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Marijuana Latest News

Aug 24
0

Bernie Sanders Calls For Legalization Of Marijuana And Safe Injection Sites

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a criminal justice reform plan on Sunday that includes proposals to legalize marijuana, expunge past cannabis convictions and provide for safe injection sites to combat the opioid overdose crisis.

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate emphasized racially disparate arrest rates for marijuana and said that such disparities “pervade every aspect of the criminal justice system.”

“When Bernie is president, we will finally make the deep and structural investments to rebuild the communities that mass incarceration continues to decimate,” his campaign website states.

A key component of the senator’s comprehensive proposal is changing federal drug laws and treating addiction as a mental health issue.

According to an outline of the plan, if elected president, Sanders will legalize marijuana while ensuring that revenue from cannabis sales are reinvested in communities “hit hardest by the War on Drugs.”

Sanders discussed aspects of his criminal justice reform vision at a campaign event in South Carolina where he addressed the cash bail system and drug criminalization. A tweet with video from the event points out that people continue to linger in prison due to high bail costs, including for simple marijuana possession arrests, while adults in legal states are able to “get marijuana delivered to your home.”

His plan also notes that people suffering from addiction would benefit from his presidency because he will provide them “with the health care they need by guaranteeing health care—including inpatient and outpatient substance abuse and mental health services with no copayments or deductibles” through a Medicare-for-all system.

Additionally, Sanders described two policies specifically aimed at mitigating the opioid crisis: 1) legalizing safe injection sites where people can use drugs like heroin under the supervision of medical professionals and receive guidance on curbing addiction, and 2) decriminalizing possession of buprenorphine, an opioid often used as an offramp in the treatment of heroin addiction.

First responders would also be encouraged to carry naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, under his plan.

Here are three other drug reform proposals he included in the plan:

—Raise the threshold for when drug charges are federalized, as federal charges carry longer sentences.

—Work with states to fund and pursue innovative overdose prevention initiatives.

—Institute a full review of the current sentencing guidelines and end the sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine.

“Today we are releasing a criminal justice plan that will reform every aspect of America’s racist, dysfunctional criminal justice system,” Sanders said in a campaign email blast that prompts recipients to sign a petition in support of the plan. “That includes ending mass incarceration, changing the way we police our communities, providing resources for victims of crime, ending cycles of violence, and more.”

Other than the drug-specific proposals, Sanders’s plan also calls for policing reform, dismantling the for-profit prison complex, broadening expungement opportunities and enhancing mental health services.

Presidential candidates have placed a strong emphasis on drug reform as part of their criminal justice agendas this cycle. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) both unveiled similarly targeted plans in recent months, for example.

But while drug reform is a main feature of Sanders’s plan to halve the federal prison population, he didn’t explicitly recommend decriminalizing drug possession as a means to that end like Buttigieg did in his criminal justice reform plan. Rather, the senator focused on sentencing reform and changing other punitive federal laws that have contributed to mass incarceration.

The plan also differs from Booker’s in its approach to executive action. Sanders said he would create “an independent clemency board removed from the Department of Justice and placed in White House” in order to reform the pardon and commutation process, while Booker said specifically he would immediately move to grant mass clemency to people convicted of drug offenses if elected.

 

Aug 24
0

Marijuana Taxes Differ In Legalized States, Complicating Projections

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The marijuana legalization movement is often described as a state-level experiment—and one aspect of its implementation that’s garnering more attention is how legalized jurisdictions approach cannabis taxes in different ways.

Pew Charitable Trusts has been monitoring taxation in the legal industry and released a report on Monday that explains the challenges of establishing effective tax schemes and accurately projecting revenues, especially considering that experts don’t have a sizable body of historical data on which to base predictions like they do for alcohol and tobacco.

That said, there are some lessons to be taken from recent years since early legalizers implemented their respective programs.

Because tax rates differ significantly for marijuana businesses and consumers depending on the state, revenue from cannabis sales has varied, leaving policymakers in a flux as they work to meet budget goals and predict future trends, Pew reported.

Revenue was 40 percent higher in the first six months of sales than Nevada anticipated, for example, while sales in California were 45 percent lower than initially projected.

Here’s a breakdown of marijuana tax revenue in five adult-use states: 

Via Pew.

Pew also observed that revenue growth is slowing in Colorado and Washington, the first states to legalize for recreational use, as the market evolves.

Marijuana tax revenue growth in Washington state https://pew.org/2ZaPtER 
• 2015 to 2016: 277%
• 2016 to 2017: 70%
• 2017 to 2018: 17%

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“Supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana expected a new revenue source for states, but market uncertainties continue to challenge revenue forecasters and policymakers,” Pew concluded. “The difficulty in forecasting revenue is compounded by the fact that states have only recently begun to understand the recreational marijuana market: the level of consumer demand for recreational marijuana products, the types of users and how much they might pay for the drug, and competition with the black market.”

