Marijuana '13: Don't screw this up WA and CO.

[greenforest32]

Sweet. How well do you think the two initiatives will do in the general election?

If they both make the ballot, I think the measure that focuses on removing the penalties (IP-24) will do better than the one that proposes setting up a government controlled distribution system (Cannabis tax act) similar to our alcohol system which itself is not very popular (pretty sure voters would privatize the alcohol system like Washington recently did if there was an initiative that did this while being revenue neutral).

I'm thinking IP-24 could potentially pass in the low to mid 50s with the Cannabis Tax Act probably ranging around 35-45%.

[Jbrase]

Also, I went ahead and made this, map showing the ass kicking of Holton

[For Oklahoma]

Also, I went ahead and made this, map showing the ass kicking of Holton

LOL

[Jbrase]

I am not sure if Gov. Malloy has signed the CT bill yet into law, but assuming he does/has we can put CT up on the big board.

30% - Decriminalized
40% - Medicinal Cannabis allowed
70% - All of the Above

[greenforest32]

Looking likely they'll both make the ballot

Yup

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2012/05/two_pro-marijuana_initiatives.html

May 18, 2012
Two pro-marijuana initiatives are moving closer to qualifying for the November ballot in Oregon. Both petition drives say they have collected more than the minimum signatures needed to get on the ballot. However, they will both continue petitioning until the July 6 deadline to ensure they have enough valid signatures from registered voters.

IP-24:

Robert Wolfe, the chief sponsor of the measure, said that he turned in a new batch of signatures to the state on Friday and has now collected about 120,000 signatures.  To qualify, his measure needs 116,284 valid signatures by July 6.

OCTA:

A separate measure would allow the commercial cultivation and sale of marijuana.  Supporters of that measure have now submitted nearly 99,000 signatures, passing the 87,213 needed for a statutory measure.

I am not sure if Gov. Malloy has signed the CT bill yet into law, but assuming he does/has we can put CT up on the big board.

30% - Decriminalized
40% - Medicinal Cannabis allowed
70% - All of the Above

Kind of surprised Maryland and Illinois haven't done anything.

[The Professor]

Greenforest, are you a pothead?

[greenforest32]

Greenforest, are you a pothead?

To be honest I've never actually tried it.

I do like to see government policy move in the right direction though

[Jbrase]

To be honest I've never actually tried it.
I do like to see government policy move in the right direction though

^^^^^^ Ditto

[President Marokai]

To be honest I've never actually tried it.
I do like to see government policy move in the right direction though

^^^^^^ Ditto

I'm happy to see there are others that are just plainly interested in seeing good policy and that's that.

[Jbrase]

I'm happy to see there are others that are just plainly interested in seeing good policy and that's that.

I started to care more about the issue after joining the local NORML chapter

[Jbrase]

Reyes lost his primary to O'Rourke in TX-16

Pro-legalization Congresscritter +1

[greenforest32]

Pretty active year. Rhode Island likely to become the 15th state to decriminalize possession:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2012/06/08/ri_pot_decriminalization_bill_on_govs_desk/

June 8, 2012
Legislation in Rhode Island that would roll back criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana is awaiting action by Gov. Lincoln Chafee (CHAY'-fee).

A final, formal vote by the state Senate Thursday night forwarded the bill to the governor's desk. Chafee, an independent, says he is inclined to sign the bill into law.

Fourteen states have decriminalized possession of limited amounts of marijuana.

[greenforest32]

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/06/13/498675/seven-more-states-may-legalize-medical-marijuana-in-2012/

Currently, 16 17 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. In the second half of 2012, seven more states will decide, either in the state legislature or via ballot initiatives, whether they will join them in legalizing the use of marijuana, in whole or in part.

Recent polling shows that 3/4 of Americans support the right to use state-sanctioned medical marijuana. Support for full marijuana legalization is at an all-time high of 50%.

1. Illinois
2. Massachussetts
3. Missouri
4. New York
5. New Hampshire
6. Ohio
7. Pennsylvania

I don't see the Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Hampshire legislatures passing the bill/getting enough votes to override a veto. The Ohio and Massachusetts ballot measures are probably the best bet. Haven't heard much news about the Illinois legislative bill recently. Not sure how that's going to play out.

[greenforest32]

Pretty active year. Rhode Island likely to become the 15th state to decriminalize possession:

Yup, it's official: http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/06/ri-gov-chafee-s-6.html

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island is joining the list of states that are decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana, after Governor Chafee signed the measure into law Wednesday.

