How do we move from prohibition to legalization in my state?
That’s one of the most asked questions we hear every week at NORML.
With national media attention focusing on the favorable experience with legalization in Colorado and Washington, and on the not-yet-implemented legalization programs recently adopted in Oregon and Alaska, anyone living in a state that continues arresting and jailing marijuana smokers would naturally wonder why their state seems to have missed out on the drive to end marijuana prohibition.
More accurately, many of those states are lagging behind in the legalization movement, but that, too, will change. As we continue to gather data demonstrating these new laws are working as intended, with few unintended consequences, the drive to end marijuana prohibition will soon reach every state in the union, and beyond. We are no longer debating theory and conjecture; we now have real-life experiences that can be evaluated, and that data resource will grow with each new state.
Patience and persistence still required
We all need to accept the reality that changing public policy is a complex process that requires financial resources, re-education and political organizing. Following more than 75 years of criminal prohibition, and “reefer madness” propaganda by our state and federal governments, many Americans — especially older Americans — hold a negative view of marijuana and marijuana smoking, believing it presents a risk to health or public safety.
Since all but a few of us have lived under prohibition for our entire lives, it is understandable that many would presume there must have been some justification for those tens of millions of marijuana arrests. Surely our own government would not needlessly wreak havoc on all those lives and careers without a good reason.
To Read the Balance of This Column, please go to Marijuana.com.
“Surely our own government would not needlessly wreak havoc on all those lives and
careers without a good reason.”
Of course that is what we would all like to believe. We should all be able to trust our government and our law enforcement but the reality is that many of them care only for themselves and they consider their victims to be collateral damage. In many, if not most, cases, the kind of people they have incarcerated are less of a criminal than they are!
For example, a congressman takes bribes and cheats on his wife all the while endorsing filling private prisons with cannabis users. It is utterly disgusting and more Nazi-Like than anything remotely resembling America-The Land of the Free I was brought up to believe in.
I am working hard as an advocate here in Florida pushing for legalization. We are PRAYING it happens this YEAR, we patients can’t wait until another 2016 ballot!!!!
Florida, Made it perfectly CLEAR. LEGALIZE IT AS AN AGRICULTURAL CROP, just like CORN BUT without GMO.
Cannabis prohibitions will soon end in more and more states and beyond.
I especially like the beyond part. Great Britain is taking notice. Hence, this article in The Telegraph from January 19, 2015, which entertains the notion that institutional investors on Wall Street are ready to give the green light (pun intended) to the new American green rush:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11352603/The-Silicon-Valley-ganjapreneur-who-moved-from-coding-to-cannabis.html
We all know legalisation is on the way (where ever we live in the world) but we all want to know how we can make our town/state/country the next place to legalise!
For some people they will just have to realise that they will need to move to a place that is more tolerant or wait a long time. So the real question for most people is should I leave for a more tolerant place to live; stay and campaign for legalisation; or just put up with overpriced, poor quality weed and forget about it.
I’ve believed for years that age demographics has and will continue to play a major role in potential national legalization. However, along with the changing of the population, must come the continued re-education of that population.
That is a one-two punch the prohibitionists will not be able to endure for too many more years. With each passing year, they grow weaker, certainly in numbers, and our side stronger.
I’m positive that most people who visit this NORML site try to advance our cause in their own ways. Keep it up folks, let’s see this through all the way.
Hopefully, 2015 will usher in more good news.
Rep. Johnny Bell is a wonderful man who will end Marijuana prohibition here in Kentucky! I’m sure that fully legalized Marijuana would earn a hell of revenue for the third most Marijuana producer.
Thank you Keith,
For adding words to our vocabulary such as “re-education,” reminding us that we have to take at least twice as long to re-explain current drug policy to someone who has already been washed-in-the-brain compared to someone who is prepared to admit they know nothing at all.
I, for one, am continually astounded by the depth at which prohibition takes our hard earned tax dollars and spends them on pure evil. But as former Mexican President Vicente Fox once said on this blog;
“If God had told Eve the apple was full of worms, she would not have eaten it. But God did not say that; God said ‘Do not eat the apple for it is prohibited.'”
i’m in ohio , and there’s so much activity to get something done for legalization. so many signatures needed by our pig headed gov and ag. any suggestions on how this can be acompplished?
