Amanda Van West, a 24 year old college student from California sent this gem to me. It’s basically a mini-documentary about the marijuana culture in California. It’s very interesting to say the least. Take a look and let her know what you think of it.

From her video page:

In November 2010, Californians will be voting on whether or not to legalize marijuana for recreational use. If passed, California will become the first US state to end marijuana prohibition.

This is an exploration of California’s cannabis culture. It’s the story of the people fighting for it, the people fighting against it, the people selling it, the people making it less taboo, and the people who were around when the whole scene started.

I made this documentary for my final MA International Broadcast Journalism dissertation project at the University of Westminster.

Everything was filmed around northern California from May-June 2010.

Be sure to visit her blog here.

The California branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will release a report that it says reveals how criminalization of marijuana disproportionately harms people of color today.

The release of the report comes as part of the NAACP’s endorsement of the Tax Cannabis Act, a ballot proposition slated for November which would essentially decriminalize marijuana across the state.

According to the NAACP, African Americans are disproportionately arrested for marijuana possession — up to four times as often as whites, even though the latter is statistically more likely to be a user.

“We have empirical proof that the application of the marijuana laws has been unfairly applied to our young people of color,” State NAACP President Alice Huffman wrote in an official statement.

A conviction for even misdemeanor drug possession is a permanent scar on employment applications, in child custody disputes and bars one from eligibility for federal college loan programs.

Under the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, as it’s formally known, it would remain illegal for people under the age of 21 to possess marijuana, akin to underage drinking laws.

The report will be released at a press conference in Sacramento, where the NAACP will be joined by fellow supporters of the initiative including Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization representing current and former law enforcement officials from across the country which advocates for drug policy reform.

Written by NBC

These comments from Sarah Palin last week are continuing to generate discussion:

“If we’re talking about pot, I’m not for the legalization of pot, because I think that would just encourage our young people to think that it was OK to go ahead and use it and I’m not an advocate for that. However, I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts. And if somebody is going to smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody else any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and clean up some of the other problems we have in society that are appropriate for law enforcement to do and not concentrate on such a, relatively speaking, minimal problem that we have in the country.”

Mike Huckabee responded with a bizarre joke about Palin doing cocaine on TV, and Ryan McNeely has a good piece addressing the absurdity of defending marijuana laws while simultaneously asking that they not be enforced. Unfortunately, The Economist departed from its typically superb drug policy coverage with a strange defense of Palin’s remarks:

Basically, while Sarah Palin’s position on this issue, as on many others, is semi-deliberately incoherent, it is in this case a semi-deliberate incoherence that has proven to be effective policy in many countries, and I’m not even sure it’s the wrong stance on the issue.

The full argument is too rambling to quote (see for yourself), but the author’s point is that marijuana isn’t really even legal in the Netherlands, so maybe there’s no need to legalize here either. It might make sense if we didn’t have a massive blood-thirsty drug war army literally occupying our cities. Prohibition is a for-profit industry in America. It sustains itself through a vast campaign of propaganda and intimidation, and I doubt the solution is as simple as asking these guys to please calm down.

The warriors who invade private homes in bulletproof bodysuits and murder small dogs for having the audacity to bark at them are not responsive to pleas for a more measured enforcement model. That the law authorizes their actions is the go-to excuse when their machine guns go off prematurely, and until that changes, neither will anything else.

Nevertheless, the fact that Palin was able to create such a flurry of dialogue with a few casual comments is testament to her potency as an advocate for whatever half-measures she’s willing to stand for. And the fact that FOX News is now employing people who will keep posing these questions to prominent political figures is pretty cool, too.

Click “Read More” for the video. You also can read the article at CBSNews.

Is Cannabis treated unfairly in the United States? Lets check the stats, shall we?

In a followup to our previous post. NORML’s famous “Money Tree” ad is currently running 18 times a day in New York’s Times Square in the Super Screen located below the CBS eye across the street from Ripley’s Believe it or Not. From 9 am to 1 am, the 15-second spot flashes once an hour.

