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TapTheForwardAssist posted:This is bizarre: I went to check to see if VT is getting any closer to legalizing finally, and apparently they're seriously considering a DC-style "legal but no sales" legislation where they'd allow home-growing but no stores. DC got stuck with that by Congress, but VT wants to actually make it a plan. Weird strategy, but apparently it placates some conservatives who don't want to see a "pot industry" or worry the Feds will crack down, so just going laissez-faire is easier. That is interesting. I could see that being a fairly viable strategy in states where "great source of revenue for the state" is less appealing as an argument than "my property rights." NH, for sure, but maybe even places like Montana or Wyoming.
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Mar 9, 2017 23:34
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xrunner posted:That is interesting. I could see that being a fairly viable strategy in states where "great source of revenue for the state" is less appealing as an argument than "my property rights." NH, for sure, but maybe even places like Montana or Wyoming. It's a really intriguing option, it's technically "legalization" but resembles "hyper-decriminalization" or something. Wikipedia might need to start nuancing their map further if this catches on as a thing in other states. DC again just has this system totally unwillingly, seeing someone actively *choose* it is odd. But I grasp how it's a middle-ground that might gain some support. If I were snarkier I'd be pinging Smart Approaches to Marijuana on Twitter to ask "hey, since you guys are supposedly fine with adults using cannabis, but are against Big Marijuana, does that mean you endorse the VT proposal?" Pragmatically I think it's kind of silly since it leaves open a huge black market and the state gets no revenue from it, but if somehow people are convinced that commercial cannabis is somehow a bad deal, this is still an improvement over the status quo. I joked last year about how when Maine was demanding a "locally appropriate" solution that they must be demanding that weed only be sold in cute little mom-and-pop corner drugstores that sell penny-candy at the counter, but Vermont appears to be doing some no poo poo "the right Yankee way is for government to butt out and the hardy yeomen farmer to grow and smoke his own hemp." EDIT: Ah, apparently SAM's current fight is trying to prevent RI from legalizing through their legislature: EDIT3: SAM is the one bankrolling this specific ad, but doesn't mention that on their Twitter or on the ad itself. They did similar tone-deaf astro-turfing in DC.  EDIT2: Ah, the good ol' "parade of horribles". quote:PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- North Kingstown Town Council President Richard Welch worries that if marijuana is legalized the town could have issues with policemen and firemen coming to work high. EDIT4: quote:That is interesting. I could see that being a fairly viable strategy in states where "great source of revenue for the state" is less appealing as an argument than "my property rights." NH, for sure, but maybe even places like Montana or Wyoming. Montana tried this with guns back in like 2010 or so: they tried passing some law that Montanans could make full-auto machineguns, sawed-offs, and silencers without doing any federal paperwork so long as the firearm always stayed in Montana. And of course ATF was "lol no". TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Mar 10, 2017 |
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Mar 10, 2017 01:07
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I'm a little hazy on the details, but apparently Scott Pruitt, the guy Trump tapped to head the EPA, was the same guy who as AG of Oklahoma dicked up their public initiative to legalize medical marijuana in 2016. They had the signatures, but then backers allege Pruitt misleadingly structured the phrasing of the initiative to make it sound like people were voting on full-legal, so courtroom kerfuffles followed and the vote looks like it's on for 2018 now. So by at least one argument, the current EPA chief is the big reason Oklahoma has to wait two more years to vote on medical weed: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/pruitt-confirmation-adds-another-strong-anti-marijuana-voice-to-trump-cabinet/article/2615318
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Mar 11, 2017 04:52
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:This is bizarre: I went to check to see if VT is getting any closer to legalizing finally, and apparently they're seriously considering a DC-style "legal but no sales" legislation where they'd allow home-growing but no stores. DC got stuck with that by Congress, but VT wants to actually make it a plan. Weird strategy, but apparently it placates some conservatives who don't want to see a "pot industry" or worry the Feds will crack down, so just going laissez-faire is easier. It's a substantial step towards outright legalization though, which could follow only a few years after this stage. DC is basically like Colorado now re weed with the exception that everyone has to be a bit weird about where they get their weed. DC as a culture WANTS pot stores and will get them as shortly as a Democratic majority controls the House. So sometime in the next 16 years.