“So our experience teaches us that the incremental approach is the only successful strategy we have seen. The time between those different incremental steps will get shorter and shorter, as our successes continue and the public becomes more comfortable with marijuana. It is always most difficult for the trailblazers who go first.
…
We currently have no choice but to follow the incremental strategy, but the benefits of a younger demographic over the coming years — one less concerned and more comfortable with marijuana smoking — suggests our path to victory will become increasingly easier from year to year.”
We would never have come this far with reform without NORML and these kind of insights. Keep up the good work folks.
I just watched a bizarre video of a FOX news discussion on marijuana–the ignorance strikingly on display. We are down to the last die hards, folks, the people who think marijuana should be illegal because,…., well, just BECAUSE. If there’s still any steam left in prohibition’s boiler by 2016 presidential election, the FOX News GOP mouthpiece will flood its viewers with anti-pot propaganda — they’ve already started.
Last night I had a nightmare about President Andy Harris in 2020. He was elected with over 70% of the popular vote.
Gov, Christie said he will never let it happen in NJ as long as he is in charge.
The point of relocating to a state where legalization has prevailed is a valid one. No doubt we all would love to make a short drive to a dispensary and pick up some high quality, lovingly grown, and most importantly mold/harmful additives free herb. Better yet for those with the green thumb surely growing your own would be incredibly satisfying. If we all pack up our lives and move to a green state, keep in mind that’s one less determined soul to win the battle in your home state!
With all Nixon bashing aside, this does feel like a tipping point for legalization. Look at all the money the taxes have generated in the green states. This will unfortunately be the driving force for the “rush”. Imagine however if our government stepped forward, and said “Hey, we made a mistake. This plant is quite benign, and has vast medical qualities we have yet to discover. Yes we do hold a patent on THC, so with this in mind go forth and grow & sell! Please remember to fill out your I-420 form to give us 42% of all your profits!” – Okay the taxes part is the only truth that might come from a new direction from the fed.
Education is so incredibly important for this movement to continue at the pace it’s at. Know who your voting for and let your lazy friends know their views as well. VOTE!!! If you don’t have a representative that supports legalization, Take Action! The facts needed for making your state green are out there. More specifically the statistics showing crime has not increased, teen use hasn’t increased, and certainly gather the tax revenue from green states to support your views. Remember those dollar bills are what drive our leaders, so let’s keep reminding them our green will give them more of their green! OH – Support NORML!!! They’re kicking ass, and even if your cheap ass won’t donate money at least joint err..join your local chapter and volunteer.
Lets do this!
With state prison population at nearly 120% of capacity in herein Oklahoma AND budget woes in the Dept of Corrections, maybe the governor and elected officials will wake up and legalize marijuana here sooner than we think.
One does not have to be a marijuana user to believe in legalization for recreation and medicine. I believe it the freedom to choose and know that marijuana helps a lot of people. If it were legal in my state, I would be trying it, although not smoking, for my arthritis pain.
I know here in Missouri we are going for full legalization with the Missouri Cannabis Act. If anyone would like to help here in MO or would like more info on the cannabis bills we have here in MO please join Missouri Cannabis Reform https://www.facebook.com/groups/407826009376872/
There’s a White House petition to completely legalize it, it needs 100k signatures by February 11th!
Medical Marijuana will be legal in my state of MInnesota in July 2015! Thank you Governor Mark Dayton…
Idaho; in quiet anger my friends.
Watching the President’s State of the Union Address, and had to mention his “research and medicine initiative, …providing health information… To prevent diseases such as cancer and diabetes.”
Way to talk all around the word “marijuana” or “descheduling” Mr. President; a foreshadowing of future decisions perhaps?
An executive decision to deschedule coinciding with a Federal Judge’s decision to deschedule is just what States like mine here in Texas need to push pro-marijuana legislation forward. I acticipate a good decrim and hemp debate to hit the state legislature this year.
