Stoned Gull

Mr. President, There Is Absolutely Nothing Funny About Cannabis Prohibition

872,000 cannabis arrests each year is no laughing matter
Those are YOUR sons and daughters starting life with a criminal record

President Obama, what could possibly elicit laughter about a cannabis-related arrest occurring every 38 seconds (872,000 annual cannabis arrests; 90% for possession only), 20 million arrests since 1965, approximately 85,000 cannabis-only incarcerations that costs taxpayers tens of billions a year; thousands of medical patients are denied access to a safe/non-toxic medicine and the American farmer alone in the world not cultivating non-psychoactive cannabis (historically known as hemp) for industrial purposes?

I’m keen to give deference to a new President who has, just to name a few items, two unpopular and expensive wars on his hands, along with possibly the worse economy since the early 1930s. But I know that millions of Americans shared my disbelief and tinge of anger when, after soliciting the American people for their top economic concerns to be posted to a government webpage, President Obama provided a left-handed acknowledgement that the topic of marijuana legalization was a very popular one among Internet users (it was in fact the #1 economic concern expressed by Americans), and then chuckled that he ‘didn’t think that legalization was a good idea or a way to help grow the economy’. (See the Obama video below on right.)

The national headlines and blowback by the ‘Netroots’ were both immediate and critical
Columnists from The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan to The Boston Herald's Margery Eagan opine about how Obama should not have been so dismissive, especially in the face of what currently appears to be very strong public support for cannabis law reform, to the point of legalization, which is being debated in the legislatures of California and Massachusetts.

I’ve just read a brand new survey released from California indicating that 54% of citizens support legalizing cannabis; almost 60% believe the regulations should be the same or less than those for alcohol.

Mr. President, when California, the 8th largest economy in the world (and most influential state in the Union), and your largest base of financial, cultural and political support is moving towards adopting practical, cost-effective alternatives to cannabis prohibition, you can’t laugh that off.
Allen St. Pierre is a native of Chatham and the executive director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Washington, D.C.

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Massachusetts wakes up

Massachusetts Becomes Lead New England State In Marijuana Law Reform

Maybe it is a matter of pride and tolerance, mixed in with a dash of frugality, but if I'm not mistaken Massachusetts has finally awaken from decades of passively watching the west coast of America move the country away from 70-years of a taxpayer-funded, feckless cannabis prohibition.

Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 100 million Americans.

The clear pro-reform mandate delivered by the voters of the Commonwealth last November in favor of formalizing the state's cannabis decriminalization law enforcement practices, 65% of voters-voting in favor of reform in the majority sans for all but three Bay State municipalities-places the state in the pantheon of pro-pot states that have effectively decriminalized cannabis, from west to east: Alaska, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Maine and, as of 2009, Massachusetts.

Now over 115 million citizens live in the 13 states where cannabis decriminalization has occurred-equaling over one-third America's population.

What will bring the Bay State up to par with pretty much all of the west coast and Rocky Mountain region? Medical access to cannabis and a genuine public debate about the state legally controlling cannabis, and taxing it, in a similar manner to alcohol and tobacco products (California's legislature will debating a pro-legalization bill in the coming days that has really caught the attention of the national media).

Read my Op Ed piece "Cops have to obey the law too" here.

The former will occur in the form of a 2010 ballot initiative in Massachusetts, when citizens will likely pass a binding measure that allows qualifying medical patients lawful access to whole-smoked cannabis products at supportive levels similar to Massachusetts' new decriminalization law, the latter was introduced on Friday in the form of comprehensive cannabis legalization legislation by Amherst-area state senator Stanley Rosenberg.

A medical cannabis access bill has also been dropped into the legislative hopper by state representative Frank Smizik (though, I personally think the 2010 ballot initiative will eventually deliver some form of patient protections and access to medical cannabis rather than Rep. Smizik's bill).

Just say "NO" to pols who ignore the voter's wishes

From here in Washington, DC it looks like there will be more than just pine pollen in the air this year in New England.

In addition, Senator Scott Brown has introduced a bill to effectively nullify the voters' want for decriminalization by making it a $1,000 fine to possess cannabis in an automobile. What nonsense! If dangerous and addictive drugs like alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceuticals can be possessed in an automobile, why shouldn't cannabis if the voters chose to stop these kinds of expensive and constitutional twisting encounters with citizens?

Massachusetts is not the only New England state looking to ‘westernize' their cannabis laws as Connecticut is looking at both decriminalization and medical bills; Rhode Island seeks to join New Mexico in passing legislation that allows the state to license the production and sales of medical cannabis to qualified patients; New Hampshire's legislature is debating a medical access bill; Vermont is looking to go beyond medical cannabis and formally adopt decriminalization for possession amounts and Maine legislators are reviewing a proposal to expand the states thirty-year old decriminalization laws.

From here in Washington, DC it looks like there will be more than just pine pollen in the air this year in New England.

• 13 states with cannabis decriminalization:
• Medical legislation in MA:
• Legalization legislation in MA:
• Penalize Cannabis In An Auto Legislation in MA:

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