Law The Cannabis Chronicles - Misc Cannabis News

[Baron23]

Little bit more info on same topic as post above from Forbes. Oh, and the Appropriations Committee stuck it to another Sessions....that fascist Pete Sessions, chair of the Rules Committee. I just love this:

"But legalization supporters circumvented their Pete Sessions problem on Thursday by inserting the marijuana language into the funding bill at the earlier Appropriations panel stage"​

Congressional Committee Protects Medical Marijuana From Jeff Sessions

But legalization supporters circumvented their Pete Sessions problem on Thursday by inserting the marijuana language into the funding bill at the earlier Appropriations panel stage, a move they previously haven't risked because members of Congress are seen as more likely to avoid bucking party leadership at the committee level when bills are being crafted.

“Congress still has a long way to go, but it’s remarkable how far we’ve come," Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who has played a leading role in pushing cannabis reform measures, said in a statement. "Today’s vote is the latest example of the progress we’ve made. It’s still not enough, especially with Jeff Sessions at the helm of the justice system. Congress must seize this moment and act to expand protections to adult use.”

The growing number of states that are enacting medical cannabis laws in recent years means that far more members of Congress represent constituents who stand to be harmed by the spending riders' disappearance, however, so advocates felt comfortable placing the measure before the committee this year.



Debate on the marijuana amendment begins at 2:17:40 into the above clip.


“Today’s vote marks a victory for medical marijuana patients and another defeat for Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his prohibitionist agenda," Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, said in an interview. "Representative David Joyce has demonstrated to his colleagues that it is time for mainstream Republicans to embrace federalism and provide protections for state-approved marijuana programs."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has no familial relation to the Rules Committee chairman of the same last name, asked congressional leadership to discontinue the provision in a 2017 letter, but lawmakers then extended it anyway as part of large-scale budget deals for the rest of that fiscal year and into FY 2018.

“I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime,” Sessions wrote at the time. “The Department must be in a position to use all laws available to combat the transnational drug organizations and dangerous drug traffickers who threaten American lives.”

Now, the protections for state medical marijuana laws and the people and businesses who rely on them are pace to continue through 2019 as well. The rider does not protect broader state laws allowing recreational marijuana use and businesses.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take up its version of the Justice Department legislation next month. That panel has easily approved the medical cannabis rider -- and other marijuana provisions -- in recent fiscal years, and is expected to do so again.

By taking the House committee route, led by Joyce, marijuana reform supporters also avoided the measure's long association with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who has been its chief sponsor for years and who isn't a member of the Appropriations panel. The reputation of Rohrabacher, who is seen as one of the most pro-Russia members of Congress, has been damaged amid revelations about that country's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race

And his reelection this year, in a district that Hillary Clinton won, is uncertain.

Now, because the measure was successfully attached to the 2019 Justice Department bill by Joyce, it is the Ohio congressman's name -- and not Rohrabacher's -- that will likely appear at the top of congressional sign-on letters about it, probably making it more likely that fellow GOP members will more seriously consider supporting its extension.

For now, advocates are hopeful that Congress is getting the message that supporting marijuana law reform is good politics .

The Thursday vote "shows that protecting state medical marijuana programs from interference by the Department of Justice is no longer a controversial issue when members of Congress are given an opportunity to vote on this issue," said Michael Liszewski, a policy advisory at the Drug Policy Alliance. "The House Appropriations Committee stands with the 90 percent of Americans, including supermajorities of all Republicans and Democrats alike, who think Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice have no business disrupting state medical marijuana programs. The only thing standing in the way of more comprehensive federal marijuana reform proposals is a small handful of committee leaders who are blocking these bills and amendments from moving forward."

And Don Murphy of the Marijuana Policy Project said the fact that no cannabis opponents demanded a roll call vote on the state protection measure is significant.

"Opponents clearly want to avoid being on the record voting against sick patients and states’ rights, which explains why the committee held a voice vote," he said.

Separately during the Appropriations Committee's markup of the Commerce, Justice Science spending bill, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), an opponent of legalization, successfully offered an amendment urging the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to quickly process pending applications to cultivate marijuana to be used in scientific research.

 

[momofthegoons]

So... what else is in this besides CBD...?

A drug derived from marijuana just got a big lift that will likely make it the first of its kind to get federal approval

• A drug derived from marijuana to treat epilepsy is on the brink of becoming the first of its kind to win US government approval.
• The drug, called Epidiolex, contains a compound in cannabis that is not responsible for a high called CBD.
• In its third positive clinical trial, the drug appeared to reduce the number of severe seizures in people with a form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

An experimental drug derived from cannabis to treat epilepsy is on the brink of becoming the first of its kind to win US government approval.

The drug is called Epidiolex, and its active ingredient is cannabidiol, or CBD, the compound in marijuana thought to be responsible for many of its therapeutic effects but not linked with a high. No FDA-approved medications currently include a marijuana compound derived from the plant; only one drug that includes lab-produced THC is on the market.

According to new research, CBD appears to help reduce seizures in two of the hardest-to-treat forms of epilepsy, known as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.

Positive findings published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that two different doses of Epidiolex significantly curbed the number of dangerous seizures in patients with Lennox-Gastaut.

The research comes on the heels of a recent unanimous vote for Epidiolex's safety and efficacy by a panel of outside scientists convened by the US Food and Drug Administration. It also follows two other large clinical trials with similarly promising results.

Based on those findings, Shlomo Shinnar, the president of the American Epilepsy Society and a professor of neurology and epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told Business Insider he strongly believes Epidiolex "can and should be approved" for people with the two syndromes.

Positive findings build

Courtesy GW Pharma


Cannabidiol doesn't contain THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, so it doesn't get users high. In the plant, both compounds exist together, but researchers can isolate them — which is how British drugmaker GW Pharmaceuticals produces Epidiolex.

For the latest study of the drug, a team of researchers looked at 225 patients with Lennox-Gastaut. Participants' ages ranged between two and 55 years old, and they were spread across 30 international locations.

The researchers found strong evidence that an even lower dose of Epidiolex than the one previously studied was effective for curbing seizures.

The study participants were split into three groups to see how well two different daily doses worked in comparison to a placebo pill. The group that received the lowest dose (10 milligrams per kilogram) saw a type of severe seizure known as "drop seizures" cut down by more than a third. Among those given a placebo, the rate was only reduced by 17%. Those in the higher-dose group saw their drop seizures decline by nearly 42%.

Orrin Devinsky, one of the study's lead authors and a neurologist at New York University Langone Health, told Business Insider that low dose might be "the sweet spot" where most patients can achieve a relief from symptoms while any unwanted side effects, such as drowsiness.

'I'd personally be very surprised if this drug was not approved'
As in previous studies, the majority of patients in the trial experienced some side effects. Those ranged from mild issues like drowsiness and decreased appetite to more severe problems like upper respiratory infection and vomiting.

But the recent study results are evidence that a lower dose of the drug could still provide significant benefits while producing fewer symptoms.

"The major finding from this is that the 10-milligram-per-kilogram dose is going to be a more ideal dose for most. With the 20 milligram, there will probably be a little bit more of a benefit but the side effects are greater," Devinsky said.