“States have learned some lessons but continue to grapple with unknowns.”

In order to prevent budget shortfalls that could impact funding for certain programs, policymakers should take caution and bear in mind the differences “between marijuana revenue’s short-term growth and long-term sustainability.”

“While these new dollars can fill immediate budget needs, they may prove unreliable for ongoing spending demands,” Pew said. “Policymakers should look to other, more familiar sin taxes for lessons on how to manage marijuana tax revenue most effectively.”

Aug 24
0

Federal Data Shows Youth Marijuana Use Isn’t Increasing Under Legalization

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Despite prohibitionists’ often-expressed fears that legalization would lead more young people to use marijuana, new federal data released on Tuesday shows no such trend.

Reports of past-month cannabis use among those 12-17 remained stable from 2017 to 2018—and they’re significantly lower than in the years prior to when the first states began legalizing for adult use.

That’s according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual report produced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

“The percentage of adolescents in 2018 who used marijuana in the past year was lower than the percentages in 2002 to 2004 and in 2009 to 2013, but it was similar to the percentages in 2005 to 2008 and in 2014 to 2017,” SAMHSA said.

Via SAMHSA.

Recent studies that have used NSDUH data and other sources also demonstrate that youth marijuana use is not increasing post-legalization. In fact, research published in JAMA Pediatrics in July found that states with recreational cannabis experience a decline in underage marijuana use, with the study authors stating that regulated markets appear to deter illicit use.

Indeed, on a national scale, the percentage of adolescents who reported using marijuana began declining at a greater rate in the years after states started implementing legal cannabis systems. In 2018, 12.5 percent of those 12-17 said they used cannabis in the last month, compared to 13.5 percent in 2012, according to the NSDUH results.

Colorado and Washington State became the first U.S. states to vote to legalize marijuana for recreational use in late 2012, with legal sales commencing in 2014.

Between 2002 and 2018, the highest rate of adolescent marijuana use took place in 2002, when 15.8 percent reported past-month consumption.

“The survey results suggest that marijuana use among youth has remained stable and low in recent years, even as more states legalize medical and adult use,” Sheila Vakharia, PhD, deputy director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s Department of Research and Academic Engagement, told Marijuana Moment. “Rather than encouraging increased use, it is possible that legalization has limited access and deterred youth use. We find that these results strengthen the case for legalization in the interest of public health and protecting our nation’s young people.”

What’s more, the report found that cases of cannabis use disorder declined again for the 12-17 group in 2018, marking the seventh year in a row that fewer young people seem to be misusing the substance.

Via SAMHSA.

Interestingly, these trends are developing even as people’s perceptions of the risks of casual marijuana consumption are dropping. That seems to contradict an argument from reform opponents who claimed that legalizing cannabis would normalize it in such a way that underage individuals would feel more emboldened to experiment with marijuana.

Via SAMHSA.

Overall, marijuana consumption increased across age groups by about one percentage point over the past year, the survey found, with the bulk of that rise being attributable to those over 26. Past-month cannabis use for that demographic increased from 12.2 percent in 2017 to 13.3 percent in 2018.

Aug 18
0

Hemp Is Now America’s Fastest Growing Cash Crop

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Hemp farms grew nearly 400% in the last year. Could the explosive expansion indicate what’s to come if marijuana is federally legalized, too?

Marijuana’s sober sibling, hemp, is taking over more US farm space than any other crop currently grown for profit.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the number of hectares devoted to hemp cultivation skyrocketed to a 368 percent growth rate this year. At the end of the 2018 summer, only 27,424 acres were devoted to hemp; today, it’s 128,320 acres.

That’s over four times the growth rate of the second-fastest expanding cash crop, maple, which had an 85 percent growth rate. Farmland set aside for for hemp is expected to increase as CBD products, which are primarily derived from hemp, become increasingly popular, as well.

For decades, commercial farmers in America have relied on monocropped corn or genetically modified soybeans to make a living. But growing corn and soy is boring AF, and both crops have lost their profitability under President Trump’s trade war with China, a country that purchases large quantities of American corn and soy products. This year alone, America’s agricultural imports to China fell 20 percent, which hasn’t helped the average farmer’s income, which dropped 45 percent over the last six years, according to the USDA.

“There are a lot of things you can do on a farm, but there aren’t a lot of things you can do to make money,” Will Brownlow, a Kentucky farmer who began farming hemp last year, told Quartz. “The plant is a weed, and it likes to grow.”

Before he switched to the “weed,” Brownlow grew soy, which brought in about $500 per acre. But he said hemp can rack up to $30,000 per acre, and it’s much easier to grow than soy.

