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Law The Cannabis Chronicles - Misc Cannabis News

"Over the past few years, America’s elected officials from both sides of the aisle have helped introduced several pieces of meaningful legislation to address the heady topics of cannabis research, recreational marijuana sales, and incarceration in a constructive way."​

Just a little bit of commentary. LOL

U.S. House Cultivates New Bill to Stop DOJ Cannabis Crackdown

California Congresswoman Rep. Barbara Lee (D-13th District) filed some powerful legislation last Friday aimed at protecting America’s burgeoning marijuana industry. Known as the Restraining Excessive Federal Enforcement & Regulations of Cannabis Act of 2018, HR 4779 would prohibit the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Jeff Sessions from wasting taxpayer dollars on the needless enforcement of federal marijuana laws.

Baptized as the “REFER Act of 2018,” the protective piece of legislation would prohibit the DOJ from utilizing federal funding to “detain, prosecute, sentence, or initiate civil proceedings against an individual, business or property, that is involved in the cultivation, distribution, possession, dispensation, or use of cannabis,” provided those activities are in compliance with state law and local regulations.

Cosponsored by Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-3rd District), Nevada Rep. Dina Titus (D-1st District), and Colorado Congressman Jared Polis (D-2nd District), HR 4779 also received the bipartisan support of Alaska’s “at-large” representative Don Young (R).

Lee, who received assistance from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in the drafting of the legislations verbiage noted, “I’m proud to introduce the REFER Act, which would prevent the Attorney General and others in the Trump Administration from stifling the budding cannabis industry.”

As identified in the REFER Act’s short proposal, the bill would have three primary functions:

  • The DOJ would be prohibited from utilizing taxpayer money to prevent a State or unit of local government from implementing or maintaining its state law or regulations that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of cannabis
  • No taxpayer funds shall be utilized to detain, prosecute, sentence, or initiate civil proceedings against an individual business or property, that is involved in the cultivation, distribution, possession, dispensation, or use of cannabis, in accordance with the law or regulation of the State or unit of local government in which the individual is located
  • No taxpayer funds shall be used to penalize a financial institution solely because the institution provides financial services to an entity that is a manufacturer, producer, or a person that participates in any business or organized activity that involves handling cannabis or cannabis products
Over the past few years, America’s elected officials from both sides of the aisle have helped introduced several pieces of meaningful legislation to address the heady topics of cannabis research, recreational marijuana sales, and incarceration in a constructive way.

Critically aware of the important nature of this legislative effort, Rep. Lee explained to Forbes “The REFER Act would go a long way to preventing cannabis bigot AG Jeff Sessions from cracking down on the states that have legalized cannabis.”

Note: On high alert this week, the marijuana industry will be keeping a watchful eye on Congress as its most recent deadline for authorizing a spending bill comes due Friday. Extended in that bill resides the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, which provides specific protections to legal medical marijuana programs and their patients.
 
From NORML - very important and I urge others to follow the link and send their representative their views.

Federal: The Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 Introduced

Today, Representative Barbara Lee of California along with over a dozen original co-sponsors have introduced the Marijuana Justice Act into the House of Representatives.

This marks the first time that companion legislation has been introduced in both chambers of Congress remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Click here to tell your member of Congress to co-sponsor the Marijuana Justice Act

This robust legislation not only removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, it also provides a path forward for the individuals and communities that have been most disproportionately targeted by our nation's failed war on marijuana consumers. As you may be aware, throughout the country African Americans are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rates of whites, yet both ethnicities consume marijuana at roughly the same rates.

The ongoing enforcement of cannabis prohibition financially burdens taxpayers, encroaches upon civil liberties, engenders disrespect for the law, impedes legitimate scientific research into the plant's medicinal properties, and disproportionately impacts communities of color. It is time for federal lawmakers to acknowledge this reality.

Send a message to your federal representatives now

After you send your letter so it will stay in their official records, click HERE to find your Representative’s office number and then call their Washington, DC office.
 
This is too funny....those folks at SAM look so hard for anti-MJ sentiments that they actually look at these poll numbers as some sort of victory or affirmation of their fringe views. Like the Rock Man said to Oblio in the Point: "you see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear".

The public really, really, really opposes current federal marijuana law
A new poll — from an anti-marijuana group — shows US politicians lag far behind the public’s views on marijuana.

The overwhelming majority of Americans are opposed to current federal marijuana law.

That’s the big takeaway from a new poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy and released by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), the country’s most prominent anti-legalization group.

The poll took a unique approach to a legalization survey. Instead of asking people if they support legalization and giving them a binary yes-or-no choice, it asked 1,000 registered voters about several options for federal marijuana policy: keeping current policy (which prohibits possessing and using cannabis for any purpose), legalizing “physician-supervised medical use,” decriminalizing pot by removing criminal penalties for use and allowing medical use but prohibiting sales, and legalizing the commercial production, use, and sale of marijuana for recreational use.

Only 16 percent of Americans favored keeping the current policy. About 29 percent backed only medical legalization, 5 percent backed decriminalization, and 49 percent backed full legalization. The remaining 1 percent were not sure.


Even among Republicans, who tend to be more conservative on drug policy issues, current federal marijuana law fared poorly: Only 25 percent of Republican voters supported keeping the policy as is, 36 percent backed medical marijuana, 2 percent backed decriminalization, and 36 percent backed full legalization. The majority of Republican voters were for some form of legalization — medical or recreational.

SAM said in a statement that the poll shows the country is evenly split on legalization. The group has often argued that other legalization polls, by posing the issue in a binary yes-or-no style, miss some of the potential nuances in marijuana policy and public opinion.

It’s true that this more nuanced poll finds lower levels of support of legalization than, for example, Gallup or the Pew Research Center, whose most recent surveys found 64 percent and 61 percent support for full legalization, respectively.

“These results clearly indicate the oft-touted vast public support for marijuana legalization has a shakier foundation than marijuana investors would have you believe,” Kevin Sabet, president of SAM, said in a statement. “This should give pause to politicians and marijuana financiers alike.”

But the poll put out by SAM still finds that supporters of full legalization make up by far the largest group. (Although it should be noted that even the more diverse options leave out one possibility: making current marijuana policy more punitive.)

And the great majority of voters oppose current federal marijuana law. This kind of result — 83 percent of Americans choosing anything but a current policy — is exceedingly rare in any kind of polling.

This shows just how behind federal lawmakers are on marijuana. Recently, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, head of the US Department of Justice, put out guidance that pulled back Obama-era protections for states that legalize pot — essentially allowing federal prosecutors to go after cannabis users and businesses in states where marijuana is legal under state law. (Since pot is still illegal under federal law, users and businesses in these states are breaking federal law, regardless of what state law says.)

Based on an anti-legalization group’s polling, Sessions’s policy — to encourage the enforcement of current federal law — is extremely unpopular. Although Sabet, who supports Sessions’s policy, pointed out to me that the second question of the poll found that 50 percent of respondents would support enforcement of federal law if it doesn’t penalize users with small amounts of marijuana — which, Sabet argued, is in-line with how federal enforcement typically works.

