Drug War Chronicle, Issue #607 -(urls + editiorial)- 11/6/09

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #607 -- 11/6/09
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607

A Publication of Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

LAST CHANCE: Help StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) Win $50,000 in
America's Giving Challenge! (ENDS TOMORROW)
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/stopthedrugwar_in_americas_giving_challenge

Table of Contents:

1. FEATURE: MAINE VOTERS APPROVE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES
Maine has become the latest state to approve state-licensed
medical marijuana dispensaries. It joins New Mexico and Rhode
Island. But locally-allowed (or not) dispensaries are the rule
in California, Colorado, and Washington. Both paths have their
pluses and minuses.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/maine_approves_medical_marijuana_dispensaries

2. FEATURE: VETERANS INCARCERATED AND IGNORED WHEN THEY COULD BE
GETTING HELP, REPORT FINDS
Nearly a quarter of a million American veterans were behind bars
in 2004, many of them for drug abuse-related offenses, a new
report finds. While the military, the Veterans Administration,
and other agencies are taking some steps to help them, there is
much more that could -- and should -- be done.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/veterans_substance_abuse_treatment_incarceration

3. EUROPE: BRITISH SCIENCE VS. POLITICS BATTLE EXPLODES AS TOP
DRUG ADVISOR FIRED FOR HERESY
The British government seems to think that if drug policy is not
supported by science, you need to trash the science -- and the
scientist -- not the failed policy. It fired a leading voice for
science- and evidence-based drug policies last Friday for what
amounted to heresy against official dogma.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/british_drug_advisor_nutt_fired_for_heresy

4. MARIJUANA: COLORADO SKI TOWN VOTES TO LEGALIZE IT, MEASURE
PASSES WITH 73%
Breckenridge, Colorado, a Rocky Mountain ski town, just voted
overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana under municipal ordinance.
Denver did that in 2005.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/breckenridge_colorado_marijuana_legalization_vote

5. LATIN AMERICA: MEXICO DRUG WAR UPDATE
No break in Mexico's prohibition-related violence as the death
toll since December 2006, when President Calderon called in the
army, has now topped 15,000. The latest victims include a US
soldier gunned down in a Ciudad Juarez strip club with five
other people.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/mexico_drug_war_update

6. THE BORDER: US BEGINS TURNING BUSTED SMUGGLERS OVER TO MEXICO
FOR PROSECUTION
For years, federal prosecutors on the US-Mexican border have
been so swamped with smuggling cases that they refuse to
prosecute busts under 500 pounds. Local prosecutors can't handle
the overflow, either, so now, the US is sending busted Mexican
pot smugglers back home to be prosecuted.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/US_Mexico_border_marijuana_smuggling_prosecution

7. DRUG LEGALIZATION: SENATOR PUSHES AMENDMENT TO CENSOR ANY
TALK OF THAT
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) is floating an amendment to Jim
Webb's bill to create a commission on criminal justice reforms.
Grassley's amendment would bar any talk of legalization or
decriminalization.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/grassley_censorship_amendment_legalization

8. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
The drug war corrodes the integrity of law enforcement in
multiple ways, as we see this week: Testilying, sexual
extortion, thievery, and the usual just plain old corrupt
practices.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/police_drug_corruption

9. MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION: CALIFORNIA POLL OF PRIMARY VOTERS
FINDS NARROW MAJORITY SAY KEEP IT ILLEGAL
A new poll of likely California primary voters has a majority in
favor of maintaining marijuana prohibition, but the pollster
said that should not be read as suggesting legalization
initiatives will necessarily go down to defeat. Different
polling questions and populations provide different results, he
said.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/california_marijuana_legalization_poll_capitol_wee
kly_probolsky

10. EUROPE: DUTCH CANNABIS CAFE OWNER ON TRIAL OVER AMOUNT OF
POT ON HAND
Dutch authorities at all levels are tightening the screws on the
country's famous cannabis coffee shops, and now a prominent
coffee shop owner is on trial for violating the rules about how
much he can have on hand.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/dutch_cannabis_coffee_shop_owner_trial

11. LAST CHANCE: HELP STOPTHEDRUGWAR.ORG (DRCNET) WIN $50,000
IN AMERICA'S GIVING CHALLENGE
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gift of $10 or higher -- made through the "Causes" program,
which is linked in to Facebook -- counts equally toward the
prize, and gifts can be made up to once a day.
StoptheDrugWar.org is a contestant, and we're asking for your
help by participating and by spreading the word.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/stopthedrugwar_in_americas_giving_challenge

12. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
years past.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/drug_war_history

(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up
today!)

===============

1. Feature: Maine Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/maine_approves_medical_marijuana_dispensaries

Voters in Maine Tuesday approved Question 5, the Maine Medical
Marijuana Act
(http://www.mainepatientsrights.org/Petition%20MEDICAL%20MARIJUANA.pdf),
an initiative instructing the state government to set up a
system of state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries. The
measure passed with 59% of the vote.