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Mar 13, 2017 06:16
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Went to a hearing last evening for Marihuana Decriminalization in Texas. Turns out hearings take forever so I spent several hours in the overflow room bullshitting with other activists or playing World of Tanks on my phone while waiting for our bill to come up. There were some other interesting bills before ours, a bunch of stuff about human trafficking and prostitution and expunging records and all, so I watched some of the testimonies for the intense stuff like "I'm now a productive tax-paying citizen, mother, and homeowner, but I've been literally laughed at in job interviews because I have prostitution convictions from twenty years ago because my abusive boyfriend got me hooked on heroin and selling myself to support him." After about four hours of hearings, our bill came up around 6pm or so and we filed in. They have tablets set up outside so you can log yourself in to support/oppose given bills, and sign up to testify or no. The campaign put out word in advance that we had plenty of witnesses, so only testify if you have personal or professional experience with cannabis arrests. Testimony was... a mixed bag, which I guess is what happens when you just open the floor to anyone. A lot of people who didn't have much angle other than "it really sucks my son got busted for weed"; I'm supportive of their cause of course, but for each testimony I just tried to imagine how it would resonate with someone who'd just respond "then don't break the law." Then a lot of folks who got really off-topic about how great weed is medically, but didn't use the angle I would have of "so even if it's not legal to self-medicate, at least people who make that tough decision will get ticketed but not arrested." We had one really interesting dude who sounded somewhere between Sam Elliott and Johnny Cash, like the guy should be doing narration for something folksy, and his how spiel was this rambling piece about how the Vietnam War was specifically designed to kill off hippies, and paraquat spraying in Mexico was done to poison weed smokers rather than kill crops. Basically every point he had dated back to the 1970s at latest, and not a single point addressed House Bill 81 other than saying he supported it. We had at least a couple people though who were reasonably on-point with basically classic stories for our case. One local businessman (who brought his wife and baby to the hearing) who got busted in a rural county for a few grams of medical marijuana (that he'd been legally using in another state) and was horrified that he got literally shackled hand and foot, spent several days in jail, and had to go to court to fight off a misdemeanor charge that could've hurt his business. That was probably our best one for "respectable citizen is treated like a dangerous criminal for a minor offense." For a while it looked like we had an endless parade of a couple dozen supporters testifying and no opposition, though a couple older folks had punched their data into the tablet wrong and gone on-record as being against it, so had to verbally correct the record to testify. But the last speaker of the night was a prosecutor from a rural county, who said that his people didn't object to the overall concept of the bill, but were against it because of two major concerns: a) what if some court says the smell of weed is no longer Probable Cause and they lose to ability to search people to check for real crimes? b) it's tough on cops to have to enforce *civil* law on top of criminal law, and what if the weed is like right at an ounce but the cop isn't sure if it's over an ounce and arrestable? Fortunately the writer of the bill, who's on the committee, was also a prosecutor and (politely) tore the guy's arguments apart. At the very end, the Chairman noted that we'd spent almost four hours hearing testimony, with a total of one single person testifying against, and basically gave a scolding speech about "for the record, if there are folks out there that aren't happy about this bill, I'm not going to be pleased if you show up in April or May complaining about it on the floor, since we had a whole hearing for this and almost everyone that showed up supported it." So overall we're feeling really good about this getting out of committee, which was almost a foregone conclusion since even going in we were pretty sure we had four solid votes of eight to move forward, so now we just see when it goes to the House floor, and where the Senate companion bill is at. And separately a bill to expand Texas' MMJ program to be as large as in a normal state (right now it's just CBD for epilepsy) is winding its way through the system. It's been pretty cool getting involved in this, so if you've never attended a NORML meeting for your area, or aren't on their mailing list, try getting involved even if it just means coming out for a day to lobby, or responding to a call for action by contacting your reps.
