Marijuana law reform legislation is pending in nearly 30 states this 2012 legislative session. Is your state among them? Find out here.
More importantly, have you taken the time to call or write your state elected officials this year and urged them to support these pending reforms? If not, NORML has provided you with all of the tools to do so via our capwiz ‘Take Action Center’ here. (FYI: NORML’s capwiz page is specific to legislation only, not ballot initiative efforts. A summary pending 2012 ballot initiative campaigns may be found at NORML’s Legalize It 2012 page on Facebook here or on the NORML blog here.)
Below is a synopsis of statewide legislation pending in 2012. Detailed information on bill numbers, hearing dates, and how you can get involved to support these efforts is available here.
MEDICINAL MARIJUANA
The following 20 states have legislation pending to enact limited legal protections for medicinal cannabis users and/or to improve existing medical marijuana laws:
Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, West Virginia
DECRIMINALIZATION
The following states have legislation pending to reduce marijuana possession penalties to a non-criminal offense:
Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont
REGULATION
Legislation that seeks to legalize and regulate the commercial production and distribution of cannabis to adults is before lawmakers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Legislators in Massachusetts have scheduled a public hearing on this measure, HB 1371, to take place on Tuesday, March 6.
(Also of note, legislation that NORML opposes is pending in Colorado and Florida.)
If your state isn’t listed above then please consider using NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ to send a message to your members of Congress in support of HR 2306, the ‘Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act.’ You can do so here. Then consider taking the next step and contacting your state elected officials and urging them to take action.
Get active; get NORML!
its already decriminalized in new york. is this referring to further decriminalization?
[Paul Armentano responds: Yes. Read the alert:
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=46258521%5D
Hi,
I’m the Director of Communications for Arkansans for Compassionate Care, and we’re working to put medical marijuana on the Arkansas ballot in 2012, too!
I’d be happy to talk with someone more about our program and arrange a meeting with our Campaign Director, Ryan Denham.
Sincerely,
Shannon Steece
Director of Communications
Arkansans for Compassionate Care
shannon@arcompassion.org
Please vote for HR206 Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act. I know people personally that it has helped medically. Thank You
Its about time to tand up for OUR rights for ths God-given plnt.
I would like you to vote for HR206, Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act. I believe that it helps with cronic pains.
I am a med user who is slowly dying on high dose opiate therapy for some major issues nvolving Fibromyalgia x Myofascil Pain Syndrome and PTSD and cyclic vomiting that has jumped through all the hoopes medicine has offerd from nerve medicine to accupuncture.Nothing works as well as high quality cannabis,and I also have Marinol scrit..doesnt work whilest puking.Come on Ny let me grow 15 plants of 5 different strains and save my wifes insurance thousands of dollars.
I love my state. Live free or die.
I live in Pa!?? and it doesn’t seem like anything is happening with Medical Marijuana….I live in chronic pain and it sure would be nice!
[Paul Armentano responds: There is medical marijuana legislation before lawmakers in Pennsylvania. Check the site for details and then contact the Chairs of the legislative committees and request hearings.]
Too many people have to suffer due to the inadequit laws some of our states have yet to update. Legalization of medicinal marijuana would be the smartest decision our states could make. Free the Weed!
@ Richard,
“To stop these bogus busts, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) and state Sen. Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo) have introduced a bill that would treat public display the same as possession for small amounts of marijuana. Kelly had a chance to show this legislation was not necessary, but it is abundantly clear by now that the NYPD cannot be trusted to decide whether pot smokers should be treated like criminals.”
http://reason.com/archives/2012/02/08/new-yorks-illegal-pot-crackdown
If you live in Connecticut and want to end marijuana prohibition in our state, please take a minute to visit http://www.ctprimaryproject.com.
Please pass this on to anyone you know in Connecticut!
Thank you for the links.
Emailed President and others.
Time to fight for Marijuana!
I will be passing Norml.org link to everyone I know.
