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Students: Intern at StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) and Help Stop the Drug War!
Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester fighting the good fight!
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Offer and Appeal: Order "10 Rules for Dealing with Police" -- Free With a Donation to StoptheDrugWar.org
StoptheDrugWar.org is pleased to be the first drug policy organization to offer this important new video to our members -- your donations will support our work of building the movement and fueling public debate, too.
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Drug War Chronicle Video Review: "10 Rules for Dealing With Police," from Flex Your Rights
Millions of people have viewed -- and benefited from -- the film "Busted: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters." The new Flex Your Rights film, "10 Rules for Dealing with Police," has taken things to the next level, in more ways than one.
Blog
If You Call Yourself a Drug Policy Reformer, You Need to Watch This
This Slate article about how college professors across the country are using The Wire to teach a variety of subjects reminded me how many of my fellow drug policy activists still haven't gotten around to watching the show.
If institutions of higher learning are able to comprehend The Wire's mind-expanding educational value, then it really shouldnât be necessary for me to beg reformers to put those ridiculous Weeds DVDs aside for a couple weeks and watch the most accurate and revealing depiction of urban drug warfare ever created. It is literally so realistic that people who've watched all five seasons should be considered eligible for a certificate of expertise in modern drug war police practices.
Your failure to watch The Wire could be depriving you of insights that would advance the cause of reform. In other words, you are screwing over the rest of us by not doing your share and forcing us to carry the burden of The Wire's wisdom on our own. We have to listen to you express opinions that would be more succinct if you'd seen it, thus you're basically wasting everyone's time with your non-Wire-influenced ideas about the war on drugs.
Your intransigence might be forgivable if The Wire were boring, but it is widely and correctly considered the most interesting and entertaining program in the history of television, even among people who never gave a damn about crime and drug policy until The Wire came along and completely blew their minds.
Here, just watch Omar steal all the heroin in Baltimore and tell me you don't want more:
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In The Trenches
Patients Out of Time Conference Video Promotion
The Sixth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, co-sponsored by the School of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco; the Rhode Island State Nurses Association and Patients Out of Time will be held on April 15 - 17, 2010 at the Crowne Plaze Hotel in Warwick, RI. The Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition (RIPAC) is the local host and partner with Patients Out of Time for this forum.
To view the video, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxj6f31swS4.
For more information and to register, see http://medicalcannabis.com/Clinical-Conferences/2010-upcoming-conference
In The Trenches
Race & Justice News: Inaugural Edition
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In The Trenches
Are dispensaries losing their bank accounts?
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In The Trenches
Press Release: Historic Marijuana Reform Measure Qualifies for Californiaâs November 2010 Ballot
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
MARCH 24, 2010
Historic Marijuana Reform Measure Qualifies for Californiaâs November 2010 Ballot
Voters Will Decide If California Becomes First State in the Nation to End Marijuana Prohibition
CONTACT: Aaron Smith, MPP California policy director â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 707-291-0076 or [email protected]
SACRAMENTO, CA â Today, a proposal that would tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the state of California secured a place on the November 2010 ballot. Organizers of the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 had submitted nearly 700,000 signatures to state authorities in January, far exceeding the 433,971 required to place the question on this yearâs election ballot. Election officials validated the signatures today.
        The ballot initiative would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and allow cities and counties to impose a tax on the sale of marijuana. Â
        âIf passed, this initiative would offer a welcome change to Californiaâs miserable status quo marijuana policy,â said Aaron Smith, California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project, which recently endorsed the initiative. âOur current marijuana laws are failing California. Year after year, prohibition forces police to spend time chasing down non-violent marijuana offenders while tens of thousands of violent crimes go unsolved â all while marijuana use and availability remain unchanged.â
        An April 2009 Field Poll showed that 56% of California support taxing and regulating marijuana. A 2009 report published by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice showed that arrests for every criminal offense decreased between 1990 and 2008 in California except for simple marijuana possession, which skyrocketed by 127%. In 2008, more than 78,000 Californians were arrested on marijuana charges â more than for any other offense. During the same year, the FBI reported that almost 60,000 violent crimes went unsolved.
        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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Blog
The Real Reason Football Players Aren't Supposed to Use Marijuana
This Sports Illustrated piece on the growing prevalence of marijuana use among NFL prospects is such a carnival of mind-bending idiocy that I wonder if I'll ever enjoy the sport quite as much after having read it. The whole thing is just a series of anonymous quotes from NFL coaches and executives acting like marijuana is some sort of mysterious plague gripping professional sports. Yet for all the deep concern about it, you won't find any attempt at explaining why anyone even gives a sh*t about this to begin with.
So what if an athlete has a secret history of getting super baked. Does he have a secret history of sucking at football? That would be worth looking into. But the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the real story behind all this nonsense is actually rather simple and far too embarrassing to acknowledge.