Danny Danko, Steve Bloom, Rick Cusick and Chris Goldstein If you want to see it live, be patient; the ad might not appear at the scheduled time, as a group of marijuana activists discovered during their visit to 42 St. on Friday. High Times’ Danny Danko and Rick Cusick, Philly NORML’s Chris Goldstein and CelebStoner’s Steve Bloom arrived at 4 pm, hoping to catch the 4:07 viewing. However, it took another 41 minutes for the ad to appear.  Video after the jump.“Seeing the NORML ad on the screen was one of the most exciting media moments for marijuana this year,” says Goldstein, who drove up from Philadelphia. “It was wild to see it in rotation with the Army, all the CBS programming and Katie Couric. This shows how important marijuana and NORML are to the culture right now.”

The ad is supposed to screen at the following times: (AM) 12:11. 6:11, 9:10, 10:10, 11:09; (PM) 12:09, 1:08, 2:08, 3:07, 4:07, 5:06, 6:06, 7:29, 8:28, 9:28, 10:27, 11:27. It runs through May.

Source

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

The smoke has cleared, yet a suspicious odor still lingers in the air. Representatives from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation (NORML) are inhaling a sigh of relief. In the end, the marijuana legalization flag is set to fly high above Times Square.

First it was on, then it was off, and now it is back on again. A 15-second digital ad promoting the financial benefits of marijuana legalization is scheduled to debut in New York City’s Times Square next week. Produced and paid for by NORML’s educational arm, the ad evokes the organization’s message that “money can grow on trees.”

“Regulating the adult use of marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol could raise over $30 billion annually in new tax revenue, while saving an additional $15 billion per year in law enforcement costs,” NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. “This tax season, why not ask your elected politicians why the federal government continues to spends billions of tax dollars enforcing this failed and archaic public policy.”

In January, CBS and the NORML Foundation entered into an agreement to air the ‘Money Tree’ ad on the media company’s digital billboard on 42nd Street. That agreement, however, was short lived. Prior to the campaign’s launch on February 1, 2010, CBS abruptly pulled the ad from its schedule. CBS stated that the ad’s content did not comply with the network’s outdoor advertising standards. At that time, it appeared that the NORML Foundation’s ad would never shine brightly in Times Square.

If not for an online petition organized by political advocacy organization Change.org, demanding that CBS reverse its decision, NORML would likely have been smoked out of Times Square. Thanks to the nearly 10,000 people that signed the petition, CBS changed its stance on the advertisement.

To view the 15-second ad that will run in Times Square, click continue reading.

“NORML would publicly like to thank Change.org for taking on this important political and First Amendment issue,” St. Pierre said. “We would also like to thank the thousands of concerned citizens who contacted CBS on NORML’s behalf. Without your participation, this important NORML ad campaign would not have been possible.”

“Finally, NORML would also like to extend its appreciation to the CBS Corporation for responding to the will of its viewers, and acknowledging that marijuana law reform is a topic deserving of such a prominent public forum. Over 20 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana violations since 1965. It is time to end 70-plus years of federal marijuana prohibition with a policy of legalization, taxation, regulation and education.”

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

The NORML Foundation’s ‘Money Tree’ ad will appear eighteen times per day on the CBS Super Screen. It is set to run through May 31, 2010.

Source

Tuesday, thousands of signatures were submitted to South Dakota officials which could bring the issue of legalizing medical marijuana to a public vote in November. The South Dakota Coalition for Compassion turned in more than enough petitions to put the issue on the ballot. They’ve been collecting the petitions for over a year now with a door to door search for signatures as well as other methods.

Patrick Lynch is in support of legalizing medical marijuana and suffers from M.S., which can be treated by medical marijuana. His mother and sister also have M.S. and he’s hoping the issue is on the ballot and passes. “The pros far out weigh the cons on the medical marijuana issue to where if people really truly understood it they would be more receptive of it”

There were around 32,000 signatures collected which is almost twice when compared to what’s needed. The validation will be done by state officials with random sampling and if enough signatures are valid it will be on the November Ballot in South Dakota.