In the two other clinical trials of the drug, one of which Devinsky also co-authored, researchers looked at Epidiolex's effects in another 225 young people with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and in 120 children with Dravet syndrome. Like the latest study, the researchers split the participants into three groups and gave them either a high dose of the drug, a low dose, or a placebo. In general, those in the high-dose group saw their seizure occurrence drop by around 40% and those in the low-dose group saw a slightly smaller drop. By comparison, those given the placebo saw only a small reduction in seizure occurrence.

Devinsky believes those consistent findings should be enough to get Epidiolex a green light from the FDA. In 2016, the agency awarded the drug with its "Fast Track" designation — a priority label designed to speed treatments that address a critical need through the traditionally protracted drug-approval process.

"There's a boatload of evidence to show for this drug at this point," Devinsky said. "I'd personally be very surprised if this drug was not approved."

 

[Shredder]

Reading through this thread convinces me the old hippies were right in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. And even now. The advice was grow your own and keep it quiet.

That growing could be herb, veggies, livestock, mushrooms or whatever. Nature will provide us what we need. Ignore the noise from the cities, move to the country and get yourself some land. Now where's my mother earth magazine, and Birkenstocks lol.

 

[Baron23]

So... what else is in this besides CBD...?

Nada...zip....nothing worth talking about. They are truly shameless.

And remember, it has no valid medical use.....FFS.

 

[Baron23]

Jeff Sessions Will Lose the GOP’s Battle Over Weed
The president has been all over the map on pot. His AG has not. But the future is unambiguously clear that decriminalization is the future.
Liz Mair
05.21.18 5:17 AM ET


In the year-and-a-bit since Donald Trump took office, Americans have witnessed a neck-wrenching 180-degree turn on an array of policy topics. One of the biggest has been with regard to drugs.

Between anti-marijuana moves by Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, and apparent interest by the administration in making passing a drug test a condition for receiving food stamps in states that request it, Trump and key figures in his administration seem eager to jump back to a time in history when drug use that has become more or less accepted in society is again disqualifying and indeed criminal. And where Trump goes, the GOP often follows.

But is the Trump administration truly set on achieving this? Those of us watching drug policy debates in the era of Trump are feeling a little (OK, a lot of) whiplash.

The direction in which Sessions wants to take the country is clear. So too are Republicans’ views with regard to food stamps and drug testing.

With Trump, things are a bit murkier. He generally cultivated an anti-drug message with his “death penalty for heroin dealers” chat. He’s pushed that message in other ways too, such as the little noticed controversy in February, when Israel put the brakes on a plan to export marijuana to the U.S., apparently because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t want to piss off Trump. Trump also claims never to have smoked pot, something that some pot advocates view as inherently likely to predispose him against cannabis.

But during the campaign, Trump was pot-neutral. He exclaimed that he was for letting states decide their own pot and medical marijuana policies. And just weeks ago, he voiced support for Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)’s bill codifying states’ rights with regard to pot. Reportedly, his campaign manager is making that position a selling point to Colorado voters ahead of 2020.

Outside of Trump, the GOP itself seems to be in the midst of an evolution on pot. Or, at least, a process of self-discovery. Gardner was so adamant that states’ rights on the matter be respected that he threatened to hold up any nominees to the Department of Justice until Sessions and Trump backed down. We’ve also learned that John Boehner is joining the board of a cannabis company—a pretty big turnaround for a former speaker of the House known more for his love of wine than weed.

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So what the heck is going on with the GOP and pot? The short answer is: a lot. But though much of it seems contradictory, there is still an obvious, ultimate direction. The GOP will, in the end, follow Gardner and Boehner’s path, even if that feels like an Olympic gymnast-level flip-flop for a lot of voters.

It used to be that the only pro-decriminalization or pro-legalization Republicans were Libertarians who voted GOP because they wanted tax cuts and a tiny bit more fiscal restraint (with the exception, perhaps, of some prominent figures at National Review who always took a surprisingly pro-decriminalization line on marijuana).

More recently, however, the pro-decriminalization ranks have been joined by the Koch brothers, especially Charles Koch, who champions criminal justice reform and sees issues like pot decriminalization and mandatory minimums reform as obviously related.

There are also Republicans from states where marijuana laws have been liberalized, leading to a booming new sector of the economy.

Gardner is one such figure. But more Gardners are on the way. While Sessions may believe the “War on Drugs” has failed because it has been prosecuted with insufficient zeal, you’ve got a whole raft of states represented by Republican officeholders who manifestly believe that the anti-pot aspect of it, at least, is stupid.

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It’s certainly economically unhelpful. Nine states have fully legalized recreational pot (including Alaska, a deep red state, and Colorado, Nevada, and Maine—purplish ones with GOP elected officials). Twenty-nine states have legalized medical marijuana (including the magenta-ish states of North Dakota, Arkansas, Montana, and West Virginia, and swing state New Hampshire).

Rank-and-file Republican voters are becoming much more opposed to the War on Weed too, according to an October 2017 Gallup poll. Maybe that’s because veterans (who Republicans love to champion) claim marijuana helps them with physical and psychological battlefield injuries. Maybe it’s because of claims that legalization could help combat the opioid epidemic, which is ravaging Republican areas. Maybe it’s because Republicans are hearing from unlikely marijuana advocates like Michelle Malkin.

Or maybe it’s because Republicans still tend to consider themselves “pro-business,” and the pot business is growing—fast. According to a report last year from Arcview Market Research, across North America, legal pot sales in 2017 were on pace to hit $9.7 billion. That’s 33 percent growth against the previous year—evidence of a booming market. Many Republicans may oppose pot use personally. But basically all Republicans love making and keeping money.

Whatever it is, the reality is this: The ranks of pro-legalization Republicans, like plants on weed farms, will continue to grow over time, while those sharing Sessions’ views will shrink and shrivel and decline. That’s a good thing, in terms of achieving limited government goals, and expanding personal liberty—something today’s GOP could do with getting back to focusing on.

The debate may seem muddied now. But it’s heading in a very clear direction.

 

[Baron23]

"I used to be a table-pounding crusader for the government's war on drugs. When I worked in Seattle in the 1990s, I initially opposed efforts to legalize medical marijuana. I also opposed efforts to loosen restrictions on conducting studies on the potential therapeutic effects of using marijuana."​

I have very little patience, and no respect or sympathy at all, for supposed thought and political leaders who campaigned as dyed in the wool prohibitionists but now see the light because one of THEIR loved ones have found benefit. What about all of the other fucking people who needed MMJ while you were crusading against it, Michelle? Hmmmm?


A Conservative Mom Breaks the Pot Taboo
By Michelle Malkin


Let's talk about marijuana.

Specifically, let's talk about how and why I came to be one of the countless parents across America (and around the world) who have let their chronically ill children try it.

A groundbreaking new study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine reported on the health benefits of cannabidiol for children with epilepsy. The randomized, double-blind, controlled study found that among children with Dravet syndrome taking cannabidiol, the decrease in the frequency of convulsive seizures was 23 percentage points greater than the decrease in seizures among children taking a placebo.

