marijuana legalization

Smoke ‘Em, If You Got ‘Em: Bernie Sanders Introduces Marijuana Legalization in US Senate

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Bernie Sanders in Phoenix. (Photo by Dennis Gilman)
Bernie Sanders in Phoenix. (Photo by Dennis Gilman)

In the recent Democratic Party debate, Vermont Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders said he favored marijuana legalization, a stance that he had been hinting at for a while.

Sanders took a step further today by introducing a bill in the US Senate that would take marijuana off of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “most dangerous drugs” list. (You’ll remember that two years after President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act— which classified marijuana as a schedule 1 drug [no redeeming medical value]– Nixon’s drug policy advisers told him to legalize marijuana instead. Hating the hippies for their constant harassment of him and his Vietnam War policies, Nixon went the other way by locking down marijuana use, locking up marijuana users, and stopping all medical research into marijuana.)  Will marijuana users finally see justice?

Sanders’ Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act is similar to a bill in the House of Representatives proposed by Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado. From the Huffington Post...

“Just as alcohol prohibition failed in the 1920s, it’s clear marijuana prohibition is failing today,” Polis said in a statement. “For decades, the federal ban on marijuana has wasted tax dollars, impeded our criminal justice system, lined the pockets of drug cartels, and trampled on states’ ability to set their own public health laws. …

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marijuana leaf

Over-Policing of Marijuana Possession by Maricopa County Attorney & ASU

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marijuana leafThe case of Andre Maestas, a student at Arizona State University and a medical marijuana card holder, is a prime example of what’s wrong with Arizona’s drug enforcement policies and our conflicting laws.

Marijuana prohibition zealot and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery filed felony marijuana possession charges against Maestas because he had 0.6 grams of marijuana and smoking paraphernalia in his dorm room. (0.6 grams is approximately a teaspoon of pot.)

How could a medical marijuana patient be charged with felony possession– especially for such a tiny amount? Patients are allowed to possess and purchase up to  2.5 ounces of pot every two weeks. Maestas had 0.02 ounces. (Did I mention that Maestas is black?)

Apparently, Maestas was charged and found guilty under a 2012 law passed by the Arizona Legislature (and backed by the universities) which bans medical pot on college campuses. Maestas’ case claims the 2012 law– which changes the 2010 voter-approved Medical Marijuana Act– is illegal because of the 1998 voter-approved Voter Protection Act, which prohibits the Legislature from changing or over-turning citizen initiatives. (The Voter Protection Act was passed two years after Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed medical marijuana the first time.) So far– the courts are not buying Maestas’ argument, and he is scheduled to be sentenced in early October. What’s wrong with this picture?

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#1 Reason to Legalize Pot Is Humanitarian, Not Economic (video)

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medical marijuanaDuring the 2014 election season LD9 Rep. Ethan Orr caused a minor media stir when the Freshman Republican said he would “push” for marijuana legalization if re-elected to the Arizona Legislature (which didn’t happen). Orr suggested marijuana legalization as a way the state to make money through taxation and fees, since Arizona faces ongoing budget problems.

Fast forward to this election season, and as many as six cannabis-related citizens’ initiatives are collecting signatures to get on the 2016 ballot. The initiative backed by the Marijuana Policy Project includes a 15% sales tax on recreational marijuana; it could raise as much as $40 million for public education and public health. (Colorado’s legalization initiative called for a 25% tax on marijuana; the state has earmarked $40 million of the tax revenue for schools, according to the Arizona Republic.)

Although the money-making aspect of legalization is enticing to some, there are strong humanitarian reasons for legalization of marijuana. Here are my top five reasons for marijuana legalization and a video explaining the cannabis-related initiatives that could be on the 2016 ballot.

5- End Over-Policing of Personal Marijuana Use. Over-policing of marijuana possession is a multi-million-dollar nationwide problem. The US spends $51 billion per year on the failed War on Drugs. With that, law enforcement arrested 1.55 million Americans in 2012 for non-violent drug use. Of that, 48% (749,825) were arrested for marijuana violations, and 88% of those people (658,231) were arrested for simple possession.

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AZ Anti-pot nannies are skirting the law to scare voters, but it may not work

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Pew Marijuana

Per Howie Fischer of Capitol Media Services:

In a new formal opinion, [AZ Attorney General] Brnovich acknowledged there are laws prohibiting the use of public funds to influence the outcome of elections — a restriction he noted that applies even before a proposal has qualified for the ballot.

But Brnovich said no law prohibits public education campaigns — even ones that are not fair and balanced. He said even one-sided arguments are permitted “so long as they do not unambiguously urge the electorate to cast a vote for or against the measure.”

The opinion is a significant victory for Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk.

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Rep. Bob Thorpe doesn’t get irony

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Ralph Waldo Emerson captured Teabagger logic perfectly: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” There is no consistency.

BallotLast November, Arizona voters foolishly approved an unconstitutional Neo-Confederate ballot measure, Proposition 122, which added a provision to the Arizona Constitution to allow the legislature and residents to “reject a federal action that the people determine violates the United States Constitution.”

This is otherwise known as interposition and nullification. You may recall that America fought a bloody Civil War over this. The 14th Amendment forever put an end to this discredited theory, except in the minds of Neo-Confederate dead-enders.

Now comes Teabagger Rep. Bob Thorpe (R-Flagstaff), the guy who stood with Cliven Bundy in his armed standoff with law enforcement officers last year, and who supports the sovereignty movement and the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association of former Graham County sheriff and “Patriot” movement leader Richard Mack, Far-Right Anti-Government Group Plans Political Takeover Of Arizona County, with a proposal that any voter-sponsored initiative that proposes anything that conflicts with federal law could take effect only if approved by 75 percent of those who cast ballots.

Thorpe does not get irony. He does not understand that his proposal directly conflicts with Prop. 122, which this anti-federal government radical vigorously supported last year.

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