Sen. Chuck Winder: Don’t even THINK about reform!

Senate Concurrent Resolution 112 (PDF) is set for a final vote on the Idaho House floor. Already approved by the Senate, if passed it would officially proclaim that the current Idaho Legislature opposes marijuana legalization “for any purpose.” What a curious way to spend their time and residents’ tax dollars considering a February 2011 poll found that nearly three quarters of Idahoans favor allowing “terminally and seriously ill patients to use and purchase marijuana for medical purposes.” Apparently, the author of the bill, Sen. Chuck Winder (R-Boise), thinks reform is a problem and he wants none of it in Idaho.

If you are an Idaho resident, please urge your representative to stop wasting your money on uncaring resolutions.

The good news is – even if passed – this resolution can’t stop the will of the people from prevailing. In fact, the group Compassionate Idaho has just released a new petition to place a medical marijuana initiative on the November 2014 ballot! If they gather enough signatures by April of next year, the voters will be able to teach their lawmakers a thing or two about compassion.

Rep. Cory Williams

Oklahoma has some of the harshest penalties for marijuana possession in the nation. A second offense for possession of any amount of marijuana is a felony punishable by a mandatory minimum of two years imprisonment and a maximum of 10.

Fortunately, legislation awaiting action on the House floor would introduce a dose of sanity. H.B. 1835, sponsored by Rep. Cory Williams (D-34), would make first and second offense possession of marijuana a misdemeanor. Subsequent offenses would remain a felony, but the possible jail time would be reduced to a maximum of five years.

If you live in Oklahoma, please ask your representative to support this sensible reform.

Although this change is modest, it is still a significant improvement over the status quo. It’s a change that makes both common sense and fiscal sense. It would mean fewer adults would be jailed simply for choosing to use a substance less harmful than alcohol. It would also free up prison space for people who commit serious and violent crimes.

Sometimes in this movement, it’s feast or famine. Right now in Maryland, we’re feasting. Yesterday, the media was busy covering a hearing on legislation to tax and regulate marijuana and the Maryland Senate passing legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Today, they will be writing about committee votes all but certain to lead to medical marijuana legislation passing in Maryland.

Maryland State House (Photo by Matt Bush)

Late last night, I received word that the House Judiciary and Health & Government Operations (HGO) Committees each approved legislation to set up a first-of-its-kind medical marijuana program in Maryland. The votes were overwhelming: 22-1 in HGO and 17-4 in Judiciary. I’m very optimistic, but let’s leave nothing to chance. If you live in Maryland, please ask your delegates and senators to vote “yes” on H.B. 1101. The bill isn’t perfect — marijuana will only be provided through academic medical centers, and it will take some time for the program to be implemented — but this is a big step forward. What’s important is that medical marijuana will be in the hands of doctors, not dealers, and people with debilitating illnesses will no longer be thought of as criminals.

MPP Maine political director David Boyer

Marijuana policy reform advocates in Maine held a press conference in Portland City Hall on Thursday morning to announce the start of a citywide signature drive to make possession of 2.5 ounces of marijuana legal for adults within city limits. The Portland Green Party filed the petition earlier this month and is coordinating the signature drive for the initiative.

Major speakers at the event included: Portland City Councilor Dave Marshall, Zachary Heiden of the ACLU of Maine, Tom MacMillan of the Portland Green Party, and David Boyer, Maine political director for MPP. Supporters highlighted the fact that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol, and it is illogical to punish adults for using the safer alternative.

In continuing coverage of the unveiling of MPP’s billboard supporting boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in his struggle against the draconian fines imposed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for marijuana on a drug test, MPP director of communications Mason Tvert was interviewed on Ralston Reports:

At this point, it is hard to imagine, but just a handful of years
ago, Santa Barbara had more medical marijuana storefronts than it did
Starbucks coffeehouses. Now, after a perfect storm of local government
regulation and high-profile arrests ​

Gov. Maggie Hassan

In a huge victory for patients, the New Hampshire House overwhelmingly approved the medical marijuana bill today by a record 286-64 margin. Similar bills in 2009, 2011, and 2012 also received more than two-thirds support from the House, but today’s vote of more than 81% in favor of HB 573 shows that the House is moving closer to achieving consensus on the issue!

Next, the bill will head to the Senate, which also passed similar bills in 2009 and 2012, but the Senate has always been more difficult to persuade on this issue than the House. Advocates will need to work even harder in the Senate to make sure HB 573 passes this year and creates the best law possible for patients.

Encouragingly, Gov. Maggie Hassan has expressed support for making medical marijuana legal in the Granite State. That means if the bill passes in the Senate, New Hampshire stands a good chance of becoming the 19th medical marijuana state!

On Tuesday, MPP unveiled its billboard in support of boxer Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., who was fined $900,000 and handed a nine-month suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for testing positive for marijuana.

Located at 2001 Western Ave., Las Vegas, Nevada, the graphic proclaims, “A majority of Nevadans support Julio’s SAFER choice,” referencing a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling. “Stop driving athletes to DRINK!”

“Marijuana is far less toxic, less addictive, and less likely to contribute to violent and aggressive behavior than alcohol,” stated MPP’s director of communications, Mason Tvert. “The NSAC should change its marijuana policy and stop driving athletes to drink.”