The rest of the federal government, however, doesn’t fare much better. Even though the single biggest group in this poll was for legalization — and, again, it wasn’t even close — only a small group of lawmakers in Congress have supported legalization bills.

For example, a bill that would legalize marijuana at the federal level — but allow states to maintain their own prohibitions — only has one sponsor and 25 cosponsors in the House (out of more than 400 legislators). Another bill that would merely prohibit federal law enforcement from interfering in states where marijuana is legal under state law only has one sponsor and 40 cosponsors. (Thanks to Tom Angell of Marijuana Moment for helping me track down these bills.)

This helps explain why federal marijuana law remains in place even as it’s so unpopular: The politicians in charge of changing the law lag far behind public opinion.
 
In any context, civil asset forfeiture is just legalized stealing. I thought we had a constitution that prevented the Government from seizing property without due process (and civil asset forfeiture is NOT due process IMO).

Bill Introduced to Stop Civil Forfeiture Funding of DEA Marijuana Eradication Program
“DEA's use of proceeds acquired through civil asset forfeiture to expand marijuana enforcement makes the already unacceptable practice even worse.”

Citing waste of taxpayer dollars, shifting public opinion, and constitutional concerns, Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Justin Amash (R-Mich.) have introduced a bill in Congress that would block funds from the federal government's controversial asset forfeiture fund from being used for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) marijuana eradication program.

The Stop Civil Asset Forfeiture Funding for Marijuana Suppression Act, first introduced in 2015, would use Congress' power of the purse to block money from the Justice Department's Asset Forfeiture Fund from being used to support the DEA's Domestic Cannabis Suppression/Eradication Program.

According to the DEA, the program was responsible in 2016 for the eradication of more than 5 million marijuana plants, more than 5,000 arrests, and the seizure of more than of $51 million from marijuana cultivators.


Under civil asset forfeiture laws, police can seize property and money suspected of being connected to criminal activity, even if the owner is not charged with a crime. Law enforcement groups argue it is a vital tool to disrupt drug trafficking and other organized crime. However, civil liberties advocates say there are far too few protections for innocent property owners and far too many profit incentives police and prosecutors.

For example, in 2009 federal prosecutors unsuccessfully fought to seize a farm from an Alabama woman after her husband was caught growing marijuana on the property. Her husband, who said he used the marijuana to manage chronic pain, committed suicide during his trial in a last-ditch attempt to keep the farm in family hands, as it had been for generations. His wife was never charged with a crime.

"Civil asset forfeiture is an unconstitutional practice whereby the government takes people's property without due process," Amash, one of the more libertarian members of Congress, said in a joint statement with Lieu. "The DEA's use of proceeds acquired through civil asset forfeiture to expand marijuana enforcement—a state-level issue—makes the already unacceptable practice even worse."


Lieu called the DEA eradication program "a waste of time and money and runs contrary to the will of the people."

"The Federal Government has a responsibility to spend taxpayer money wisely," he said. "Instead, A.G. Jeff Sessions would rather waste federal dollars by attacking marijuana, which has been legalized either for medical or recreational use in the majority of states in the U.S."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime supporter of the drug war, recently rescinded Obama-era guidance to U.S Attorneys on marijuana enforcement, sparking fears of a federal crackdown on the drug, which is now legal at the state level for recreational use in eight states and the District of Columbia.

A new poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy and released by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), an anti-legalization group, found that only 16 percent of Americans support keeping the current federal policy on marijuana, while 49 percent favor full legalization for recreational use.

The bill also has the support of marijuana legalization groups.

"Never in modern history has there existed greater public support for ending the nation's nearly century-long experiment with marijuana prohibition," Justin Strekal, the political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in a statement. "With eight states and the District of Columbia now having legalized its personal use and 30 states having legalized medical marijuana, it is time that the DEA cease interfering with state-legal programs and stop wasting taxpayer dollars that would be better directed at going after the pill-mills contributing to the nations opioid crisis."
 
Real news from Real people.

Op-ed: We got into medical marijuana to help people – now we’re under siege

By Amy Weiss and Lou Weiss, Special To The Washington Post

We’re deeply unhip 60-year-olds. One of us, Lou, has never smoked pot in his life. The other, Amy, hasn’t tried it since high school.

But we’re concerned about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent announcement overriding a key Obama-era Justice Department advisory letter, allowing U.S. attorneys to prosecute cannabis activities approved at the state level.

That’s because we’re newly minted marijuana entrepreneurs.

At the moment, our business is still protected by federal law, thanks to temporary legislation that bars the Justice Department from using federal funds to crack down on the drug used for medical purposes in states where it’s legal. But that protection is on shaky ground. Congress needs to reauthorize or extend the protection as part of its spending bill by Friday, or our business – designed to help people with pain in their daily lives – will be at risk.

Given that we’re parents exhausted from raising four daughters, getting into a new business is probably the last thing we should be doing. But when we look at the potential benefits of this drug, we had to act.

Two years ago, we helped form a group that serves as the basis for a company with a Pennsylvania license – one of only 12 granted so far – to help those in pain. The group includes a doctor, some lawyers, accomplished business people and experts at growing and processing medical marijuana.

When people find out that we of all people are involved in the medical pot business, they make all kinds of jokes. It’s true: AK-47, Train Wreck and Durban Poison don’t exactly sound like medicine to us. But if AK-47 helps with spasticity, Train Wreck with seizures and Durban Poison with epilepsy, then we can easily live with those funky monikers.

Every morning when we open our local newspaper, we see the heartbreaking effect of opioid addiction. Sometimes it’s two souls lost, sometimes three. Most are young, beautiful people. More and more of the obituaries honestly admit that the cause of death was opioid or heroin addiction. But we have never heard of someone overdosing on marijuana. And in fact, states that approved medical marijuana have reportedly seen a 25 percent reduction in opioid-related deaths.

A few years ago, Lou’s sister was dealing with primary liver cancer. One thing that helped her deal with the pain was marijuana-infused brownies that a friend of hers sent in from California. Likewise, when Amy’s mother was suffering with terminal lung cancer, the opiates prescribed for her caused constipation and left her in a constant fog, not remotely herself. But medical-marijuana brownies given to her by a friend of a friend eased her pain and helped her to develop a bit of an appetite. She even laughed and preserved part of her personality. Every hospice professional we spoke to approved of the brownies.

Lou has a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, which is one of the conditions that the Pennsylvania law allows prescriptions for. We know of other people with MS who suffer with severe spasticity that have been helped by medical marijuana. We have seen firsthand how medical marijuana relieves suffering.

Related stories
The same medical marijuana our company will grow is already helping patients in Nevada and California. We will produce our medical marijuana in a sterile, pharmaceutical environment, constantly testing and purifying the plants from any chemicals used in processing. We will also precisely label THC and cannabidiol content for each extract and recommend useful applications of our products for specific diagnoses. At the same time, we’ll be able to conduct long-lasting, serious research on which strain works best for which illness.