I find it cynically ironic that the descheduling of marijuana positively affects every agenda the President has made so far in his address. From creating jobs, raising income levels, ending the war in Afghanistan ( We could replace the poppy fields with hemp) creating socioeconomic equality, (ending cyclically disproportionate incarceration of minorities), reducing conflict in our hemisphere and reducing terrorism, providing sustainable alternatives to energy, climate change, investing in infrastructure; all policies that would benefit from fairly taxed and regulated commercial and industrial hemp and marijuana industries. (With subsidized, untaxed medicinal marijuana).
Ultimately, by going beyond descheduling marijuana, we cut down the greater threats to our civil liberties and equality. By challenging the drug policy of the DEA and ONDCP we can even combat the abuse of our privacy by hackers in our DOJ under unconstitutional programs such as the S.O.D. Program developed under President Clinton that fabricates parallel evidence using unwarranted surveillance, or the secret courts in the D.O.J. Like those that work for the DEA and FISA created under the Nixon and Bush Administrations that operate more archaically than the Grand Juries that are chosen by the same D.A.s and prosecutors who benefit from asset forfeitures in the C.S.Act.
Want socioeconomic equality Mr. President? Let’s reform the C.S.Act entirely. And Republicans want to curb executive overeach? We got your solution right here:
End unconstitutional executive privilege in the C.S.Act that denies war crimes and protects corrupt agencies in the D.O.J from Congressional oversight or prosecution.
(Providing immunity of prosecution for previous privileges… So the dirty Devils will sign the damn thing)…
End campaign contributions that motivate fraudulent cases based on harrasment, quotas and profit, and not on justice.
End Prohibition.
I hoping The new gov. elect in pa.will pass the medical bill this year. This has been going on long enough with all the greedy bastards.
I’m looking for signs and hints that somewhere in Barry’s changes in the tax code that they’ll hide/bury some language in the law that will make cannabis banking legal and get the IRS off the cannabusinesses, you know, let them take the standard business deductions. They are penalized financially for paying in cash and shit it showed in the potumentaries, like they have to pay fines and shit because they pay in cash and not by check or electronically, which the cannabusineeses can’t do it banks won’t let them have accounts. This overhaul or tweaking or whatever it turns out to be should end the fearmongering of the banking industry so they’re not afraid to do business with the cannabis community.
Once non-cannabis states see that the other states are riding the cannabis money train and there are basically no more obstacles more and more states ought to get aboard. $Choo! $Choo! Bail out your local pension programs, city , county, local, state, better fund your public education like Colorado’s cannabis community is generating revenue the state is using to help fund education etc. Cannajobs. Job$, Job$, Job$!
Hawaii could speed things up a whole lot, just jump to adult recreational, don’t know why they’ve not sent anyone to Colorado on a fact finding and consulting mission to emulate Colorado in Hawaii, same for other states, same for various American Indian Nations interested, when are they going to send delegations of technocrats and experts to Colorado. Is Colorado state government offering training to other states? Like to see that. Love to see D.C. get going. Love to see Chippawa (I think) in Minnesota do both adult retail and medical, it’d be first place west of Mississippi if D.C. gets blocked, which hopefully it won’t, D.C. gets cannabis coffeeshops.
Although the experience in Washington State has been pretty good, it is not as good as in Colorado. We will see how the system works it
out, but there is another contest which needs to be mentioned…
This is an outrage! What poor sports! These so-called patriots cheated! Right in front of everybody too. They probably feel pretty smug about it. I am tired of this cheating and so are a lot of other people. If enough people act quickly enough, then we can get the
Administration to put an end to this cheating. Sign this petition:
http://wh.gov/i4yLn
#socalledpatriotscheated
An interesting strategy is to develop import agreements between legal states, which might force the fed’s hand.
Recognizing gay marriages between states has moved that issue along
i went up to see if i could find that wh mmj legal site anonyimous talked about. is it a trap or for real? must be vigilant!
President Andy Harris–that IS a nightmare. How about Vice President Susana Martinez? The Devil’s disciple.
