Law The Cannabis Chronicles - Misc Cannabis News

[momofthegoons]

Jay Leno drives a car made out of cannabis

On Wednesday's episode of "Jay Leno's Garage," retired Dell executive Bruce Dietzen sells the host on his unconventional 2017 Renew, a car that was designed with the environment in mind. It was "carbon neutral" to produce and made from woven cannabis hemp.

Manufacturing the average car emits about ten tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. "That's before it even hits the road," notes Leno, where it will release another six tons a year.

It's also ten times stronger than steel. Dietzen demonstrates by banging repeatedly on the hemp-based hood. Leno gives it a go, too, using an impressive amount of force for someone who dislocated his shoulder in the last episode.

When the two decide to hop in the car for a test drive, Leno jokes, "Maybe we'll hit a couple of cars and see what happens. Then we'll really see how strong it is."

But, at least in front of the cameras, everything runs smoothly.


Dietzen can't take all the credit for the idea. In fact, Henry Ford manufactured the original hemp car all the way back in 1941. The father of the Model T was an advocate for both producing and fueling cars entirely with plant material.

Dietzen does not specify what the Renew runs on in the episode, but he has made strides to produce carbon-negative substances in the past. In 2016, the Miami Herald reported that he had been collaborating with the Colorado-based tech company Cool Planet to create a more sustainable type of fuel.

CNBC | Getty Images
Jay Leno with Bruce Dietzen's 2017 Renew on CNBC's "Jay Leno's Garage"
Though in many ways more practical and eco-conscious than the average car, the Renew's hemp structure has some downsides. For one, it does not always attract respect. "It's kind of a double edged sword" says Leno. "The marijuana connection garners the interest, but then people don't take you seriously."

Dietzen nods his head in agreement and points out that, contrary to popular opinion, not all forms of cannabis are psychoactive. "You could smoke all the hemp you could want," he tells Leno, "and you won't get high."

And despite what many tend to assume, Dietzen confirms he doesn't smoke the stuff at all. "Believe it or not," jokes Leno, "Bruce was not high when he invested $200,000 to build this prototype."

"No one said investing in the future is going to be cheap," he adds.

The standard model only costs $40,000, though. So maybe the future is in your price range.

There are some additional videos in the article that I couldn't embed. If you are interested, just hit the link in the title.

 

[Baron23]

Big Week For Marijuana In Congress

As a Justice Department task force finalizes recommendations on possible marijuana enforcement policy changes this week, Congress will consider several important cannabis amendments on issues ranging from federal interference with state laws to water rights for cultivators to medical marijuana access for military veterans.

All of the proposals are amendments to bills concerning spending by federal departments and agencies.

Advocates haven’t had luck scheduling hearings or votes on standalone bills in recent years because those processes are tightly controlled by Congressional leadership, which remains largely opposed to cannabis reforms. As a result, recent marijuana votes in Congress have all been on amendments to appropriations legislation, the process for which is typically more open to revision by rank-and-file members.

Here’s what to expect this week:

VETERANS

First, the House will consider amendments that seek to allow military veterans to receive medical cannabis recommendations through U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) doctors.

A measure to do so was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month by a bipartisan vote of 24 to 7.

Last year, a similar amendment passed the House with a 233 to 189 margin, and a complementary provision also cleared the Senate panel by a vote of 20 to 10 before being passed by the full body. But the provisions were later stripped out by the conference committee that merged both chambers’ separate legislation into a final V.A. appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2017.

Advocates hope that the bigger margin of support in the Senate committee this year, combined with what they believe will be a similar increase on the House side, will be enough to get the language enacted into law this time.

But there’s a catch: In order to even receive a vote on the House floor, the amendment must first be cleared by the House Rules Committee, and that’s not something that can be taken for granted.

Whereas spending bills have in years past been brought to the floor under rules that allow votes on almost any germane amendment, House Republicans last year began locking down the process after controversy surrounding riders concerning gun policy and the right of transgender people to access public bathrooms threatened the passage of some bills.

For parliamentary reasons, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and a bipartisan list of 17 cosponsors are actually filing two veterans medical cannabis amendments on Monday. One is identical to the version that the Senate committee approved this month. But Blumenauer’s office was told that it might be found out of order under House rules because it creates additional duties for federal officials, so a second version that is identical to the rider as passed by the full House last year was also filed.

The Rules Committee meets on Monday and Tuesday to determine which amendments will be allowed on the floor for votes. It is expected that the overall bill, which concerns funding for several other federal departments in addition to V.A., will be considered by the House on Wednesday or Thursday.

PROTECTING STATE LAWS

Under an appropriations rider that is current federal law, at least through September 30 when the fiscal year ends, the U.S. Department of Justice cannot spend money to interfere with state medical cannabis laws. The provision has been enacted in each annual budget since late 2014, and is expected to be voted on again by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday when it considers legislation to fund the Justice Department for Fiscal Year 2018.

The panel approved the amendment with a bipartisan vote of 21 to 8 last year, and the measure has also previously been passed by the full House, most recently by a 242 to 186 vote in 2015.

It is not publicly known which senators might introduce the amendment this year. Previous Senate versions were sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who is now retired.

It is also possible, but considered less likely, that the Senate panel will consider a broader amendment this week that would protect all state marijuana laws — including those allowing recreational use — from Justice Department interference.

The House narrowly defeated a proposal along those lines in 2015, falling just nine flipped votes short of passage. Since then, the number of states with legalization has doubled and several Congressional prohibitionists have retired and been replaced with supporters of states’ rights to set their own marijuana laws, so advocates believe they have enough support to pass the measure in the House this year if given then opportunity for floor consideration.

The House version of the Justice Department spending legislation has already cleared that chamber’s Appropriations Committee, but it is unknown when the bill will reach the floor or if marijuana amendments will be allowed by the Rules Committee.

WATER RIGHTS

Blumenauer, along with Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), filed an amendment before the House Rules Committee to protect water rights for state-legal marijuana and hemp growers.

Under a current policy from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, regulators who discover that federally-controlled water is being used for cannabis cultivation must report it to their supervisors who are then required to forward that information to the Department of Justice.