The law, which takes effect April 1, 2013, says possessing an ounce or less will become a civil violation with a $150 fine, akin to a ticket. It also states that three such violations within 18 months would be a misdemeanor with larger fines and/or prison.

New York still looking doubtful: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-usa-newyorkmarijuanal1e8hdkok-20120613,0,5467172.story

June 13 (Reuters) - The New York State Assembly, in a move that was largely symbolic, on Wednesday approved legislation that would make New York the second-largest state to legalize medical marijuana. The 90-50 vote marked the third time the Democrat-dominated Assembly approved such legislation, which would allow patients registered with the state to possess up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana or grow as many as 12 plants.

The Republican-led Senate, however, has never allowed the bill to come up for a vote, largely because the proposal contradicts federal law. It is unlikely to allow a vote on the bill this session.

In April Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, told reporters that he is opposed to legalizing medical marijuana but that he is studying the issue.

[Purch]

I've never done weed. Personally I can't stand it and I can't stand the smell (Along with nicotine). I don't hang around potheads and I get annoyed with one of my best friends whenever she occasionally does it.  However regardless of all that I realize the war on drugs is yet another thing we invest billions of dollars in and get few results, therefor I approve of the decriminalization along with strict rules similar to the rules we put on cigarettes about public places/parks because if someone's smoking in a public area and I have a child present I'd be enraged.

[greenforest32]

So much for that: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2012/jun/19/ny_gop_kills_marijuana_decrimina

New York decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana in 1977, but New York City police continue to arrest 50,000 people a year for pot possession after stopping-and-frisking them, then tricking them into emptying their pockets and revealing their baggies of weed, triggering the misdemeanor offense of public possession of marijuana.

In a bid to end that practice, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and the Democratically-controlled Assembly moved to reform the decriminalization law by removing the public possession provision with Assembly Bill 10581, but Monday night, Republicans and their Conservative Party allies in the Senate effectively killed it.

The Senate Republicans caved under pressure from Conservative leader Mike Long, who threatened to not allow any Republicans who supported the bill to appear on the Conservative Party line.

The Washington legalization initiative was polled again too. Polls so far:

The Elway Research (July 2011)[1] - 54% in favor, 43% opposed, 3% undecided
The Elway Research (January 2012)[1] - 48% in favor, 45% opposed, 7% undecided
Public Policy Polling (February 2012)[2] - 47% yes, 39% no, 15% not sure
Public Policy Polling (June 2012)[3] - 50% yes, 37% no, 12% not sure

[1] http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Washington_Marijuana_Legalization_and_Regulation,_Initiative_502_%282012%29#Polls
[2] http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_WA_222.pdf
[3] http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_WA_619.pdf

[Former Moderate]

It seems absolutely ridiculous that a relatively harmless plant that, along with alcohol, suppressed anxiety and helped allow society to happen is so terribly villified by the masses. The masses who, at the same time, are sucking down prozac like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway. Greetings from California.

[Jbrase]

It seems absolutely ridiculous that a relatively harmless plant that, along with alcohol, suppressed anxiety and helped allow society to happen is so terribly villified by the masses. The masses who, at the same time, are sucking down prozac like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway. Greetings from California.

Preach it brother Moderate!

[greenforest32]

Yesterday was the signature deadline for Oregon. It'll be a week or two before we know what measures qualified but it looks like IP-24 might not make the ballot after all because the SoS rejected a fairly high percentage of the signatures they turned in earlier. The Cannabis Tax Act has a better chance of making the ballot now I think.

http://news.opb.org/article/q-and-a-rundown-ballot-initiative-campaigns-turned-today/

BH: Anything else on the ballot we should know about?

Also, petitions gathered for two marijuana initiatives. One is a constitutional amendment aiming to legalize marijuana use (IP-24). The Secretary of State 's office disqualified a large number of its signatures. Even its supporters said today they don't expect it'll make it. The second is still in the running. Paul Stanford is Chief Petitioner for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act

Also the NH legislature wasn't able to override the Governor's veto of the medical marijuana bill: http://blog.norml.org/2012/06/27/new-hampshire-senate-fails-to-override-governors-medical-marijuana-veto/

[Jbrase]

NH was a let down.

[greenforest32]

The New Jersey house passed a decriminalization measure and it's heading to the senate but Christie has vowed to veto: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/new-jersey-assembly-appro_n_1626147.html

Garden State pot smokers have a reason to rejoice, at least temporarily: New Jersey legislators voted on Monday to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Governor Chris Christie (R), however, has vowed to veto the legislation.