Cannabidiol is one of hundreds of chemical components found in cannabis plants. Unlike THC, the most famous of marijuana's compounds, CBD is nonhallucinogenic and nonaddictive. It doesn't make you high. CBD can be extracted from hemp and sold as an oil. That's what the pioneering Stanley Brothers of Boulder, Colorado, did several years ago when they conceived and manufactured "Charlotte's Web" — named after Charlotte Figi, a Colorado Springs girl with Dravet syndrome whose seizures dramatically decreased after using CBD.

Until now, evidence of marijuana's benefits for pediatric epilepsy patients has been largely anecdotal. The new CBD study, led by researchers at the NYU Langone's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, is a hugely significant development because it uses the scientific gold standard of a randomized controlled trial. Other limited clinical trials involving CBD have explored the drug's therapeutic benefits for pediatric patients with conditions ranging from anxiety to movement disorders to inflammatory diseases, multiple sclerosis and cancer.

My own interest in pediatric use of medicinal marijuana is more than academic.

When my daughter, Veronica, fell ill in late spring of 2015 — unable to breathe normally, bedridden with chronic pain and fatigue — she saw dozens of specialists. Among those doctors was a leading neurologist at one of Denver's most well-regarded hospitals who treated intractable cases. The various drugs prescribed to my daughter weren't working and had awful side effects.

One of them, a potent anti-epileptic drug called Trileptal, was supposed to treat the severe motor tic that left her gasping for air nonstop for months. But Trileptal ended up causing extreme loss of appetite, more fatigue and temporary dystonia, while doing nothing to alleviate the tics. The constant jerking of her body caused one of my daughter's hypermobile shoulders to dislocate multiple times a day — increasing her pain and anxiety.

To our surprise, the mainstream neurologist suggested Veronica try CBD. This doctor had other young patients who used CBD oil with positive results, but she could not directly prescribe it because of her hospital affiliation. So we did our own independent research, talked to a Colorado Springs family whose son had great success using CBD to treat his Crohn's disease symptoms, consulted with other medical professionals and friends — and entered a whole new world.

Two physicians signed off on our daughter's application for a medical marijuana card. She became one of more than 360 children under 18 to join Colorado's medical marijuana registry in 2015.


And we became pediatric pot parents.

For Veronica, CBD provided more relief than all the other mainstream pharmaceutical interventions she had endured, and without the scary side effects. But ultimately, it was a temporary remedy for her complicated basket of neurological and physiological conditions. We were glad for the chance to try CBD at the recommendation of medical professionals, and glad that so many other families are having success with it.

Our experience showed us the importance of increasing therapeutic choices in the marketplace for all families — and trusting doctors and patients to figure out what works best.

It flies in the face of current science to classify CBD oil as a Schedule I drug, as the feds did at the end of 2016. Nor does it make sense to draw the line at CBD if some patients and doctors believe that the benefits of using THC therapeutically outweigh the potential harm.

As a lifelong social conservative, my views on marijuana policy may surprise some of you.


I used to be a table-pounding crusader for the government's war on drugs. When I worked in Seattle in the 1990s, I initially opposed efforts to legalize medical marijuana. I also opposed efforts to loosen restrictions on conducting studies on the potential therapeutic effects of using marijuana.

But the war on drugs has been a ghastly quagmire — an expensive and selective form of government paternalism that has done far more harm than good. What has this trillion-dollar war wrought?

Overcrowded jails teeming with nonviolent drug offenders. An expanded police state enriched by civil asset forfeiture. And marginalization of medical researchers pursuing legitimate research on marijuana's possible therapeutic benefits for patients with a wide variety of illnesses.

The Trump administration has sent mixed signals on a medical marijuana crackdown.

So let me be clear as a liberty-loving, conservative mom: Keep your hands off. Let the scientists lead. Limited government is the best medicine.


Michelle Malkin is host of "Michelle Malkin Investigates" on CRTV.com. Her email address is writemalkin@gmail.com. To find out more about Michelle Malkin and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

 

[Baron23]

I'm really tired of these "former" political people now getting out in front of MJ legalization when, in fact, during their term of office they did NOTHING substantive or permanent (the most we got was the Cole memo with absolutely no basis for enforcement by law).

You understand that Holder owned the DEA when he was DOJ AG, right? He actually had the authority to do something, he did NOT, so fuck him trying to get out in front of MJ legalization now.


Former attorney general admits marijuana isn't addictive

While the current Attorney General for the United States of America may have some of the most backwards views about marijuana ever, one of his predecessors is finally speaking about cannabis rationally, writres Joseph Misulonas.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder said in a recent interview that he does not believe that marijuana is an addictive substance.

“I’ve never seen any scientific evidence that points you to concerns about addiction through the use of marijuana,” Holder said in an interview with NY1.

In the same interview Holder said he believes that marijuana should be re-classified from its current Schedule I status.

“We need to move marijuana from Schedule I, so research can be done,” Holder said. “It is classified now on the same level as heroin is, and clearly that is inappropriate.”

Holder served as Attorney General from February 2009 to April 2015 under President Barack Obama. Just a few months after leaving office, Holder said he believed marijuana should be re-classified. However, as Attorney General he took no steps towards doing so and did very little to advance the cause for marijuana legalization.

Although the Department of Justice did create the Cole Memo, a series of guidelines protecting states with legalized cannabis, under his watch. Although that memo was rescinded in January by current Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

While it's commendable that a former top law enforcement official is speaking out in favor of cannabis, it's also a little disheartening because you'd assume he held these same views just three years ago when he was in office, and yet he continually passed the buck on the issue.

 

[Baron23]

Well, at least some politicians are willing to publicly sign up for MJ legalization. The rest are busy still reading poll results and leading from behind.


What are Colorado's congressional reps doing to protect the marijuana industry?

Members of Congress joined legal cannabis-industry representatives in front of the United States Capitol today, May 23, calling for an end to federal pot prohibition. Among the lawmakers appearing in solidarity with the National Cannabis Industry Association were Colorado representatives Diana DeGette and Jared Polis.

"There are 34,000 Coloradans who are licensed to work in this industry, so you can imagine how dismayed everyone in Colorado was when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he was going to rescind the Cole Memo," DeGette told the gathering. "I can say, I have never seen our delegation work so quickly to fix something in a bipartisan way."

Federal lawmakers in states with legal cannabis have been on the offensive since Sessions rescinded the Cole Memorandum, an Obama-era set of federal guidelines intended to protect state-legalized pot users and businesses, back in January.

Shortly after the Cole memo's revocation, DeGette set up a conference call with other congressional delegates from the state, including Senator Cory Gardner and Robert Troyer, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, to discuss why federal prosecutors shouldn't change their approach to federal cannabis prosecutions.

Also in attendance at the May 23 action were representatives Earl Blumenauer (Oregon), Matt Gaetz (Florida), Ruben Gallego (Arizona), Barbara Lee (California), Lou Correa (California) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (Washington, D.C.), who all spoke about their legislative efforts to protect their jurisdictions from federal persecution for choosing to legalize different forms of cannabis.

DeGette introduced her Respect States' and Citizens' Rights Act in the House in 2017; it's designed to amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent it from superseding any state law legalizing cannabis.

The measure has been stuck in a House subcommittee for nearly a year, but DeGette says she feels that support for legal pot in D.C. — something that was non-existent fifteen years ago — has risen sharply as of late. "As public awareness of these issues grows, you're getting a much better reception when you come to the Hill," she told NCIA members. "We stand ready, willing and able to help you."