The Blumenauer-Polis amendment would prevent the Bureau of Reclamation from spending money to enforce that policy.

Separately, Polis, along with Congressman James Comer (R-KY) filed a similar amendment that would only apply to state-legal hemp cultivation. And, Polis filed a third version that would have a similar effect as the second but is worded differently.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNCERTAINTY

The votes this week come amid growing uncertainty about the Trump administration’s position on state marijuana laws.

Whereas President Trump repeatedly pledged as a candidate to respect state cannabis policies, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is an ardent legalization opponent.

As MassRoots first reported last month, Sessions recently asked Congressional leadership to delete the appropriations rider protecting local medical marijuana laws. If the Senate committee votes to renew the provision, especially if via a strong bipartisan vote similar to last year’s, it will be considered a strong rebuke to the attorney general.

President Trump, when signing a spending bill earlier this year included a statement essentially reserving the right to ignore the medical marijuana provision.

Also, on Thursday, a Department of Justice task force is set to submit marijuana enforcement policy recommendations to Sessions, part of a review he launched in April. It is unknown what those recommendations with say and if or when they will be made public.

Last week, federal officials held secret meetings on marijuana policy with state and local officials in Colorado.

VICTORY FOR HEMP

In other news of concern for cannabis law reform advocates, last week the Senate Appropriations Committee also adopted two provisions supporting the hemp industry.

The body’s bill funding the U.S. Department of Agriculture contained language preventing federal officials from spending money to interfere with state hemp research programs. Separately, the panel approved an amendment to a water and energy regulatory spending bill that protects water rights for industrial hemp cultivators. That measure is identical to one of the Polis hemp amendments being considered in the House.

 

[Baron23]

GOP blocks amendment to allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to vets

"All we want is equal treatment for our wounded warriors," said Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), sponsor of the amendment

Published: Jul 26, 2017, 11:03 am • Updated: about 6 hours ago Comments (5)

By Polly Washburn, The Cannabist Staff

The House Rules Committee decided Tuesday not to allow a medical marijuana amendment to proceed to a full vote, as part of the 2018 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill later this week.

The amendment would have prohibited federal funds from interfering with a veteran’s ability to take part in medical marijuana programs legalized in certain states. It would also allow Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors in those states to make appropriate recommendations, fill out forms, or take steps to comply with those programs.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), sponsor of the amendment, said in a statement, “All we want is equal treatment for our wounded warriors. This provision overwhelmingly passed on the House floor last year – and bipartisan support has only grown. It’s outrageous that the Rules Committee won’t even allow a vote for our veterans. They deserve better. They deserve compassion.

Related stories

• Drive to get veterans access to medical marijuana hinges on House committee vote
• As Trump admin wages war on legal marijuana, veterans side with weed
• Will this be the year Congress expands veterans’ access to medical marijuana?
• Veterans need – and deserve – help finding a path to healing through cannabis
• After years of lobbying by veterans, Colorado adds PTSD as medical marijuana condition

“Given that veterans are more likely to commit suicide or die from opiate overdoses than civilians, our fight to provide them safer alternatives won’t stop here. We have stronger support in the House and Senate than ever before, and we will keep advocating for a more rational approach.”

According to Stars and Stripes, one committee Republican, Rep. Dan Newhouse (Washington), spoke in favor of the amendment. “I’ve seen firsthand the benefit people can derive from medical marijuana,” he said. “It seems to me if it’s available and it works, we should make that available to our veterans as well. I support your effort.”

The bipartisan amendment was co-sponsored by: Representatives Justin Amash (R-Michigan), Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee), Luis Correa (D-California), Carlos Curbelo (R-Florida), Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), Tom Garrett (R-Virginia), Duncan Hunter (R-California), Barbara Lee (D-California), Tom McClintock (R-California), Ed Perlmutter (D-Colorado), Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin), Jared Polis (D-Colorado), Tom Reed (R-New York), Dana Rohrabacher (R-California), Dina Titus (D-Nevada), and Don Young (R-Alaska).

After the committee’s decision, Titus tweeted: “It would pass. I’ll keep fighting.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a similar amendment on July 13 by a 24-7 vote. Once the bill clears the House, a bipartisan conference committee will determine whether to include it in the final reconciled bill.

Both the House and Senate passed a similar amendment last year. But that provision, as the Military Times reported in June 2016, disappeared from the final VA funding bill after Republicans removed it during a concurrence vote.

The amendments had the support of powerful veterans organizations, including The American Legion. The nation’s largest veterans service group supports additional legislative steps to expedite its passage into law, spokesman Joe Plenzler told The Cannabist last week.

Because cannabis is a Schedule I drug, prohibited at the federal level, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) specifically prohibits VA medical providers from prescribing medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

In his May “State of the VA” address, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin made the agency’s position clear. “Until the time that federal law changes,” he said, “we are not able to be able to prescribe medical marijuana for conditions that may be helpful.”

 

[Baron23]

Senate Committee Passes Amendment To Protect Medical Marijuana

Today, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) successfully offered and passed the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee to protect lawful medical marijuana programs from the Department of Justice.

Initially enacted by Congress in 2014, the amendment maintains that federal funds cannot be used to prevent states from “implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.” Last August, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the language bars the federal government from taking legal action against any individual involved in medical marijuana-related activity absent evidence that the defendant is in clear violation of state law.

The decision to reauthorize the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment language by the Senate committee illustrates both compassion and common sense when it comes to marijuana policy. Now, the majority of states and over 90 percent of the public approves of the use of marijuana as a medicine and Congress should not stand in the way of these reforms.

Whether or not the House of Representatives will take a vote on the amendment is unclear. They did not include its language in the version of the 2018 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill that passed the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month. Last year, the amendment passed on the floor of the House by a vote of 242-186.

Although the amendment was reauthorized by Congress in May as part of a short term spending package, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been aggressively lobbying leadership to ignore the provisions. President Trump also issued a signing statement objecting to the Rohrbacher-Blumenauer provision.


In Rebuke to Sessions, Senate Committee OKs Medical Marijuana Protections

The Senate Appropriations approved an amendment to protect state medical marijuana patients this morning, delivering a setback to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In May, Sessions delivered a letter to Congress specifically requesting that leaders reject that budget amendment, known as the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment.


