Mike Meno at MPP Blog posted this useful Marijuana Policy Election Day Scorecard and I don’t think he’ll mind if I re-print it here:
Voters all across the country will cast ballots tomorrow in elections that could alter the course of U.S. marijuana policy for years to come. Here are the 9 most important contests to watch for the movement to end marijuana prohibition:
- California: Proposition 19 would make marijuana legal for all adults – it represents the best chance to date for a single state to overturn the failure of marijuana prohibition and offer an alternative for others to follow. It would make it legal for all adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, as well as grow a 25-square-foot marijuana garden on their property. It would also allow localities to tax and regulate marijuana sales, but it remains unclear how the federal government would react if Prop 19 passes. Website: yeson19.org
- Arizona: Proposition 203, an MPP-backed initiative, would allow patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, and other life-threatening diseases to use marijuana with their doctor’s recommendation. Patients could purchase their medicine from tightly regulated, state-licensed dispensaries or grow their own if they live more than 25 miles from a clinic. Website: stoparrestingpatients.org
- Oregon: Measure 74 would expand the state’s existing medical marijuana law by authorizing regulated, state-licensed nonprofit clinics to provide improved patient access to their medicine. The system would generate an estimated $3 to $20 million a year for the state through taxes and fees. Website: measure74.com
- South Dakota: Measure 13 would allow patients suffering from cancer, AIDS and other serious ailments to use marijuana with a recommendation from their doctor. Patients could grow their own medicine or designate a caregiver to grow it for them. Website: sdcompassion.org
- Vermont: VOTE Peter Shumlin for governor. Shumlin (D), the state Senate pro tempore, played a major role in passing Vermont’s medical marijuana law in 2004, and has been a staunch advocate for marijuana decriminalization. MPP has spent years lobbying for a decriminalization law in Vermont. With Shumlin as governor, Vermont would be well poised to pass decriminalization and expand its medical marijuana law by authorizing licensed dispensaries. Website: www.shumlinforgovernor.com
- California: NOT Steve Cooley for attorney general. Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley (R) is a rabid anti-marijuana zealot who has falsely claimed that all medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal, and that he would continue to arrest adults for marijuana crimes even if voters pass Proposition 19. If he wins the election for state attorney general, he will become the state’s top law enforcement official and could reverse years of progress toward saner marijuana laws in California. Website: notcooley.com
- New Mexico: NOT Susana Martinez for governor. Martinez (R), the leading candidate for governor, has said she will work to overturn New Mexico’s medical marijuana law if elected. New Mexico’s law enjoys wide popular support and is often described as the tightest-regulated law in the country. But Martinez believes federal law should trump a popular local law – despite the Obama administration’s promise of non-intervention in state medical marijuana laws. Website: donttakeawaymymedicine.org
- Connecticut: VOTE Dan Malloy for governor. Malloy (D) has said that he “absolutely†supports decriminalizing marijuana, as well as medical marijuana legislation that would protect seriously ill patients from arrest. Outgoing Gov. Jodi M. Rell vetoed medical marijuana legislation in 2007. If Malloy were elected governor, proponents would be given renewed hope for passing a medical marijuana law in Connecticut. Website: danmalloy.com
- Massachusetts: More than 70 local municipalities in Massachusetts will be voting on non-binding resolutions and public policy questions calling on the state government to pass medical marijuana or end marijuana prohibition entirely. These initiatives are a great opportunity for Massachusetts voters to send a strong message to their state lawmakers, as well as give local organizers a better sense of where things stand for future marijuana initiatives in Massachusetts. Website: masscann.org
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Great study to be released at this time:
Study: Alcohol more dangerous than heroin, cocaine
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39938704/ns/health-addictions/
And on MSNBC also,,,,,great timing.
Isn’t this statement wrong, concerning Prop 19? “It would make it legal for all adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana..”
I believe, and correct me if I’m wrong, you can have your entire years yield in your home (possession) BUT can only leave the premises (travel) with 1 oz or less. Isn’t that truly what the proposition says?
Plus, everyone seems to be trying to fit the 5’x5′ into a “square.” One sqare foot, end to end, would also equal 25 square feet (a good hydro layout). Is this not so?
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Clay,
Ever thought about this fact? With a breath/blood test of 0.08, you’re impaired. What if you blow a 0.079? No impairment? According to “the rule,” you’re safe. I wonder who wrote this rule? Another alkie, of course.
Don’t know how I’m voting in michigan, but bill schitte, wait I think its spelled schuette, isn’t getting my vote. He was pushing per se drugged driving if you remember.
Ah nevermind. Plenty of libertarians on the ballot, enough to do a straight ticket.
The study blows any of the reduce the harm to society propaganda out of the water. We knew it,but now everyone does.
And reported on MSNBC the day before the vote,great article.
