Archive for the ‘Information’ Category
California voters back pot legalization, but support is shaky
June 4th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Survey finds 49% support the ballot measure but a third of those only “somewhat” support it. Of the 41% who oppose it, a vast majority believe it will worsen social problems. One in 10 are undecided.
LOS ANGELES TIMES/USC POLL
May 31, 2010|By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
California voters, by a modest margin, think they should be allowed to grow and consume marijuana, according to a new poll that also found more than 1 in 3 voters had tried pot and more than 1 in 10 had lit up in the past year.
The Los Angeles Times/USC poll found that voters back the marijuana legalization measure on the November ballot, 49% to 41%, with 10% uncertain about it. But support for the initiative is unstable, with one-third of the supporters saying they favor it only “somewhat.”
Huge, Legal Cannabis Farm Study Surprises Industry, Officials
May 28th, 2010
Dakta SiFFiN
The groundbreaking study showing how the City of Oakland could make $2 million per year licensing a medical cannabis growing warehouse caught many locals by surprise this week. Even though city officials and the cannabis industry are looking toward licensing large-scale grows allowed under state law SB 420, the hard numbers appear to be the first of their kind. Economist Joanne Brion of Brion and Associates, who did the six-month, $16,000 report said she was surprised at how potent an economic force cannabis is.
“My gut instinct said that this would be a great revenue and job generator for the city,” she said. “But after running the numbers, “I went, ‘Wow, that’s really a job generator.’” Read the rest of this entry »
Drug war has failed on every front
May 22nd, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
The US is thinking about dealing with drug abuse as a medical issue, says Martha Mendoza
fter 40 years, the United States’ war on drugs has cost US$1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.
Even US drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn’t worked.
“In the grand scheme, it has not been successful,” Kerlikowske said. “Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified.”
Prohibitionist gets taken to School
May 21st, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
It is Rather infuriating to see the illogical prohibitionist argument being put on the table, but these are the kind of people who are making the world a more dangerous place. Take note of all the studies that are sighted in this segment by NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, who proved using figures and studies that many of the usual arguments against prohibition are being generated without any knowledge of the subject.
I hope those of you who watch this video aren’t as prone to raging as I am, I had to restrain myself from putting a hole in my computer screen after listening to Brian Darling lay down the gateway theory, and run the argument around in circles without actually stating or sighting any facts.
Remember that tomorrow is the rally in Auckland City and in many other cities around the world for Marc Emery, and the Lime Raids. Come down and show your support, I will be there along with Dakta Green, Mary Jane the Cannabus, and many other legalisation supporters. Checkout the facebook event for more details.
J Day Wellington NZ May 1st 2010
May 17th, 2010
Dakta Green
A small clip from early in the day at J Day Wellington NZ before we marched on Parliament.
Cannabis-on-campus rule to stay
May 13th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
The Otago University Students Association has failed to overturn a rule allowing students to smoke marijuana on the campus.
In 2006 the Association passed a motion declared the grounds a cannabis prohibition-free zone.
Association president Harriet Geoghegan today attempted to rescind that, in favour of stating the Association does not condone any actions the breach New Zealand law.
The motion was voted down, following lengthy discussion at the Student’s General Meeting.
- NEWSTALK ZB
Brian Vicente on law enforcement’s medical marijuana “desperation”
May 11th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
An attempt to kill HB 1284, the medical marijuana regulatory bill, fell short yesterday — and that’s fine by Sensible Colorado’s Brian Vicente, a prominent MMJ advocate.
“I think we’re seeing desperation on the side of law enforcement,” he says, “and I also think they can’t see the forest for the trees. They’re so sued to being in the prohibitionist mindset that they can’t possibly fathom regulating marijuana.”
According to Vicente, who spent Monday at the Capitol, “you had a coalition of law enforcement bringing a resolution for a referendum that would have explicitly destroyed dispensaries. It would have said they were illegal under state law and would have heaped all kinds of really onerous requirements on caregivers that aren’t currently in the constitution.
“They wanted to put it before the voters in November, which would have been a waste of time, because I think the voters would have soundly rejected it. But it was a very clear attempt by them to destroy the safe-access model.”
Read the rest of this article here
Source http://blogs.westword.com/
Richard M. Evans: The president’s pot problem
May 10th, 2010
Dakta Green
01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 22, 2010
By RICHARD M. EVANS
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.
Now that an initiative to legalize marijuana is officially on the California ballot this November, President Obama should brace for a strong jolt from the west.
If the measure passes (the latest poll puts support at 56 percent), no longer will it be a crime under state law for an adult to cultivate, possess or transport a personal supply of pot. Moreover, cities and counties will be authorized to regulate and tax commercial production, distribution and sale of marijuana, subject to restrictions and protections for minors and public safety. Revenue raised by marijuana sales would go to local governments, not Sacramento. Initiatives are also in the works in Washington and Oregon.
The president’s dilemma, in confronting state repeal of prohibition, lies in that marijuana will remain prohibited under federal law. It’s not the first time something like this has happened.
In 1923, during the prohibition whose era now gets a capital P, New York repealed its alcohol-prohibition laws, shifting the burden and expense of enforcement onto federal authorities. Not only did the state gain significant savings in law- enforcement costs, but perhaps as a consequence, for the remaining 10 years of Prohibition New York City escaped the level of crime and violence that plagued some other large cities, such as Chicago and Detroit. It also explains why, in movies of the era, police are often called the “Feds.”
If California voters see marijuana prohibition as unsustainable and vote accordingly, howls will arise, most audibly from politicized public employees who see their jobs at risk. There will be the usual bleating about “sending the wrong message” to children, as if criminal-justice policy should be based on how it might be misconstrued by the immature. Moralists will sputter. Congress will bluster. It will be a splendid kerfuffle. Read the rest of this entry »
“It’s a weed damnit!”
April 29th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
By Jeff Hampton
To view the video article, click here
Pro-cannabis campaigners are planning protests this weekend, following police drug raids yesterday.
They say garden shop workers have been charged with selling bottles of common nutrients and plant trays under the guise of drug offences.
The activists received plenty of support as they set up outside a Switched on Gardener franchise that was raided yesterday, part of a police crackdown on indoor grow shops.
Nationwide 250 people were arrested, many were charged with cultivation and possession of cannabis.
A 64-year-old is charged with selling a general plant nutrient, others for selling magazines and DVDs showing how to grow cannabis. Read the rest of this entry »
Marijuana: No More Possession Prosecutions in Seattle, New City Attorney Says
April 29th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Seattle’s new city attorney has better things to do than prosecute pot smokers, he said January 14. City Attorney Pete Holmes announced he was dismissing all marijuana possession cases, starting with those filed by his predecessor, Tom Carr, whom Holmes defeated in November. He said he dismissed two cases his first day on the job, and several others are about to be dismissed.
“We’re not going to prosecute marijuana possession cases anymore,” said Holmes. “I meant it when I said it” during the campaign.
Holmes’ criminal division chief, Craig Sims, added that he is reviewing an additional 50 cases. Barring “out of the ordinary” circumstances, Sims said, the prosecutor’s office does not intend to file charges for marijuana possession.
Read the rest of the article at stopthedrugwar.org