The billboard and the NSAC’s illogical policy have garnered much attention. After waking up Tuesday morning to find his name splashed across MPP’s billboard, Chavez’s attorney Donald Campbell released a statement on his client’s behalf:

“In response to the many press inquiries regarding the Marijuana Policy Project’s billboard, we wish to reiterate that our client, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., does not encourage the illicit use of marijuana. That having been said, he is, nevertheless, most grateful for the very visible and vocal support of [MPP] as well as that of the many news and sports commentators nationwide who have condemned the unconstitutional, and indeed, draconian fine of $900,000 leveled against him by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for having smoked a marijuana cigarette nine days before the Martinez fight.”

MPP is calling on the NSAC to drop the excessive penalties against Chavez and change its policy so that it no longer steers athletes toward using alcohol by threatening to punish them if they choose to use the less harmful substance – marijuana. The request will be delivered to the NSAC in the form of a Change.org petition.

Stand with Julio and add your name.

Mayor Bob Filner is proposing an
ordinance to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in
commercial and industrial areas for a $5,000 annual permit fee and a 2
percent city tax on sales.

In addition, the proposal calls for dispensaries to be at least 600 feet
away from K-12 schools, public parks, child care facilities,
playgrounds and other dispensaries. There isn

For political science pundits, it’s a new high.  The latest public survey shows more than two in every five Lethbridge-area people agree with recreational use of marijuana.  And even more – close to 79 per cent – say it should be readily available as a medical treatment.

The growing support for decriminalizing the use of marijuana, from 42 per cent of local residents who responded, is reported by the Citizen Society Research Lab at Lethbridge College.  Approval was even higher ( 42.7 per cent ) in Coaldale, also included in the college’s twice-yearly public opinion surveys.

Nearly 45 per cent of Albertans responding to the college’s province-wide poll last fall were also in favour – and the strongest support, 48.2 per cent, came from across southern Alberta.

“It’s the ( baby ) boomers and the parents of kids who might get ‘busted’ with a small amount of pot,” says Faron Ellis, political scientist at Lethbridge College.

They’re hoping to see Canadian law changed, as voters were in Colorado and Washington state.  Realistically, Albertans know the Stephen Harper government stands opposed.

But it’s the provincial government that appoints the judges, he adds, and they’re not harsh with first-time offenders.

The new telephone survey – taken Feb.  9 and 10, with 835 randomly selected adults in Lethbridge and Coaldale – showed Wildrose party supporters more likely ( more than 39 per cent ) than Conservatives ( 33.6 ) to support decriminalization.  New Democrats were most strongly supportive at 65.5 per cent.

Wildrose partisans were also more permissive than Tories on other issues, Ellis found.  Citizens who said they vote Wildrose also voiced stronger support for medical use of marijuana, for doctor-assisted suicide and for a woman’s right to choose an abortion.

They’re reflecting a libertarian view that’s also surfaced among Harper’s MPs, he points out.

“They’re saying we should have less government interference in our economic lives, but also in our personal lives.”

Ellis says approval for the prescribed use of marijuana to counteract pain and other medical symptoms has been strong, ever since the college began its twice-a-year opinion surveys.  It’s remained in the 70-80 per cent range over the last decade, peaking at 80.1 per cent in 2012.

Support continues to grow on another issue, a woman’s right to choose.  Despite in-your-face campaigns by some religious groups, Ellis reports pro-choice responses have passed 80 per cent for the first time.

“It appears their behaviour has failed to stop the trend to more and more support” for choice, he says.

Perhaps surprisingly, the latest poll found 87.4 per cent of Lethbridge and Coaldale residents who attend church as least “several times a year” support women’s choice.

That figure grows to 94 per cent of those who said they attend “seldom or never,” a group that includes about 52 per cent of all residents polled.

A bare majority of those who claimed to attend at least twice a month were also in favour, reflecting differences between the city’s religious liberals and conservatives.

Ellis says the survey also found most southern Albertans agree on a once-contentious topic.  Same-sex marriage is supported by more than 83.8 per cent of those who attend church occasionally as well as 85.2 per cent who said “seldom or never.”

Among those who say they attend very regularly ( about 30 per cent of the population ) there’s close to 40 per cent support.

When the question was asked 10 years ago – before all provinces had made the change – Ellis says about one-third of Lethbridge people polled were in favour of lesbian or gay couples marrying.  But now, for the first time, that popular support has passed 70 per cent.

“Southern Albertans have accepted that as a just and legitimate aspect of Canadian society,” he says.

Public support for a still-controversial issue, doctor-assisted death, has also grown.  Nearly 75 per cent of those responding to this month’s survey voiced their approval, compared with 66.4 per cent a year ago and 61.9 per cent in 2011.  More than 82 per cent of those who sometimes attend church were in favour, vs.  about 44 per cent who attend frequently.

In contrast, Ellis says, more than 60 per cent of those who attend frequently were in favour of the death penalty for first-degree murder – – nearly as high as the 66.6 per cent who don’t attend.

Church attendance isn’t an absolute predictor of southern Albertans’ attitudes, Ellis admits.  On some issues, he says, it depends on whether people lean more heavily on Old Testament vengeance or New Testament forgiveness.

The Lethbridge College survey, conducted by supervised college students and distance education students of Athabasca University, polled citizens whose phone numbers were selected at random.  Its margin of error is stated as 3.4 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.

Source: Lethbridge Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2013 The Lethbridge Herald
Contact: letters@lethbridgeherald.com
Website: http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/
Author: Dave Mabell