I hope it is enough to blunt the last minute antics of Sheriff Baca:
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/10/31/las-sheriff-baca-stirs-fear-against-marijuana-days-before-the-election/
@ezrydn… yes, you can legally keep in your home how ever much you can grow, be it 1 pound or 20 pounds. However, it is only legal for you to carry up to one ounce in public. But honestly, since the smell of weed will no longer be probable cause for any kind of search, it would be pretty safe to carry more than 1 oz.
you can also give your weed to your friends legally… cant sell it though. the 25 square feet thing can be arranged any way you want it. you could even do half inside your home and half outside. you could even do up to 31-5 gallon buckets outside, or in, and it would be totally legal.
Damn this is like wait for Chrismas as a kid…one day left !
lil off-topic, but the study was an update of a previous harm ranking that Professor Nutt had compiled a few years earlier (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/drugs_graph432a.jpg I’m sure we’ve all seen that one). For those that don’t know, Professor Nutt was kicked out of the Advisory Council of Misuse of Drugs (ACMD – the legally required council to advise govt on drug policy) for saying that ecstasy was safer than alcohol.. he set up his own council not bound by policy-toting-politicians and produced a new one.
The new one has a breakdown into how it came to be http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/lancet_chart3a.jpg . It is apparently a lot more robust with better weighting of issues. Now if only we could get our useless Home Office to recognise they are spouting BS…
(full BBC blog http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2010/11/drugs_debate_hots_up.html)
Looking forward to tomorrow for you guys to lead the way as it seems that whenever another country tries to change things they come under pressure from US drug war zealots (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11647189 – “This is a small country and there is the almost constant pressure from the US not to liberalise further,”)
6″ X 50″ row. And if your stalks are bigger than 6″ in diameter,please cal me at BR 549,,,Jr’s seed supply
50′ foot row,bout 10 plants with a 10 to 15 pound full term harvest and more if you are experienced or hire an
experienced grower.
Another good job for growers,hire out to help people eith a brown thumb to get it right.
http://USMJP.com
YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT PETER SHUMLIN. IN THE SPRING OF 2002 HE WORKED AGAINST THE VERMONT MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT. THAT’S WHY VOTERS PUT ME ON THE BALLOT THAT FALL. THIS PAST SPRING, HE TABLED (ORDERED TO LIE) THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES BILL. THAT’S WHY VOTERS PUT ME ON THE BALLOT. VOTE FOR ME, CRIS ERICSON, UNITED STATES MARIJUANA PARTY. VOTE FOR THE REAL THING.
CRIS ERICSON
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ezrydn: “Ever thought about this fact? With a breath/blood test of 0.08, you’re impaired. What if you blow a 0.079? No impairment? According to “the rule,†you’re safe. I wonder who wrote this rule? Another alkie, of course.”
You are confused. At .08 you are per se impaired. That means that all the cop has to prove is that your BAC is .08 or higher. It doesn’t mean you can’t be convicted of driving while impaired at lower BACs, but the cop is going to have to present actual evidence of impairment. It is with in the realm of the possible to get convicted at a BAC of .02. .01 would be practuically impossible because there are a number of things that can make you blow .01 even though you haven’t been into the drinking alcohol. No, you don’t get to stagger away from a DUI if you blow .079.
Actually they don’t even need a BAC test in order to convict. The only reason they give all the field sobriety tests to people who exceed the per se limit is because sometimes the breathalyzer doesn’t calibrate and isn’t valid evidence.
People call it a ceiling but it’s actually a floor. They came up with the per se limits because too many people were demanding jury trials and getting a walk because decades ago DWI wasn’t thought of as a particularly significant event. That, plus there are extreme degenerate addicts that can blow significantly higher and still pass all the field tests. Yes, there are people who can pass the field tests with a BAC of .20.
Let’s pretend that I need emergency surgery. The only surgeon available is also a degenerate alcohol addict. Would I ever want to give this doctor a couple of drinks before he performed my surgery? You’re darn right I would, as a matter of fact I would insist on it if he were such a pathetic alcoholic that the DTs were going to set in if he doesn’t have a few drinks. There are alcoholics that are more impaired with a BAC of zero than of .10. Go google “delirium tremens” if you don’t believe me. Remember in my hypothetical my choices are to let the drunk cut me open or certain death if he doesn’t. Hmm, you know I came up with this hypothetical back in the early 1990s when the Internet was still just a dirty thought in Al Gore’s mind. Nowadays I’ll betcha a laymen could google the procedure and perform the surgery.
It’s canopy size people, not the size of the medium. You may well get 31 5 gallon buckets into a 5×5 space but that much media wouldn’t be required because you can’t let the canopy exceed the limit.
Someday god, will you please make people realize that the words ‘plant’ and ‘joint’ aren’t standardized units of measure? Please? I understand you’re very frustrated after you arranged for Cheech & Chong to give a documentary presentation on the varying sizes of joints in their movie Up in Smoke when they smoked the Maui Wowie x Labrador blend. But the people still haven’t gotten the message. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ozk7fnKilU
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