Polis, who founded Congress's first Cannabis Caucus with Blumenauer last year, has been championing his Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Actsince 2017. The bill would order the U.S. Department of Justice to transfer marijuana regulation from the Drug Enforcement Administration to the Food and Drug Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforce federal alcohol regulations. The proposal met with a lukewarm reception from the majority of his colleagues, though, and has been stuck in a subcommittee since April 2017.

Like DeGette, Polis said that he's noticed the pot industry's growing power on Capitol Hill as it brings more revenue to the 29 states that have legalized some form of the plant. "Ten years ago, when [Representative Blumenauer] and I were advocating for marijuana legalization at the federal level, we were met with a lot of stinkers. No one is laughing anymore," Polis told the gathering. "Our next challenge is to take the model that Colorado voters put in place and allow other states free of federal interference to follow suit."

Other bills being pushed by members of Congress attending the NCIA event include Lee's REFER Act of 2018; REFER would prohibit federal funds from being used to prosecute law-compliant cannabis users and businesses in states where the plant is legal, and would protect banks and financial institutions working with those businesses from federal charges. Introduced by Lee in January, it hasn't seen any action since then.

Gaetz, the only Republican to attend the NCIA gathering, is currently cosponsoring the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2018. Introduced in April, it's on the House calendar for consideration. If passed, it would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct and support medical marijuana research while setting up a cannabis delivery system for veterans with conditions such as chronic pain or post-traumatic stress disorder.

 

[Baron23]

How congress is trying to make marijuana legal

From decriminalization to opening up the banking industry, both sides of Congress are preparing cannabis bills – but with much different approaches.

Over the past decade, marijuana legalization has happened at break-neck speed at the state and local level. And yet, pot-related reforms have moved glacially at the federal level, especially since prohibitionist Jeff Sessions was confirmed as attorney general. But his staunch opposition and attempt to roll back Obama-era protections for local marijuana businesses has actually attracted new support to a flurry of marijuana related bills that have been picking up support in this Congress.

There are more than 40 cannabis-related bills floating around the House of Representatives alone in this Congress, along with countless others in the Senate. That's a hard map to navigate, so below is Rolling Stone's guide to the kinds of marijuana bills that have the most support from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Straight Decriminalization

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer turned heads last month when he endorsed marijuana decriminalization, but he was slow to get to the party. Vermont's Bernie Sanders was there before him, along with most every Democratic senator floated as a potential 2020 presidential contender, including Sens. Cory Booker (NJ), Kamala Harris (CA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY). Still, the statement from Schumer – who has long vocally opposed recreational marijuana – was witnessed as a dramatic move and is expected to trickle down the ballot to people running for Congress across the nation.

"This is something that is long overdue, and I would hope to see it happen," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Rolling Stone when asked about his newfound support for decriminalization at a recent Capitol Hill press conference. While numerous decriminalization bills already exist, Schumer's office says he plans to introduce his own legislation on it, which they said would come on 4/20 and now they say will come at an unknown date.

But Schumer is in the minority party, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who currently controls floor time, isn't budging on marijuana, even as he's continuing his years-long push to legalize industrial hemp cultivation in the U.S.

"I do not have any plans to endorse legalization of marijuana," McConnell responded to a question from Rolling Stone at the Capitol. "It may be good to point out again that these are two entirely separate plants. I hope everybody now understands that."

When McConnell dubbed marijuana – which, unlike hemp, contains enough THC to get you high – hemp's "illicit cousin," the press corps broke out in laughter. But Schumer wasn't laughing when he heard McConnell wouldn't be joining his new effort to decriminalize marijuana after he endorsed McConnell's hemp bill.

"Aw, come on Mitch," Schumer told reporters.

Let the States Decide

In the coming weeks, a bipartisan group of senators plans to drop a bill that will give individual states the right to override the federal prohibition on marijuana, which they say simply codifies what President Trump has allegedly told Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) in private conversations – that the president's fine allowing each individual state to decide their own marijuana laws, which Gardner says is simple federalism.

"The president has said he would support a federalist approach to marijuana, and this embodies that approach," Gardner tells Rolling Stone of his bill. He says he's still working out the final details of it with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). She's become more emboldened on the issue since AG Sessions rescinded the so-called Cole Memo that directed federal prosecutors to not prioritize marijuana enforcement in states that legalized weed.

But some of Trump's biggest fans are dubious of what other lawmakers report the commander-in-chief has said in private.

"I'd be very surprised if the president, given his family history and attitude towards addictive substances, would be overly willing to expand the legalization of a drug," Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) tells Rolling Stone.

Lawmakers are questioning its chances under this administration, especially because the attorney general has asked lawmakers to unwind the current congressional constraints that keep him from expending money on enforcing the federal marijuana ban in states that have legalized marijuana.

Make the Focus Medical Testing

Potentially the best chance marijuana legislation has of passing under unified Republican control of Washington is with bipartisan legislative efforts to simply relax the barriers that have been erected around studying marijuana.

There was already historic progress on that front when, earlier this month, the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2018 became the first-ever standalone marijuana bill to make it through a congressional committee. It not only removes barriers to testing marijuana at the Department of Veterans Affairs but also forces officials there to send regular reports to Congress so lawmakers can track whether the VA is taking the testing legislation seriously. While the scope is narrow, pot proponents see the bill as a major breakthrough because, if tests show marijuana is good for veterans, then it could easily translate to the greater public.

"We shouldn't have state legislatures deciding on what's an adequate treatment for somebody," Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), who chairs the Veteran's Affairs Committee, tells Rolling Stone. Roe – a doctor and staunch conservative from a state where a first-time offense for possession of less than a half ounce of weed can land you in jail for a year – says he merely wants to see evidence.

"I need to know what are the risks, the benefits, the doses, the black box warnings. Does it work better than placebo? Does it not?" he says. "I don't know why we took so long to get here."

As the administration is still winding down two foreign wars that maimed many of our citizens – including a few current lawmakers from both parties – supporters say now is the perfect time to test marijuana treatment on vets, especially those dealing with PTSD or relying on a heavy opioid cocktail to deal with chronic pain.

"Today in America, there are clinical trials that need veterans to participate, but at the VA today we're not even able to tell veterans of the existence of those trials," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tells Rolling Stone.

Gaetz, a Tea Party darling who frequents the far right media circuit, says that while the dam is breaking slowly, a flood could well be coming. He says Exhibit A is the Medical Cannabis Research Act of 2018, which has support from some of the staunchest conservatives in the Capitol. Like the veterans bill, it simply allows more research to be done on weed. Gaetz says the broad support behind that bill shows the times have changed.

Push for Access to Banks

Marijuana businesses are currently locked out of the banking sector, even in states where weed is either recreationally or medicinally legal, and the Small Business Administration recently moved to stop any company involved in this green revolution from receiving loans. Bipartisan efforts are picking up steam to at least make it so marijuana businesses don't have to be all cash, which comes with massive security risks. And without access to capital it's hard to be a player in a capitalistic economy. A slew of bills deal with this issue – some allow marijuana businesses to simply access the banking system, while others go farther, allowing them to get the same tax breaks enjoyed by non-marijuana related businesses.