Late last year, Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill, which included a section that removed hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act, effectively legalizing it nationwide. That move prompted farmers in America’s Midwest to switch from mainstreamed cash crops to hemp.

Hemp’s future looks promising, too. Last year, the sector generated $1.1 billion. By 2022, it’s expected to hit $2.6 billion.

Given that state-legal marijuana markets generated $9 billion last year, one can only imagine how weed will change the face of American farming once it becomes federally legal. And the farmers who just got the jump on hemp will be in an excellent position to transition into marijuana, since they’ll already have the hands-on experience.

Randy Robinson

Based in Denver, Randy studied cannabinoid science while getting a degree in molecular biology at the University of Colorado. When not writing about cannabis, science, politics, or LGBT issues, they can be found exploring nature somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Catch Randy on Twitter and Instagram @randieseljay

Aug 18
0

California’s Cannabis Black Market Expected to Make Nearly $9 Billion This Year

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California is expected to sell over $3 billion of legal weed this year. But, ironically, the illicit pot market is still flourishing, and is nearly three times more profitable.

Despite cannabis proponents’ promises to eradicate black market weed, illicit grows and deals are doing just fine in California. In fact, the illicit markets may rake in almost triple the cash that the legal market has.

According to a new market report by BDS Analytics, a cannabis data firm, California is set to sell a record-breaking $3.1 billion in legal weed this year. That’s significantly more than the state sold in its first year of legal sales, at $2.5 billion.

But California’s illicit weed sales are estimated to reach $8.7 billionthis year, nearly three times the amount sold through the state’s complicated — and pricey — licensing system.

“The illegal market is competitive because legal marijuana is so expensive to produce under Prop. 64,” Dale Gieringer, director of Cal NORML, told the LA Times. Cal NORML supported Proposition 64, the state bill that legalized adult-use weed, though the organization did not give its backing to every regulation in the bill.

Why is legal weed so expensive to produce in California? First, there are licensing fees for every legit pot operation. Cultivators can expect to drop anywhere from $200 to $8,600 per year for a license just to grow weed. Retail stores must also purchase annual licenses to sell, which can range from $100,000 to $300,000 a year depending on the store’s overall volume of business.

And that’s just for licensing. Cannabis entrepreneurs must also fork out cash for regulatory consulting, attorneys’ fees, accountants, non-stop lab tests for product safety, and construction companies to ensure their properties are compliant with the state’s strict building codes. The cost to start a legal cannabis business can easily reach $1 million based on these factors alone.

On top of all these costs, licensed weed businesses cannot make standard tax deductions like other industries can. Since they cannot make tax write-offs, their tax rate is well over 90 percent, so financially gouging the consumer remains part of the legal industry’s best interests, unfortunately.

Speaking of taxes, for the consumer, there’s the added cost from state taxes. California taxes legal weed under a tiered system, so each plant grown is taxed during cultivation, then it’s taxed again at the point of sale.

All these costs add up to some expensive-ass weed which many retail shoppers say is vastly inferior in quality compared to black market weed. Yet, instead of changing the regulations to place the legal market on equal footing with illicit operators, the state decided to take a hardline approach (as if that worked in the past) and ramped up law enforcement actions against black marketeers. Earlier this year, California’s Governor Newsom even called in the state National Guard to raid illegal pot farms and storefronts.

“Unless the state acts to lower the taxes and lower the regulatory load, they are making the illicit market participants happy campers by keeping them in business,” said BDS Analytics’ principal analyst and managing director, Tom Adams, to the LA Times.

BDS Analytics predicts that California’s legal weed market may grow past $7.2 billion in 2024, but illicit sales will still be right behind, at $6.4 billion the same year.

“Any market in the world would be ecstatic about a 23 percent growth rate,” Adams said. “That is fabulous for any industry to have that kind of growth.’’

The only other US state that has surpassed the $1-billion mark in annual legal weed sales is Colorado, which became the first state to launch recreational pot shops in 2014. Not surprisingly, black market weed is doing just fine in Colorado, as well.

 

Aug 17
0

Dozens of Teens Were Hospitalized This Week From Vaping

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And doctors have no idea why it’s happening.

Nearly three dozen people across the US have recently been hospitalized after vaping nicotine or weed, and doctors have no idea why.

Over the past several weeks, hospitals in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin reported over 20 cases of individuals suffering from severe breathing difficulties after vaping. Some of these patients also suffered from chest pain, vomiting, and other symptoms. In California, doctors also reported recent illnesses that they believe are linked to cannabis vaping products.