Sessions has said that “good people don’t smoke marijuana.” While Pennsylvania does not allow marijuana in plant form to smoke, with all due respect, we beg to differ. Who among us knows when we will have a child a parent or a spouse who is suffering the pain of chemotherapy or epileptic seizure, or who is not responding well to a hospice treatment? Don’t we want the best methods of pain relief for our loved ones?

Lawmakers in Congress need to ensure that medical marijuana remains protected. If they will not, prosecutors need to exercise their discretion and allow businesses like ours to operate.

After weighing the pros and the cons of medical marijuana, we come out strongly in favor of the sensible and regulated approach that Pennsylvania is taking. We are proud to be among those who made a difference in helping our family, friends and neighbors deal with their pain.


Amy Weiss is a sweat-equity partner in a group that has a license to grow and process medical marijuana in Pittsburgh. Lou Weiss, her husband, is a carpet salesman.
 
BD9 said:
I feel that @Baron23's political posts should come to an end. It's one thing to post an article but to give a biased an unfactual commentary is unacceptable. These posts and rants are becoming too frequent and consistent.
This is something that @momofthegoons has tried to prevent here at Vapor Asylum as political discussions quickly got out of hand at FC.
Click to expand...
Just wanted to mention something we always forget...

Don't read posts that you don't like. (I swear I'm not being a d*ck, just a point in trying to make)

Everyone, everywhere, is getting pretty raw about opinions they don't share.

I was taught to try having a calm reaction since I was young - ignore things said that you don't like. Don't follow threads that you don't like.

:thumbsup:

There will never be an entire site, even full of us cannabis lovers, that will have only posts any one person will always agree with. We will always disagree as to why our current obstacles to cannabis freedom exist at some level. Let's hang in there together, bearing with each others' differences in love until we're finally in a world that is sane about cannabis.

:peace:

Peace and good things to everyone.
 
Shoppers Drug Mart signs marijuana supply deal with Tilray Canada
Submitted by Marijuana News on Fri, 01/19/2018
Licensed marijuana producer Tilray Canada Ltd. has signed a deal to become a medical cannabis supplier to Shoppers Drug Mart.

Subject to Health Canada's approval of Shoppers Drug Mart's application to dispense medical marijuana, Tilray will supply the retailer with Tilray branded medical cannabis products.

The B.C.-based company expects the products will be sold online because regulations restrict the sale of medical cannabis in retail pharmacies.

Tilray says its products are sold in pharmacies in seven countries around the world.

Shoppers Drug Mart's deal with Tilray follows similar agreements that the retailer signed last year with MedReleaf (TSX:LEAF) and Aphria (TSX:APH).

The pharmacy chain's parent company Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L) applied for a license to dispense medical marijuana in October 2016.
 
This may be the year we make some headway on Federal legalization or at least rescheduling. Sessions' moves have energized and activated the opposition.

The one aspect of this proposed bill I do not care for is the $500M of taxpayer money (of which I am one) for another social engineering/welfare program.


The Marijuana Justice Act: What It Is And Why It’s Critical
How some lawmakers are fighting back against Jeff Sessions.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he would get rid of a longstanding “hands-off” policy that for years restricted federal agents and funds from going after states with legal weed. Now, pro-legalization lawmakers are responding to his attempts to start a federal crackdown on state-legal weed. On Wednesday, a group of House Democrats introduced The Marijuana Justice Act.

This bill would dramatically change federal cannabis laws. But what exactly is The Marijuana Justice Act? And why is it so important?

What Is The Marijuana Justice Act?
The bill was introduced this week to the House by Representatives Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna, both from California. It is the House version of a bill introduced last fall in the Senate by New Jersey’s Senator Cory Booker.

When Sen. Booker first introduced The Marijuana Justice Act last August, it was hailed as “the single most far-reaching marijuana bill that’s ever been filed in either chamber of Congress.”

And for good reason. This bill goes way beyond simply making cannabis legal.


Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most important parts of The Marijuana Justice Act:

  • It calls for the federal legalization of cannabis.
  • The bill would expunge all federal convictions for possessing or using cannabis.
  • It would earmark $500 million for a “community reinvestment fund.” This money would provide job training. Most of the funds would go into communities that have had disproportionately high numbers of weed arrests.
  • The Marijuana Justice Act would also cut federal funds for law enforcement and prison construction in states where weed arrests have disproportionately affected people of color or poor people.
Why Is The Marijuana Justice Act Important?
The Marijuana Justice Act is important because it goes beyond legalization. It is an attempt to somehow account for the harm done by decades of a heavy-handed war on drugs. In particular, it is an attempt to account for the disproportionate harm experienced by people of color.

“We intend to end this destructive war on drugs, and this legislation will do that,” Rep. Lee said at a press conference this week. “It’s a roadmap for ending the drug war, but it also begins to address mass incarceration and disinvestment in communities of color. It is an essential step to correcting the injustices of the failed war on drugs, namely racial disparities in arrest and incarceration.”

The racial component of the war on drugs—and especially the war on weed—is well documented.

A study published by the ACLU found that, at the national level, black and white people consume weed at roughly at the same rates. Despite that, black people are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.


In at least 15 states that number is even higher. In some states, black people are over eight times more likely to be arrested for weed possession than whites.

The ramifications of this disparity are far-reaching. Obviously, these convictions mean that, on average, people of color spend more time locked up and away from family, friends, and community than white folks.

Depending on the state and the severity of the charge, these convictions can also cut people off from a variety of public assistance programs. This can include access to housing and education.

Similarly, Rep. Khanna estimated that the amount of time black people spend incarcerated for weed charges equates to “hundreds of millions of dollars in lost economic potential.”

And the list goes on and on.


Final Hit: The Marijuana Justice Act Is A Big Deal
All things considered, The Marijuana Justice Act is an attempt to accomplish two main things.

The first is to make weed legal. By legalizing cannabis at the federal level, this bill would get rid of one of the war on drugs’ biggest tools for targeting people of color.

This bill also attempts to make some sort of restitution for the harm already caused by the war on drugs—especially the harm disproportionately experienced by people and communities of color.

The big question now is whether or not this bill has a chance of passing into law. The House bill that was introduced this week has 12 Democratic cosponsors. But so far, no Republicans have signed on.
 
Marijuana money increasingly flowing to Republican lawmakers

DENVER — Marijuana business owners are increasingly pouring their profits into lobbying lawmakers as they face a federal crackdown from the Trump administration.

A USA TODAY survey found hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing from the cannabis industry into campaign finance accounts of both lawmakers and political action committees, with emphasis this year on Congressional Republicans who are trying to stop the Trump administration from targeting marijuana businesses.

Combined, medical and recreational marijuana marketplaces across the country are worth a staggering $8 billion, and last year generated at least $2 billion in taxes, said Matt Karnes of cannabis data firm GreenWave Advisors. It’s no surprise those businesses want to protect what they’ve built, experts say.

“These are legitimate, taxpaying businesses that want and deserve to be heard, and lawmakers at every level of government have become more comfortable with accepting their contributions,” said Mason Tvert, a cannabis activist who helped lead Colorado’s legalization effort in 2012.