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Mar 14, 2017 23:16
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:At the very end, the Chairman noted that we'd spent almost four hours hearing testimony, with a total of one single person testifying against, and basically gave a scolding speech about "for the record, if there are folks out there that aren't happy about this bill, I'm not going to be pleased if you show up in April or May complaining about it on the floor, since we had a whole hearing for this and almost everyone that showed up supported it." So overall we're feeling really good about this getting out of committee, which was almost a foregone conclusion since even going in we were pretty sure we had four solid votes of eight to move forward, so now we just see when it goes to the House floor, and where the Senate companion bill is at. And separately a bill to expand Texas' MMJ program to be as large as in a normal state (right now it's just CBD for epilepsy) is winding its way through the system. FYI the representative giving the speech you talk about was actually Vice Chairman Todd Hunter. This is important because Todd Hunter also happens to be Chairman of the House Calendars Committee, who sets when (or if) bills go to the House floor for votes. Previous similar bills have passed the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee unanimously, only to never reach the floor due to a lack of support from Calendar Committee members. So his support would be a Big Deal in terms of actually getting legislation passed.
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Mar 15, 2017 06:50
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GamingHyena posted:FYI the representative giving the speech you talk about was actually Vice Chairman Todd Hunter. This is important because Todd Hunter also happens to be Chairman of the House Calendars Committee, who sets when (or if) bills go to the House floor for votes. Previous similar bills have passed the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee unanimously, only to never reach the floor due to a lack of support from Calendar Committee members. So his support would be a Big Deal in terms of actually getting legislation passed. Thanks for the local insight! I move around too much so I tend to lack the bigger political picture wherever I'm operating. Did you attend the hearing too, or saw it streamed? Would you also concur that a lot of the testimony was less than compelling, but was useful mainly for showing that a body of people are willing to turn out in support? Speaking of which, other than personal testimony, we had a bunch of folks come to testify in favor from Republican organizations, particularly Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition and The Young Republicans, so that was useful for bipartisanship. Those speakers were mostly pretty dry, just recited statistics and explained how that fit into Republican ideology. To nitpick from the outside, I wish people would pay more attention to the prior speakers and modify their speech accordingly since we had more than half the speakers rattle off the same statistical bullet points. A certain amount of repetition is good I suppose, but after four or five people saying "60,000 marijuana arrests per year" it seems we could save a few minutes by just saying "the other speakers have pointed out the sheer number of arrests, and based on that..." Now it's just a matter of when it gets on calendar to go to the House floor, and then where the accompanying Senate bill is, and then what happens to both the HB and SB for expanding medical cannabis. I found it interesting too that the campaign is no longer doing mass calls for action because a chunk of reps are really solidly on our side now and have apparently communicated "yes, after the literally thousandth email about this, I'm totally on-board, so you don't need to tie up my inbox and phoneline." So presumably they're focusing more now on getting people in key districts to contact their reps who are on the fence. Lots of interesting strategy in this that's way above my level.
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Mar 19, 2017 00:46
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:Thanks for the local insight! I move around too much so I tend to lack the bigger political picture wherever I'm operating. Did you attend the hearing too, or saw it streamed? Would you also concur that a lot of the testimony was less than compelling, but was useful mainly for showing that a body of people are willing to turn out in support? Guess I need to check whether my shitbag rep is on the side of the forces of good on this one.
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Mar 19, 2017 04:09
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Canada just announced that July 2018 is the goal to legalize recreational cannabis in Canada. It'll be age 18 and up, and individual provinces will set their own policies for stores and whatnot: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/27/canada-legal-marijuana-july-2018
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Mar 27, 2017 22:44
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Any idea on how the US will respond? In the past they've pushed against Mexico and other South American Countries from legalizing.
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Mar 28, 2017 04:53
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quote:Two Oregon lawmakers plan to introduce an ambitious marijuana law reform package in Congress Thursday, proposing a raft changes that could wipe away thousands of pot-related criminal convictions and make life much easier for everyone involved in the legal weed business. https://news.vice.com/story/a-3-part-plan-to-fix-legal-weed-in-the-u-s-was-just-unveiled-by-two-oregon-lawmakers https://www.scribd.com/document/343453045/Wyden-and-Blumenauer-s-Path-to-Marijuana-Reform?secret_password=IBd6RLXj5tvW1P5nGJo1#from_embed
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Mar 30, 2017 21:06
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On the road and phone-posting, but it appears big news in West Virginia and South Africa this week if anyone has a sec to dig.