Children’s Minnesota, a pediatric care facility in Minneapolis, recently admitted four teens who experienced breathing problems immediately after vaping. After being admitted, the patients showed “significant difficulties breathing and increasing lung distress,” said Dr. Emily Chapman, chief medical officer at Children’s Minnesota, to NBC News. “They’ve ended up needing our intensive care unit and in some cases assistance with their breathing.”

Doctors originally suspected that these patients were suffering from respiratory infections, but the symptoms did not improve after standard antibiotic treatments. After ruling out respiratory infections, doctors looked to environmental factors, and discovered that each of the patients had vaped nicotine or cannabis during the weeks leading up to their hospitalization.

Physicians have not been able to establish any other common thread among these patients, however, and are unsure whether the sudden outbreak of illness can be linked to any specific vaping device or e-liquid.

Aug 17
0

Why Did the Feds Spend More on Weed Busts Than Fighting Domestic Terrorism?

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Why Did the Feds Spend More on Weed Busts Than Fighting Domestic Terrorism?
According to a new report from VICE News, the government poured more money into prohibition efforts last year than it spent on preventing incidents of domestic terrorism.

Last weekend’s tragic mass shootings in Texas and Ohio have re-focused the country’s attention on domestic terrorism. Political leaders continue warning of the threats posed by immigrants and religious minorities, but right-wing extremists born on US soil have been responsible for launching more attacks and killing more Americans than foreign terrorists have for almost two decades now.

Yet, as the number of deadly assaults increase, the Trump administration has cut funding for government agencies created to fight domestic terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has drastically decreased funding and staff dedicated to fighting deadly homegrown extremism, in favor of ramping up its anti-immigration efforts.

“This administration has shown that they are minimizing the issue of domestic terrorism,” said former DHS analyst Daryl Johnson to VICE News. “At a time when we have heightened activity and the body count keeps rising, training is being defunded and grant money taken back.”

Related: Fuck-Tons of Weed That Will Never Get Smoked … Except Maybe By Cops

Under the current administration, funding for programs targeting right-wing radicals like those responsible for the recent shootings has been cut. The funding for these programs has been re-allocated to new initiatives that target immigrants, refugees, Muslims, and other minority groups.

“The government in fact has reduced resources to counter domestic terrorism, leaving our communities vulnerable to the next inevitable tragedy,” said George Selim, former head of the DHS Office of Community Partnerships (OCP), to Congress, VICE News reported. In the final year of the Obama administration, the OCP received $21 million in funding. The current administration cut the budget down to $3 million, reducing its staff from 16 employees and 25 contractors to just 8 employees.

The OCP was created to fund community efforts to end extremism on a local level. The agency distributed grants to organizations like Life After Hate, a group that helps people leave white supremacist groups. “I think those grants are important,” said Mary McCord, former DOJ national security official, to VICE News. “The federal government is never going to be truly successful in countering violent extremism without help, because anything with the words ‘US government’ slapped on it is going to be suspect in the community.”

Last year, the government spent $18 million — the same amount Trump cut from the OCP — on seizing and destroying cannabis plants. This funding was granted to the DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication and Suppression Program (DCE/SP), a program that has been finding and destroying pot farms since 1981. Much of the program’s funding was reportedly used to help California destroy its thriving black market, but the DEA apparently doesn’t even know where all of its money goes, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Even though the multimillion dollar DCE/SP budget seems extreme, it actually pales in comparison to other government funding excesses, VICE News unveiled. Just last September alone the Department of Justice spent $21 million on furniture. In just two months of 2017, the DHS and the Department of Defense spent $14 million on security details accompanying Trump’s golfing vacations to Mar-a-Lago. That same year, the DHS gave another $14 million to a consultancy firm just to hire two border patrol agents.

It seems unlikely that the current administration will change its stance on fighting right-wing extremism, but next year, the country will have a chance to elect leaders who realize that domestic terrorism is far more serious than cannabis prohibition.

Chris Moore is a New York-based writer who has written for Mass Appeal while also mixing records and producing electronic music.

Oct 09
0

The next 11 states to legalize marijuana

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Marijuana prohibition is entering its 78th year. Colorado’s marijuana law went into effect at the beginning of last year in the wake of changing attitudes. Compared to 1969, when only 12% supported legalizing pot, today a majority of Americans support legalizing recreational use of the drug.

It is legal to purchase marijuana in four states — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington — as well as in the District of Columbia. Prior to the legalization, all of these states had already reduced the penalties for possession and use of small amounts of the drug or introduced policies permitting medical marijuana use. To identify the states most likely to legalize marijuana next, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 11 states where by law residents in possession of small amounts of the drug are not punishable by jail time, and medical marijuana use is permitted.