Good article
EXCEPT there’s no clear-cut info on
how to change the law in states LACKING
a citizen’s VOTER INITIATIVE process…
BTW, I do vote, and vote in EVERY election,
for pro-reform candidates running in city,
state and U.S. legislative races…
(Incumbent state reps in MY district and city are ALREADY pro-reform).
However, the majority of state reps
in the legislature here are conservative,
uneducated Reefer Madness “believers”
from outlying rural areas,
(which I’m not able to vote out),
whose only conception of any form
of cannabis is as a dangerous, evil,
double-plus ungood “ILLEGALDRUG™®”
Last session, there WAS a Medical Cannabis
bill that was unanimously-backed by
Democrats, but no Republican would touch it.
In lieu of supporting the Medical Cannabis
bill, the Republicans pushed-through their
own feckless CBD oil “research”
legislation, which although passed,
still requires Federal approval to begin
growing the low-THC strain,
which was NOT granted…
[Strange how this state opposes
“Federal interference” concerning
gun control, abortion-choice,
and ObamaCare, but will bend over,
(and take it!),
concerning the CSA and DEA, LOL!!!].
If I could afford to relocate to
Colorado, I would already be there…
(before I end up dying from
state-encouraged alcohol over-indulgence;
a temptation I’ve not yet succumbed to,
even for lack of a SAFER choice).
South Carolina 2015 Medical Marijuana Bill
H-3140
I wish Jersey would legalize really soon… Let us Jersey people have something in this state to be happy about.. Leave us alone and let us smoke in peace
@ Evening Bud,
I am really hoping that HUD Secretary and former Mayor of San Antonio Julian Castro runs on his own ticket instead of runnning VP for Hillary. Between Clinton’s S.O.D. program and all the old baggage Hillary carries, I don’t think she has stepped both feet out of the prohibitionist category.
Julian Castro, on the other hand, is coming from a Progressive and Latino perspective. American voting Latinos have figured out long ago that the drug war is rigged for exploitation, the only problem is there is an apparent lack of mota-vation to get out and VOTE. A Latino candidate for President could remedy that and more.
Here in Texas we need all the mota-vation we can get. I have compared the Latino vote in Texas to the sleeping giant, but I still firmly believe that even in this rainy weather were finally getting, that Texans haven’t forgotten the valuable lesson of the 2011 drought, and the need for water-conserving industrial hemp to diversify our crops to survive the next drought that is sure to come. Even during a wet-weather pattern, you don’t have to be a farmer to recognize that Texas water consumption is unsustainable. Hemp uses half the water of corn or cotton while producing twice the protein and celulose, no pesticides, no herbicides and little fertilizer. I agree with Deborah’s statement that Cannabis needs to be categorized as a crop, no Genetically Engineered crops, only adding that zoning restriction need to be enforced between commercial, medicinal, residential and industrial crops.
Texas where the marijunan boogeman live. Is a real hot spot for anti marijunan falks. The 65 year old. Right wing churches. And all around repulicans is what keeping Texas from ending probition on cannabis. The marijunan boogeman is a live and well here in Texas.
News, straight from the horse’s mouth. A bill in the Wyoming legislature to decriminalize marijuana which would have imposed a fine of 500 dollars for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana was defeated 38-22. Opponents of the bill maintained that marijuana is a gateway drug that will lead to harder drug use. On a personal note I wondered what that hard drug use might turn out to be in the plow-boy state chewing tobacco maybe?
Praise the lord and pass the Bulldurm, our clueless leader was in Boise yesterday. President Obama’s rhetoric about the middle class is wearing thin with me. Even if Idaho workers get a pay raise from 7.25 dollars an hour to 15.00 dollars an hour most of that will just go to paying for health insurance under the unaffordable care act. Mr Obama, and his health care reform should be featured on the fleecing of America, he sold us out people.
@Douglas,
The Boogyman has no power when even a 6 year old is not afraid of him. I once called Senator Cornyn’s office over the Smarter Sentencing Act and put my 6 year old daughter on the phone to say, “Good people shouldn’t go to jail.”
Never let fear prevent us from doing what is right, or we have lost the battle before we have begun.