"We just shouldn't deny a wider range of business opportunities," Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) tells Rolling Stone. "And it's not just people who cultivate – there are people who provide facilities, equipment, professional services. I mean it's insane."

Finally De-Scheduling Pot

Support is also slowly growing for an effort to completely remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances where it currently sits at Schedule I, alongside LSD and heroin. But the Marijuana Justice Act goes even further and takes aim at the racial disparity that marks American prisons by expunging the records of people convicted of federal marijuana crimes and investing money in communities left blighted by marijuana convictions.

Last summer, the Justice Act was introduced by Democratic Sen. Booker of New Jersey in the upper chamber and by Rep. Barbara Lee of California in the House – the first time both chambers have seen bills introduced to completely delist marijuana. It remains a long shot, but it's picking up steam – and its supporters say this is just the beginning.

"The people are always ahead of their elected officials and, I think, what I see is the elected officials are catching up with the people," Lee tells Rolling Stone. "So, that's why I'm so excited about the movement that has got us this far. I want to encourage everyone to get to their elected officials, get to their members of Congress and tell them what this is about and why this needs to pass."

 

[Baron23]

About Boner.

"I got into looking into medical benefits of cannabis and it’s really pretty incredible.”​

And just WTF was he doing for the decades he was in office and people were being thrown in jail for MJ. Answer: NOTHING.

He's completely full of shit and this is all about money.....money for Boner, that is.

Michigan legislators can't decide on marijuana proposal

MACKINAC ISLAND — From being adamantly opposed to cannabis to becoming an advisor to one of the country’s leading marijuana companies, former U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner weighed in on legal weed Thursday during the Mackinac Policy Conference.

“I’ve found myself in the last 10 years looking at issues differently than I used to, especially in the last 4-5 years, since the number of people that I know using cannabis in some form to relieve some medical issues has grown,” he said. “So, I got into looking into medical benefits of cannabis and it’s really pretty incredible.”

Buy Photo
Former U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner at the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. (Photo: Kathleen Gray/Detroit Free Press)

“And for those who want to use it recreationally, while I’ve never used the product nor intend to, I don’t care if somebody wants to smoke a joint. Fine, let them go do it,” added Boehner, who has joined the board of Acreage Holdings, a New York-based company that has marijuana growing, processing and retail facilities in 11 states.

More: Why anti-marijuana group wants Michigan to legalize weed

More: Former U.S. Speaker John Boehner entertains crowd at Mackinac conference

Much of the country has joined Boehner’s transformation, including 29 states that have legalized medical marijuana with nine of those states also approving pot for adult recreational use.

 

[Baron23]

This is about Feinstein, another politician who wouldn't know the truth if it ran her over and who tends to think HER positions don't really apply to HER (see Feinstein and HER concealed carry permit).

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein isn't moving to the left for politics' sake as she runs for re-election, she said"​

She is also full of shit and her turnabout is about nothing but perpetuating her political career. This is another person who held high office as a law maker who watched with approval for decades as MJ users were thrown in jail and their lives ruined.

Look, I'm for any legalization vote we can get. But please do not give Feinstein or Boner personal credit for their newly found positions...its self-interest and self-interest only.



'The world changes': Dianne Feinstein explains her shifting stances

Sen. Dianne Feinstein isn't moving to the left for politics' sake as she runs for re-election, she said Thursday during a stop in Sacramento. Instead, the six-term senator explained her changing views on issues like the death penalty and recreational marijuana as part of the natural evolution that policymakers go through.

"The world changes and views change and we change," she told reporters during a roundtable downtown.

"You hope to grow and mature and expand your vision in the electoral process and in the process of serving," Feinstein added.

For much of her lengthy political career, first in San Francisco and then the U.S. Senate, Feinstein embraced tough-on-crime policies including the death penalty and the war on drugs. But she told McClatchy earlier this spring that she no longer opposed recreational marijuana, citing California voters' support of an initiative to legalize pot. The law took effect in January.


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article212310389.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article212310389.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Baron23]

NORML email I received today.



Congressman Earl Blumenauer via NORML.org

June 02, 2018

Stephen,

Our nation spent last weekend remembering the brave men and women who lost their lives serving our country. We remember not only those who died in combat, but the thousands of service members who lost their battles with addiction, trauma, or pain. The suicide rate among veterans is roughly 50 percent higher than the rate among their civilian counterparts, and the the death rate from opiate overdoses among VA patients is nearly double that of the national average. Remembrance is important, but we also must act. So many of these deaths are preventable. Part of the solution is to offer our veterans alternatives to highly-addictive opioids. One alternative is medical cannabis.

A poll commissioned by the American Legion shows that more than 1 in 5 veterans are using marijuana to alleviate a medical or physical condition. VA healthcare providers, however, are prohibited from providing the paperwork necessary to complete a medical cannabis recommendation, forcing military veterans to seek the advice of a private, out-of-network physician. Seeking care is hard enough, and we should not make it even harder for our veterans. My Veterans Equal Access Act (H.R. 1820) would lift this prohibition, allowing trusted VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients when appropriate.

Veterans’ access to medical treatment should not be compromised.

Next week, the House of Representatives will vote on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ annual funding bill. I will offer an amendment (Blumenauer #37) to allow VA healthcare professionals to provide medical cannabis recommendations to the veterans they treat.

Tell your member of Congress to cosponsor the Veterans Equal Access Act and support the Veterans Equal Access Amendment (Blumenauer #37) to the VA appropriations bill.

Today, you can make a difference and show your support for veterans. Tell your members of Congress now to support the Veterans Equal Access Act and the Veterans Equal Access Amendment - because our veterans need more from our government than remembrance. Together, we win!

Courage,
Earl

Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

P.S. My staff is excited for the NORML Conference and Lobby Day this July 22-24th. Will you be joining them? Click here to find out more.

 

[Baron23]

I suppose this is supposed to be a heart warming tale of a guy who discovered MJ enlightment via his own illness. I see it differently and to summarize....fuck him and his guilt. This SOB is just like Schumer, Feinstein, Boner, and so many others who did NOTHING to prevent generations of Americans spending time in jail and having a record for MJ UNTIL they had a personal experience and then its "all about me". Fuck these assholes whose best story is that once their own personal self-interest was involved they then "saw the light". I can hardly describe my contempt for them.

In the judge's case...well, he was a judge and I suppose that requires him to enforce the law, no matter how unjust that may be (or be honorable and quit).

But there is NO excuse for our lawmakers who are suddenly tripping over themselves to get on the side of MJ legalization. Its all about money for them and/or perpetuating their political career.

Like I said, I'll take any vote for legalization offered. But I don't view these people as angels for legalization. I view them more as hypocritical bad actors suddenly trying to look like one of the good guys after ruining one too many lives.



Former Florida judge: 'I’ve been haunted for 30 years' for punishing medical marijuana patients

For 30 years, former Judge Doug Bench enforced marijuana prohibition in Florida. Then a serious illness forced him to break that law in order to save his life, writes Calvin Hughes.

"I hated marijuana," Judge Bench confessed while discussing drug reform last year. "I hated the use of marijuana and the violation of the law."

That changed in 2015 when he was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - a life-threatening disease that Bench began illicitly treating with medical marijuana.

"I had no choice," Bench confessed. "If i wanted to live. I had to violate Florida law."