The amendment, led by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), passed in a voice vote with strong Republican support. During the hearing, Leahy said this in support of the amendment:

“29 states and the District of Columbia have decided it’s more humane to regulate medical marijuana than to criminalize it. Almost every state—46 right now, and counting—regulate the use of a marijuana derivative that is used to treat epilepsy and other rare medical conditions. I think just about every member on this committee represents a state with patients who would be protected under this amendment. The federal government can’t investigate everything. And shouldn’t. And I don’t want them spending money pursuing medical marijuana patients who are following state law, whether they’re an epileptic or whatever they might be.”

The amendment, originally known as Rohrabacher-Farr, has been adopted by Congress through budgetary actions every year since 2014. It prevents the Department of Justice from using any funds to undermine state medical marijuana laws. The Justice Department is the parent agency of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); it also oversees federal prosecutors around the nation.


RELATED STORY
Congress Pushes to Renew Rohrabacher-Farr Patient Protections
The amendment still must pass as part of the final appropriations bill, but the Appropriations Committee vote is seen as a strong signal that Republican leaders are dismissing Sessions’ request.

Michael Collins, deputy director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s office of national affairs, called the vote “a huge win for the marijuana reform movement.” In the face of pressure from the Trump Administration, Collins said, “the Senate has opted to block Jeff Sessions from interfering with any medical marijuana law.”

Ole' Jeff is having a very bad week and ain't the ole' El Jeffe that he thinks he is. LOL

 

[Baron23]

Congressional Committee Slams Marijuana’s Schedule I Status

One of the most powerful committees in Congress is pointing out that marijuana’s designation as a Schedule I drug has created unnecessary and harmful barriers to research.

“The Committee is concerned that restrictions associated with Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act effectively limit the amount and type of research that can be conducted on certain schedule 1 drugs, especially marijuana or its component chemicals and certain synthetic drugs,” the U.S. House Appropriations Committee wrote this week in a report accompanying legislation funding federal health and education programs for 2018.

“At a time when we need as much information as possible about these drugs, we should be lowering regulatory and other barriers to conducting this research,” the committee continued.

Referring to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which oversees federal drug research, the panel wrote, “The Committee directs NIDA to provide a short report on the barriers to research that result from the classification of drugs and compounds as Schedule 1 substances.”

But the committee’s leadership isn’t necessarily in favor of broad marijuana reform.

The panel is “concerned that States are changing public policies related to marijuana without the benefit of scientific research to help guide those decisions,” the report says. “NIDA is encouraged to continue supporting a full range of research on the effects of marijuana and its components, including research focused on policy change and implementation across the country.”

Supporters of legalizing marijuana have long decried its status under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. That category — which is supposed to be reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse and no medical value — means that scientists who wish to study cannabis’s medical effects must jump through extra hoops that are not required for research on other substances.

Given that, it’s surprising that the directives in the new House committee report are similar to language suggested to lawmakers by a coalition involving some of the country’s most ardent legalization opponents.

A group called Friends of NIDA included the committee report recommendations in a recently-published submission to Congress.

Its Board of Scientific Advisors includes vocal prohibitionists like Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, former White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey, former Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), former National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Robert DuPont and former Office of National Drug Control Policy staffer Bertha Madras, according to the group’s letterhead.

All have specifically argued against rescheduling marijuana, so the recommendation from a group they are in charge of advising on science took reformers by surprise.

Separately, on Wednesday, several members of Congress criticized marijuana’s Schedule I status in a hearing on reauthorizing the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, commonly referred to as the drug czar’s office.

“I don’t understand why it’s a schedule I,” said Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), one of the nation’s leading elected conservative firebrands. “I would encourage the powers that be, whoever you need to consult with in the administration, to at least explore whether or not it’s scheduled correctly.”

Richard Baum, acting drug czar, told Gowdy that the Trump administration “doesn’t have a position on that.”


Democrat Gerry Connolly of Virginia also spoke up during the hearing. “There was no empirical evidence to justify putting marijuana 50 years ago as a Schedule I drug,” he said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, in the waning months of the Obama administration, rejected petitions to reschedule cannabis.

 

[Baron23]

Bill to Protect State Enforcement of Marijuana Laws Introduced in Congress

WASHINGTON, DC — As tensions continue to grow due to the conflict between federal and state marijuana laws, including a possible forthcoming federal crackdown on the marijuana industry under anti-marijuana Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Congresswoman from Washington state has reintroduced a bill aimed at protecting states rights to regulate the substance.

Representative Suzan DelBene (D-WA) reintroduced the State Marijuana And Regulatory Tolerance (SMART) Enforcement Act, H.R. 3534, on Friday.

The bill aims to protect medical patients, recreational users and businesses in states that have legalized and regulated marijuana from being prosecuted now or in the future.

“My bill will fix the conflict between state and federal law by giving states effectively regulating marijuana themselves, such as Washington, a waiver from the Controlled Substances Act,” DelBene said. “It also resolves the banking issues currently forcing dispensaries to operate on an unsafe, all-cash basis. These waivers will ensure people in states that have different laws than the federal government on marijuana are protected from prosecution, provided they meet certain requirements, as more and more states work to regulate marijuana in their own borders.”


Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C., have legalized some form of marijuana. Of those, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational use of marijuana, while others have approved medical use of marijuana.

Despite over half of the states legalizing some form of marijuana, possession or use of the substance for any purpose remains prohibited under the federal Controlled Substances Act, leaving every participant in the state markets — including cancer patients — at risk of prosecution.

“People in these states should not live in fear of the unpredictable actions of the Attorney General and Department of Justice,” said DelBene.

States are currently unable to regulate as effectively as possible because they are hamstrung by federal preemption problems. The SMART Enforcement Act would fix this issue, says DelBene, while adhering to Obama-era U.S. Department of Justice guidance known as the Cole Memos on marijuana enforcement.

The bill recognizes the shared role states have traditionally played in policing marijuana offenses, and authorizes a waiver from the Controlled Substances Act for states that implement robust regulatory regimes to address key federal priorities such as preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors, violence or use of firearms in cultivation and distribution of marijuana, and drugged driving.