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Mar 31, 2017 20:30
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Tab8715 posted:Any idea on how the US will respond? In the past they've pushed against Mexico and other South American Countries from legalizing. The United States no longer has any ground to tell any nation how conduct its business re cannabis.
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Mar 31, 2017 22:11
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Aging Millenial posted:The United States no longer has any ground to tell any nation how conduct its business re cannabis. Due to state's legalizing in defiance of the federal government? Or for other reasons?
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Apr 1, 2017 01:12
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because it would reek of hypocrisy. whether or not it's still federally illegal doesn't mean poo poo anymore when it comes to this
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Apr 1, 2017 03:05
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Virginia has taken the first possible tentative step towards decriminalization. Last year, a major Republican state senator signaled that he was open to considering decriminalization. A state body (Virginia Crime Commission) will now study decriminalization and make a recommendation to the legislature next year. Both Democratic nominees in this year's Governor race (VA holds Gov elections in off years) support decriminalization. So it's likely that Va.will have decriminalized marijuana by this time next year if this state body and legislature are swayed by the national trend and the more local trend (it's semi-legal in DC and decriminalized in Maryland.) In the mid-atlantic region full legalization will probably happen in this order: Washington, DC (if Democrats ever take back the House, DC will get legal weed stores guaranteed) --- > New Jersey -----> Delaware ---->Maryland. Virginia will be dead last because rural Virginia has significant sway in the state legislature.
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Apr 6, 2017 16:14
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Where's PA?
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Apr 7, 2017 00:24
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The Modern Leper posted:Where's PA? Xlorp fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Apr 7, 2017 |
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Apr 7, 2017 01:44
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"Delaware legislators say they have votes to legalize pot posted:Delaware took a major step Thursday toward becoming the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana use.
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Apr 7, 2017 02:38
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WV just needs the Governor's signature for mmj.
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Apr 7, 2017 03:14
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The Modern Leper posted:Where's PA? Lmao, I had forgotten that state's existence.
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Apr 7, 2017 05:01
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Crossposting from TCC: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3817105 quote:Slacktivism call: I imagine WPCannabis would appreciate your efforts appreciated to spread the word/link about this project on Twitter, Facebook, etc. to the cannabis community
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Apr 14, 2017 21:17
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A day early, but on 19 April, West Virginia became the 29th state to legalize medical marijuana. So now there are only four US states and two territories that have zero form of legal, decrim, or CBD: http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/04/19/west-virginia-medical-marijuana-legal/77790/
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Apr 20, 2017 06:32
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:A day early, but on 19 April, West Virginia became the 29th state to legalize medical marijuana. So now there are only four US states and two territories that have zero form of legal, decrim, or CBD: http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/04/19/west-virginia-medical-marijuana-legal/77790/ Good omen for the upcoming Kentucky and Tennessee votes. Dmitri-9 fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Apr 20, 2017 |
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Apr 20, 2017 16:17
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Seven weed activists arrested by Capitol Police (not MPD, cops for the actual Capitol building) in DC for handing out free joints: http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/20/420-dc-pot-activists-arrested-during-free-marijuan/ They'll be held overnight and have a hearing tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, one of them is Adam Eidinger (famously described as a "political gadfly" by the Post), the headshop owner who headed the successful campaign to legalize weed in DC in 2014. That said, Capitol Police are federal and not beholden to DC law; this could get interesting.