Texas NORML and MPP have joined forces years ago to get some pro cannabis legislation on the schedule this year. We need to call our state Congressman (and Boogeyman alike) and educate them why they need to be on the right side of history. If your legislator happens to be THE boogeyman, like mine (Lamar Smith) I like to say “hemp is conservative; It conserves soil and water; Do you just want to GIVE Democrats a conservative platform like when Democratic Senator Wyden from Oregon told Congress “Hemp creates jobs without Spending a Dime.” ?
And while we’re at it stop the D.H.H.S. From patenting cannabis on one hand while sending boogymen and women to take state custody of our children for possession on the other. (Watch out D.C., they can still do that to you too). It’s like I once said when the D.C. Law started; “Who would have thought we would reach a time when the boogyman is no longer your local drug dealer on the street but your local social worker?” Or even a doctor peddling legal narcotics while you’ve got an I.V. Stuck in you?
Keep calling you state Boogy… I mean. Congressman. It works.
Seriously, if you really want legalization in your state and others, please take the time to actually do something besides complain (which most people seem to do). Take a moment to sign your name on this important petition.
NORML – Perhaps you could urge people to act on this instead of it simply being buried inside this blog where many will never see it who might have otherwise acted on it.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/full-legalization-marijuana-united-states-america/4J1C5skR
I think the Indiana “SB 284” currently on the agenda for the Senate is considering the authorization of the use of medical cannabis and the management structure needed. I don’t see anything in the NORML news letter. Am I misinformed?
“Opponents of the bill maintained that marijuana is a gateway drug that will lead to harder drug use.”
No, not at all. They real reason is because marijuana does not cause enough damage to society for these asshole to be satisfied. They are not scared of marijuana, they just want you to be scared of marijuana. If you’re too afraid to think straight, you’re more likely to “take protect” from crackers.
Why the hell do we have to regulate pot, nature’s god given medicine? To make it a capitalist commodity, that’s why. Conservatives charge for the water we use and almost everything else we’ve taken for granted. Next they’ll charge for the air we breathe.
In medical pot states, they only let you grow five or six plants. They also limit the amount of booze you can brew yourself. This is not because they worry that without regulations these things can harm you, but to protect corporations that sell these products. They spread fear mongering propaganda to this end and too many people fall for it. Most capitalist countries and even communist countries, enemies of the capitalists, have fallen for it.
The War on Drugs, like all wars and much of regulations are made to protect the profits of Big Business. Puppet politician and lobbyists of the oligarchy, the lowest form of life, have taken over the world. Pot prohibition and regulation are more nails in the coffin of freedom.
Tax this, tax that. What for? To give our taxes to the oligarchy’s M/I/I Complex to fund war profiteers? To give the police departments the ability to break down your door, confiscate your property, keep the loot and give the poor a prison record so they can’t vote? To give your taxes to “charitable organizations” to spread the fear mongering WOD doctrine? To pay politicians that work against you?
In a democracy, and if we need taxes at all, we should all be able to decide where our taxes will go. In fact, each person should be able to propose laws and vote by encrypted online votes as well as by standard voting methods. The goal is to take politicians out of the picture and make them public servants instead of movie star oligarchy puppets that work against the public.
The first law I would propose would be to end the WOD.
Hahahaha! Potlessness you’re too funny.
This is your brain on drugs: (frying egg).
This is your government on The War on Drugs: (bend over and take it, plus thousands of used rape kits full of evidence).
I’m having some Bowie flashbacks insofar as having to revisit the tax issue.
Fashion by David Bowie
“There’s a brand new talk,
but it’s not very clear
That people from good homes
are talking this year
It’s loud and tasteless
and I’ve heard it before”
The brand new talk about taxes is not really new, but it is loud and tasteless, and I’ve heard it before. The reason cannabis is taxes is because the prohibitionists who don’t want it in their back yard DO INDEED want some of the money from it. The NIMBY folks, you know Not In My Back Yard, won’t have adult recreational, can you say Colorado Springs, in some cases medical marijuana, where they live, but are all too keen on dipping their hands in the money pot.
For people, voters, who don’t need to use cannabis medicinally and don’t want to use cannabis recreationally, there has to be something in it for them, e.g. some of the money. Some people want more than just the Peace Dividend in the form of the savings from ending the War on Cannabis.
