In a clear departure from his more socially conservative top-of-the-ticket running mate Mitt Romney, vice presidential candidate Congressman Paul Ryan, in an interview this afternoon on KRDO in Colorado Springs, when confronted with a question about whether or not he supported patients in Colorado having legal access to cannabis for medical purposes, Ryan said that although he personally opposes medical cannabis use he would defer to the judgement of each state to make up its own mind on the issue.
Of course, Representative Ryan’s public policy position, as articulated here, is not much different in scope or tone from what George W. Bush and President Barack Obama claimed too when running for president, only to commit significant Department of Justice resources in closing down hundreds of otherwise lawful, state-compliant medical cannabis dispensaries. . . . Read Complete Report
Aug 25 (Reuters) – Campaigns to become the first U.S. states to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Washington and Colorado have raised $3 million ahead of a November vote, far outpacing the opposition.
Proponents of pot legalization in Washington state have raised nearly $2 million since the initiative qualified for the ballot in January, and about $1 million in Colorado since its measure earned a place on the ballot the following month, according to the most recent state campaign figures. . . . Read Complete Report
READ DESCRIPTION! 2012 is shaping up to be a crazy year in pot reform, as two states are trying to legalize some aspects of Marijuana use which have never been successfully legalized to this extent in the US before. Washington with Initiative 502 and Colorado with Amendment 64. Today we’ll be discussing Colorado’s Initiative, which I feel is closer to outright legalization than Washington’s proposal and we’ll be discussing the odds it will pass.
I hope all of you free thinking Americans and Canadians who can make the trip will get out there and support this event. If you live in the Seattle area please attend for me. I live in Florida. But were I closer I would be there. I have been involved in the movement since “Proposition 13” in Southern California back in the day… 1978 I believe.
But i feel, finally, I we have arrived at the beginning of the down hill road. That doesn’t mean we slow down. No sir. It means we speed up. Make more and more of the unknowing aware of the REAL facts. and shout them louder. STOP BLAMING ALL YOUR DRUG PROBLEMS ON THIS PLANT. . . . EDITOR
Seattle, WA: Event organizers are expecting to break attendance records this weekend for the 21st annual Seattle Hempfest, taking place this Friday through Sunday at Myrtle Edwards Park along the downtown Seattle waterfront.
Hempfest has drawn crowds in excesses of 250,000 people over the three day ‘protestival’.
One of the main focuses of this year Hempfest is Washington’s legalization voter initiative, Initiative 502. Washington is one of three states this fall where voters have the opportunity to substantively reform their state’s cannabis laws, effectively ending cannabis prohibition. Oregon and Colorado voters also have legalization ballots this fall.
Over 60 musical acts and over one hundred speakers — including NORML Founder Keith Stroup, I-502 sponsor, NORML Advisory Board member and travel expert Rick Steves, numerous NORML board members and chapter coordinators, members of Seattle’s City Council, former law enforcement officials and dozens of cannabis law reform activists will participate in the event from numerous stages and at the ‘Hemposium’ educational tent.
http://www.HenryHemp.com Seattle Hemp fest adventure with the Hemp’s, Henry Hemp proposed to January last year at Hemp Fest this year they brought there 3 1/2 month old baby “Zeena” was a epic fun adventure and Zeena showed she is a true Hempster and Loved the people for Seatt;e hemmp fest is a Adventure all showed try! see you next year and stay tuned for part 2 on Henry Hemp TV . . . Text posted with video on youtube
Eric Holder: “Closed Down Pot Clubs in a Fast and Furious Way”
Turns out the federal Justice Department’s almost-yearlong crackdown on state-legal medical cannabis has nothing to do with hard-line drug warriors, forfeiture numbers, President Barack Obama’s reelection effort — or even marijuana itself.
Shutting dispensaries in California, Colorado, Montana, and Washington is all an attempt at political misdirection, with a state-legal industry as the unfortunate collateral damage, according to journalist Martin A. Lee.
Attorney General Eric Holder directed his prosecutors to dismantle legal weed so that he could distract Republican congressmen and Justice Department officials from his mishandling of the “Fast and Furious” gun-walking scandal, Lee, the author of an upcoming social history of marijuana, said in an article published this weekend on Truthout. . . . Read Complete Report
A few weeks ago we published a link to a report about pot dispensing machines showing up in Japan. Well don’t feel left out. It looks like the machine is ready to go here in the U.S. also. [See video below] The venting machine comes to us in time for the new legislation working its way through all kinds of places you’d never figure. . . . EDITOR
Catharine Leach is married and has two boys, age 2 and 8. She has a good job with a federal contractor and smokes pot most every day.