More: Justice Department cracks down on legal marijuana with rollback of Obama policy

More: Uncertainty roils American marijuana industry over feared federal crackdown

More: Legal marijuana arriving in California after decades of underground dealing

Politicians are increasingly willing to accept those contributions from an industry that remains illegal at the federal level and now faces even more scrutiny after Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month rolled back Obama administrationpolicies not to interfere with state laws allowing people to use recreational marijuana.

636518914436743810-marijuana-images-January2018-Trevor-Hughes1531.JPG

A growing room filled with maturing marijuana plants inside the Medicine Man cannabis dispensary in Denver. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY)

Eight states, along with the District of Columbia, permit adults to possess small amounts of marijuana, and Vermont's governor was expected to make pot legal in the Green Mountain state this weekend.

Money is also flowing at the state level, where legislators and regulators decide on details about packaging, testing and even who can get business licenses. Legalization ballot initiatives across the country have also been backed by millions of dollars, particularly in California.

Cannabis lobbying groups, including the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), have long lobbied lawmakers, but now marijuana business owners themselves are contributing — and letting everyone know it.

636518826214405336-Contributions-Online.png

John Lord, the CEO of Colorado-based LivWell Enlightened Health, whose company employs more than 600 people, has donated nearly $23,000 to federal lawmakers in the past four years, and another $10,000 to Colorado politicians and issue committees. Increasingly he’s been giving to Republicans at the federal level.

"It would be rather imprudent if I didn’t,” Lord said.

Lord's donations make him one of the biggest individual donors in cannabis campaign contributions nationally, at least among those who admit where the money comes from. While campaign donors are supposed to disclose their employer, many black-market marijuana growers simply say they're self-employed or a consultant, obscuring the source of the money.

Democrats have typically been the largest recipients of marijuana campaign money in the past, but Republicans are now taking the lead in accepting those donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzed contributions at the request of USA TODAY. Experts say the recent shift is largely attributable to the belief by marijuana businesses that Republicans who support states' rights are their best allies today.

636518914520516347-marijuana-images-January2018-Trevor-Hughes1519.JPG

Preston Mekelburg, 22, weighs and packages marijuana at the Medicine Man cannabis dispensary in Denver. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY)

Because marijuana contributions make up such a small percentage of campaign donations and lobbying spending, it's hard to track exactly how much money is flowing to candidates.

Industry groups with political action committees are the biggest donors, among them the MPP, NORML and the National Cannabis Industry Association, which combined have donated about $327,000 to candidates over the past three Congressional election cycles, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. By comparison, the National Beer Wholesalers Association donated about $1.5 million to candidates in the past year alone.

While the marijuana contributions represent a proverbial drop in the bucket compared to traditional businesses like brewers, grocers, manufacturers or liquor stores, the increasing flow from cannabis entrepreneurs suggests the industry won’t willingly let the federal government slow this fast-growing juggernaut.

Republican California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher recently became a favored lawmaker of cannabis contributors for his strong support of the industry: He's the author of legislation banning the Justice Department from targeting legal medical marijuana businesses. Rohrabacher said he’s noticing more and more marijuana money and lobbying on Capitol Hill.

“They’ve got a lot to learn. But they’re learning it because they’re here now,” he said. “The voters of those states have granted them the title of legitimate businessmen.”

The rapidly growing marijuana industry is finding that politicians are increasingly willing to accept their campaign contributions, said Eli Scislowicz, the operations director of the NuLeaf cannabis dispensary in Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village, Nev.

“In 2007, we might have gotten a few weird looks if we offered them money, but not anymore,” he said.
 
7 States most likely to legalize Marijuana next (after Vermont)

Last month, I made a list of the eight states most likely to legalize marijuana in 2018, writes Joseph Misulonas. The number one state on that list was Vermont, which just so happened to officially legalize recreational cannabis yesterday. So now that Vermont’s out of the way, here are the seven states most likely to legalize marijuana next.

7. Illinois

Current Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner opposes recreational marijuana, but he’s highly unpopular and facing re-election next November. The top Democrats running for the gubernatorial nomination have either endorsed marijuana legalization or say they are open to it. So it may not be until 2019 at the earliest for Illinois to legalize marijuana, but there’s still a good chance of it happening.

6. Arizona

A 2016 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in Arizona failed by only a couple of percentage points. Another initiative is on the way this year. If the initiative makes it onto the ballot, it might finally be able to make it over the hump.

5. Rhode Island

Current Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo has expressed reservations about legalizing recreational marijuana in the past. However, in her recent budget proposal, she included a dramatic expansion of the state’s medical program, which indicates she may be opening up to the issue. If the state’s legislature decides to pass a recreational law, there’s a better chance now that she may reluctantly sign it.

4. Michigan

Next November, Michigan voters will get the chance to approve recreational marijuana legalization through a new ballot initiative. A new poll that came out just today says that 57 percent of voters in the state approve of legalization. That’s pretty good news for next November’s initiative.

3. Delaware

A task force created by Delaware Governor John Carney is expected to issue a report on how to change a current bill to legalize marijuana and make it as solid as possible. The state legislature is expected to vote on the actual bill sometime this Spring. So we may be only a few months away from big news coming out of Delaware.

2. New Hampshire

Earlier this month, the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana. However, the state’s governor says he will not pass the bill and is waiting for a commission studying the issue before making a decision. As soon as that commission comes back and says it’s a good idea, New Hampshire will finally make this the law.

1. New Jersey

Democrat Phil Murphy is finally in the governor’s house, meaning a pro-marijuana politician is in charge of the state. Considering his support for legalizing recreational cannabis, it’s only a matter of time before that becomes law in New Jersey.
 
From Cannabis Prohibition To Progress: The Essential History
Evidence shows that marijuana legalization is working so far.
By: Terry Hacienda Jan 24, 2018


Photo by Flickr user shadowhound


It’s been five years since voters in Colorado and Washington made the logical move to legalize cannabis in their states. Today, there are nine states that have decided to make marijuana legal and more states are expected to join the list in the near future.


The five-year experiment appears to be working out just fine. The evidence clearly demonstrates that marijuana legalization has led to states saving money and protecting the public through comprehensive regulation of marijuana for adult use.

This success has likely contributed to the historically high levels of public support for marijuana legalization in the US, which has steadily grown to an all-time high of 64 percent. The majority of Americans – including 51 percent of Republicans – now support marijuana legalization.

The Drug Policy Alliance on Tuesday published a new report titled “From Prohibition to Progress: A Status Report on Marijuana Legalization.” The report reveals that states are saving money and protecting the public by comprehensively regulating marijuana for adult use. There have been dramatic decreases in marijuana arrests and convictions, saving states millions of dollars and preventing the criminalization of thousands of people.

Marijuana legalization is having a positive effect on public health and safety. Youth marijuana use has remained stable in states that have legalized. Access to legal marijuana is associated with reductions in some of the most troubling harms associated with opioid use, including opioid overdose deaths and untreated opioid use disorders. DUI arrests for driving under the influence (of alcohol and other drugs) have declined in Colorado and Washington, the first two states to legalize marijuana. At the same time, states are exceeding their marijuana revenue estimates and filling their coffers with hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Marijuana criminalization and enforcement have been a massive waste of money and have unequally harmed Black and Latino communities,” says Jolene Forman, staff attorney at the Drug Policy Alliance. “This report shows that marijuana legalization is working. States are effectively protecting public health and safety through comprehensive regulations. Now more states should build on the successes of marijuana legalization and advance policies to repair the racially disparate harms of the war on drugs.”