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Apr 20, 2017 23:25
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Stolen from the poltoons thread:
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Apr 21, 2017 19:51
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https://twitter.com/VICE/status/856559367335948289 Medicinal Cannabis may soon become available on the NHS
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Apr 24, 2017 18:26
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Interesting article in the LA Times about attempts to unionize and regulate the weed industry http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-marijuana-technician-20170423-story.html
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Apr 24, 2017 20:01
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Governor hasn't signed yet, but Indiana is on the verge of legalizing CBD for epilepsy: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2017/04/21/marijuana-extract-could-soon-legal-indiana-epilepsy-patients/100698120/ EDIT: if IN does it, that brings us down to only three states (ID, SD, KS) that have neither decrim nor medical. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Apr 25, 2017 |
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Apr 25, 2017 20:10
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http://in.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-marijuana-idINKBN17U2ZJ The legalization of medical marijuana sailed through the Mexican Congress and President Nieto is expected to sign.
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Apr 29, 2017 06:06
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The Modern Leper posted:Where's PA? Pennsylvania got a medical bill passed recently. I'm pleased with it as a good step forward, but it's not a total victory: there is a list of approved conditions, and there will be a highly regulated dispensary system. No statewide decrim (although I believe possession of small amounts is decriminalized in Philadelphia). I know some people that would love to replace their prescription opioids with cannabis but are very sensitive to the legal status, I hope this helps them. And hey: Washington State had a similar medical setup when they leapfrogged straight to full legal in 2014. I really hope Massachusetts pulls through because personally I think that will put prohibition over the edge of ridiculous into the realm of untenable. Out-of-state folks will be able to buy it there, yes? If everyone in the northeast of the United States can drive to Boston for a Weed Weekend then why bother anymore? I suppose a Jeff Sessions counter-attack could put the brakes on, but I just don't see it being enough to stem the tide.
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Apr 29, 2017 07:06
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I'm in Montreal for a few months, and been pondering volunteer gigs to keep busy. In DC and Texans I worked on marijuana campaigns, but I dunno, are MJ advocacy groups in Canada doing anything at all these days other than an extended touchdown dance for the next year?
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Apr 30, 2017 03:39
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i imagine they're probably tokin up
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Apr 30, 2017 03:45
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Calibanibal posted:i imagine they're probably tokin up Nah, I mean what are they doing *different* since the Canadian government announced upcoming legalization? Not that it seems to matter much, Montreal reeks of weed about as much as DC does. EDIT: apparently one of Canada's ongoing challenges is reminding people "hey, you can *still* get arrested until next year so be more discreet." TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Apr 30, 2017 |
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Apr 30, 2017 04:24
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Ontario is watching dispensaries open up which run the gamut from "looks like a pharmacy" to "at least the dealer is in one spot and indoors". Watching police raid them and then watching them open back up the next day. Also, Paying attention to Marc Emery getting pinched for trying to weather the storm so hard.
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Apr 30, 2017 05:50
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Rohrabacher-Blumenauer (formerly Rohrabacher-Farr) in the spending deal, extended to Sept.
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May 3, 2017 17:16
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GonadTheBallbarian posted:Rohrabacher-Blumenauer (formerly Rohrabacher-Farr) in the spending deal, extended to Sept. Suck it Sessions!
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May 3, 2017 18:41
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If it makes you feel any better, Sessions may not be doing much in the weed world just yet. A while back he took a meeting with Gov. Hickenlooper (D-Colo):quote:Hickenlooper’s chief of staff, Doug Friednash, tells us the hour-long meeting to discuss Colorado’s cannabis laws and the threat of federal intervention went amicably. The biggest takeaways, Friednash said, are that the new attorney general is far more focused on other priorities, like securing the border with a wall, than in disrupting our legal cannabis marketplace.
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May 3, 2017 19:33
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Florida's competing horrible MMJ bills in their respective House and Senate are irreconcilable and dead this legislative session. Because of the language of Amendment 2, the onus now falls on the department of health to pass regulations by July. Good news is this makes any of the dumber provisions from the various senate/house proposals more easily challenged in court.
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May 6, 2017 04:31
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Malta is an insignificant city state in the middle of a sea, but the leaders of both political parties came out in favour of debating Canada or Portugal type of decrim yesterday. Much of it seems to be preelection posturing, but I would be cautiously optimistic.
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May 6, 2017 11:11
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