This is a huge step towards legalization. Once enough states have at least decrimilized, the other states will follow because we the stoners will complain about equal rights compared to other states. Its a matter of time folks.
the garden state the best nugget
I don’t even smoke or like marijuana but I think spending millions of dollars a year to prosecute and fight people trying to sell it is just plain stupid. It is a plant that was growing rampant on the Patomic River when they made it illegal. Why was it made illegal? The great depression and very few jobs in Texas is why. They thought if they made it illegal there the Mexicans that worked there would go home and leave jobs for our citizens. Not long after the federal government followed suit. Did it help? No not a bit. If it were made legal altogether think about how many jobs andthe boost on the economy it could give. No more paying taxes that could be used in better spots to feed people that have been prosecuted for offenses involved in selling or distribution. Rope, clothing, medicine. All from the earth. I am all for complete decriminalization of it.
As long as the feds and pharma try to keep God’s cannabis from his children, they will continue to have a shortage of prescription meds and physicians to prescribe them. Somebody’s about to cry uncle and it’s not us!
The people in charge of moving legislation out of committee are not acting on the Medical Marijuana bill in Pennsylvania. I have written many times to ask why, and to encourage them to do so, however I never got a response. The only way to get a positive response on this issue is for the people in charge need to be educated on the facts. Too many still believe the bad, false rumors that have stuck around for the last 70 years.
Thanks for the tip, NORML. I didn’t realize anything was pending here in Maryland.
I clicked and took action!
Pa’s MMJ Bill is a joke. It’s never going to get touched. Tom Corbett’s a dick.
My son was just arrested in Chicago for possession of 32gms of Marijuana. I weighed out green tea on a scale to picture how much 32gms is and was appalled!! He was visiting from CA and the dufus mailed it to himself (His IQ measures at 136 but as Forest Gump says…… He has a Medical Marijuana card in CA. I know, “What was he thinking?” but that amount tips him into the ‘felony’ range. He is sitting in Cook County jail with gang-bangers and he is just a simple stoner from California who never got over the untimely cancer death of his father. I am bailing him out, but I pray that he doesn’t have to serve time in prison b/c he won’t last. I don’t smoke anymore (30 years ago) but sure wish I could have one now and again. I fear for my son’s life! C’mon as a nurse, I know alcohol is worse for you than (as my mother called it) Mary Jane.
Somebody get SandyM some help
Could be a good national Norml help crusade moment
Are you there Change.Org ?
I live in Canada and I do smoke it I know this blog is talking about america but if our “sister” country dawns this and legalizes medical marijuana it is a huge step and I’m sure Canada would not be far behind! Legalize the weed! God made weed man made beer .. Like they say in god we trust! I no for a fact marijuana helps with a number of medical problems my friend had cancer and they gave hime pills which contained thc from marijuana the pills helped him and contained the cancer so it did not spread! Legalize the bud!
I wonder how long it will take the press to ask any serious marijuana related questions? Nobody aska obama and i havent heard what the republicans say either. Does anyone tgink it will even be debated about or just ignored by them intil november?
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the
government fears the people, there is liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson
Cannabis would not have been referred to and used as medicine for 5000+ years of human history unless it truly served to alleviate numerous symptoms.
Cannabis is medicine yet its use is punished as a crime.
Then consider that most new drugs released by pharma are still very much *experimental* when they hit the market for sale, at exorbitant cost. People pay with their blood for these laboratory-mixed chemicals and if harmed, their only recourse is maybe a paltry monetary settlement, after the damage has occurred.
And the majority of doctor’s continuing education comes directly from the pharmaceutical companies themselves. That’s not “education” or “critical thinking,” or how best to serve the patient, it is familiarization of talking points and monetary gains for handing out pills to people who ultimately serve as guinea pigs.
Studies show that people who are given free samples of pharma chemicals by doctors, in a surprising majority of cases, continue to take the pills.
Don’t some drug dealers on the street do the same thing with hard drugs (meth, crack), handing out small quantities for free, casting out the bait to those they expect to become return customers?
Pharma drug dealers have doctors doing the nasty work for them.
First, do no harm.
Cannabis prohibition and the lack of dependable oversight over what are ultimately experimental pharma chemicals, these are the real crimes.