DelBene’s bill would sunset all waivers after three years, allowing continued oversight and reevaluation of the success of this approach by Congress.

“According to a 2017 Quinnipiac national poll, 73 percent of Americans oppose the federal government interfering in state legal marijuana programs,” said Justin Strekal, NORML’s Political Director. “The SMART Enforcement Act would give peace of mind to lawmakers, regulators, patients, consumers and the 123,000 Americans who now have jobs dependent on the normalization of the lawful marijuana market.”


Probably won't go anywhere.....but someone needs to give this Congresswoman DelBene a BIG HIGH FIVE for trying to do the right and democratic thing

 

[Baron23]

Booker Debuts ‘Marijuana Justice Act’ to Legalize Cannabis
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced legislation earlier today that would end federal cannabis prohibition and begin to repair some of the lasting damage done by the war on drugs.


Booker’s Marijuana Justice Act would:

• Remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, ending federal prohibition of marijuana
• Cut federal funding for state law enforcement and prison construction if a state disproportionately arrests and/or incarcerates low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
• Allow entities to sue states that disproportionately arrest and/or incarcerate low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
• Prevent deportations of individuals for marijuana offenses
• Provide for a process of expungement for marijuana offenses at the federal level
• Provide for a process of resentencing for marijuana offenses at the federal level
• Create a “Community Reinvestment Fund” of $500 million to invest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, for programs such as job training, reentry, community centers, and more. Part of the funding will come from the aforementioned cuts to state law enforcement and prison construction.

Booker is a longtime drug reform advocate who has been a primary co-sponsor of the CARERS Act (Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS), a bill focused largely on medical marijuana. The CARERS Act, which was re-introduced in June 2017, would provide federal protection to patients in states with medical cannabis programs, and expand cannabis research opportunities nationwide.

You NJ folks, send Booker big bags of money as we need him to remain in Congress. It won't pass this time, IMO, but eventually we will get there.

 

[Baron23]

Kevin Sabet Takes on Roger Stone at Politicon
In only its third year, Politicon has grown into a national “unconventional political convention,” pitting neoliberals, libertarians, Berniecrats and the alt-right head to head in panels designed to provoke, inflame and hopefully enlighten the American voter.

'If there’s any place where we can all build coalitions and get the fuck along for a while, let it be weed!'
Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing editor
This year’s show, held at the Pasadena Convention Center, focused on the Trump phenomenon, and many of the biggest events pitted supporters and detractors against each other (Chelsea Handler vs Tomi Lahren, Ben Shapiro vs. Cenk Uyghur). Cannabis landed on the schedule with the Weed Wars panel, hosted by VICELAND’s Krishna Andavolu and featuring Trump political advisor Roger Stone, Project SAM’s Kevin Sabet, “Daily Show” correspondent Roy Wood Jr., Civilized founder Derek Riedle, Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin, and the ACLU’s Kellen Russoniello.


Politicon 2017 lineup (L-R): Roger Stone, Xeni Jardin, Kevin Sabet, Roy Wood Jr. (Getty photo courtesy of Politicon)
Considering the overall chaos of the political moment, most of the panel rejoiced in the bipartisan consensus amongst audience and panel alike on cannabis legalization. As Xeni Jardin put it, “If there’s any place where we can all build coalitions and get the fuck along for a while, let it be weed!”


RELATED STORY
The Haymaker: Solving the Roger Stone Dilemma
Social Justice and Selling Out
Krishna kicked things off with a sort of theme for the panel—“the battle for the soul of weed”—as cannabis transitions from an activist subculture into an emergent industry.

The legalization advocates and the panel’s lone prohibitionist, Kevin Sabet, all claimed the social justice mantle. Sabet evoked nightmare scenarios of a well-moneyed Big Cannabis lobby attempting to seed poor communities of color with stores and cultivation centers, while people of color continue to suffer disproportionate possession arrests in legal markets.

The ACLU’s Kellen Russoniello countered this by noting the social equity components of California’s Proposition 64, as well as the city of Oakland’s mandate to award 50% of licenses to people and neighborhoods negatively affected by the war on drugs. But he acknowledged that the criminal justice advancements in legalization will be incremental rather than sweeping. “This is a fundamental shift in the way the US deals with drugs and race, primarily race,” Russoniello said. “We have yet to figure out what to do with race since before we were a country. This is an important step forward in acknowledging and repairing that bias.”


RELATED STORY
Oakland Licensing Plan Builds in Diversity and Reparations
MMJ vs. Rec
The second tug-of-war took place around medical vs. adult use. Xeni Jardin, a medical cannabis patient, started off the panel with her conversion from an opponent of the “Botox and buds”-style pot shops to a grateful cancer survivor who credits weed with helping to save her life and reduce her opioid use. “Pot was the least worst drug I put in my body,” she said.

Roger Stone also revealed that he purchased cannabis for his dying father during his battle with cancer. Sabet chose not to dispute their testimonies, but told Xeni that he wouldn’t have minded if Xeni had used meth or heroin for her treatment. Xeni continually rebuked him for this as well as other false equivalencies he made throughout the panel discussion: “You can’t OD on pot. Apples are not oranges, and tobacco is not marijuana.”


RELATED STORY
Can You Overdose or Die from Consuming Cannabis?
While Sabet threw the most elbows, Stone clearly commanded the strongest presence as both the man with the President’s ear and Krishna’s designated “unlikeliest dude to be down with ganja.” Even Sabet refrained from challenging him on his proposed “Tricky Dick” brand cannabis line. Stone confidently predicted that “Candidate Trump’s” states-rights position on legalization would prevail administration drug warriors like Jeff Sessions.

'I am convinced that the President will do the right thing. Wait and see.'
Roger Stone, Trump adviser
Clearly, Stone is a busy man on this issue: He revealed that he would be serving as a witness in the recent federal lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, which claims that the Schedule I status of cannabis is unconstitutional. He’s also teaming up with Florida criminal justice attorney John Morgan to petition Trump himself to honor his pledge and de-schedule cannabis once and for all.