Darcy Jensen works with people dealing with drug addictions. She thinks that South Dakota would end up like other states when it comes to this issue and struggle to control is. She’s also worried about other issues that come with smoking marijuana. “When we have a pill we can take and know exactly how much we’d be getting, why would we get smoking something when how people inhale it how much they put in the joint, what was the quality of it, we can’t measure those things.”

Source

Voters in California will likely decide this November whether or not to legalize marijuana, after legalization activists handed in far more than the necessary number of petition signatures to get the measure onto the ballot.

Organizers of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 filed some 700,000 petition signatures with county clerks around the state. The amount of signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot is about 433,000, reports the San Francisco Chronicle, so the measure is all but certain to be on the ballot in November.

If California voters approve, it will be the most comprehensive reform of marijuana laws ever undertaken in the United States. While some states, such as Oregon, have relatively lax penalties for possession, no state has attempted to regulate and tax the herb before.

The measure’s chances are good: A poll taken last April found that 56 percent of Californians want to see the herb legalized and taxed.

According to the L.A. Times, the measure would make it legal for anyone over 21 to own an ounce or less of pot, and to grow pot for personal use in a space no larger than 25 square feet. It would also give cities the right to license marijuana growers and sellers, and to collect taxes on the crop.

One of the major talking points that the pro-legalization crowd has used has been finances. California’s government is facing a deep, prolonged budget crisis, and legalization proponents have argued that the revenue generated by taxing marijuana would bring an estimated $1.3 billion into state and municipal coffers.

Richard Lee, a medical marijuana entrepreneur from Oakland who is the principal backer of the movement, told the L.A. Times he plans to raise $10 million to $15 million to fight the legalization campaign. And Lee’s opponents are already beginning to line up to oppose the measure.

”We’re going to talk about blood money, about trying to raise taxes on the backs of our youth,” Bishop Ron Allen, head of the International Faith Based Coalition, told the Associated Press.

Another obstacle will be the conflict between state and federal law. Even if California passes the measure, marijuana will still be illegal under federal statutes. In an editorial this month, the L.A. Times argued:

Cannabis may be the nation’s largest cash crop, but marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, deemed by the federal government to have a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical value and illegal to use under all circumstances. Perhaps Californians have been emboldened by their pioneering role in legalizing medicinal marijuana, but in truth, the conflict between state and federal law has had serious consequences for users and distributors caught in the federal web.

But, in a rebuttal, Tamar Todd argued that “there is nothing in the US Constitution that requires states to criminalize anything. We could scrap our entire penal code tomorrow if we wanted to. States get to decide state law, not Washington.”

And Jacob Sullum at Reason.com argues that, while the feds may still want to enforce federal marijuana laws in California, they won’t have the resources to prosecute cases that were previously handled by state authorities.

via The Raw Story

A Hawaii lawmaker plans to introduce legislation this week that would decriminalize adult possession of marijuana, and he’s pointing directly at the Obama administration to justify his decision, according to a published report.

But State Sen. J. Kalani English, a Democrat, isn’t stopping there. A second bill slated for introduction this week would also legalize and levy a tax on medical marijuana dispensaries, which are currently prohibited even though marijuana for medicinal use is not.

“My point is we already legalized medical marijuana, so we should allow the counties to (regulate) the dispensaries . . .” he told The Honolulu Advertiser. “(President Barack) Obama directed the Department of Justice to honor states’ rights, as it should be. It’s a complete reversal of the previous doctrine that the federal trumps the states.”

The paper noted that Hawaii is facing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall for fiscal year 2011. While English did not predict how much revenue would be obtained by taxing medical marijuana, he told the Advertiser that it would be “significant.”

In February, 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that it would be the Obama administration’s policy to not arrest medical marijuana patients, allowing states to determine how best to handle the issue.