Sponsored by Maine Citizens for Patient Rights
(http://www.mainepatientsrights.org) (MCPR) and the Maine
Medical Marijuana Policy Initiative
(http://www.mainecommonsense.org -- MMMPI), and funded primarily
by the Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org), the
Maine Medical Marijuana Act will:

* Establish a system of nonprofit dispensaries which would be
overseen and tightly regulated by the state;

* Establish a voluntary identification card for medical
marijuana patients and caregivers;

* Protect patients and caregivers from arrest, search and
seizure unless there is suspicion of abuse;

* Create new protections for qualified patients and providers
in housing, education, employment and child custody;

* Allow patients with Lou Gehrig's disease and Alzheimer's
disease access to medical marijuana;

* Require the Department of Health and Human Services to
develop a procedure for expanding the list of conditions for
which marijuana can be used; and

* Keep current allowable marijuana quantities at 2.5 ounces and
six plants.

"We weren't surprised at all by the outcome," said Jonathan
Leavitt of Maine Citizens for Patients Rights, who had predicted
weeks ago the measure would cruise to victory. "We would have
done a lot better in most elections, but this time there was a
big turnout from the hard-core religious right," he said,
referring to the heated battle over a gay marriage referendum
that went down to defeat the same day.

"We're really tickled," said Bruce Mirken, communications
director for the Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org),
which also supported the campaign. "This was a state election
with some controversial issues, but medical marijuana wasn't one
of them. Oh, the usual suspects objected, but nobody was
listening. This suggests the comfort level with medical
marijuana is growing by leaps and bounds."

Some long-time Maine marijuana activists, such as the Maine
Vocals (http://www.mainevocals.net), had joined the "usual
suspects" in opposing the measure. They argued that the measure
gave too much power to the state. But their complaints appeared
to have little impact on the electoral outcome.

"It's great to see Maine leapfrog other states in adopting
cutting-edge medical marijuana legislation," said Jill Harris,
DPA managing director for public policy. "What's especially nice
is that the medical marijuana guidelines recently issued by the
US Department of Justice provide reassurance to Maine officials
that they can implement the new law without fear of reprisal by
federal authorities."

"This is a dramatic step forward, the first time that any
state's voters have authorized the state government to license
medical marijuana dispensaries," said MPP executive director Rob
Kampia. "Coming a decade after passage of Maine's original
marijuana law, this is a huge sign that voters are comfortable
with these laws, and also a sign that the recent change of
policy from the Obama administration is having a major impact."

Maine becomes the sixth state to allow medical marijuana
dispensaries, and, as Kampia noted, the first one to approve
state-licensed dispensaries through a popular vote. New Mexico
and Rhode Island approved state-licensed dispensaries through
the legislative process, while California, Colorado, and
Washington adopted locally-approved dispensaries through the
initiative process.

In New Mexico, there is currently one state-licensed medical
marijuana dispensary; in Rhode Island none yet exist. In
Colorado, by contrast, there are nearly a hundred, while in
California, the number of locally-permitted (or not)
dispensaries is somewhere shy of 2000. In Washington State, the
number of dispensaries is much lower, but still higher than in
states where dispensaries are licensed by the state.

"The trend toward licensed dispensaries is a good thing," said
Kris Hermes, communications director for Americans for Safe
Access (http://www.safeaccessnow.org), the nation's largest
medical marijuana advocacy group. "Back in 1996, when the first
initiative was passed in California, that initiative included
language calling on the state and federal governments to work
together to create a plan for distribution. But because the
federal government was not only unhelpful, but actually working
to actively undermine medical marijuana distribution in
California during the Bush years, people at the local level were
forced to develop a model they could advance. What we now have
in California is a local model of distribution," he noted.

While locally-approved dispensaries appear to provide access to
medical marijuana to greater numbers of people, they are also
subject to more harassment and even prosecution by the state or
even the federal government. The Obama administration has
declared it will not go after dispensaries operating in accord
with state law, but in states like California and Colorado,
where local prosecutors determine legality -- not a state law --
dispensary operators could still see themselves prosecuted by
the feds.

One such incident occurred in September in San Diego, where
hard-line county District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis led joint
state and federal raids against dispensaries, and at least two
people were charged with federal marijuana distribution
offenses. Similarly, the Los Angeles county prosecutor has
warned that he considers almost all LA-area dispensaries to be
illegal.

"That's the fundamental difference Maine, New Mexico, and Rhode
Island on one hand, and California and Colorado on the other,"
said MPP's Mirken. "The latter have a large number of
dispensaries, but they are operating in a grey area. In
California, we've seen the feds justify participating in raids
where local DAs say the dispensaries aren't legal."

That could continue to happen, even with the Obama edict, Mirken
said. "Until the courts settle these issues, it's not shocking
that the feds might defer to local prosecutors," he said.
"There's something to be said for legal clarity."

What is needed, said Hermes, is federal acceptance of medical
marijuana. "As long as the federal government continues to deny
medical marijuana's efficacy and refuses to develop a national
plan that goes beyond law enforcement, states will have to
develop their own laws to deal with the issue of distribution,"
he said. "Having said that, we continue to work with the Obama
administration to develop that national policy, and hopefully,
one day soon we will have a policy that obviates the need for
individual policies at the state level."

In the meantime, it's up to the states. In Maine, that means
getting the state-licensed dispensary system up and running.
"The process starts when the governor signs it into law, which
we expect shortly," said Leavitt. "He will then set up a task
force to pull together appropriate oversight for the new law. We
hope to be part of that stakeholder process. I think it will
take at least three or four months before we actually have
functioning dispensaries."

================ ...

___________________

It's time to correct the mistake:
truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
<http://www.leap.cc>

Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________

later
bliss -- Cacoa Powered... (at sfo dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cacoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

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