Stone’s prediction didn’t win many converts. Most of his fellow panelists were skeptical that Trump’s chaotic administrative style could bring together a disciplined and coherent position on anything, much less cannabis. Stone disagreed, pointing to a Cannabis Caucus-infused House that can easily shoulder cannabis law reform between liberal Democrats and libertarian Republicans. This calculus, he admitted, does not exist in the Senate, but he still feels “the votes can be found.” And as far as Trump goes, “I am convinced that the President will do the right thing. Wait and see.”

Not a Defining Issue
To be fair, Sabet reminded the audience that cannabis still occupies a low-priority status among most voters. Even citizens who vote in favor of legalization often fall prey to nervous NIMBYism when it comes time to implement in their own town.

Stone disagreed. “The train has left the station,” he said. The main question now, he added, is what the emerging industry should look like and who’s going to run it. Civilized founder Derek Riedle felt that ultimately cannabis will become “an economic and a global issue,” with Canada and Israel positioned to take the lead in the short run.

But at least, in case you were wondering, there was some fun to be had. Stone revealed that he joined the Libertarian Party in 2012 because he thought Republican nominee Mitt Romney was a turd, and claimed he fired Ohio Gov. John Kasich back in 1976 for selling weed. When Sabet cited a statistic claiming that most people who try cannabis don’t like it, Riedle shot back: “They’re doing it wrong.” And Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. closed the panel with a request: “I wanna come back to Politicon next year and talk about… shrooms.”

Just look at that group picture of the panel and tell me you can't pick out Sabet, the tight-ass, from just looking at him. Why do tight-asses always look like tight-asses?

 

[momofthegoons]

Why do tight-asses always look like tight-asses?

Might have something to do with the tightness of their ass?

 

[Baron23]

Might have something to do with the tightness of their ass?

You might be on to something....look at the face he's making....definitely looks backed up to me. LOL

 

[Baron23]

Booker's initiative is getting so much press, I thought I would just list some links:

Pot removed from controlled substance list under proposed legislation


Bill Seeks To Make Marijuana Legal On The Federal Level

Sen. Cory Booker Wants to Make Marijuana Legal Across U.S.

 

[elykpeace]

http://blog.norml.org/2017/08/02/80...ident-signs-first-federal-anti-marijuana-law/


80 years ago?! That's insane

Booker's initiative is getting so much press, I thought I would just list some links:

Pot removed from controlled substance list under proposed legislation


Bill Seeks To Make Marijuana Legal On The Federal Level

Sen. Cory Booker Wants to Make Marijuana Legal Across U.S.

Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) has introduced comprehensive marijuana reform legislation, the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017.

The bill would (1) remove marijuana from the US Controlled Substances Act, thereby ending the federal criminalization of cannabis; (2) incentivize states to mitigate existing and ongoing racial disparities in state-level marijuana arrests; (3) expunge federal convictions specific to marijuana possession; (4) allow individuals currently serving time in federal prison for marijuana-related violations to petition the court for resentencing; (5) and create a community reinvestment fund to invest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.

Edit: interesting read ... If only this would pass. Gotta write our "representatives" I wish that's what they did ..

 

[Baron23]

http://blog.norml.org/2017/08/02/80...ident-signs-first-federal-anti-marijuana-law/


80 years ago?! That's insane


Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) has introduced comprehensive marijuana reform legislation, the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017.

The bill would (1) remove marijuana from the US Controlled Substances Act, thereby ending the federal criminalization of cannabis; (2) incentivize states to mitigate existing and ongoing racial disparities in state-level marijuana arrests; (3) expunge federal convictions specific to marijuana possession; (4) allow individuals currently serving time in federal prison for marijuana-related violations to petition the court for resentencing; (5) and create a community reinvestment fund to invest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.

Edit: interesting read ... If only this would pass. Gotta write our "representatives" I wish that's what they did ..

If you get NORML emails, they will send a link to an automated email generator to your Senators. Yeah, its a form letter but it does show your "representatives" (yeah, the irony is too much) that NORML has a large constituency in their district/state.

 

[Baron23]

More on Booker and his law from mainstream media company Newsweek this time.

When Will Marijuana Be Legal Federally? Senator Cory Booker Introduces Bill That Would Deschedule Pot
By Janice Williams On 8/1/17 at 5:38 PM

A woman walks with a sign supporting legalization of marijuana during the Democratic Convention on July 28, 2016. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has introduced a bill that would make marijuana legal at the federal level.

Marijuana would become legal at the federal level if Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has it his way. The lawmaker introduced a bill aiming to remove marijuana’s Schedule I listing under the Controlled Substance Act and make the plant legal.

While the overall legislation seeks to make marijuana legal in all 50 states, the driving motivation behind Booker’s bill, called the Marijuana Justice Act, is to rectify the unjust targeting of African-American and low-income communities that have been most affected by marijuana arrests.

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Citing a study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union, Booker said black people are more than three times more likely to be arrested for use and possession of marijuana than whites. He suggested this has created devastating effects in urban areas and communities of color across the U.S., even though eight states currently allow adults to use, carry and purchase marijuana.

“For decades, the failed War on Drugs has locked up millions of nonviolent drug offenders—especially for marijuana-related offenses—at an incredible cost of lost human potential, torn apart families and communities, and taxpayer dollars. The effects of the drug war have had a disproportionately devastating impact on Americans of color and the poor,” Booker wrote in a statement on Facebook. “This is the right thing to do for public safety, and will help reduce our overflowing prison population.”

Along with declassifying pot and making the plant legal, Booker’s bill would retroactively expunge convictions for marijuana use and possession, as well as give those currently serving time on cannabis charges the chance to appeal to the courts and have their sentences reduced or eliminated.

“These are charges that follow people for the rest of their lives, making it difficult for them to do things that we take for granted, like applying for a taxi cab license—something you can’t get in many states even if your marijuana conviction was 10, 20, 30 years ago. Or people can’t vote in certain states because of their federal marijuana charge,” Booker said during a FacebookLive announcement of the bill.

The bill would also establish an incentive pool for communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs, allowing certain cities to apply for a reinvestment fund that would grant money to community programs for former marijuana offenders, including job training and re-entry services. The fund could also be used to invest in public libraries, community centers and youth programs, Booker said.