A large share of U.S. states, including all 11 on this list, have decriminalized marijuana at some point. The widely-referenced, but confusing term actually means a different thing depending on where it is being used. Not to be confused with legalization, states that have decriminalized marijuana have in some way reduced the penalties for for those caught with the substance. In most cases, this means the state will no longer prosecute or jail those caught with small amounts of the drug for personal use. In some cases, getting caught with a few grams of marijuana is as serious as a traffic infraction.

Other states that have decriminalized, however, still have relatively harsh penalties for possession. In Nevada, for example, the state no longer can assign jail time for those caught with a small amount of the drug, but violators can still be arrested, fined heavily, and charged with a misdemeanor.

Various moral and practical arguments have helped to catalyze the growing trend of legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. The potential tax revenue, job creation, and reduction of the burden of offenders on state prison systems, for example, have likely been a motivating factor behind the bills to regulate and legalize the drug in many of the states on our list. In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Allen St. Pierre, executive director at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), argued that legalizing marijuana “would generate revenue where we now hemorrhage out billions and billions of dollars.”

However, according to Morgan Fox, communications manager at the Marijuana Policy Project, the most significant force in getting bills and referendums on the table is public support within the states. In most of the 11 states that may soon legalize marijuana, recent polls have been conducted showing a majority of residents support some form of legalization. In Connecticut, 63% of those surveyed in a March 2015 Quinnipiac University poll said they were in favor of legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults.

St. Pierre argued that the current prohibition laws are inconsistent. “If alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and pharmaceutical products can be legally sold to adults in this country, it’s hard to understand the constitutional economic or for that matter moral arguments put forward on why marijuana can’t be within that same ambit of choices for adults.”

One factor that may be driving high public support for legalization in these states is the a high number of users. Of the 11 states that appear next in line to legalize marijuana, nine surpass the nationwide rate of marijuana users. In 2012 and 2013, an estimated average of 12.3% of Americans 12 and older smoked marijuana. In Rhode Island, one of the states on our list, more than 20% had.

St. Pierre also noted that the marijuana legalization issue is unique in that Americans’ political persuasions favor legalization of marijuana. Support for reform can be found among liberals, but also among conservatives, particularly those with libertarian-leaning beliefs. “It’s hard to make an argument against legalization in a free-market society such as ours,” said St. Pierre.

Still, according to Gallup, less than one-third of conservative Americans think cannabis should be legalized, in contrast with overwhelmingly strong support from liberals and a strong majority of moderates. Nearly all of the next states expected to legalize marijuana are liberal-leaning states.

To identify the next states to legalize marijuana, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed states where possession of small amounts of marijuana is not punishable by jail and also where medical marijuana is currently legal based on data from The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). We also considered marijuana-related arrests per 100,000 residents through 2012 provided by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. In addition, we considered the estimated proportion of residents 12 and older who had used marijuana some time in the past year, based on annualized data from 2012 and 2013, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Public opinion polls were provided by the Marijuana Policy Project based on the most recent available survey. All data on current enforcement policies and penalties were provided by NORML.

These are the states where marijuana is most likely to be legalized.

1. Massachusetts

> Max. fine for small amount: $100
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 2,596
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 39}
> Minimum penalty classification : Civil offense

Under Massachusetts’ state law, an individual can only be fined a maximum of $100 for possession an ounce or less of marijuana — the result of a 2008 ballot to decriminalize possession of small amounts of the drug. The impact of decriminalization has been dramatic. While there were more than 10,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2008, there was just about a third as many such arrests in 2009, the first year the law took effect.

Though the state’s marijuana policy is relatively progressive, it appears that decriminalization has not gone far enough for the majority of voters. In a poll released last year by the Boston Herald, 53% of state residents were in favor of legalizing marijuana, while only 37% were against. Proponents of legalization may have a chance to change the state law again in November 2016. Democratic State Representative Dave Rogers and Democratic State Senator Patricia Jehlen introduced a bill to to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults.

2. Nevada

> Max. fine for small amount: $600
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 8,524
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 309
> Minimum penalty classification : Misdemeanor

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, Nevada is one of 20 states to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Though no one found in possession of under an ounce of the drug can face incarceration or felony charges, Nevada’s penalties for possession are among the harshest of all the states that have decriminalized. Unlike some states that have decriminalized the small amounts of the drug, like Massachusetts and California, first time offenders in Nevada can still be charged with a misdemeanor and be compelled to undergo mandatory drug treatment.

Despite the harsher penalties, next year Nevada could become the fifth state to legalize recreational use of drug. Voters will have a chance to pass the Initiative to Tax and Regulate Marijuana in November 2016. If passed, legalization will have a dramatic effect on arrest rates and police resources. As of 2012, there were about 8,500 marijuana-related arrests in Nevada, the 14th highest arrest rate in the country.