Below are the findings of the comprehensive study:

Social Justice Impacts
Marijuana arrests are down:
Arrests for marijuana have plummeted in places with legal marijuana – saving hundreds of millions of dollars and sparing thousands of people from being branded with a lifelong criminal record.


States are allocating marijuana revenues for social good.

Public Health
Youth marijuana use is stable:
Youth marijuana use rates have remained stable, nationally and in states that have legalized marijuana for adults age 21 and older.


Marijuana legalization is linked to lower rates of opioid-related harm:
Increased access to marijuana has been associated with reductions in some of the most troubling harms associated with opioids, including opioid overdose deaths and untreated opioid use disorders.


Road Safety
Legalization has not made our roads less safe:
The total number of arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs has declined in Colorado and Washington, the first two states to regulate marijuana for adult use.



There is no correlation between marijuana legalization and crash rates:
Research demonstrates that Colorado and Washington’s post-legalization fatal crash rates have little to nothing to do with marijuana. The crash rates in both states are statistically similar to comparable states without legal marijuana.

Marijuana and the Economy
Sales and tax revenue are exceeding initial estimates:
Marijuana sales in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and most recently in Nevada, began slowly as consumers and regulators alike adjusted to new systems. Once up and running, however, overall sales and tax revenue in each state quickly exceeded initial estimates.


Sales in California started on January 1, 2018 and no data are available yet. Sales in Massachusetts will not begin until July 2018. Sales in Maine are on hold, pending approval of a bill to implement the state’s regulated marijuana program. In Washington, DC no retail cultivation, manufacturing or sales are permitted at this time.

The marijuana industry is creating jobs:
Preliminary estimates suggest that the legal marijuana industry employs between 165,000 to 230,000 full- and part-time workers across the country. This number will only continue to grow as more states legalize marijuana and replace their unregulated markets with new legal marijuana markets.

However, there is currently a lack of equity and inclusion in the regulated marijuana market. The communities most harmed by marijuana criminalization have struggled to overcome the many barriers to participation in this market.

Some states and cities are implementing rules to help increase equity and reduce barriers to entry in the marijuana industry. For example, Massachusetts is adopting rules aimed at ensuring that people most harmed by marijuana criminalization can participate in the regulated market. Additionally, in California, a prior drug felony cannot be the sole basis for denying a marijuana license. This mitigates the harms to low-income, black, and Latinx people who have borne decades of disproportionate arrests and convictions for marijuana offenses.

Going Forward: Areas of Growth
We need to reduce racial disparities and reform police practices:
It is widely known that there are vast racial disparities in the enforcement of marijuana laws. Black and Latinx people are more likely to be arrested for marijuana offenses than white people, despite similar rates of use and sales across racial groups.



Marijuana legalization dramatically reduces the number of people arrested for marijuana offenses; however, it does not end racially disparate policing. Police practices must be reformed to fully remedy the unequal enforcement of marijuana laws. Police departments should:


We need to establish safe places for people to consume marijuana:
Consuming marijuana in public is illegal in all eight states and Washington, DC that have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older. It is a misdemeanor in Nevada and Washington, DC, and a civil penalty subject to fines and fees in all other states. This means that people who lack the means to pay the fines and fees, or those without homes or in federally-subsidized housing, risk being jailed for consuming a lawful substance. Public use violations are also disproportionately enforced against people of color, particularly black people.

To address these concerns, several states have permitted social clubs or retail stores for onsite marijuana consumption. However, rollout of these businesses has been slow. It is imperative that these businesses are permitted so that all people have safe places to consume marijuana, free from criminal justice intervention.

We need to promote marijuana decriminalization and penalty reductions for youth and young adults:
In several states, marijuana legalization has had the unintended consequence of reducing historically high numbers of youth (under age 18) and young adults (18 to 20 years of age) stopped and arrested for marijuana offenses. However, these reductions are inconsistent from state-to-state. In some circumstances, youth now comprise a growing number of people charged with marijuana offenses.


While the reduction in youth arrests following legalization is a positive step, more reform is needed. California’s approach is too new to be evaluated, but it appears to be a good step toward reducing youth and young adults’ risk of criminal justice involvement for marijuana-related conduct:


Download the full report (PDF)
https://thefreshtoast.com/author/terryhacienda/
 
WHY NO GADGET CAN PROVE HOW STONED YOU ARE

IF YOU’VE SPENT time with marijuana—any time at all, really—you know that the high can be rather unpredictable. It depends on the strain, its level of THC and hundreds of other compounds, and the interaction between all these elements. Oh, and how much you ate that day. And how you took the cannabis. And the position of the North Star at the moment of ingestion.

OK, maybe not that last one. But as medical and recreational marijuana use spreads across the United States, how on Earth can law enforcement tell if someone they’ve pulled over is too high to be driving, given all these factors? Marijuana is such a confounding drug that scientists and law enforcement are struggling to create an objective standard for marijuana intoxication. (Also, I’ll say this early and only once: For the love of Pete, do not under any circumstances drive stoned.)

Sure, the cops can take you back to the station and draw a blood sample and determine exactly how much THC is in your system. “It's not a problem of accurately measuring it,” says Marilyn Huestis, coauthor of a new review paper in Trends in Molecular Medicine about cannabis intoxication. “We can accurately measure cannabinoids in blood and urine and sweat and oral fluid. It's interpretation that is the more difficult problem.”

You see, different people handle marijuana differently. It depends on your genetics, for one. And how often you consume cannabis, because if you take it enough, you can develop a tolerance to it. A dose of cannabis that may knock amateurs on their butts could have zero effect on seasoned users—patients who use marijuana consistently to treat pain, for instance.

The issue is that THC—what’s thought to be the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana—interacts with the human body in a fundamentally different way than alcohol. “Alcohol is a water-loving, hydrophilic compound,” says Huestis. “Whereas THC is a very fat-loving compound. It's a hydrophobic compound. It goes and stays in the tissues.” The molecule can linger for up to a month, while alcohol clears out right quick.

But while THC may hang around in tissues, it starts diminishing in the blood quickly—really quickly. “It's 74 percent in the first 30 minutes, and 90 percent by 1.4 hours,” says Huestis. “And the reason that's important is because in the US, the average time to get blood drawn [after arrest] is between 1.4 and 4 hours.” By the time you get to the station to get your blood taken, there may not be much THC left to find. (THC tends to linger longer in the brain because it’s fatty in there. That’s why the effects of marijuana can last longer than THC is detectable in breath or blood.)

So law enforcement can measure THC, sure enough, but not always immediately. And they’re fully aware that marijuana intoxication is an entirely different beast than drunk driving. “How a drug affects someone might depend on the person, how they used the drug, the type of drug (e.g., for cannabis, you can have varying levels of THC between different products), and how often they use the drug,” California Highway Patrol spokesperson Mike Martis writes in an email to WIRED.

