group, 83% think freeing the weed would increase crime and teen marijuana. Fifty-five percent of married women also think that. Attitudes toward legalization diverge sharply by age, with support much higher among younger voters. A 52% majority of voters 65 and older oppose legalization. Among voters between 45 and 64, 49% support it. But among those 30 to 44, 53% are in favor, and that rises to 61% among those 18 to 29. The next five months is going to be very interesting. But if the tax and regulate initiative is to emerge victorious at the polls come November, it has its work cut out for it. And it looks very much like the path to victory is going to have to go through mom.
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Mall Security Freaks Out Over Guy Wearing Marijuana T-Shirt

This is impressively stupid:

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ? A medical marijuana patient says wearing a pro-pot T-shirt got him banned from Town Center at Aurora.

Jake Gailey told CBS4 mall personnel approached him last weekend and told him his shirt was offensive to some customers. The shirt features a play on Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" campaign slogan and graphics but instead features the message "YES WE CANNABIS" and displays a marijuana leaf.

Sounds like Gailey handled it pretty well at first:

"I reminded him that (medical marijuana) was legal in our state, that I voted for it and I had a medical marijuana card as well," Gailey said.

Gailey, 28, was told to take the shirt off, turn it inside out or leave.

"I asked him if 'I buy a hat with a marijuana leaf in Spencer's, I can't wear it in the mall?' And he said 'No.'

"I said 'Well, how can the stores sell products you can't allow in the mall?' He said 'Well, we're trying to get everybody on the same page, and it hasn't worked.'"

Eventually, he got worked up and was arrested for being a nuisance, but the charges were dropped when he agreed not to go to the mall for a year. I'm sure Jake Gailey won't be the only marijuana activist avoiding the Town Center mall for a while.

According to this article, badass attorney Robert Corry is on the case, and there might be some interesting 1st Amendment questions here, despite the fact that it's a private mall.  Protests are being planned in the meantime, so you can bet there will soon be far more pot leaves on display in and around Town Center than there would have been if they'd just kept their prejudice to themselves.

Note to Corporate America: if you think you have anything to gain by discriminating against marijuana culture, you're dead wrong. If you screw with us, we will go completely ballistic and drive you crazy. If you don't believe me, ask these people.
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Press Release: Medical Marijuana Qualifies for Arizona Ballot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

JUNE 1, 2010

Medical Marijuana Qualifies for Arizona Ballot

Arizona Will Join South Dakota in Having Medical Marijuana on the Ballot in November; 14 States and Washington, D.C. Have Similar Laws

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

PHOENIX, ARIZONA — Today, the Arizona Secretary of State announced that an initiative to pass a medical marijuana law in Arizona has qualified for the November ballot. In April, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, the group that organized the initiative, turned in nearly 100,000 more signatures than were required to qualify. 

         Under the proposal, seriously ill patients with certain qualifying conditions would be given legal access to medical marijuana if they have a recommendation from their doctor. Since 1996, 14 other states and the District of Columbia have passed similar laws, and more than a dozen state legislatures across the nation have considered the issue this year. In March, a medical marijuana initiative in South Dakota also qualified for the November ballot. 

         “We are very happy that Arizonans will have the opportunity this November to vote for a compassionate and responsible law that protects seriously ill patients,” said Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, which provides significant funding and support to AMMPP. “By voting in favor of this initiative, Arizonans will ensure that residents suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other serious ailments will be given safe access to a medicine they and their doctors believe can relieve their condition. The proposed law will also create a dispensary system that will provide patients the same reliable access to medical marijuana that they would have to any other medicine – meaning they won’t have to risk their own safety by purchasing it from the criminal market.”   

         Upon passage of the initiative, the Arizona Department of Health Services will regulate medical marijuana, and qualifying patients or their caregivers will be permitted to legally purchase their medicine from tightly regulated clinics. The new law will protect seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking doctor-recommended medicine. A January ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that 81 percent of Americans support medical marijuana laws.

         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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WAMMfest 2010: The Life in Green

ADMISSION: FREE with a suggested donation ($4.20). All donations will benefit the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), whose members are critically and terminally ill patients.
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Mall Cops Gone Wild News Conference and March

Last Saturday, 28-year-old Jake Gailey was shopping with his girlfriend in an Aurora (CO) mall when security guards stopped and harassed him because he was wearing a "Yes We Cannabis" T-shirt.
In The Trenches

Colorado: Mall Cops Gone Wild - March in the Mall Tomorrow!

Mall Cops Out of Control!

Last Saturday, 28-year-old Jake Gailey was shopping with his girlfriend in an Aurora (CO) mall when security guards stopped and harassed him because he was wearing a "Yes We Cannabis" T-shirt.  The mall cops told Jake he had to remove the shirt, turn it inside-out, or exit the mall because it's reference to marijuana legalization was offensive.  When Jake expressed his opinion that he ought to be allowed to wear the shirt he was cited for trespassing and banned from the mall for one year.

Click HERE or visit http://www.tinyurl.com/2uu2jv6 to read the entire story on the Westword blog.

To protest this ridiculous action by the Town Center at Aurora, SAFER is organizing a march inside the mall in which supporters will all be wearing "Cannabis/Can o' Beer" SAFER T-shirts.

The details of the event are below, so please join and/or help us by coming out and spreading the word.  If you come, please wear a "Cannabis/Can o' Beer" SAFER T-shirt -- we will also have some shirts available for people to borrow.

If you are not in Colorado or cannot make it, please visit the mall owners' feedback form at http://tinyurl.com/pc3hb and send them a stern -- yet courteous -- message that this type of behavior is unacceptable.

WHAT:  News conference and march inside the mall

WHEN:  TOMORROW, Saturday, May 29th @ 3:45 p.m.

WHERE:  Town Center at Aurora (off of I-225 and E. Alameda Ave.), meet in front of the east entrance off of S. Sable Blvd. and E. Centrepoint Dr. -- See Map Below