3. California

> Max. fine for small amount: $100
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 21,256
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 56
> Minimum penalty classification : Infraction

California was in the vanguard of state marijuana reforms in the 1970s and an early adopter of decriminalization. In 1996, the state passed the Compassionate Use Act, which permitted physician-recommended marijuana use for medical treatment. In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that reclassified the crime of marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction. Despite the state’s historically progressive stance, marijuana has yet to be legalized. In 2010, a motion to legalize failed by a slim margin.

Two bills proposing marijuana regulation are now on the table, although the success of each remains to be seen. A great deal may be at stake in the success or failure of marijuana law reform in California. According to St. Pierre, because of the state’s sheer size and influence, the viability of federal legislation largely relies on the precedent California might set.

4. New York

> Max. fine for small amount: $100
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 112,974
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 577
> Minimum penalty classification : Not classified

New York was one of the first states to decriminalize marijuana, passing a bill in 1977. However, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, law enforcement agencies have been abusing the “public view” loophole, which differentiates between where offenders are caught — possessing a small amount of the drug in the privacy of one’s home results in a fine, while possession in a public place can result in a misdemeanor. Supporting this claim is New York’s extremely high marijuana-related arrest rate, which was the highest in the country in 2013 at 577.24 per 100,000 people — more than double the national rate. However, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in 2014 that the city would no longer be enforcing the loophole.

In early July, 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a medical marijuana bill into law. There are currently two bills to legalize and tax marijuana in the legislature, which is currently on break.

5. Vermont

> Max. fine for small amount: $200
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 926
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 148
> Minimum penalty classification : Civil violation

According to a Rand research study on marijuana legalization, Vermonters consumed between 15 to 25 metric tons of marijuana, worth between $125 million and $225 million, in 2014. More than 19% of state residents 12 years and over reported using marijuana in the past year, the third highest share nationwide. Also, according to the Vermont Department of Health, marijuana consumption is more common among 12- to 17-year-olds in Vermont than in any other state in the nation.

As in every other state likely to legalize pot, possessing less than an ounce or less of the drug is not punishable by incarceration. Possessing more than an ounce, the selling of any amount, or cultivating the plant, however, is considered a misdemeanor. Selling a half ounce or more, or cultivating three or more plants, is a felony.

6. Minnesota

> Max. fine for small amount: $200
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 12,051
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 224
> Minimum penalty classification : Misdemeanor

The first medical marijuana dispensary in Minnesota opened on July 1, 2015. For those who do not qualify for medicinal use of the drug, possession of 42.5 grams, roughly 1.5 ounces, or less can be classified as a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of up to $200.

According to a study conducted by SAMHSA, from 2010 through 2013, Minnesota teenagers’ attitudes toward occasional marijuana use have relaxed. In 2010, 70.9% of 12-17-year old state residents did not consider smoking pot once a month to be risky behavior. By 2013, 75.4% of teenagers held the same perception.

There were 12,051 marijuana-related arrests in Minnesota in 2012. The state’s per capita marijuana-related arrest rate was typical for the country.

7. Connecticut

> Max. fine for small amount: $150
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 3,747
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 104
> Minimum penalty classification : Civil penalty

In a March 2015 Quinnipiac University poll, 63% of Connecticut residents surveyed said they would be in favor of legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults. The state decriminalized marijuana use in 2011, decreeing that any possession of the substance up to a half of an ounce would have a maximum penalty of a $150 fine and could not be punishable by jail time. Before the law passed, the state’s marijuana arrest rate in 2010 was 259 per 100,000 people. By 2012 the rate had dropped to just 104 such arrests per 100,000, the sixth lowest rate in the country.

Currently, the state also has several bills in the legislature that would legalize marijuana use for adult residents and regulate the industry.

8. Maryland

> Max. fine for small amount: $100
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 22,043
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 375
> Minimum penalty classification : Civil offense

The recently adopted Maryland Medical Marijuana State Program permits certified physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients diagnosed with certain conditions. As a result, the state’s first marijuana dispensary, Greenway Consultations, opened this past June. Still, the possession of more than 10 grams of pot is a misdemeanor in Maryland, and possession of less than 50 pounds with the intent to distribute carries a penalty of up to five years incarceration and fines up to $15,000.

Even so, there is a good chance Maryland is on track to legalize the substance. Governor Larry Hogan signed a bill supported by marijuana legalization advocates during the current legislative session. The Second Chance Act, under certain circumstances, permits individuals convicted of possessing marijuana, to have their arrest shielded from some records requests. As in most states on this list, a majority of Maryland residents support the legalization of marijuana.

9. Rhode Island

> Max. fine for small amount: $150
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 2,320
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 221
> Minimum penalty classification : Civil violation

Marijuana use in the small New England state is pervasive. An estimated 20% of Rhode Islanders aged 12 and up used the drug at least once in 2012. No other state in the country had wider use.