While she worries that her public support for marijuana decriminalization and legalization could cost her a job or bring the police to her door, the 30-year-old Warwick resident said she was tired of feeling like a criminal for using a drug that she said is far less harmful than the glass or wine or can of beer enjoyed by so many others after a long day’s work. Like others around the nation working to relax penalties for possession of pot, she decided to stop hiding and speak out.
“I’m done being afraid,” she said. “People in this country are finally coming around and seeing that putting someone in jail for this doesn’t make sense. It’s just a changing of the time.”
Once consigned to the political fringe, marijuana policy is appearing on legislative agendas around the country thanks to an energized base of supporters and an increasingly open-minded public. Lawmakers from Rhode Island to Colorado are mulling medical marijuana programs, pot dispensaries, decriminalization and even legalization. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia now authorize medical marijuana and 14, including neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts, have rolled back criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of pot. . . . Read Complete Report
Posted by CN Staff on June 02, 2012 at 10:42:10 PT By Samuel P. Jacobs
Source: Reuters
Denver — Throughout his presidency, Barack Obama hasn’t exactly been a friend to marijuana users. Sure, he has acknowledged smoking pot as a young man, but he has disappointed marijuana advocates by opposing its legalization, regulation and taxation like alcohol.
And the Justice Department’s occasional crackdown under his administration on medical marijuana dispensaries, which 17 states and the District of Columbia allow, has angered others.
So now, with Obama facing a stiff challenge from Republican Mitt Romney in the November 6 election, it’s ironic that his chances of winning the key state of Colorado could hinge on marijuana legalization, supported by a growing number of Americans.
At issue is whether Obama will get a boost from young voters expected to be among the most enthusiastic backers of a Colorado ballot initiative that would legalize possession of up to an ounce of pot for recreational use – and give the state the most liberal marijuana law in the nation.
The initiative is a reflection of Colorado’s unique blend of laid-back liberalism and anti-regulation conservatism that helped make the state the birthplace of the Libertarian Party.
It’s a state where people of different political stripes see marijuana laws as an example of government needlessly sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong.
It’s also a proving ground for advocates who see legalization as a way to ease crowding in prisons, generate much-needed tax revenues, create jobs and weaken Mexican cartels that thrive on Americans’ appetite for illegal drugs. . . . Read Complete Report
Former FEMA director Joe Allbaugh, who took the reins of Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign just as it was going into a nosedive, has jumped into a potentially more stable and long-term endeavor: legal marijuana.
Allbaugh is an investor in and board director of Colorado-based CannLabs, which calls itself “a leader in cannabis innovation” and specializes in the testing of pot potency and quality. . . Read Complete Report
Image: Joe M. Allbaugh
Portrait of (former) FEMA Director, now big-time pot dealer, Joe Allbaugh Photo by Greg Schaler/ FEMA News Photo. (Public Domain)
Protecting Marijuana’s $2.7 Billion Cash Industry When Banks Won’t
Published on Feb 17, 2015
Thanks to recreational legalization in Colorado and Washington, the U.S. marijuana industry exploded from $1.5 billion to $2.7 billion in one year. But now, businesses making hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a week are facing a serious problem: There’s nowhere to stash all the money.
Voters To Decide On Multiple Marijuana Reform Measures On Election Day [TODAY 11/4/2014]
Washington, DC: Voters in three states and in numerous municipalities, including Washington, DC, will decide this Election Day on ballot measures seeking to significantly amend marijuana laws. . . . Read Complete Report
Pot at the Polls: Oregon, Alaska Cast Pivotal Votes on Legal Marijuana
BY TONY DOKOUPIL
The future of marijuana hangs in the balance as voters go to the polls on Tuesday.[Today]
Residents of Oregon and Alaska will decide whether to follow Colorado and Washington, which in 2012 approved the world’s only regulated markets in the drug. The vote could double the number of states where adults can buy, sell, and consume cannabis—which includes marijuana in all its forms—and set the table for 2016, when at least six more states are expected to decide whether to tax and regulate what President Nixon once called “the scourge of youth.” . . . Read Complete Report
GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — School officials in northern Colorado are asking parents to take care with their newly legal recreational marijuana, after fourth graders were caught dealing the drug on an elementary school campus.
John Gates, director of safety for Weld County School District 6, said Wednesday that the students involved, three 10-year-old boys and a 10-year-old girl at Greeley’s Monfort Elementary School, faced tough discipline but not suspension or expulsion. He would not elaborate on their punishment.