But what he regrets most is the time he spent putting "put 311 people in jail" for similar nonviolent cannabis offenses.

"I've been haunted for 30 years, wondering how many of those were using it for medical reasons," he said during the public hearing in 2017.

Now, Bench is trying to prevent others from having to break the law to get the medicine they need. He is advocating for an expansion of the Florida medical marijuana program to include conditions like COPD. Without that change, he says the state's strict marijuana regulations are essentially a death sentence for patients like him.

"If I had to medicate under Florida law, I'd be dead."

 

[Baron23]

Well, don't the article title say it all? So sick of all off the political posturing, profiteering, and pure hypocrisy and corruption.


Mormon Church Opposing Utah Medical Marijuana Initiative Owns $1 Billion Worth of Big Pharma Stocks


The Mormon Church is currently opposing a ballot initiative in Utah that would legalize medical marijuana due to moral reasons. But it turns out they may have a financial reason for preventing the expansion of medicinal cannabis as well.

Last week a website called MormonLeaks released tons of documents regarding the financial situation of the Mormon Church. The leaks showed showed that the church owned around $32 billion worth of stocks as of the end of 2017. While that is a pretty big bombshell, one Reddit user, called u/relevantlife, dove into the data and investigated exactly what stocks the Mormon Church invested in.

The Reddit user found out that the Mormon Church owns $1.3 billion worth of stocks in in seven different pharmaceutical companies. Many pharmaceutical companies oppose the expansion of medical and recreational marijuana because they believe that increased cannabis sales will mean less people purchasing the drugs they produce, which will hurt their bottomline.

The revelation about the Mormon Church's financial investment in the pharmaceutical company now makes their opposition to Utah's medical marijuana initiative a little more sinister. Do they oppose the initiative because they believe using marijuana is wrong, or are they afraid it will hurt their investments?

Ironically enough, one of the companies that the Mormon Church invested in, called AbbVie Inc., actually produces a drug called Marinol that contains a synthetic form of THC, which is the compound in marijuana that gets people high. So apparently the Mormon Church doesn't want people getting THC from legally prescribed cannabis, but is totally ok with it when it's sold in the form of a drug they're invested in.

So it sounds like the Mormon Church has 1.3 billion reasons to oppose medical marijuana.

 

[momofthegoons]

3 of Kettle Falls Five pot convictions vacated

In this Feb. 12, 2015, file photo, Larry Harvey is seated in front of, from left to right, Rhonda Lee Firestack-Harvey, Jason Zucker, Rolland Gregg and Michelle Gregg outside the Thomas S. Foley United States Courthouse, in Spokane, Wash. The Justice Department has dropped its case against Harvey, 70, who was charged in a northeastern Washington marijuana grow after he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. Harvey faced federal charges, as did his wife, two other relatives and a family friend, after they were caught growing about 70 pot plants on their rural, mountainous property near Kettle Falls. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)


Three defendants in a controversial marijuana prosecution that drew nationwide attention had their convictions wiped out today by a federal judge.

Members of what once was called the Kettle Falls Five – Rhonda Lee Firestack-Harvey, Michelle Lynn Gregg and Roland Mark Gregg – had convictions vacated and charges dismissed by U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice.

Bevan Maxey, an attorney for Michelle Gregg, called it “a very gratifying and special moment.”

Federal prosecutors had asked for the dismissal because of “a cloud of Congress’ suspension of funding authority” to continue with an appeal.

The Greggs, Firestack-Harvey, her husband Larry Harvey and a family friend Jason Zucker, were arrested on federal marijuana charges after a pair of raids on a remote farm northwest of Kettle Falls in Stevens County in 2012. At the time, medical marijuana was legal in the state, and the group had doctors’ recommendations to use it for different medical conditions.

They said it was being grown for their own use. But all marijuana was illegal under federal law, and prosecutors contended they were profiting from the drug.

Larry Harvey died of cancer before the trial, and Zucker accepted a plea bargain to be a witness for the prosecution.

Charged with several federal drug violations, the Greggs and Firestack-Harvey were convicted in early 2015 of the least serious charge, of growing more than 50 but fewer than 100 plants. Rice later sentenced Rolland Gregg to 33 months in prison, and Michelle Gregg and Firestack-Harvey to one year and a day.

Their attorneys appealed, and late last year, federal prosecutors told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals they couldn’t continue with the case. The reason: Congress pulled money from the Department of Justice budget in 2014 to disallow federal prosecutions in states that had legalized marijuana in 2014, and has continued that restriction. They don’t have the authority to spend money on the case, attorneys told the appeals court.

With the case sent back to Rice, the judge agreed with prosecutors’ motion to dismiss the charges and vacate the conviction, but without prejudice, which means if Congress changes its mind on prosecuting federal marijuana cases in states that have legalized the drug, it could be refiled.

But Phil Telfeyan, executive director of Equal Justice Under Law and an attorney who helped defend the group, said Congress would have to restore funding for those cases in the next six months, or the statute of limitations on the charges will run out.

In his order, Rice said he was making no judgment on “the merit or wisdom” of dismissing the case.

“It remains to be seen whether Congress will continue its fiscal suspension of certain marijuana prosecutions,” Rice said. “The decision whether or not the government could legally (or would) recharge defendants is best left for the day when that possibility occurs.”

The Kettle Falls Five case is having an impact on federal marijuana prosecutions nationwide, Telfeyan said, sending “a signal that the federal government is not unbeatable when people are complying with state laws.”

Maxey said the judge’s order gives the three defendants a chance to go back to lives “as normal as can be expected” and hopes any effort to resurrect the case will be rejected.

“I would hope the government would not spend any more resources on this,” Maxey said.

 

[Baron23]

Received today from NORML. This is good...I don't care if Warren has sat on her ass on this subject until it became attractive as a campaign issue. I'll take any vote I can while not necessarily crediting all people with fighting the good fight for the right reasons.

June 07, 2018

Baron23,

Today, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced bipartisan legislation, The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act of 2018, to remove the threat of federal intervention and prosecution in states that regulate marijuana use and sales. A bipartisan House companion bill has been introduced by Representatives David Joyce (R-OH) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).

This marks the first bicameral, bipartisan legislation to end the federal enforcement of prohibition in states that have reformed their marijuana laws.

But it won’t pass unless we build support - Contact your federal officials NOW.

With the introduction of The STATES Act by Senators Gardner and Warren, the movement to end the federal government’s failed policy of cannabis criminalization has an opportunity to truly become a bipartisan effort.

Given that a majority of states now regulate marijuana use and more than six out of ten voters endorse legalizing the plant’s use by adults, it is time for the federal government to no longer stand in the way of this progress at the state level.

To date, these statewide regulatory programs are operating largely as voters and politicians intended. The enactment of these policies have not negatively impacted workplace safety, crime rates, traffic safety, or youth use patterns.

Tell your Representatives and Senator to support this bill

President Trump made a commitment to Senator Gardner that he was willing to support a federalist approach to state marijuana laws. Now, Congress must do its part and swiftly move forward on this bipartisan legislation that explicitly provides states with the authority and autonomy to set their own marijuana policies absent the fear of federal incursion from a Justice Department led by militant cannabis prohibitionist Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

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. A majority of the country now allows legal consumption of marijuana in some way.