Accordingly, in California, where recreational marijuana just became legal, the CHP relies on other observable measurements of intoxication. If an officer does field sobriety tests like the classic walk-and-turn maneuver, and suspects someone may be under the influence of drugs, they can request a specialist called a drug recognition evaluator. The DRE administers additional field sobriety tests—analyzing the suspect’s eyes and blood pressure to try to figure out what drug may be in play.

The CHP says it’s also evaluating the use of oral fluid screening gadgets to assist in these drug investigations. (Which devices exactly, the CHP declines to say.) “However, we want to ensure any technology we use is reliable and accurate before using it out in the field and as evidence in a criminal proceeding,” says Martis.

Another option would be to test a suspect’s breath with a breathalyzer for THC, which startups like Hound Labs are chasing. While THC sticks around in tissues, it’s no longer present in your breath after about two or three hours. So if a breathalyzer picks up THC, that would suggest the stuff isn’t lingering from a joint smoked last night, but one smoked before the driver got in a car.

This could be an objective measurement of the presence of THC, but not much more. “We are not measuring impairment, and I want to be really clear about that,” says Mike Lynn, CEO of Hound Labs. “Our breathalyzer is going to provide objective data that potentially confirms what the officer already thinks.” That is, if the driver was doing 25 in a 40 zone and they blow positive for THC, evidence points to them being stoned.

But you might argue that even using THC to confirminebriation goes too far. The root of the problem isn’t really about measuring THC, it’s about understanding the galaxy of active compounds in cannabis and their effects on the human body. “If you want to gauge intoxication, pull the driver out and have him drive a simulator on an iPad,” says Kevin McKernan, chief scientific officer at Medicinal Genomics, which does genetic testing of cannabis. “That'll tell ya. The chemistry is too fraught with problems in terms of people's individual genetics and their tolerance levels.”

Scientists are just beginning to understand the dozens of other compounds in cannabis. CBD, for instance, may dampen the psychoactive effects of THC. So what happens if you get dragged into court after testing positive for THC, but the marijuana you consumed was also a high-CBD strain?

“It significantly compounds your argument in court with that one,” says Jeff Raber, CEO of the Werc Shop, a cannabis lab. “I saw this much THC, you're intoxicated. Really, well I also had twice as much CBD, doesn't that cancel it out? I don't know, when did you take that CBD? Did you take it afterwards, did you take it before?”

“If you go through all this effort and spend all the time and money and drag people through court and spend taxpayer dollars, we shouldn't be in there with tons of question marks,” Raber says.

But maybe one day marijuana roadside testing won’t really matter. “I really think we're probably going to see automated cars before we're going to see this problem solved in a scientific sense,” says Raber. Don’t hold your breath, then, for a magical device that tells you you’re stoned.
 
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Doesn't say who the entire 54 were....lousy reporting, IMO.


Trump Administration should back off of Marijuana, 54 members of Congress write in letter to president

Bipartisan lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to back off of marijuana, they wrote in a letter on Thursday.

The letter, an effort spearheaded by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts and Representative Jared Polis, Democrat of Colorado, urged the president to stand in Attorney General Jeff Sessions' way as he attempts to roll back protections for marijuana in the United States, focusing on the president's campaign promises to leave marijuana alone. Fifty-four members of Congress signed.

"As a candidate, you stated: 'I really believe we should leave [marijuana] up to the states' and that 'it's got to be a state decision.' We trust that you still hold this belief, and we request that you urge the Attorney General to reinstate the Cole Memorandum," the letter read.

In early January, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo, an Obama-era policy that said the Justice Department would leave it up to states to decide and enforce their marijuana-use laws.

The DOJ would instead focus on things like organized drug crimes and sales to underage users. The rescinsion particularly affects nine states (plus the District of Columbia) that have legalized recreational marijuana, and the 29 states (plus the District of Columbia) that have legalized medical marijuana.

Sessions maintains the view that marijuana is dangerous, and that there isn't enough research to prove its medical benefits.

The members of Congress added in the letter, "These new policies have helped eliminate the black market sale of marijuana and allowed law enforcement to focus on real threats to public health and safety."

The signatures included those of Representatives Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon and Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, who are both the co-authors of a bill currently in flux that prevents the DOJ from spending any money on prosecuting medical marijuana in states where it's legal.
 
Bit better of an article. I have tried to copy and past the letter showing the signatures but can also follow the link in the article title and see it directly.

Now here is where I think all these people miss the boat....I hate to agree with Jeff Sessions on ANYTHING but he is right in one respect....the Controlled Substance Act was written and passed by Congress and so can any modifications to it. What these politicians want is for somebody else to do it so they can avoid any political risk but still claim to be on the side of legal MJ.

Congress....change the fucking law already and quit chipping around the edges.

54 Bipartisan Members of Congress Urge Trump to Revive Cole Memo

On the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump said cannabis legalization should be left to the states. “In terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state,” he said in October 2015. “I really believe we should leave it up to the states.”


With the threat of a federal crackdown looming, a bipartisan group of congressional representatives is now urging the president to stand by his own words. “We trust you still hold this belief,” the group, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) wrote this week in letter to the White House.

It's the latest in a growing number of actions by members of Congress to defend and support state cannabis laws.
That letter, signed by 54 members of the US Senate and House and sent Thursday, calls on Trump to direct US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reinstate the Cole memo, a Justice Department policy that urged prosecutors not to interfere in legal-cannabis states. Sessions rescinded the Obama-era memo earlier this month.

That rescission, wrote federal lawmakers, “puts jobs, small businesses, state infrastructure, consumers, minorities, and patients at risk. This action has the potential to unravel efforts to build sensible drug policies that encourage economic development as we are finally moving away from antiquated practices that have hurt disadvantaged communities.”

at “marijuana activity is a serious crime” and leaves it to individual US attorneys to decide whether to bring charges in legal states. “This new guidance,” wrote the group of lawmakers, “will have a chilling effect across the country in states that have worked tirelessly to implement voter-approved laws, creating legal and economic uncertainty.”

The letter is the latest in a growing number of actions by members of Congress to defend and support state cannabis laws.

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This is key, I believe. Your (ours) Federal elected representatives, of both parties, have....with some small exceptions....done nothing to resolve the fundamental issue with MJ legalization and that is the legislation that THEY passed (Controlled Substance Act) and have done nothing for a long time and through the executive branch administrations of both parties.

Forget Cole memo and whatever they are calling the budget amendment restrictions on DOJ for MMJ these days. That's just dithering about. The majority of this country has taken a positive stance on MJ legalization and the only way to get these self-entitled, elected for life (it seems) politicians is to roger them at the polls.

Vote your issues and your candidates stance on them...not your party.



Marijuana Legalization Will Be a Hot Topic at the 2018 Polls

On Election Day, Nov. 6, 2018, many frustrated constituents queueing up to vote may be less interested in deciding the fate of a specific candidate than legalizing recreational marijuana.

A growing problem for elected officials on the wrong side of the prohibition issue, a Pew Research Center survey published in January discovered that 61 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization.