The decision marks a shift from the Bush Administration, which was more draconian in its approach to hunting those who sought to dispense marijuana for medical purposes.

Over two dozen states are currently weighing marijuana law reforms ranging from decriminalization to outright legalization.

In California, which will likely vote on legalization in November, 2010, lawmakers predict marijuana taxes would raise at least $1.5 billion in their first year.

However, even if California does legalize marijuana, the plant is still prohibited on the federal level. President Obama has said that he opposes legalization.

via Raw Story

Stoners around the world should roll one up in celebration today.

California state lawmakers have just passed the “first formal consideration of marijuana legalization in American history.” Assemblymember Tom Ammanio’s Assembly Bill 390 – the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act – was heard and voted on in the Committee for Public Safety. The bill passed 4-3, and will next be heard by the Committee for Public Health.

But the vote was only a minor victory for the pro-legalization lobby. (AB 390 may very well die in the health committee.) The real test will come in November, when voters will consider the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, which, in a nutshell, will legalize pot for personal and agricultural use. (Recent polls show about 56 percent support the bill.)

It’s hard to argue that progress isn’t being made for the movement. As the old “Reefer Madness” stereotypes die away, several states are seriously considering marijuana legalization. Check out the headlines from the last few days: “Stiletto Stoners,” “It’s High Time for Debate,” and “Pot Town, USA.”

Clearly, marijuana prohibition has been a failure. Every U.S. citizen can get his or her hands on a baggie of marijuana if they want to, usually within 24 hours. The plant itself can be grown outside or inside by novices – because, frankly, it grows like a weed. A casual smoker is no different than a fan of Budweiser or Coors.

The pro-pot movement looks to California as the first battleground state, where medical marijuana is already generating millions of dollars a year in taxes. As Assemblymember Ammanio’s bill works its way through the red tape, more news is sure to come out about marijuana legalization. Stay informed!

SEE RESULTS OF COMMITTEE VOTE HERE

In a move proponents are billing the “first formal consideration of marijuana legalization in American history,” the public safety committee of the state assembly will today vote on Tom Ammiano’s ganja bill.

The San Francisco assemblyman last year earned his place in the pot pantheon by authoring “AB 390,” a bill that proposed for the regulation and taxation of marijuana in a manner similar to what is already the case with alcohol. This, he claimed, would reap the state more than $1 billion a year.

At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, AB 390 will come up for a yea or nay committee vote. Ammiano himself is chairman of the public safety committee — and, purportedly, his colleagues like him. The assemblyman’s staff and allies predict the bill will receive the four votes needed to pass.

“We believe we have the votes to move it out of committee,” said Quintin Mecke, Ammiano’s spokesman. “Sacramento being what it is, you never quite know, but we’re confident.”

And that would ostensibly be a big deal — and the meaning behind the phrase “formal consideration.” While a number of governmental bodies have passed purely symbolic measures regarding pot legalization, today’s is a vote, on the state level, by the body that could actually legalize pot. In other words, this is what all of San Francisco’s useless Board of Supervisors resolutions regarding national and foreign policy wish they could be.

Democrats hold five of the seven seats in the public safety committee. Should AB 390 pass today, it will next come before the health committee, perhaps as early as this week. And that vote is no slam dunk.

Democrats hold 13 of the committee’s 19 seats — and Ammiano sits on this committee too, which is run by Assemblyman Dave Jones, darling of San Francisco progressives. But “more of these Democrats could be considered more moderate,” says Aaron Smith, the California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project. “And there’s more folks to convince.”

A “no” vote in either committee will kill Ammiano’s bill. If it passes through both, however, it’ll land on the Assembly floor — perhaps before the end of the month.

The chances of that happening? Long enough that no one would actually say so. But, when asked if he believes in moral victories, Smith emphatically answered in the positve. “If we get out out of one committee, it’ll be a huge milestone,” he said. “We’ll be able to build upon this that much more easily in the future.”

via SF Weekly