The odds of the bill passing in Congress are slim, Booker admitted, explaining that he was its only sponsor thus far. However, his bill isn’t the first aimed at making marijuana legal at the federal level.

In March, a number of U.S. representatives from Colorado and Oregon introduced the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, which aimed to remove cannabis’s Schedule I listing and allow all pot to be sold and consumed in a manner similar to alcohol. The bill would also establish a marijuana tax and give researchers the opportunity to conduct more studies on the plant without the pressures of federal government oversight.

 

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Poll finds support for marijuana legalization

Most Americans support legalizing marijuana for recreational use and a strong majority believe it should at least be available for medical reasons, according to a new poll.

The latest Harvard-Harris survey found that 49 percent of Americans polled believe marijuana should be legalized for both medical and personal use. Thirty-seven percent say it should be legalized solely for medicinal purposes, meaning that 86 percent of respondents support legalizing the plant in some form.

Only 14 percent say marijuana should be illegal.

The findings come as Attorney General Jeff Sessions is believed to be readying a crackdown on marijuana users. The Justice Department is expected to release a report soon that criminal justice reform advocates fear will link marijuana to violent crime and may recommend tougher sentences for growers, sellers and users.

“Voters point to drugs as the major source of crime and support tough sentences for drug dealers but view marijuana in a wholly different light,” Harvard-Harris co-director Mark Penn said. “Most think legalization of marijuana would probably be helpful in reducing crime and almost half support legalization.”
Sixty-nine percent said it would not bother them if marijuana were legalized in their state. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said legalizing marijuana would make society better. And 72 percent said that even if marijuana is illegal, those convicted of possessing small amounts should not serve time in jail.

Still, the poll found concern among voters that crime is rising because of the drug trade.

Nationally, 60 percent of voters polled said they believe crime is on an upward trajectory. Respondents said they believe drugs are the No. 1 cause of crime, followed by lack of jobs, poor moral values, poverty and gangs.

Eighty-eight percent view drug abuse as a serious problem or a crisis.

This week, calling it the “worst drug crisis in our history,” Sessions launched an opioid abuse task force meant to root-out prescription drug-related crimes.

The Harvard-Harris online survey of 2,051 registered voters was conducted from July 19-24. The partisan breakdown is 37 percent Democrat, 31 percent Republican, 27 percent independent and 4 percent other.

The Harvard-Harris Poll is a collaboration of the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll. The Hill will be working with Harvard-Harris Poll throughout 2017. 



Full poll results will be posted online later this week. The Harvard-Harris Poll survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.

 

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NFL’s chief medical officer calls marijuana research ‘really important’

The NFL’s chief medical officer says it is “really important” for the league and the NFL Players Association to determine whether marijuana can be used as an effective and safe pain-management tool for players.

“I think we have a lot more to learn about that,” Allen Sills, a Vanderbilt University neurosurgeon hired by the NFL in March, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Certainly the research about marijuana and really more particularly cannabinoid compounds as they may relate to the treatment of both acute and chronic pain, that is an area of research that we need a lot more information on and we need to further develop.

“I think that’s part of what we hope to accomplish together working together with the Players Association,” Sills said. “I think this is really important because I like to talk about that our approach to caring for players is really holistic. We want to talk about health and safety issues that affect the whole player experience. And certainly pain management is a big part of that.”

My initial reaction to "its really important" was "yeah, you think?"...sigh

 

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Make America Great Again by Legalizing Weed, Majority of Voters Say
By Janice Williams On 8/3/17 at 11:07 AM

U.S. voters have an idea of what might actually improve society and make America great again: legalizing weed.

A Harvard-Harris survey released Monday found a majority of voters—some 57 percent—thought making marijuana legal across all 50 states would make society better, and 69 percent of people said they wouldn’t be bothered by pot being legal in their state.

Medical marijuana is currently legal in more than half of the country, and adults 21 and up are allowed to legally use marijuana in eight states. According to the poll, 86 percent of Americans agree that the plant should be legalized in some capacity.

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Only 37 percent of Americans said cannabis should be legalized only for medical purposes, while 49 percent of voters said marijuana should be legal for both medical and recreational use. Meanwhile, only 14 percent of voters said marijuana should be completely illegal.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has blamed drugs, including marijuana, for an uptick in crime in the U.S. And most voters—60 percent—do believe that crime is on the incline, with 40 percent saying drugs are the leading contributor to crime in America, followed by lack of jobs and economic opportunities (33 percent) and lack of moral values across the U.S. (32 percent). However, many aren’t necessarily including marijuana among the drugs that they see as wreaking havoc on the country.

“Voters point to drugs as the major source of crime and support tough sentences for drug dealers but view marijuana in a wholly different light,” a Harvard-Harris co-director, Mark Penn, said in a statement. “Most think legalization of marijuana would probably be helpful in reducing crime and almost half support legalization.”

Even if marijuana is illegal, 72 percent said people caught possessing small amounts of pot shouldn’t be prosecuted or face jail time because of it.

Voters’ sentiments are shared by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat, who introduced a bill Tuesday that would not only remove marijuana from its Schedule 1 listing on the Controlled Substances Act but would also allow offenders who are currently in prison for possession and use of marijuana to appeal to the courts to have their sentences reduced or eliminated. The bill, called the Marijuana Justice Act, would also give former felons the opportunity to have their marijuana-related crimes expunged from their records.

“These are charges that follow people for the rest of their lives, making it difficult for them to do things that we take for granted, like applying for a taxi cab license—something you can’t get in many states even if your marijuana conviction was 10, 20, 30 years ago. Or people can’t vote in certain states because of their federal marijuana charge,” Booker said during a FacebookLive announcement of the bill.

Along with making marijuana federally legal, the bill aims to create an incentive pool for impoverished communities that have been particularly affected by the War on Drugs and disproportionally targeted for marijuana-related crimes.

The Harvard-Harris poll was conducted between July 19-24 and included 2,051 registered voters.

 

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Is Supporting Legal Pot Becoming Politically Viable in D.C.?
As politicians reframe marijuana as a criminal justice debate, many are jumping on board – even those who might have presidential aspirations

It's no longer political suicide, or so it seems, to embrace legalizing marijuana. At least among the younger generation of prominent Democrats, though there seems to be cracks in the dam amongst Republicans too.