While this is great news for the American public and progressive policy, it represents a dark and ominous reality for the political allies of Jeff Sessions and his Nixon-esque loathing of legal weed.

Per the Pew poll, an overwhelming majority of Millennials (70%), Gen Xers ( 66%), and Baby Boomers (56%), support legalizing adult-use marijuana. No longer politically impotent adolescents unable to vote, as millennials grab the reins of power and become a significant voting bloc – their craving for legalization will become a precarious political problem for any would-be elected officials seeking to maintain their political office – that rejects reform. During the 2016 General Election, Millennials and Gen Xers cast 69.9 million votes combined. Alone, Millennials – individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 – cast approximately 34,000,000 votes. And its statistics like this that are causing some real consternation for the likes of Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. A longtime opponent of adult-use legalization, Gov. Rauner will likely face and be trounced by a pro-legalization candidate in November.

A topic du jour for those seeking elected office in several states, more than a few Poli-Sci sages anticipate the pot question will be a sticky problem for any incumbent not embracing legalization in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, and North Dakota during the 2018 midterm elections.

Politically potent for voter turnout, the topic of legalization has serious “cannabis coattails,” according to polling data scrutinized in October 2016 by the Brookings Institute. A nonprofit public policy organization based in the nation’s capital, the think tank concluded: “those coattails have meaningful effects up and down the ballot.”

A primary demonstration of this important fact is evident in the results from New Jersey’s recent election. During the 2017 gubernatorial race, Gov. Phil Murphy campaigned on the platform of legalizing marijuana in the Garden State. By promising to legalize adult use once in office, the Murphy campaign whipped the Republican candidate and won in a landslide.

In supporting the legalization of recreational marijuana, progressive candidates can argue their position will unleash critical job creation, increase tax revenue for the state coffers, drive down crime, mitigate addiction rates, and relieve our nation’s overcrowded prison system of its most undeserving inmates – the marijuana prisoner.

The bottom line going forward is simple: marijuana legalization and your vote count in 2018 and beyond!
 
It’s Happening — D.A.R.E. Ends Anti-Weed Campaign, Quietly Removes Pot from Gateway Drug List
By
Dr. John Regan January 22, 2018

Cannabis has been shown to kill cancer cells, save the lives of countless epileptic children, treat PTSD, heal bones, treat brain trauma, and a slew of other uses science is only beginning to understand. And yet, the only thing dangerous about this seemingly miraculous plant is that police will kidnap, cage, or kill you for possessing it.

In spite of some form of cannabis being legal in some fashion in 23 states, the government still violently and with extreme prejudice continues to seek out those who dare possess it.

If the CDC calculated the number of deaths inflicted by police while enforcing marijuana laws, that number would certainly be shocking and could even be deemed a risk to public health. Marijuana is, indeed, dangerous, but only because of what can happen to you if the police catch you with it.

Nothing highlights the hypocrisy, immorality, and sheer lunacy of the drug war quite like marijuana prohibition and the only ones who continue to enforce the immoral and tyrannical act of marijuana prohibition are those who profit from it.

Below is a list of the top five industries who need you locked in a cage for possessing a plant in order to ensure their job security.

Below is a list of the top five industries who need you locked in a cage for possessing a plant in order to ensure their job security.

Police Unions: Coming in as the number one contributor to politicians for their votes to lock you in a cage for a plant are the police themselves. They risk taking massive pay cuts and losing all their expensive militarized toys without the war on drugs.
Private Prison Corporations: No surprise here. The corporatist prison lobby is constantly pushing for stricter laws to keep their stream of tax dollars flowing.
Alcohol and Beer Companies: These giant corporations hate competition, so why not pay millions to keep a cheaper and far safer alcohol alternative off the market?
Pharmaceutical Corporations: The hypocrisy of marijuana remaining a Schedule 1 drug, “No Medical Use Whatsoever,” seems criminal when considering that pharmaceutical companies reproduce a chemical version of THC and can market and sell it as such. Ever hear of Marinol? Big pharma simply uses the force of the state to legislate out their competition; that happens to be nature.
Prison Guard Unions: The prison guard unions are another group, so scared of losing their jobs, that they would rather see thousands of non-violent and morally innocent people thrown into cages than look for another job.
The good news, however, is that people are rapidly waking up to the war on weed. Even idiot politicians who still think it’s dangerous are being enticed by the lure of tax revenue generated by ending prohibition to dig them out of budget shortfalls.

Perhaps one of the most telling signs of change is the fact that the anti-drug propaganda group known as D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) has not only removed cannabis from its list of gateway drugs but they have stopped lying to children about its dangers.

For more three decades, cops would fear monger about the dangers of marijuana to children who had never even heard of it before. “One hit and your life is over,” they would say, instilling this false fear in America’s youth — luckily, most kids never bought it.

However, DARE no longer mentions marijuana in their fear propaganda, and kids are better for it.
 
Despite promises to cut back, fed and state governments press asset forfeitures
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A three-time Rotary Club "Ambassador of the Year," Alabama car dealer Jamey Vibbert was a hometown hero -- until being branded a felon.

His alleged crime: selling two cars reportedly purchased with drug money, which in the eyes of an Alabama prosecutor made him a money launderer, guilty of "taking dirty money."

Vibbert was arrested on June 24, 2015, and $25,097 taken from his bank account. His mug shot was plastered in the local newspaper and Facebook accounts. His $2 million-a-year business was out-of-business.

“No one wanted to buy from us,” Vibbert told Fox News. “People whispered, ‘You buy from them, you go to jail.’ It cost us our business.”

With his reputation in tatters, Vibbert dropped out of the Rotary Club, fell behind on house payments and stopped going to church.

He would go on to face two separate legal proceedings: a criminal trial on title fraud charge, and a separate, related to civil asset forfeiture.

Even though he wasn't guilty.

'It cost us our business.'

- Jamey Vibbert
"I didn't do anything wrong," Hibbert said, who was cleared of charges in January 2016. Multiple court appearances, fees and headaches later, he was finally able to get his $25,097 back.

But it cost him $300,000, his business and reputation.

Vibbert’s case isn't an isolated one. Reports of civil asset forfeiture abuses have spread across the United States at alarming rates.

Pitched to the public in the 1980s as a legal way to take the ill-gotten gains of drug kingpins, critics say civil asset forfeiture has evolved into a corrupt, revenue-generating avenue for law enforcement to go after people accused of low-level crimes, or in some cases, no crime at all.

The payout structure of asset forfeiture creates a strong incentive for law enforcement to start these proceedings, the critics argue.

Police are empowered to take cash and other assets based on probable cause that it is in some way connected to criminal activity -- even if the person is not charged with a crime.

A national study found 60 percent of the 1,400 municipal and county agencies surveyed across the country relied on forfeiture profits as a “necessary” part of their budget.

And while anyone can have their assets seized under civil forfeiture, the burden is felt most heavily on the economically vulnerable, according to a new investigation from Alabama Appleseed and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The findings also point to racial disparities. “As is generally true in the American criminal justice system, the law itself might be color blind, but that doesn’t guarantee that enforcement is,” according to the report.

