NORML.org - Working to Reform Marijuana Laws

Florida

1. US FL: PUB LTE: Legalizing Marijuana In Florida
   Sun-Sentinel, 16 Jun 2013 - The comprehensive June 12 op-ed by Howard Simon of the ACLU on the drug war debacle exposes the ugly truth of this issue. Instead of a new approach, our legislators did not have the decency to provide even one committee hearing for the medical marijuana bill introduced this session through the efforts of state Sen. Jeff Clemens, state Rep. Katie Edwards and the Florida Cannabis Action Network.
2. US FL: OPED: Marijuana Law Enforcement Comes at Devastating
   Sun-Sentinel, 12 Jun 2013 - Last week the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report ("The War on Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Arrests" www.aclu.org/marijuana) confirming what everyone suspected: marijuana possession arrests are wasteful, destructive and marred by racial bias. The report, the first ever examining state and county marijuana arrest rates nationally by race, documents that while there were pronounced racial disparities in marijuana arrests 10 years ago the problem has become significantly worse.
3. US FL: OPED: America's Ideas About The Legalization Of Marijuana
   Sun-Sentinel, 08 Jun 2013 - AMERICA'S IDEAS ABOUT THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA MAY SURPRISE YOU With 16 states having decriminalized or legalized cannabis for non-medical use and eight more heading toward some kind of legalization, federal prohibition's days seem numbered. You mightwonder what America will look like when marijuana is in the corner store and at the farmers market. In three years spent researching that question, I found some ideas about the plant that just don't hold up.
4. US FL: ACLU Finds Wide Racial Disparity In Area Marijuana
   The Gainesville Sun, 08 Jun 2013 - Law enforcement officers in Alachua County arrest more than six times as many black defendants as white defendants on marijuana charges, although research shows use of the drug is about as common among blacks as whites. The racial disparity in marijuana arrests in Alachua County is among the highest in the state and above the national average, according to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union.
5. US FL: PUB LTE: Tax And Regulate Marijuana
   Sun-Sentinel, 01 Jun 2013 - Regarding Michael Mayo's May 28 column, not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences.
6. US FL: PUB LTE: Incurable Cancer
   Tampa Tribune, 30 May 2013 - Regarding "War on people" (Your Views, May 25): Kudos to Lt. Richard Craig. He clearly articulated the considerations associated with the insane "War on Drugs." I wish him well in his pursuit of a cure for the insanity, but I fear that it is incurable cancer, with roots in political corruption, turf protection (would the DBA accept a diminished role?), misguided religious zealotry, and the lobbying by those with direct monetary interests. Donald Barnhill
7. US FL: Column: High-Profile Orlando Attorney Seeds Medical
   Sun-Sentinel, 27 May 2013 - After Father's Experience, John Morgan Backs Petition Drive to Amend Florida Constitution John Morgan already has the battle cry for his upcoming fight to change Florida's constitution to legalize medical marijuana.
8. US FL: PUB LTE: War On People
   Tampa Tribune, 25 May 2013 - I am the retired executive officer of a Northeastern police department, and I applaud the letter you recently published from John G. Chase of Palm Harbor, "Drug war a waste." As a former undercover officer, I booked literally thousands of youths for small amounts of marijuana. Never did I consider that they might lose their right to vote, their right to live in public housing, their right to certain scholarships.
9. US FL: PUB LTE: Drug War A Waste
   Tampa Tribune, 18 May 2013 - The government justifies the drug war by saying it "takes drugs off the street". What it really does is raise the price so high that casual users quit. But they were no problem in the first place. Problem users will do almost anything to get the cash to pay the price. The best way to take a drug off the street is by giving it the legal status of alcohol. Then its tax revenue could be used for treatment of those who ask, and people selling to kids would lose their jobs. Start with marijuana and see how that goes. Then decide what to do, if anything, about the other illegal drugs. The funds now being wasted to arrest marijuana smokers could be used elsewhere. Most important, patients who smoke marijuana would no longer have to hide from police.