Sommige mensen zijn maar echt domkoppen.
@ Julian,
Interesting points about the Latinos in Texas. And I certainly appreciate your pun, “mota” vation, lol.
I agree with you about the sleeping giant in Texas, too. My brother’s wife’s family is sprinkled around various parts of Texas; she’s Hispanic. I have to think that most of them understand that a disproportionate number of Hispanics are arrested for pot possession in your state in comparison to whites.
You make a good point too about the amount of water required to grow weed in comparison to other crops. The droughts in Texas have been terrible these past years, so any opportunity to conserve water would definitely be a good thing.
I grew up in San Angelo, Tx, as a small kid. I was told recently by a guy I work with, who’s also from Texas, that the beautiful lakes around San Angelo, and the Concho River, are now glorified mud holes, if not completely dried up. That’s truly sad. And it certainly begs for water conservation of any sort.
BTW, I’d take your Julian Castro over NM’s Susana Martinez any day. Wanna make a trade, lol? Be warned, tho, as she’s made it clear she will veto any attempts in NM for MJ legalization.
https://screen.yahoo.com/30-fugitives-arrested-drugs-seized-002000807.html
This drug bust video further validates the need to legalize and regulate Marijuana.
The drug dealers here had heavy drugs, illegal weapons and cartel ties.
They did not have marijuana, why? Being in a state where it is legal they can’t lump it with their heroin, cocaine and meth.
The police are no longer distracted by the smell of the marijuana being smoked in the immediate area but are actually doing police work that will save lives and families by removing illegal automatic weaponary, proven death producing drugs (Heroin, Cocaine, Meth have all caused physical overdose deaths) and cartel/cartel linked persons with intent only to profit at all means as the lone objective.
Stories like this will help move the conversation much more quickly, while some citizens are very mislead by our governmental history of deceitful lies regarding marijuana they are intelligent enough to see the truth when reported in a “fair and balanced” manner.
The writing is on the wall, prohibition (marijuana) will be over much sooner than most people think.
Kansas HB2011 and SB09 is another attempt to get the debate outside a hearing. As a parent of six children, a grandparent of six, I know Kansas needs legal cannabis.
https://screen.yahoo.com/30-fugitives-arrested-drugs-seized-002000807.html
I must add, if marijuana was a gateway drug at all, the bust as factually reported here couldn’t have possibly netted the amount of drugs “factually” reported because all the “stoners” looking for the “next high” are knocking the raid team over to buy from these guys right?? Oh God no don’t bust my meth dealer right?!
Tell you what, as a 30 year “stoner” the only “high” we seek is from the weed! Don’t flatter yourselves prohibitionist, everybody is showing up for this movement.
I`m not sure if this is the right way to go about it,but here goes.Back in the early 70`s when we would get a mooch that would show up at the back row of the drive-in lookin to smoke but never bring any,we would break out the tea.You see tea bag tea smells a whole lot like the pot we were smoking then.A lot of the people wouldn`t even figure out it wasn`t marijuana.So I`m thinking if we could get the cops (WOD) chasing around ,wasting their time going after tea smokers maybe it would be easier to just legalize it.I think it`s just crazy enough to work.What do you think ?
@ J.T why I can think of a whole lot of people who upon smelling marijuana would just come running. Officer Dufass of the Soda Springs police department for instance has a hero complex, and would love a nice drug bust…..
“ppf is on our side”:
Ending pot prohibition but continuing a WOD on “bad drugs” is ludicrous. This is a war on poor people of color, the new Jim Crow. People turn to hard or soft drugs, when they need medicine, recreation or to escape reality.
The police can’t solve sociopolitical or medical problems that make people turn to drugs. Their purpose is to justify their existence and increase the salaries of repressive agencies and the profits of our oppressors.
Drug addiction is a medical problem and should be treated as such instead of using costly interdiction and jailing of users that makes all problems worse.
To want to end pot prohibition but not the WOD that gives license to conservatives to destroy millions of lives worldwide is a flawed argument.