Mobile Attorney Chase Dearman has represented more than 50 people in civil forfeiture cases. In one case, Dearman said police seized tens of thousands of dollars from a black man who had just cashed a $100,000 check from a workman’s compensation settlement.

Police stopped the man, found illegal drugs and paraphernalia on the property, and took his money. They also took a coffee table, two paintings, television sets and the man’s fiancée’s sunglasses.

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Some expected a Sessions DOJ to dial back the practice

“I have never had a Caucasian client who has had a narcotics officer unscrew the TVs from their walls and take them out the front door and confiscate them,” Derman told SPLC. “However, it is a common occurrence with African-American clients.”

State prosecutors in Alabama filed 1,591 civil asset forfeiture cases in 2015. They fought to keep cash, cars and other items taken by officers. “In many cases, those suspects were not charged with any crime,” SPLC wrote.

But the grab-happy practice could soon be on its way out.

In mid-January, Alabama Republicans Sen. Arthur Orr and Rep. Arnold Mooney filed the Forfeiture Accountability and Integrity Reform Act that would eliminate civil forfeiture and replace it with criminal forfeiture.

If it becomes law, Alabama would be the fourth state to eliminate civil forfeiture, behind North Carolina, New Mexico and Nebraska.

Republicans have long criticized civil forfeiture and have pushed back strongly against former Alabama senator and current Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has backed the practice.

“With care -- we’ve gotta be careful -- and professionalism, we plan to develop policies to increase forfeitures,” Sessions said in July.

That didn’t sit well with Sen. Rand Paul, who told Fox News that in America, “you should be innocent until proven guilty and your property shouldn’t be taken without a court trial.”

“The fact that Attorney General Sessions is going all-in on this really is offensive to a lot of us who have been trying to reform this situation,” he said.

But the Justice Department maintains that when used correctly, civil asset forfeiture is a “key tool” that helps “law enforcement defund organized crime, take back ill-gotten gains, and prevent new crimes from being committed, and it weakens the criminals and the cartel.”

“Civil asset forfeiture takes the material support of the criminals and instead makes it the material support of law enforcement, funding priorities like new vehicles, bulletproof vests, opioid overdose reversal kits, and better training,” a spokesperson for the DOJ told Fox News. “In departments across this country, funds that were once used to take lives are now being used to save lives.”
 
Well, another possible blow to legal MJ by this administration...mostly fueled by Jefferson Sessions

BUT, this brings me back to a point I have harped on often....instead of just asking the executive administration to take a position, why aren't these 31 bi-partisan Congress people getting to the core of the issue which is the Congress passed Controlled Substance Act. Instead of begging the Treasury Dept, pass changes to the law to reschedule and legalize. Seems to me that these legislators want to take credit for fighting for legal MJ without actually have to take responsibility for legalizing it. They just want someone else to do it....typical, self-serving, professional political jerks.


Feds May Remove Marijuana Banking Protections, Treasury Department Says


The Trump administration is considering removing Obama-era guidance that has allowed banks to open accounts for marijuana businesses without running afoul of federal regulators.

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PHOTO: TOM SYDOW
PHOTO: TOM SYDOW

Last month, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded a broader policy from the former administration that has generally cleared the way for states to implement their own cannabis laws without Justice Department interference.

Now, the federal government may move to make it harder for cannabis industry operators who comply with state laws to store their profits with financial institutions.

"We are reviewing the [banking] guidance in light of the Attorney General's announcement and are consulting with law enforcement," Drew Maloney, the U.S. Treasury Department's assistant secretary for legislative affairs, wrote in a letter to members of Congress on Wednesday.

The letter is a response to a bipartisan group of 31 House members that had written the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) last month asking the agency to continue the cannabis banking guidance. Fifteen senators separately sent a similar letter.

The FinCEN document, issued in 2014, laid out a process for how banks can open accounts for marijuana businesses and avoid triggering federal enforcement actions.

“FinCEN’s stated priorities have allowed such businesses to conduct commerce more safely through financial institutions which reduces the use of all cash, improves public safety, and reduces fraud,” the House lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Leaving your guidance unchanged will continue to encourage small companies to make investments by freeing up access to capital. It will also further provide for well regulation and oversight through suspicious activity reports. Rescinding this guidance would inject uncertainty in the financial markets.”

Last month, Sigal Mandelker, the Treasury Department’s deputy secretary, testified at a Senate hearing that the banking memo is still in effect while the Trump administration weighs whether to revoke it.
 
Republican lawmakers optimistic about passing cannabis legislation in 2018

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) is optimistic Congress will take up marijuana legislation this year in some form. Several Republicans have pending bills protecting medical marijuana and cannabis research they hope will make progress this year, despite resistance from the Trump administration.

“I’m fairly optimistic that this year will be the year that we can make great progress on this,” Rohrabacher told The Hill.

Rohrabacher said that growing bipartisan support will help move federal legislation.

“We had 68 Republicans vote with us last time, and I think it’ll probably be 75 or more next time around,” he said.

“Today’s constituency within the Republican Party has changed. I think that we will be able to have this and expand on this change among Republicans and that’s what’s going to give us the leverage to actually change the law,” he said.

A recent Gallup poll shows a majority of Republicans now support legalizing marijuana.

Freshman Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) is one of several Republican lawmakers working to change cannabis law at the federal level. He’s currently working with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) on legislation that would provide protection for public organizations, like universities, to do research on potential benefits of medical marijuana.

He told The Hill he’s “extremely optimistic” that his legislation will pass this year.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), co-founder of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, co-authored an amendment that would prevent federal resources from being used to interfere with legal medical and recreational use of pot. He wants it attached to the next government funding bill as a temporary fix until legislation removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.

He told The Hill that his bill doing so, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, has Republican backing.

“I believe that if Republican leadership allowed a vote on either my amendment or my bill either would pass Congress,” Polis said.

Republicans may be warming up to the cannabis issue, but one key conservative — Attorney General Jeff Sessions — is not.

In early January, Sessions moved in the opposite direction from cannabis legalization when he rescinded the so-called Cole memo, a document drafted under the Obama administration that prioritized other federal crimes over pot possession. Under Sessions’s new guidance, attorneys general across the country can use their own discretion to enforce the Controlled Substance Act.

The move was met with harsh words from fellow Republican Rohrabacher.

“By doing that he is betraying his president and he’s also betraying the voters of this country,” Rohrabacher said.

“If anything, rescinding the Cole memo has lit a fire under more members of Congress and will likely help bond people together to ensure medical states are not targeted by the DOJ,” Gaetz added.

The Department of Justice declined The Hill’s request for comment.

It’s still unclear how U.S. attorneys will proceed and what will happen to cannabis businesses operating legally.

“Right now it’s just a waiting game,” said Morgan Fox, a spokesperson for the advocacy organization Marijuana Policy Project.

“Hopefully what this will do is spur Congress to act and make marijuana a state issue so that states can institute their own laws without federal interference,” Fox said.

Rohrabacher told The Hill that addressing the cannabis issue at the federal level will be one of his top priorities in 2018.
 
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