This bill the is best shot we have this year. Send a message NOW.

Together, we will win.
Your friends at NORML

 

[Baron23]

If Trump punks Gardner after promising to support MJ Federalism legislation, Gardner will do a tap dance on ANYTHING that needs to go through the Senate from the Executive branch...and that's a lot.

I like Gardner....he seems willing to risk his political career and party status for what he believes is right. Now, he's no advocate for MJ, but he is a firm believer that the USA is indeed a federation of states and the concepts of Federalism still are sacred .


Senators announce bill to protect states' legalization of marijuana

Sens. Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican, and Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, introduced a bill Thursday intended to protect the laws of states that have legalized some form of marijuana from federal intervention.

The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act would ensure that states can make and enforce their own laws pertaining to the production and distribution of marijuana as long as states comply with a few federally-mandated basic protections.

Currently, 46 states and additional territories have laws permitting medical and/or recreational marijuana. Both Colorado and Massachusetts have legalized recreational marijuana. But on the federal level, the drug is still listed as a controlled substance with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” and it has been up to the Justice Department to decide how rigorously to enforce that definition.

STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
A legally grown marijuana plant is pictured at farm in Oregon in this undated stock image.


The new bill follows an agreement Gardner reached with President Donald Trump in April, in which the Colorado senator dropped his hold on Justice Department nominees being confirmed in exchange for the president’s assurance that the DOJ would not target Colorado’s marijuana industry.

“Our Founders intended the states to be laboratories of democracy and many states right now find themselves deep in the heart of that laboratory. But it's created significant conflict between state law, federal law and how we move forward,” Gardner, who said he had spoken with Trump about the bill Thursday morning, said during a press conference with Warren.

His agreement with Trump came a few months after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that his department would reverse Obama-era guidance that limited the prosecution of marijuana sales in states where it had been legalized.

At the time, Sessions said the previous guidance “undermines the rule of law.”

Warren noted that Sessions’ position on marijuana had actually spurred lawmakers to act to protect their states’ discretion on the issue.

“Thanks to the Attorney General, more people feel the urgency of the moment in changing federal law on marijuana,” Warren said. “Go Jeff Sessions,” she quipped. If this bill were to pass, states would no longer have to “rely on the Justice Department to be more forgiving,” she added.

AP
In this Dec. 5, 2017, file photo, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., waits to speak during a meeting of the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.more +


The bill would make clear that states have the right to determine for themselves the best way to approach marijuana within their borders. It would abide by the federal requirements that are already in place, including prohibiting people under the age of 18 from working in the industry and prohibiting the distribution of marijuana at transportation safety facilities like rest stops and truck stops.

It would also maintain a prohibition on the sale of marijuana to people under age 21 other than for medical purposes.

But the bill would make clear that marijuana businesses in states where it is legal are engaged in legitimate commerce and would allow them to take advantage of all of the trappings of commercial activity, including using the banking system and claiming business tax deductions.

“Clarity's important. Important for the businesses and important for the people who use marijuana,” Warren said.

Gardner said he wouldn’t speak for the president but suggested that it would make sense for him to support the effort.

“I think this will be an opportunity for us to fulfill what is that federalism approach,” he said.

The Marijuana Policy Project, a legalization advocacy group, called Gardner and Warren’s bill “the most significant piece of marijuana-related legislation ever introduced in Congress.”

“While we look forward to the day when there is full acceptance of cannabis at the federal level, we heartily embrace the states’ rights approach proposed by this bill,” Don Murphy, conservative outreach director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement.

 

[Baron23]

"a recent Gallup poll found that 64 percent of Americans are saying its use should be made legal. The poll also found, that for the first time, a majority of Republicans also support marijuana legalization – by 51 percent."​

This ^^ and the fact that we live in a representative democracy is why I have such contempt for professional politician's prohibitionist efforts thus thwarting the will of the electorate. These people should be impeached or recalled for malfeasance.

Gallup Poll: Majority of Americans Are High on Marijuana … Being Legal

Americans’ support for marijuana legalization is at a record high.

With cannabis already legal in several US states, a recent Gallup poll found that 64 percent of Americans are saying its use should be made legal. The poll also found, that for the first time, a majority of Republicans also support marijuana legalization – by 51 percent.

Fred Smoller, a political science professor at Chapman University in Orange, California, attributes the numbers to the generation polled.

“Woodstock,” he said. “That generation [baby boomers]… it’s a cohort, they’ve always viewed marijuana differently than the people before them. … They grew up laughing at ‘Reefer Madness.’”

He said while some attitudes might have changed regarding marijuana, the difference lies in the demographic.

According to a Gallup news article, Gallup first asked adults nationally about their views on marijuana in 1969, when only 12 percent were in support of legalization.

In the recent study, results are based on phone interviews conducted Oct. 5, 2017, to Oct. 11, 2017, of a random sample of 1,028 adults 18 and older from all 50 US states and Washington, DC.

Whether this increase in marijuana legalization support will soon lead to federal legalization remains to be seen. Smoller doesn’t think so.

“No,” he said. “The laws will remain on the books but won’t be enforced. This allows electeds to appeal to different groups. It’s kinda like [former President Bill]Clinton saying he smoked pot but didn’t inhale.”

On the political level, there is a steady stream of activity in regard to the topic of marijuana.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on April 20, 2018, his support for decriminalizing marijuana federally and his plans to introduce new legislation in the Senate, according to a press release on his website.

“The time has come to decriminalize marijuana,” Schumer said in the statement. “My thinking – as well as the general population’s views – on the issue has evolved, and so I believe there’s no better time than the present to get this done. It’s simply the right thing to do. This legislation would let the states be the laboratories that they should be, ensure that woman and minority owned business have a fair shot in the marijuana industry, invests in critical research on THC, and ensures that advertisers can’t target children – it’s a balanced approach.”

In an April 16, 2018, press release on his website, California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher was said to be preparing stand-alone legislation called the Cannabis States’ Rights Act, which would permanently restrain federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states that have legalized it.

“This is a fundamental issue of federalism and freedom, as state after state moves to take marijuana out of the hands of the cartels and place it in a competitive market where consumers can be assured of product safety,” Rohrabacher said in the statement. “It also encourages more exploration of medical uses for cannabis, which has shown unquestionable promise in the treatment of multiple ailments and disorders.”

But the support in the direction of marijuana legalization clearly isn’t unanimous.

The Department of Justice on Jan. 4 issued a memo on federal marijuana enforcement policy, returning to the rule of law that deems it a controlled substance and enforces it as such, according to a press release on the Justice Department website.

“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States, and the previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission,” US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in the statement. “Therefore, today’s memo on federal marijuana enforcement simply directs all U.S. Attorneys to use previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country.”

 

[Baron23]

And round and round we go again. We will see....particularly in the House. This bill needs to make it to floor debate and vote and that means getting it through some real asshole committee chairmen, like Pete Sessions.

Trump Signals Possible Support For Bipartisan Marijuana Legislation

President Trump is signaling he's willing to support a move toward the legalization of marijuana, which would be a departure from the position of his attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

Sessions has been known for his vocal opposition to marijuana legalization, calling it a "very real danger" during his Senate confirmation hearing, and saying, "Good people don't smoke marijuana."