I seriously doubt any of this has anything to do with concerns about the impact of marijuana use on an athlete's performance. The sport of football has a rich history of dominant players known for indulging in cannabis and it would be laugh-out-loud moronic to suggest that the stuff was gonna screw up anybody's stats. Nobody even bothers to argue that, because it's dumb and everyone knows it's dumb.
The real issue is that you have to worry about these guys failing drug tests or getting arrested and then having to deal with seismic media attention and pissed off corporate sponsors. It's all about money, but you can't say that without revealing the mindlessness of marijuana policy in general, which the NFL isn't about to weigh into. Instead, we're stuck with marijuana-in-sports coverage that remains ubiquitous, yet utterly devoid of substance.
Meanwhile, as SAFER points out, the NFL is married to the alcohol industry and couldn't possibly do more to shove beer in everyone's face at every conceivable opportunity. It is unquestionably the best example that exists of an organization which simultaneously glorifies and promotes alcohol, while treating marijuana use as an intolerable vice.
I dare anyone to consume on a frequent basis all the nutritious food and beverages the NFL wishes to sell to you, and once you're sufficiently fat and drunk, you can then make it your business to lecture Rookie of the Year Percy Harvin about whether treating his migraine headaches with marijuana is a responsible choice.
So what if an athlete has a secret history of getting super baked. Does he have a secret history of sucking at football? That would be worth looking into. But the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the real story behind all this nonsense is actually rather simple and far too embarrassing to acknowledge.
I seriously doubt any of this has anything to do with concerns about the impact of marijuana use on an athlete's performance. The sport of football has a rich history of dominant players known for indulging in cannabis and it would be laugh-out-loud moronic to suggest that the stuff was gonna screw up anybody's stats. Nobody even bothers to argue that, because it's dumb and everyone knows it's dumb.
The real issue is that you have to worry about these guys failing drug tests or getting arrested and then having to deal with seismic media attention and pissed off corporate sponsors. It's all about money, but you can't say that without revealing the mindlessness of marijuana policy in general, which the NFL isn't about to weigh into. Instead, we're stuck with marijuana-in-sports coverage that remains ubiquitous, yet utterly devoid of substance.
Meanwhile, as SAFER points out, the NFL is married to the alcohol industry and couldn't possibly do more to shove beer in everyone's face at every conceivable opportunity. It is unquestionably the best example that exists of an organization which simultaneously glorifies and promotes alcohol, while treating marijuana use as an intolerable vice.
I dare anyone to consume on a frequent basis all the nutritious food and beverages the NFL wishes to sell to you, and once you're sufficiently fat and drunk, you can then make it your business to lecture Rookie of the Year Percy Harvin about whether treating his migraine headaches with marijuana is a responsible choice.
Blog
It's Official! California Marijuana Legalization Initiative Qualifies for the November Ballot
Californians will be voting on whether to legalize marijuana in November. The California Secretary of State's office Wednesday certified the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 initiative as having handed in enough valid voters' signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
The initiative is sponsored by Oaksterdam medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee and would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults and allow for personal grows of up to 25 square feet. It also provides for the taxed and regulated sale of marijuana by local option, meaning counties and municipalities could opt out of legalized marijuana sales.
Some 433,000 valid signatures were required to make the ballot; the initiative campaign had gathered some 690,000. On Tuesday, state officials had certified 415,000 signatures as valid, but that didn't include signatures from Los Angeles County. Initiative supporters there Wednesday handed in more than 140,000 signatures. With an overall signature validity rate of around 80%, that as much as ensured that the measure would make the ballot.
Late Wednesday afternoon, California Secretary of State's office made it official. Its web page listing Qualified Ballot Measures now includes the marijuana legalization under initiative approved for the November ballot. The 104,000 valid signatures from Los Angeles County put it well over the top.
"This is a watershed moment in the decades-long struggle to end marijuana prohibition in this country," said Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Banning marijuana outright has been a disaster, fueling a massive, increasingly brutal underground economy, wasting billions in scarce law enforcement resources, and making criminals of countless law-abiding citizens. Elected officials havenât stopped these punitive, profligate policies. Now voters can bring the reality check of sensible marijuana regulation to California."
"If passed, this initiative would offer a welcome change to Californiaâs miserable status quo marijuana policy," said Aaron Smith, California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project, which recently endorsed the initiative. "Our current marijuana laws are failing California. Year after year, prohibition forces police to spend time chasing down non-violent marijuana offenders while tens of thousands of violent crimes go unsolved â all while marijuana use and availability remain unchanged."
Proponents of the measure will emphasize the fiscal impact of taxing marijuanaâthe state Board of Equalization has estimated that it legalization could generate $1.3 billion in tax revenues a yearâas well as the impact of regulation could have on reducing teen access to the weed. They can also point out that by now, California has lived with a form of regulated marijuana distributionâthe medical marijuana dispensary systemâfor years and the sky hasn't fallen.