The New Jersey Assembly voted 44-30 to approve a measure (A1465) that would make possession of 15 grams of marijuana or less a minor civil offense similar to a parking ticket. Fines would range from $150 to $500, with mandatory drug education classes for repeat offenders. The current fine for marijuana possession is $1,000 and violators face up to six months in jail.

I don't think they'll be able to override the veto unfortunately.

Also, the Michigan legalization campaign ends without enough signatures: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/michigan-marijuana-legalization-amendment-campaign_n_1662449.html

The activists behind a drive to legalize marijuana in Michigan have ended their campaign to put the issue on the statewide ballot in November, but they're pledging to renew their efforts in 2014.

The Committee for a Safer Michigan, the Detroit-based group sponsoring the effort, reached their signature collecting deadline Monday. Charmie Gholson, a spokeswoman for the group, estimated they only had about 50,000 of the 322,609 signatures needed put the issue before voters in the fall. A final count is still being conducted by the campaign.

[greenforest32]

I don't see the Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Hampshire legislatures passing the bill/getting enough votes to override a veto. The Ohio and Massachusetts ballot measures are probably the best bet. Haven't heard much news about the Illinois legislative bill recently. Not sure how that's going to play out.

1. The Ohio medical marijuana measure didn't make the ballot: http://www.omca2012.org/home/june-announcement

2. The Massachusetts medical marijuana measure did: http://blog.norml.org/2012/07/10/massachusetts-medical-marijuana-initiative-approved-to-go-before-voters-in-november/

3. One of the Oregon legalization initiatives (Cannabis Tax Act) made the ballot while the other (IP-24) did not though they are suing over the methods used to disqualify many of the signatures[a]: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/07/marijuana_legalization_measure.html

Marijuana legalization measure qualifies for Oregon ballot
July 13, 2012
It’s official: Oregonians will vote this November on whether to legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana in the state.

The secretary of state’s office late Friday afternoon announced that the measure –known as the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act – received 88,887 valid signatures, just over the 87,213 needed to qualify for the general election ballot.

Oregon now becomes the third state, following Washington and Colorado, to place measures on the ballot this year to legalize marijuana. A separate initiative, to give adult Oregonians the constitutional right to possess marijuana, failed to gain enough valid signatures, according to election officials. But the chief petitioner this week filed a lawsuit demanding it be placed on the ballot.

[a] http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2012/07/marijuana_petitioner_files_law.html

[shua]

In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Christie called the war on drugs “well intentioned” but “a failure.” He just signed a law to mandate treatment rather than jail time for nonviolent drug offenders. The Democratic rising star in New Jersey, Newark mayor Cory Booker, recently condemned the drug war in strikingly similar terms as “big overgrown government at its worst.” In Jersey, the drug war is getting it from both barrels and both parties.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/310104/drug-war-recedes-rich-lowry

[greenforest32]

Unless the Nebraska legalization measure makes it (which seems unlikely), it looks like it's just going to be Washington, Oregon, and Colorado as the Montana legalization campaign ends without enough signatures: http://helenair.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/marijuana-legalization-anti-abortion-personhood-measures-fail-to-make-ballot/article_1cabe85c-d2f1-11e1-a312-001a4bcf887a.html

Constitutional Initiative 110 would have amended the state constitution to decriminalize the sale, use and possession of marijuana by adults.

“We didn’t make it,” said Barb Trego of East Helena, CI-110’s sponsor. “We just ran out of time. We just got going too late.”

Trego said the CI-110 backers had to change the proposal’s language at least three times because of objections by state officials. That delayed their signature-gathering efforts.

“We’re not giving up,” she said. “When we do it the next time, we’ll be more prepared. We already have the language.”

As of Friday afternoon, McCulloch’s office said CI-110 backers had collected 17,878 signatures of the 48,674 needed to qualify and had gathered the signatures of 10 percent of the voters in only five of the 40 required House districts out of the 100 total districts.

In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Christie called the war on drugs “well intentioned” but “a failure.” He just signed a law to mandate treatment rather than jail time for nonviolent drug offenders. The Democratic rising star in New Jersey, Newark mayor Cory Booker, recently condemned the drug war in strikingly similar terms as “big overgrown government at its worst.” In Jersey, the drug war is getting it from both barrels and both parties.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/310104/drug-war-recedes-rich-lowry

A bit rich after saying he'll veto a simple decriminalization bill but I guess it's a move in the right direction.

[5280/East California]

Once we get enough states on the ballot and majority of them pass, that will send a message to the Federal govt. that it's time to fully legalize.