Cannabis prohibition is a patently unjust law that is only backed by specious, unfounded, or clearly dishonest “reasons,” talking points and stereotyped myths, and not cogent arguments, not scientifically substantiated reasoning.
Unethical, ineffective, fallacious, and mean-spirited at the least, Cannabis prohibition is no better (in all seriousness) than when they were burning people alive for “heresy” or “witchcraft.”
Such is malice with no justification, continuing for decades, through the use of outright lies socialized at youth (like the story of the boogeyman), and through the use of unreasonable force and intimidation.
I thought there was a proposal to legalize and regulate marijuana in Michigan. Am I mistaken?
[Paul Armentano responds: The Michigan effort you refer to is a ballot measure, not state legislation. Please see the link in the blog re: 2012 initiatives for more information.]
Dr. Josef Mengele would be proud of how Pharma
experiments on the masses with their crazy chemicals
W T F are we allowing them to do this?
Cannabinoid receptors within the brain of EVERYONE! Chemicals that reside within the chemical makeup naturally and physiologically. It already exists neurologically for the specific purposes of neuropathy. You have receptors within your brain, YES YOU, that interact positively with this beneficial medicine. Coincidence? Hardly. You can’t make up the truth. Legalize it and stop with the BS reefer madness. Alcohol kills. Tobacco kills. Certain toxic prescribed meds kill or simply don’t work, placebo?. All perfectly legal might I add. Cannabis kills ZERO! NONE! NUNCA! For some reason it’s not acceptable? Only the laws that apply to it cause harm and destruction. Get that through your thick skulls. Of course if you smoke all day it’s going to effect your mind? Moderation folks, MODERATION! 21+ and the reason I say this is because it’s known that the mind still develops into early stages of adulthodd and even though it’s at a minimal pace 21+ should be the number. Sorry young bucks but you can wait a few more years. Always consume in a logical and moderate manner. Know your limits! That goes for anything people do, correct? That’s the problem everyone thinks their superman or wonder woman. The illegality that cannabis currently finds itself in was all done to corner the markets. Why do the FEDS have a patent on these chemicals when they occur naturally? FEDS? Explain, if you can. I won’t hold my breath. If everyone could grow their own medicine, fibers, proteins, oxygen, etc then how would the “powers that be” ever make $$$ off of it. Bunch of greedy, self-serving sociopaths. Looks as though people are catching on to your ploys. You got caught in your own lies, own up to it. Again, I won’t hold my breath. Apologize to everyone else in the world but when your own people catch FEDS fragmenting the truth to the benefit of BIGS you can’t even man up and admit that your wrong! Nits.
Looks like Virginia isn’t going to change anything.):
I don’t support medical marijuana. Why should I have to be sick to smoke? It’s a harmless plant, and all medical marijuana laws do are make a mockery out of it, and still prevent people from legally smoking. It’s not a federally recognized law. To me, they’re worthless. Let’s go for the whole thing, and stop with this medical marijuana shit.
Sal, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Is it 4:20 yet?
We don’t need any laws to pass, this is part of their scam making US dumb. Arresting innocent people is already illegal folks!!!
It was illegal before they wrote these shit laws, it is still illegal today. The police are not allowed to arrest someone without justification. As we all can see from NYC, even were ordered to stop arresting people the police don’t. It isn’t our laws that are the direct problem here, the problem is how the police are being trained to trick you out of rights. Why? One of the whole points of having police is to enforce laws, not victimize people. If they can’t tell the difference, why are they police officers? How did they past the psychological evaluation? “We’re looking for a few good crackers.”?
Vote Ron Paul. He is the only choice. The rest are not interested in you and I. This is the best thing you can do for America. At the very least, you send a message to the establishment.
If you Live in Mississippi call and e-mail your senator and representative to pass SB 2252 for MEDICAL MARIJUANA!
Does anyone know the legal status of medical maraijuana in Washington state?
@ Hope for Gange. Thank you very much. I would very much appreciate help! Anyone have any ideas?
I have severe PTSD and BiPolar and am on 15 different meds,some which I can’t function on.. Cannabis smoking relieves my stressors and allows me to sleep without nightmares. I urge WVA to pass the law for Cannabis use.