Of the states that have not legalized recreational marijuana use, Rhode Island’s laws are among the most lenient. Possession of up to an ounce is a civil violation punishable by a maximum fine of $150. First time offenders do not face jail time or risk a criminal record. However, possession of amounts in excess of an ounce carry criminal penalties and potential jail time.

There is currently a bill awaiting review in the state legislature that would effectively legalize and regulate recreational use of marijuana. Though the Rhode Island legislature went on summer recess before the Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act received final approval, lawmakers may have a chance to review the bill again before year’s end. According to an April 2015 poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, 57% of respondents in the state support changing the law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol.

10. Maine

> Max. fine for small amount: $600
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 3,202
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 241
> Minimum penalty classification : Civil violation

Maine has a relatively high rate of marijuana use, with an estimated 16.24% of residents 12 and older having smoked pot at least once in 2012, the seventh highest rate in the county. In 2013, Portland, the state’s most populous city, voted to legalize possession of small amounts of the drug for adults. While this still goes against state policy, and law enforcement has continued to enforce Maine’s prohibition of the drug, it is a sign of the public’s willingness to make a change. Possession of up to 2.5 ounces of the drug in the state is not punishable by jail time, although there are maximum fines of $600 or $1,000, depending on the amount.

The state legalized medical marijuana in 1999 during a state ballot initiative — the measure passed with 61% of the vote. Possession of a “usable amount” of the drug with a doctor’s notice is legal. In 2009, another initiative passed to allow for medical dispensaries.

11. Delaware

> Max. fine for small amount: $575
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 2,912
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 318
> Minimum penalty classification : Misdemeanor

According to a 2014 survey conducted by the University of Delaware, 56% of respondents in the state agreed that “the use of marijuana should be made legal.” Governor Jack Markell signed in June 2015 a law officially making Delaware the 20th state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Though the law will not take effect until January, when it does, Delaware residents will face a maximum penalty of a $100 fine for possession of up to an ounce of the drug. Before the governor signed the law, marijuana users in Delaware faced up to three months of jail time, a $575 fine, and a misdemeanor on their record for the same offence.

There were 2,912 marijuana-related arrests in 2012 in Delaware, the 12th highest rate of all states per capita. In 2012, about eight out of 10 adolescents in the state did not perceive light marijuana use as dangerous, a fairly lax view.

Oct 05
502

‘Marijuana Justice Act’ Would End Weed Prohibition Throughout The Land

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Presented today, a new congressional bill aims to get government and cannabis on the same side of the law by ending a decades-long federal ban on the plant.

Introduced by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, the ‘Marijuana Justice Act of 2017‘ seeks to end federal prohibition of cannabis and address the impacts that such prohibition continues to have on both government and individuals. In an announcement on Facebook Live, Booker said he believes the federal government “should get out of the illegal marijuana business,” and hopes to allow law enforcement to focus their time and spending on more serious matters.

“You see what’s happening around this country right now. Eights states and the District of Columbia have moved to legalize marijuana. And these states are seeing decreases in violent crime in their states,” Booker commented. “They’re seeing increases in revenue to their states. They’re seeing their police forces being able to focus on serious crime. They’re seeing positive things come out of that experience.”

In order to lift the federal ban on cannabis, Booker’s bill seeks to remove it from the group of drugs included in the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, where it is currently listed as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin and LSD. As the longtime drug-reform nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance explained in a release, the bill additionally seeks to:

  • Cut federal funding for state law enforcement and prison construction if a state disproportionately arrests and/or incarcerates low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
  • Allow entities to sue states that disproportionately arrest and/or incarcerate low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
  • Prevent deportations of individuals for marijuana offenses
  • Provide for a process of expungement for marijuana offenses at the federal level
  • Provide for a process of re-sentencing for marijuana offenses at the federal level
  • Create a “Community Reinvestment Fund” of $500 million to invest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, for programs such as job training, reentry, community centers, and more. Part of the funding will come from the aforementioned cuts to state law enforcement and prison construction.

“These marijuana arrests are targeting poor and minority communities, [and] targeting our veterans. We see the injustice of it all,” Booker continued. “I have seen young teenagers getting arrested, saddled with criminal convictions for the rest of their lives.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) kneels near four-year-old Morgan Hintz, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy, during a news conference on medical marijuana, on Capitol Hill, March 10, 2015 in Washington, DC. Her mother has been advocating the use of cannbidiol for her treatment.

Booker also noted that a felony marijuana conviction means “[having] to deal with about 40,000 collateral consequences” down the line for most people. “They can’t get business licenses, Pell Grants, public housing, food stamps.”