Related

How Sen. Cory Booker Is Trying to End Federal Weed Prohibition
New bill would deschedule marijuana, incentivize state legalization and punish states that disproportionately lock up minorities and the poor

The latest evolution on the issue was on display this week as New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker – a former mayor of Newark who is a young, affable guy rumored to be considering a presidential bid in 2020 – unveiled the most sweeping proposal yet to the nation's marijuana policy. The bill, dubbed the Marijuana Justice Act, would end the federal prohibition on weed by removing the plant from the list of controlled, as in banned, substances where it currently sits next to drugs like heroine and LSD.

"Our marijuana laws have devastated communities…wrought poverty, caused crime, driven violence," Booker tells Rolling Stone. "It's wasted government investment in a way where we should have been reaping investment."

During his failed presidential bid, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders released a bill to simply legalize marijuana federally, but it didn't go nearly as far as this new one. Besides ending the federal prohibition on pot, Booker's legislation incentivize states to decrease their prison populations by withholding federal funds if they have disproportionate numbers of minorities and poor people locked up for cannabis violations. His proposal also calls on the courts to expunge the records of people behind bars for marijuana violations, while investing money in job training programs.

A sweeping proposal like this would have been seen as the political third rail a few years ago, but voters in red and blue states alike have far outpaced the nation's stodgy political class and lawmakers are now slowly catching up with voters. Now it's becoming more en vogue for politicians to challenge some of the key underpinnings of the nation's decades-long war on drugs.

When Rolling Stone pressed Booker on the rumors swirling about town that he's eyeing a White House run and whether his new marijuana bill could hamper a presidential bid, his voice passionately rose.

"I really don't care," Booker says. "The injustice here is so great I don't care what kind of hit it takes on me politically. This is something that's time has come – it came, actually, a while ago. And now we have evidence in the states that have already legalized.”

Booker isn't alone. "I'm totally in support of that," California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris tells Rolling Stone of efforts like Booker's to reschedule marijuana.

The former Attorney General of California has seen her star power rise in these first seven months of her freshman year in the Senate, because she's proven a reliable Democratic thorn in the side of the Trump administration on numerous fronts. As your star power rises in Washington so do whispers of a potential presidential bid, but according to Harris, the marijuana issue isn't political – it's criminal justice reform.

"I started my career as a baby prosecutor during the height of the crack epidemic – not all drugs are equal," Harris says. "We have over-criminalized so many people, in particular poor youth and men of color, in communities across this country and we need to move it on the schedule. Plus we need to start researching the effect of marijuana and we have not been able to do it because of where it is on the schedule."

While Democrats, especially this younger generation of lawmakers, are coming around more quickly to the will of citizens across the political spectrum – who have voted in recreational marijuana in eight states and the nation's capital, as well as in the dozens of states that allow medical marijuana – GOP leaders (including Attorney General Jeff "Just Say No" Sessions) are still proving a roadblock to the reform effort.

Before leaving town for August, Speaker Paul Ryan's top lieutenants in the House beat back a broadly supported, bipartisan effort to allow doctors at VA hospitals to prescribe marijuana to veterans suffering from everything from PTSD to losing a limb, which often comes with astronomically large and recurring opioid prescriptions.

Still other Republicans brush aside any talk of marijuana legalization. That's in part because the GOP base doesn't seem to be as vocal on the issue, which former presidential candidate Lindsey Graham says never really came up as he traversed Iowa and other states that vote early.

"No – didn't hang around with the right crowd I guess," Sen. Graham tells Rolling Stone.

Some of the older Democrats and Independents who walk the marble halls of the Capitol also don't want to discuss weed, even if they come from a state like Maine that approved recreational weed.

"That was a state issue – they made the decision up there, so I'm not going to comment," Angus King, Maine's former governor and current junior senator, tells Rolling Stone.

But that's on the surface. The glacier still seems to be barreling, albeit at the usually slow congressional pace, forward.

Some Republicans are learning marijuana is no longer the political third rail it once was. There are other efforts afoot in the Capitol to make it easier for universities and research hospitals to study marijuana, while also protecting medicinal marijuana business owners and patients. While the progressive Booker supports those efforts, so do two Tea Party darlings, Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

"We've trapped a lot of people in prison with criminal records over the use of marijuana," Paul tells Rolling Stone as he briskly walks back to his office. He also says his party is coming along in much the same way that Booker and Harris have: By making it a criminal justice issue, not just a dusty old drug debate.

"I think it has been changing, and I think the Republicans for criminal justice reform is a growing movement," Paul says. "I think there are a lot of Republicans who would want to move in that direction."

While slow moving, the change is palpable, especially for the lawmakers in those purple, blue and even red states alike who represent voters who approved medical or recreational weed.

"The country is changing, as did Massachusetts, and as each state moves further than it creates a national culture," Democratic Sen. Ed Markey tells Rolling Stone. "It's like gay marriage: in Massachusetts it starts and then another state and another state and before long it's something that people understand is a part of the modern political culture."

As for whether Booker's latest effort to end the prohibition on weed will damage any potential presidential run? Many people tracking the issue say the opposite is true.

"This 'Say no to drugs' that this administration has been putting forth is not in alignment with where the rest of the country is on marijuana and where the rest of the country is getting to," Queen Adesuyi, a policy associate at the Drug Policy Alliance, tells Rolling Stone. "So by the time Booker is running for president, if he is, the question about how we legalize will be at the center, it wouldn't necessarily be about whether or not we should legalize – we're getting to that point."

 

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Sen. Cory Booker, Contributor U.S. Senator for New Jersey

How To Begin The End Of The War On Drugs
It’s time to legalize marijuana.
08/03/2017 07:56 am ET | Updated 1 day ago

Follow link in the article title to see video of Booker talking on this subject, I couldn't get it to embed.