Opponents, which will largely consist of law enforcement lobbying groups, community anti-drug organizations, and elements of the African-American religious community, will argue that marijuana is a dangerous drug, and that crime and drugged driving will increase.
But if opponents want to play the cop card, initiative organizers have some cards of their own. In a press release Wednesday evening, they had several former law enforcement figures lined up in support of taxation and regulation. "As a retired Orange County Judge, I've been on the front lines of the drug war for three decades, and I know from experience that the current approach is simply not working," said Retired Superior Court Judge James Gray. "Controlling marijuana with regulations similar to those currently in place for alcohol will put street drug dealers and organized crime out of business."
"The Control and Tax Initiative is a welcome change for law enforcement in California," said Kyle Kazan, a retired Torrance Police officer. "It will allow police to get back to work fighting violent crime."
Jeffrey Studdard, a former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff, emphasized the significant controls created by the Control and Tax Initiative to safely and responsibly regulate cannabis. "The initiative will toughen penalties for providing marijuana to minors, ban possession at schools, and prohibit public consumption," Studdard said.
The campaign should be a nail-biter. Legalization polled 56% in an April Field poll, and initiative organizers say their own private research is showing similar results. But the conventional wisdom among initiative watchers is that polling needs to be above 60% at the beginning of the campaign, before attacks on specific aspects of any given initiative begin to erode support. But despite the misgivings of some movement allies, who cringe at the thought of defeat in California, this year's legalization vote is now a reality.
"California led the way on medical marijuana with Prop 215 in 1996,â said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Now itâs time again for California to lead the way in ending the follies of marijuana prohibition in favor of a responsible policy of tax and regulation."
In The Trenches
This Week: Statewide Events and Update
First, a big "thank you" to everyone who contacted their legislators concerning HB 1284-- the dispensary regulation bill. Your efforts made a big difference (See legislative update below)
Upcoming Events
DURANGO:Â Two free events this week featuring attorneys from Sensible Colorado!
(1) This Thursday (3/25), Know Your Rights training at Ft. Lewis College starting at 6:30pm. Room TBA. For more details contact: [email protected]
(2) This Friday (3/26), Medical Marijuana Legal Seminar from 1-4pm at the Durango Public Library.Â
DENVER: Sensible Colorado will be tabling and giving a presentation at the Colorado Cannabis Convention on April 2-3 in Denver. See details here.Â
Statewide Legislative Update
On Monday, March 22, the Colorado House Judiciary Committee passed HB 1284, which will now continue to wind its way through the state house. Thanks to pressure from Sensible Colorado and other activists, HB 1284 is in better shape and does not include a number of onerous provision including local dispensary bans and limits on where patients can live (i.e. near schools). An updated version of this bill is available here.Â
However, our fight is not over. This bill still has a number of provisions which hinder safe access for patients, and we will continue to monitor and influence this bill moving forward. Please consider supporting our important work by becoming a monthly donor today.
Finally, despite hearing from many concerned citizens, the provision which would have allowed veterans and other victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to access medical marijuana, lost by one vote. You can read an overview of this vote, with a quote from Sensible's Brian Vicente blasting the Health Department's opposition to this amendment here.In The Trenches
Press Release: California Ballot Measure to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Expected to Qualify for Ballot Today
MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                                                               MARCH 24, 2010California Ballot Measure to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Expected to Qualify for Ballot TodayMPP Spokespeople Will Be Available to the Media to Discuss Initiative CONTACT: Mike Meno, assistant director of communications â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 202-905-2030 or [email protected]
SACRAMENTO, CA â Today, a proposal that would tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the state of California is expected to secure a place on the November 2010 ballot.         The Marijuana Policy Project, which has endorsed the initiative, has spokespeople available in California and Washington, D.C. to discuss this historic breakthrough in the campaign to end marijuana prohibition. In California: Aaron Smith, MPP California policy director, 707-291-0076. In Washington: Steve Fox, MPP director of state campaigns, 202-905-2042.        Organizers of the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 had submitted nearly 700,000 signatures to state authorities in January, far exceeding the 433,971 required to place the question on this yearâs election ballot. Election officials are expected to validate the signatures today. The ballot initiative would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and allow cities and counties to impose a tax on the sale of marijuana.      Â
        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.####In The Trenches
Last chance to vote
Dear friends:
This is your last chance to vote for a new member of MPPâs board of directors. You can qualify yourself and vote here.Â
(We hold this election every three years, when an elected board memberâs term ends.)
Anyone who has donated to MPP or the MPP Medical Marijuana Political Action Committee in the last 365 days is eligible to vote. (Donations to MPP Foundation do not count for the purpose of determining eligibility for the MPP board vote.)Â Voting ends on Wednesday, March 31, 2010.
I invite you to participate in the governance of MPP by voting today. Together we will end marijuana prohibition.
Sincerely,
Director of Membership
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
Blog
California releasing prisoners
The NYT has an article titled California, in Financial Crisis, Opens Prison Doors.