Campaigners for cannabis law reform are working to start a conversation they hope will get politicians to act.

At a weekend screening of documentary Druglawed at the Free House, film director Arik Reiss was joined by Nelson's Rose Renton, who had campaigned for her son to be treated with a cannabinoid oil while in intensive care, and Abe Gray who runs a cannabis museum in Dunedin, and campaigns for legalisation.

Renton's son Alex died in Wellington Hospital on July 1, he had suffered seizures and it was not known what caused them. She has since dedicated herself to cannabis law reform for both medical and recreational use. 

During her factually troubled debate performance last week, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina accidentally made at least one somewhat accurate remark: "We are misleading young people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having beer. It's not."

Fiorina is right — just not in the way she meant. She was arguing that pot is more dangerous than alcohol. But the evidence shows the opposite is true — marijuana is, in fact, safer than alcohol.

TUCSON – Supporters and opponents of marijuana legalization believe Arizona voters will decide the issue in November 2016.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Arizona announced it has gathered 75,000 signatures for a ballot initiative. It needs about 150,000. The campaign wants to gather 230,000 in anticipation of invalid signatures.

Seth Leibsohn is the chairman of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, which opposes legalization.

“They have paid almost a million dollars to a professional firm to collect signatures.” He said. “You could collect signatures for anything at that price. So I've never doubted that they could get on the ballot.”

The United for Care campaign came very close to legalizing medical marijuana in Florida during the 2014 Election. The initiative received roughly 58% of the vote (Florida requires 60% of the vote in order for the initiative to pass). The campaign took the loss in stride, regrouped, and has been working towards a 2016 effort. The campaign is on a roll right now, having gathered over half a million signatures already. Per The Joint Blog:

Communities across the state have been debating whether or not to allow growers of medical marijuana into their communities, and the discussions have been more or less enlightened, depending on where you live.

Kent and Washington counties support it, and Baltimore County has passed zoning laws for growing, processing and distributing. Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh — as an example of one of the less enlightened — wants to ban it, even though the first specialty clinic with three consultants and three physicians opened in Annapolis in June, and by August had seen more than 100 prospective patients.

More than prior elections, pot is becoming a prime time topic in the 2016 presidential race

Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former New York Gov. George Pataki, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, businessman Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie take the stage during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Simi Valley, Calif. (Chris Carlson, Associated Press)

“I very much hope that I am the only person on this stage who can say this, but I know there are millions of Americans who will say the same thing. My husband Frank and I buried a child to drug addiction. We must invest more in the treatment of drugs.

“We are misleading young people when we tell them marijuana is just like having beer. It’s not. And the marijuana they’re smoking today is not the same marijuana that Jeb Bush smoked 40 years ago. We need to tell young people the truth. Drug addiction is an epidemic and it is taking too many of our young people. I know this sadly from personal experience.”

–Carly Fiorina, Republican Presidential Candidate, at the 9/16/2015 GOP Debate

ResponsibleOhio disagrees with Zaino’s reading of the proposed amendment. “It’s clear that our opponents are trying to come up with any reason they can, regardless of legitimacy, to justify their anti-marijuana reform agenda,” said Faith Oltman, a spokeswoman for ResponsibleOhio.

PUBLISHED: September 21, 2015 9:00 amLAST UPDATED: September 21, 2015 11:16 am

A man from Stafford who was caught growing cannabis in two rooms at his house has been spared an immediate jail term.

Police checked the home of Brett Adams after getting reports of a strong smell of cannabis in the area, Stafford Crown Court heard.

As soon as he opened the door and was asked about any drugs, Adams took the officers upstairs and showed them his growing rooms.

Mr Paul Farrow, prosecuting, said there were 12 plants in each room under a full scale hydroponic cultivation system, each of the plants with its own light.

Bud tenders Ieasha Semler, 23, left, and Anna Marie Alcantara, 22, roll marijuana cigarettes at the Chalice Farms dispensary in Dundee, Ore. Oregon is exploring a new path in regulation and punishment as its legal recreational market takes shape. By KIRK JOHNSON September 20, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. — About 15 years ago, when she was in her 20s, Erika Walton handed a bong to someone who turned out be a police officer, and was cited for marijuana possession. She paid the fine, she said, but the violation lingered on, haunting her record.