I have had countless conversations with colleagues in elected positions about their use of marijuana. I can say with confidence that many of my colleagues in Congress have tried marijuana. In my time in other privileged institutions like Stanford and Yale, marijuana and other drugs were used with little fear of consequences and were openly spoken about and joked about with little understanding of the painful fact: the War on Drugs in America has scarcely affected the lives of the privileged but has devastated poor communities and communities of color.

I have spent most of my adult life living and working in Newark, New Jersey. For the past four decades, Newark has found many of its neighborhoods, including the one in which I live, on the front lines of a war not on drugs, but on people — individuals and families who are simultaneously over-criminalized and under-protected.

As a low income tenants’ lawyer, a city councilman, and as mayor, I saw up close how this war manufactured in Washington and state houses all across the country meant that the hardworking, brave officers of my police department were forced to spend their time enforcing drug laws that did not necessarily make our community safer — and often worsened conditions that lead to greater poverty, greater suffering and less safety. During my time as mayor, my officers often decried the churn of people arrested again and again on nonviolent charges like possessing marijuana, deepening deficits of trust within the community and too often debilitating nonviolent offenders and those struggling with the disease of addiction from turning their lives around.

It’s time to lead with our hearts, our heads, and with policy that actually works.”
I continue to see in my community how the unequal application of these laws criminalizes large swaths of Americans — poor Americans, black and brown Americans, addicted Americans, the mentally ill and disproportionately our veterans. As a result of these broken, inequitably applied laws, I have met countless good people who couldn’t find a job, couldn’t find a decent place to live, and couldn’t support their family because they had a criminal record for doing something less serious than two of the last three presidents of the United States have admitted to doing.

It is clear to me that there’s no easy way out of the injustice system we have created. Fixing our broken system will require painstakingly undoing decades of bad policy, addressing the persistent and systemic racial bias within our system, and rethinking how we treat those addicted to harmful drugs.

I believe it also requires legalizing marijuana.

Aaron Bernstein / Reuters
There’s a different view held by many and championed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is planning to step up the enforcement of our nation’s federal marijuana laws. But this path isn’t the answer to reducing crime or to making our communities safer. In fact, the enforcement of marijuana laws have too often led to a sacrifice of our values, our safety, and the potential of millions of Americans.

Federal marijuana laws have long undermined our nation’s promise of liberty and justice for all. The unequal application of these laws on communities of color and poorer Americans has created a justice system where outcomes are often more dependent on race and class than on guilt or innocence. Despite the fact that there is no difference in marijuana use between Blacks and Whites, Black Americans are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. Marijuana laws have helped to make the land of the free far less free, with incarceration rates higher than any nation in human history. In fact, the United States is home to only five percent of the world’s population, but nearly twenty five percent of the world’s prison population.

We have created large illegal markets and vastly contributed to their associated violence and ancillary crime. We’ve added millions of Americans to the ranks of the “formerly incarcerated,” a population with high recidivism rates, often due to limits on their options for employment. And we’ve siphoned resources away from public safety: while Congress has increased spending on federal prisons by 45 percent since 1998, largely to house non-violent offenders, it cut spending on state and local law enforcement by a whopping 76 percent.

The unequal application of these laws... has created a justice system where outcomes are often more dependent on race and class than on guilt or innocence.
And these laws aren’t even working: more than half of American adults have tried marijuana, and its use is on the rise. Our nation’s arbitrary efforts to criminalize a substance that is less dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes or fast food, has not only made our country less just, but our communities less safe.

Our broken marijuana laws have perpetuated unequal justice under the law, failed to make us safer, wasted taxpayer dollars and taken precious resources away from investing in our communities.

That’s why I am introducing the Marijuana Justice Act, a bill that would federally legalize marijuana, retroactively apply that policy change to those already serving time behind bars for federal marijuana offenses, and reinvest savings in public safety and community-building. It would also incentivize states to legalize marijuana if people of color and the poor in that state are disproportionately arrested or incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses.

We know from the experiences of states that have already legalized marijuana that we will gain far more than we lose ― these states have seen increased revenues and decreased rates of serious crime, and a reallocation of resources toward more productive uses. In Colorado, arrest rates have decreased and state revenues have increased. Washington saw 10 percent decrease in violent crime over the three-year period following legalization. It’s now time for the federal government to step up to the plate, and to encourage states that have yet to lead, to follow.

The Marijuana Justice Act is a serious step in acknowledging, that after 40 years, it’s time to start to end the War on Drugs. It’s time to stop our backward thinking, which has only led to backward results. It’s time to lead with our hearts, our heads, and with policy that actually works. It’s time to legalize marijuana.

 

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Public support for medical and recreational marijuana legalization hits all-time high
Latest numbers from Quinnipiac University Poll also show little support for a federal crackdown in states that have legalized cannabis


By Polly Washburn, The Cannabist Staff

An increasing number of Americans are in favor of national legalization of recreational and medical marijuana, and few support a federal crackdown in states that have legalized marijuana for either purpose.

A new Quinnipiac poll released August 3 reported that medical marijuana in particular has broad support: 94 percent of Americans support “allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it,” up from 93 percent 5 months ago, and up 5 points in the last year.

Non-medicinal marijuana is growing in support as well, with 61 percent agreeing that “the use of marijuana should be made legal in the United States,” up from 59 percent in February 2017, and up 10 points since December 2012.

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In his letters to governors of states that have legalized recreational marijuana last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited “our country’s concerns with marijuana” as something said “federal and state governments should work together to address.”

But only 20 percent of Americans surveyed by Quinnipiac support “government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana.” This is down from 23 percent in February, the first time the enforcement action question was asked.

The age group most in favor of legalization is 35-49 year-olds, 77 percent of whom support national legalization, and medical marijuana at 97 percent. Only 42 percent of those 65 and older support general legalization, but 92 percent of this age group supports medical marijuana.

A political party line divide on the issue continues, with only 37 percent of Republicans supporting legalization, while 70 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Independents support it.

90 percent of Republicans support allowing medical marijuana however, up 5 points from February, and up 9 points from June 2016.

84 percent of Democrats oppose enforcement of federal laws in states where marijuana has been legalized, while 59 percent of Republicans and 77 percent of Independents oppose such a move.

The poll was conducted with 1,125 voters via landlines and cell phones from July 27 – August 1, with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points.