In a statement, the Drug Policy Alliance praised the bill’s attempts to address the harms that cannabis prohibition has caused, and to create a path forward for U.S. treatment of the drug.

“The question is no longer ‘should we legalize marijuana?’; it is ‘how do we legalize marijuana?’ We must do so in a way that recognizes that the people who suffered most under prohibition are the same people who should benefit most under legalization,” said Queen Adesuyi, policy associate for Drug Policy Alliance. “From disparate marijuana-related arrests and incarceration rates to deportations and justifications for police brutality – the war on drugs has had disparate harm on low-income communities and communities of color. It’s time to rectify that.”

John Malanca, co-founder of United Patients Group, believes the bill’s proposed changes to federal treatment of cannabis would be a step in the right direction, but one that’s taken far too long. “We work with thousands of patients across the country who use medical cannabis to address serious conditions and alleviate needless suffering. Even though a grassroots movement has led to medical access in 29 states, federal recognition is key, and Sen. Booker’s legislation is long overdue,” he commented by email.

He also pointed out that federal cannabis legalization would allow universities and other medical research groups to conduct needed cannabis research “without fear,” or perhaps the bushels of red tape they currently face.

According to Malanca, that will effectively mean “opening the floodgates of investment for entrepreneurs to innovate and bring to the market safer, more effective treatment options, [that] rigorous and standardized testing can be conducted at the federal level, and that marketers of cannabis products will have to validate their claims.” He added, “For patients and their families, that can only be good news.”

In the past several months, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated repeatedly that he hopes to lead the Justice Department toward stricter treatment of marijuana and other drug crimes. In April, Sessions announced the department would be re-evaluating its stance on cannabis, and instructed federal prosecutors to seek the most severe penalties possible for drug offenders in May.

Late last month, however, a Congressional committee “rebuked” one of Sessions’ strongest gestures toward a cannabis-crackdown to date. As MassRoots reported, Sessions asked his former colleagues in the Senate earlier this year to forgo federal protections on states’ management and implementation of marijuana laws, as enacted under President Obama in 2014.

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected Sessions’ request to drop the provision protecting states from federal interference over marijuana laws, adding a rider to this effect to legislation funding the Justice Department’s 2018 budget through a voice vote.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who sponsored the amendment, commented before the vote, “It is more humane to regulate medical marijuana than to criminalize it, [and] I don’t want [the Justice Department] spending money pursuing medical marijuana patients who are following state law … We have more important things for [it] to do than tracking down doctors or others, epileptics, who are using medical marijuana legally in their state.”

According to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in April, 94% of Americans support allowing the use of medical marijuana, and 60% favor full marijuana legalization.

Oct 02
3075

Support for Marijuana Legalization Is Higher Than Ever. So Is the Number of People Getting Arrested.

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Though marijuana is now legal in 29 states for either medical or recreational use, the number of arrests involving marijuana have actually increased across the country.

Those numbers come from the Uniformed Crime Report compiled by the FBI from data sent to the agency from law enforcement operations around the country. The information covers arrests for all of 2016.

The number of people arrested on marijuana-related charges jumped 12 percent from 2015 to 2016, with 75,000 more people arrested. Overall, the number of drug-related arrests reached 1.57 million, about 5.6 percent higher than in 2015.

It would seem endless movies and television shows about the futility of the War on Drugs — not to mention surveys showing Americans are ready to end it — have had little effect on law enforcement itself.

Controversial Numbers

The FBI typically releases arrest numbers in the annual report broken down by the drug involved. However, they did not do so for 2016. Reporters had to return to the FBI and ask for the specific numbers on marijuana.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group, the numbers were as follows:

  • There were 653,249 arrests involving cannabis
  • That’s about one arrest involving marijuana every 48 seconds
  • Marijuana arrests made up more than 41 percent of all drug busts in the U.S. in 2016

No matter how you look at it, those are very strange numbers in a country where marijuana is legal in so many places.

Shameful Waste

Morgan Fox, communications director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a prepared statement that the arrest numbers show marijuana users “continue to be treated like criminals across the country.”

He added, “This is a shameful waste of resources and can create lifelong consequences for the people arrested.”

It’s already been reported that marijuana-related arrests in Washington D.C. tripled between 2015 and 2016. They are on pace so far in 2017 to have a similarly high number of arrests. Arrests numbers are also up in many states in the Deep South.

The cost to taxpayers for arresting and processing that many people through the legal system is in the billions, according to Newsweek.

All of this seemingly runs contradictory to public sentiment, not only on the War on Drugs but on marijuana. Support for marijuana legalization reached a new high in a survey released earlier this year by CBS News.

About 61 percent of those surveyed in the poll think marijuana should be legal, while 71 percent opposed federal intervention in states that have made marijuana legal.