I live in Alabama I have chronic leg pain and back problems and severe anxiety. They had me on xanax that kept me knocked out and caused hangovers. They give me four lortab 10’s a day for pain that keeps me from sleeping that makes you want more xanax to sleep. I dont need either of these drugs when I self medicate but risk going to jail. I stopped smoking when they put me on drugs because they drug tested me no withdrawls no sickness. but the drugs had less and less effects with time. So I smoked a joint because the pills just wasn’t working. I failed a drug test lost my meds and experienced withdrawl. I had an addiction that they wanted to treat with methadone another addictive drug that has killed a few of my friends and screwed up a few more. This is government drug dealing to me POT never made me sick using or coming off of it but helped more than anything else.
I would like information on what I can do to help legalize something that is not addictive and has no risk of overdose. I trust natures medicine. And on the recreational side I don’t know of anyone that gets high and beats their wife and kids. But you can buy all the whiskey and beer they control and tax you want. WTF if it’s not addictive or dangerous they don’t want you to have it.
We need to change the federal classification to a class 2 drug that way the states can decide I think getting the Feds out should be evryones #1 priority
Hi . Good point Sal . Why should the Midwest :
As Independent Group Potential Nature Cannabis
Consumers want medical “m word” when the usage
of the word itself “ma ri jua na” is the older
and still illegal keyword for cannabis . _\|/_
Recreational legality is possible with 18345.6
National Legally smokin~ Nation Legal _\|/_ ~n
the designation at [TriCameral] 100 grams ~pot
available eco~quarter pound for a registered :
dealer to begin dealing eco~quarter ounces the
25 gram.s amount to neighbors with newer grass
tax [not nearly 3.50$ a gram tax] more like uh
1 dollar a gram tax beginning at New Mexico ‘s
deal on providing standard (if small) one gram
buds to Wisconsin medicinal cannabis “bong s”:
ideal Wisco manna legal Green Cross and the uh
newer states appeal to ex{h}orbinant number of
states to want all Green Cross bandwagon~ing :
will make the DOJ Law group throw a fit and uh
try to center base legality on CA State again.
Midwest should base itself on Nation Legal and
try to begin Green Smoke [which I run] _\|/_ /
and East Coast should try [kb]{and hash,opium}
known as GreenLeaf [designation]18345.8 TriCam
without the major implication of life threaten
as it’s just setting off DOJ and DHS about the
harmful potential of high potency less natural
cannabe which is West Coast {non}standard medi
stone.d bud . I would rather have a joint with
manna in it and a decent high .,. not some uhm
Fougie Major BonG BraneOut !! Peace and Pot $#
Also , just for fun . . . What is Ron Paul’s :
Foreign Policy on the Nuclear Exampled Effect:
Japan Basis of Tsunami , meltdown and M0Nshake
as it didn’t help Japan much . . . is Ron Paul
js gona get high and say “irashai masi Japman”
as I wonder if pot is more important thn World
Peace and continuing after Modern Age _\|/_ /~
We are hoping in oHIo that our laws WILL CHANGE, husband currently being persecuted in court system for possession. To date he has been having seizures for over 10 years AND medical cannabis the only thing that controls them and does not fail like tablet prescriptions did. NEED HELP in oHIo. Cant find a lawyer, limited funds, court date around the corner how many stressers can a family take!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with Sal. Why should we even bother supporting medical cannabis. They win … AGAIN if we do. They will regulate it so as to make it so much a pain, or so expensive to get, you will be going back to the black market.
It is a freaking natural herb. As such, let no man forbid what God has given. This is a most fundamental LAW. When the government is GUILTY of overriding the LAW OF GOD and depriving His CHILDREN of his gifts, LET THAT GOVERNMENT CEASE TO BE.
why do we allow the government to make us fight with ourselves over criminal laws they put in place to create an employment opportunity. The real truth is no matter how we want to approach the issue with cannabis, our bureaucracy’s like the DEA and the FDA and so on down the line——back around to the Federal Government are only protecting there right to spend our money, and as they put for our protection. I agree with certain Aspect’s on how we have made it this far in our country of 235 year, thats right 235 years of government. Not to get off subject to much…I think that with everything I have read about cannabis the coulpe of reasons that the Fedral Government will not allow cannabis to become legal for any rational useage is due to its non-suficient DATA. A Schedule I drug means….