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House Friday morning for the G-7 summit in Canada, Trump said, "I probably will end up supporting" bipartisan legislation that would give states wide latitude over marijuana regulation.

Asked about the proposal by Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Trump said, "I support Sen. Gardner. I know exactly what he's doing; we're looking at it. But I probably will end up supporting that, yes."

Gardner is co-sponsoring the legislation with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat.

The bill would amend the federal Controlled Substances Act to allow states and tribes to write their own laws regarding the production, distribution, and possession of marijuana.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has criticized Gardner, whose state was the first to legalize marijuana, for his support for permissive marijuana laws.

In April, Gardner said President Trump had promised to support such a proposal, in an apparent break with Sessions.

Speaking to Colorado Public Radio on Friday, Sessions said so far Trump has not told him to back off of enforcing marijuana laws.

"We were not ordered to do anything other than the policies that we intend to carry out nationally," Sessions said.

Sessions said he will monitor the situation in Congress while continuing to enforce current federal law.

In January, Sessions reversed an Obama-era policy that had eased up on federal marijuana enforcement in states like Colorado with permissive laws.

 

[Baron23]

"Longtime cannabis prohibitionist Sen. Diane Feinstein evolved on this issue this spring"​

I piss myself laughing every time I see this crap written with a straight face.

What the STATES act would do, and why it’s a game-changer

Roughly 75% of Americans support allowing states to set their own cannabis policy, and soon maybe Congress will too.

Americans who live in states with legal cannabis could see an end to the generations-old federal war on marijuana, thanks to today’s introduction of the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act. Introduced in Washington, DC, today, the bill would exempt legal-cannabis states like California from federal pot law enforcement, further winding down the country’s weed wars. It means federal agents couldn’t arrest you for a baggie of weed, and your dispensary couldn’t get raided and seized for breaking federal drug laws

Why Is This Needed?
Around 600,000 Americans are arrested each year on marijuana charges. Suspected drug crimes are the number one reason why police make arrests, and marijuana is the number one drug crime for which police make arrests. But about 61 percent of Americans support ending cannabis prohibition. Nine states and Washington, DC, have legalized cannabis for adults 21 and older, but federal pot prohibition remains in effect. Federal agents could arrest individuals for breaking federal pot law, though groups like the Drug Enforcement Administration concentrate on so-called ‘big fish’—interstate drug traffickers.

Forty-six states currently have laws permitting or decriminalizing recreational or medical marijuana or marijuana-based products. This has set up a conflict with the federal government that the STATES Act could help resolve.

What Does the STATES Act Do?
The STATES Act exempts state-legal marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, allowing every state to legalize and regulate cannabis (or keep it illegal) as they see fit. That means federal agents could not raid lawful, state-licensed businesses or seize their stuff.

The STATES Act also makes cannabis banking easier by clearly stating that compliant banking transactions “are not trafficking.”

The STATES Act also legalizes industrial hemp, which has been federally banned for decades. Legal hemp for food, fuel, fiber, and medicine is a potential boon to red-state economies like Kentucky.

The bill would be for adults 21 and over.

The STATES Act would also likely accelerate reforms in cannabis battleground states by eliminating opponents’ talking points about conflicting federal law. Michigan, Utah, Missouri and Oklahoma could hold statewide referendums on recreational or medical cannabis use.

What Are the Bill’s Limitations?
The US marijuana war is multi-layered, and the Controlled Substances Act is but one thick layer.

Cannabis users will still face employment and medical discrimination when applying for jobs or organ transplants.

Banking hurdles will remain and operators could still have their accounts rejected, closed, or face higher fees. And major tax hurdles to operating a cannabis business will remain, including disallowance of normal business deductions.

Marijuana arrests would continue at the local level in non-legalization states like New York, Florida, Illinois, and beyond.

Read Sen Elizabeth Warren’s office Fact Sheet on the STATES Act. Here is a full copy of the STATES Act bill.

What Other Bills Are Pending?
Congress is crackling with cannabis law reform bills, in part spearheaded by a growing Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

Congress’ longtime shield over medical marijuana patients—what was called the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment—has gained more support this year. Once inserted as a floor rider it’s becoming a more formal part of the committee-level budgeting process.

Will the STATES Act Pass?
Republicans control of all three branches of government. But they aren’t a voting bloc. Hyper-conservative wings could prevent Sen. Gardner’s bill from coming up for key committee or floor votes. That happened to a cannabis bill for veterans just this week.

The STATES Act also sails into the murky waters of an election year, with Republicans fighting to retain control of the House and potentially avoid impeachment hearings for the President. That will make politicians cautious about the votes they take, and the STATES Act could die as a bargaining chip on bigger issues this year.

“It’s not so much Trump, it’s a lot of the other GOP,” said Lindsay Robinson, executive director of the California Cannabis Industry Association, earlier this week. “He might have a more progressive attitude than some of his other counterparts.”

Still, it’s a bill that some political observers inside and outside the DC Beltway believe has a real chance of gaining some traction on Capitol Hill, and perhaps even becoming law.

Who’s Opposing It?
The US’s powerful security-industrial complex—including the Departments of Justice and Treasury, the DEA, the police chiefs’ and sheriffs’ associations and police unions—will have strong opinions. When past efforts like this have come up, they have voiced concerns about hamstringing federal efforts to root out cartel activity in legal states.

The Department of Treasury was also the first into the marijuana war in 1937 with the Marijuana Tax Act and is likely to be the last out.

There’s also the religious right, as well as nanny state Democrats, plus progressives who do not want to see “states’ rights” efforts gain a bigger following.

Who’s Pushing for Passage?
The STATES Act initial list of co-sponsors is bi-partisan, bi-cameral and national. In the Senate it’s: Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV.), Rand Paul (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Cory Booker (D-NJ). The House by Representatives’ co-sponsors are: Carlos Curbelo (R-FL.), Jared Polis (D-CO), Ken Buck (R-CO), Walter Jones (R-NC), Dianna DeGette (D-CA), Rob Blum (R-IA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Matt Geatz (R-FL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Luis Correa (D-CA), Jason Lewis (R-MN), and Ro Khanna (D-CA).

Many more members like Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) have taken positions favorable to co-sponsoring.

Longtime cannabis prohibitionist Sen. Diane Feinstein evolved on this issue this spring, saying she now favors a states-rights approach to cannabis regulation. Her evolution came during a tough primary in which Feinstein failed to secure the endorsement of her state Democratic Party, and several challenges ran to the left of her. Sen. Feinstein sits with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, where many bills live or die.

The legislation has been endorsed by organizations including:

• the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• Americans for Tax Reform
• the Brennan Center for Justice
• the Cooperative Credit Union Association
• the Drug Policy Alliance, the Institute for Liberty
• LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership
• the Marijuana Policy Project
• the Massachusetts Bankers Association
• the Maine Credit Union League
• the Mountain West Credit Union Association
• the National Cannabis Bar Association
• the National Cannabis Industry Association
• the National Conference of State Legislatures
• the New Federalism Fund
• NORML
• the Northwest Credit Union Association
• R Street
• and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance

You can add your support by contacting the offices of sponsors Sen. Warren and Sen. Gardner, as well as voicing your support to your elected representatives.