Marijuana Politics

Synonyms: 
congress
senate
police
obama
rand paul
political
Thu
09
Apr

Lawmaker pushes for legal marijuana in Michigan

Lawmaker pushes for legal marijuana in Michigan

Lawmaker pushes for legal marijuana in Michigan(Photo: Phil Dawson)

Lansing, Mich. (WZZM) - State Representative Jeff Irwin, (D) Ann Arbor, says punishing people for possessing and using marijuana is not working.

He says it's not preventing people who want it from buying the drug.

"Prohibition is ineffective," he says. "It's been a failure."

So Representative Irwin says he is introducing legislation to legalize marijuana.

Not decriminalize marijuana. Legalize recreational marijuana for adults.

"It would be much safer for our communities and much smarter as a policy to legalize and regulate marijuana and create an appropriate legal place for people to buy and sell," he says.

Thu
09
Apr

Medicinal marijuana oil stoppered by lawmakers

INDIANAPOLIS – Brian Bennett thought oil extracted from marijuana plants to treat children with severe epilepsy, like his son, might just be legalized this year.

A proposal sailed through the Indiana House, carried by some conservative Republicans, without a single vote in opposition.

 

But Bennett’s hopes were dashed Tuesday, when a Senate committee stopped the measure in light of opposition from prosecutors who likened it to legalizing medical marijuana.

“This is ‘reefer madness,’ ” said a frustrated Bennett. “We shouldn’t be making decisions based on scare tactics.”

Thu
09
Apr

Ganja or tobacco — Is the State biased?

The Government has moved to make ganja a "ticketable" offence -- like to be fined for exceeding the speed limit -- and to make it legal for medical and religious uses. Consumers were given choice, but this was never an option for tobacco. Still, as we are not good at obeying rules; those who are minded to drink, smoke, or shoot it up will beat the gate. Within a year, people will be doing as they wish and, as market forces kick in, they will cuss the US Feds for not allowing us to send Christmas gifts of ganja to New York relatives.

Thu
09
Apr

Lawmakers warn DOJ to back off medical marijuana prosecutions

With Capitol Hill and the Justice Department locked in a feud over the future of medical marijuana, two leading congressional marijuana reform advocates are warning Justice that it’s violating a new federal law.

In a letter addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Sam Farr (D-Calif.) on Wednesday said the Justice Department’s interpretation of their medical marijuana amendment in last year’s spending bill is “emphatically wrong.”

Thu
09
Apr

PA Law enforcement says controls critical for medical marijuana

Strict regulatory controls must be part of any Pennsylvania medical marijuana law to ensure that it does not compound the problem of recreational marijuana use, advocates for prosecutors and police told state lawmakers Wednesday.

Spokesmen for three law-enforcement groups registered their mutual concern in testimony at a fact-finding hearing before the House Health and Judiciary committees that focused on of the issues of law enforcement, drug treatment and regulatory services.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, speaking for the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, said legislators must ensure that the right people are prescribing, distributing and receiving any medical form of marijuana.

Thu
09
Apr

Kansas conflict: Court ruling sought after Wichita voters OK pot measure

WICHITA, Kan. — A day after Wichita voters approved a ballot measure that would reduce the penalties for small amounts of marijuana, the city asked a court to rule on the legality of the proposed changes, which had already drawn a warning from the state attorney general.

The city filed its petition for a “declaratory judgment” on Wednesday in Sedgwick County District Court in the wake of an election in which 54 percent of voters backed the referendum imposing no more than a $50 fine for first-time possession of a small amount of pot. State law deems it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Thu
09
Apr

GOP medical marijuana bill for Tennessee delayed until next year

The Senate health committee decided to delay action on a GOP-backed medical marijuana bill for Tennessee.

A Republican-backed effort to legalize marijuana for limited medicinal purposes in Tennessee is officially dead for the year.

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee decided to delay action on the proposal from Nashville GOP Sen. Steve Dickerson until 2016.

Chairman Rusty Crowe said there wasn't enough time to fully discuss the pros and cons of the bill. He said he'd create a summer study commission to look at the bill.

Dickerson didn't seem happy with the decision, but said he deferred to Crowe's opinion.

"I believe this is a conservative bill; it's equally based in compassion and science," Dickerson, an anesthesiologist, told the committee.

Thu
09
Apr

Texas: Pot legalization up for debate in House committee

Marijuana advocates head back to the Capitol Wednesday as a House committee prepares to discuss the first round of pot legislation.

Lawmakers will hear testimony on three different proposals seeking to reduce the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and a blunter approach to legalize it outright.

Though the issue has garnered some bipartisan support, the efforts are likely to go up in smoke due to pushback from conservative lawmakers and leadership.

The proposal most supported by pot backers would make possession of one ounce or less a citable offense rather than a criminal one.

Thu
09
Apr

Grand Rapids man gets national attention for essay comparing marijuana laws to prohibition

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - As the tide seems to be turning toward the legalization of marijuana, a 26-year-old Grand Rapids man has written an award-winning treatise on what we should have learned from the dismantling of alcohol prohibition 80 years ago.

Timothy Cuffman, an accountability analyst for National Heritage Academies and graduate of NorthPointe Christian High School, was the winner of the annual essay contest sponsored by the Center for Alcohol Policy, an advocacy group based outside of Washington D.C.

Thu
09
Apr

Medical Marijuana Dispensers Trapped by Conflicting Laws

BLOOMFIELD, N.M. — Charles C. Lynch seemed to be doing everything right when he opened a medical marijuana dispensary in the tidy coastal town of Morro Bay, Calif.

The mayor, the city attorney and leaders of the local Chamber of Commerce all came for the ribbon-cutting in 2006. The conditions for his business license, including a ban on customers younger than 18 and compliance with California’s medical marijuana laws, were posted on the wall.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Marijuana Politics