NO medical value…..and very addictive.
so this means that they (The bureaucracy’s) will not allow anyone educated or just an average joe to use, possess, or experiment with because it is considered a danger to society.
This is where as the people we should develope a civil case Against our government on the allowance of alcohol and tobacco.
I would love anyone to please direct me to any source of data ( Like the data that the, (The bureaucracy’s) have produced stating that alcohol and tabacco is safe and not an issue unlike “the greener side”, if you will like, cannabis.
If there is no medical value or no addiction to either one of them then I am way off base.
I should tell you this I smoked cigarettes for 23 years and it has been the hardest thing to get away from because of the addiction to the drug Nicotine, But there legal because I am guessing unlike cannabis the Federal Government did the test and has the data to prove that is is safe for all useage.
SO Please can someone direct me to the website where this data can be found.
Just remember when you watch the shows and movies and pictures from the 60’s and woodstock…..There was alot more drugs going on but it is all resting on the shoulders of cannabis……..the boomers from the 60’s know ,and listen peeps your the ones with the future right now…….do the right thing and help eliminat spending and wasting of the peoples tax money. our economy is in trouble like it has never been before.
Even those who hide from the truth…………
Still know the truth…………
Thanks for reading
HR2306 should be abolished and consider the civil suit………Remmember USA is well known for wanting to be in a war,
Lets let them know that we dont want to be at war with ourselves especially…..any longer.
……. Regulate………
We only know where to buy our gas because we allow gas stations.
#2 Shannon Steece
If you can get it on the ballot I will gather up as many people as I can to vote for it. I would like to know more about medical marijuana in Arkansas because my mom is a alternative medicine MD in Arkansas that is interested in the benefits of medical marijuana.
viet-nam vet,iv`e been depressed every seince the end of the war,been on every anti-depressent you can think of,the only thing that help`s me is mj,and the only side effect i get is,feeling good about my self.
And the sad part is,it`s against the law to feel good,dont make any sence whatsoevery to me.
If there where seeds at the bottom of your pain killer or nerve medication bottles. And you could plant them and grow you own. They would no longer be a controlled substance. They would be prohibited by federal law. Overnight the government would see the dangers in these now legal and highly addictive drugs. The very second they fill that they have lost a little control. You cant have it. You have the right to have no rights.
If there where seeds in the bottom of your xanax or lortab bottles. And you could take them plant ’em and grow your own medications. They would no longer be a controlled substance. No they would be prohibited by federal law. Overnight the government would see the dangers of these highly addictive drugs. The second they felt loss of control you could no longer have it. Fact is freedom is the right to have no rights. LEGALIZE POT IT’S GOOD MEDICATION NON HABIT FORMING AND NO CHANCE OF OVERDOSE.
ARKANSAS is taken petitions know + about 110 more days to get so much .to beable to get it on 2012 ballot ion november. I hop we get enough! THATS 4 MED cannibis. IT’s about time ,Don’t U think so!
I an a man with a chronic illness, and i do not have much time left on this earth.I should be able to get the med cannibis instead of going to the black market people to get it, whynot regulate it .Sick people sometimes don’t want those high potent opiates that could kill them !Why not use a natural plant that grows on our earth that theres has been not 1 person die from it!
Go Arkansas
i am a teenager who uses marijuana for recreational use…i have anger problems and insomnia.Cannabis helps me live a normal life.it has truly made me a better person.just because some stupid people decide to do stupid things while high or to get high.I dont understand how the government alloaws “posh” to be legal and not weed.I have many friends who are addicted to posh if they quit they go through a similar withdrawl to horoine.its crazy, it destroys your body huindreds of people have been hospitalized and some people have even died in just the past 3 years of it being legal.Marijuana has NEVER killed anyone.gangs and the DEA have killed people over marijuana as an illegal drug.if its no longer illegal gangs wont be involved with it.just think about it.Do gangs traffic cigarettes?
oh recreational and medical
Hello North Carolina i am a 29 year old male that has had a pain life since age 19 when i was diagnosed with a rare arthritis cal Anklelosing Spondylitis (AS) Its where all my joint fuse together becoming a solid bone having no flexible movement. My neck,spine, rib cage, shoulders are all fuse up(stiff as a board ). I also had to have both hips replaced when i was 19. My point is docters dont tell you that these pain killers will become your life and that i will have to have a pill to even play with my kids. Why not let us use a plant that has no addiction and cant overdose on? Please people do what ever you can to see that these laws are change. God Bless America and you all
Zoloft gave me panic attacks. Effexor ruined my sex life and made me suicidal. Seroquel blurred my vision. At least 15 other prescriptions the good doctors gave me either didn’t help me, stopped working after a short period of time or caused horrible side effects and withdrawal when quit. Since medically retiring from the Navy a month ago and getting an MJ prescription, I sleep through the night for the first time in 4 years and feel rested when I wake. My Anxiety Disorder is finally controlled. I now have an effective paid med that is not hard on my stomach or addictive. I am a happier person and a better husband. I don’t even have my old temper anymore. I am now convinced that the only people that are against marijuana are the people who know absolutely nothing about it or that have the wrong facts that were fed to them by the government.
i will say one thing,if it passes in ark.i just may haft to move.go razor backs,
https://www.facebook.com/events/347373315306927/
This blog is an addition to the one I previously posted about my son being in jail for posession of marijuana. I was able to post bail, but he needs help with a lawyer. He found one from this Norml website who knows he has a really good case….but we need help in raising her fees. If you can at all, please go to this webpage to help financially, if you can. We thank you so much in advance.
https://www.facebook.com/?events/347373315306927/
Hi WBS,
Please feel free to contact me via email or take a gander at our web site— http://arcompassion.org. We’re also on Facebook at: http://facebook.com/arcompassion.
We’d love to have your help!
Best,
Shannon Steece
Director of Communications
Arkansans for Compassionate Care
shannon@arcompassion.org
I don’t understand the problem with marijuana for medical or recreation and I don’t smoke it but I know that it is better than any drugs made by mankind it comes from the mother earth. The government should be ashamed of what they have done to marijuana users whether its for recreation use or medical is it really they can’t figure out how to make money. I would like to grow it.
i have glaucoma legally blind in right eye’ tunnel vision in left eye I need medical marijuana to keep what little vision I have I currently live in florida I am looking for a room mate; travel companion to move to a state where medical canibus is legal to save my left eye my cell is 386/956/6021 I have no e mail address I am on disability If interested please call Andy Thank You
Talk about a government crisis we have. clearly marijuana is used by millions of people, some live right next door to you. This is not only going to get money flowing. this plant is a miracle. cannabis has been proven to be a renewable resource time and time again. used as fiber to create cars, shoes and oil, a treasure mine in our backyard. forget the fact it is a mild pshycadelic a harmless one, illegal but alcohol does the same thing, and you can die because of it. in fact the reason i bieleive marijuan was made illegal in the first place is because, hemp which is the body of the plan not the flowering tops and leaves that are marijuana. were discovered to have that through process it can be made into oil, fuel. when this was discovered the scientists believed they had found the one way to produce endless amounts of fuel. cutting off the need for foriegn and american oil companies. at the time these componies were established they had billions of dollars. hemp was legal until this point. suddenly the federal government began voting on decrees broadcasting nation wide advertisements describing the plant as deadly and evil. it scared people people listen to the government. why would the government lie? I would lie for a billion dollars. the federal government saw the oil companies distress. they saw they could help each other and a deal was struck. still on a tribal privatly governed patch of land the federal government siezed the hemp plants they had been cultivating. for building material or medicinal use. point they had no right.
Decriminalizing marijuana would be a great start just the peace of mind to know I’m not going to jail for having this bag of harmless herb will do me just fine….