Please sign this petition!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/full-legalization-marijuana-united-states-america/4J1C5skR
@J.T. – I think your idea is a great one. Every single one of us should make it a responsibility to have one or more of these tea joints in plain sight! It would cause the police to waste even more of their time on this idiotic pursuit and might hasten the realization of our ultimate goal of ending prohibition of our favorite plant.
Of course, many of us would get hassled, but not busted if that was the only thing we had on us when the cop spots it.
People, we all need to do things like this. The ignorance of the Feds and greed of law enforcement must be fought; not complained about…
Please go sign this petition (link below). Let our Govt know what we want in no uncertain terms.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/full-legalization-marijuana-united-states-america/4J1C5skR
Sigh, Colorado is like a week trip in a car… Nc and states around it are determined to be ignorant assholes as well. 40 years of waiting on sense. I don’t have much hope anymore. Nc also does not allow voter initiatives(go figure). Nc is probably one of the most corrupt states when it comes to government. Remember Jesse Helms…. every one just about does. It is absolutely funny how he demanded foreign policies to be communist free when in his own state he pretty much ran government like it was communist.
thanks for the wh hook-up. i found the petition.it’s visibly picking up steam! please post this site in as many places as everyone can.
i am all for legalization, especially in Florida. I just don’t think it will happen in my lifetime. Too many closed minded people in America for this to ever be accepted. Not trying to be negative but I have lost hope.
Medical marijuana has been legal in Illinois for more than 365 days, but the number of patients that have actually been able to get relief from the drug remains a big fat zero.
While 600 local patients have already been approved for a medical marijuana card, there’s no place to actually buy the stuff. And after the state recently blew its self-imposed deadline to award business licenses to medical marijuana growers and dispensaries by the end of 2014, not a single business can even plant pot seeds.
“Illinois is the worst at anything having to do [with] medicine — or alternative [treatment],” Claire Mooney, a 39-year-old acupuncturist in Chicago, told The Huffington Post. Mooney applied in November for a medical marijuana card, hoping to ease muscle rigidity, pain and other symptoms caused by her multiple sclerosis.
Though she’s frustrated by the state’s timing, she said she’s also not surprised by it. “It goes on the timeline I thought it would be on, given the bureaucracy of Illinois.”
Despite the growing frustration among would-be medical marijuana patients like Mooney, it might not be time to lose heart entirely — so says Ali Nagib, the assistant director for the Illinois arm of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a nonprofit advocacy group.
“Other than the fact that for many patients, any delay is too long, it’s not an unexpected delay for people who have been following it,” Nagib said. “If you go back and listen to floor debates in 2013, they were anticipating — even at that time — a year of rulemaking. In that sense, it’s not unexpected [the licensing has] taken that long.”
But with a gubernatorial administration hand-off less than a week away, continued delays to the business licensing could see new variables emerge in an already complex landscape.
Outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn, considered a medical marijuana advocate, on Sunday told the Chicago Sun-Times of the state’s licensing delay: “It is a complicated law and we’re working on it as best we can. There’s a lot of research to be done, and it has to be done right.”
In less than a week, Quinn’s term ends, and the licensing falls under the purview of Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner, who criticized the law in the past.
“We don’t expect any major changes to the rules under [Rauner],” Nagib noted. “We simply don’t know how he’s going to implement this law. There are a lot of ways he could obstruct it if he chooses, and there are a lot of ways he could expedite it, too.”
Neither Quinn nor Rauner’s office immediately replied when reached for comment.
Regardless of which administration issues the business licenses, Nagib said Illinois’ medical marijuana patients are effectively “all dressed up, with no place to go.”
Katelyn Harper, a 23-year-old Chicagoan who suffers from Crohn’s disease, told HuffPost she’s not surprised by the long wait for medical marijuana access but remains hopeful that policy makers will avoid unnecessary delays.
“We are real people who have real lives, real jobs, friends, family,” Harper said of her fellow patients who suffer from chronic illness. “[Medical marijuana] will not just benefit patients, it’ll benefit all of those people, too.”
On the spectrum of states handling weed legislation, those like California and Colorado — which legalized medical marijuana but have fewer regulations on the substance than Illinois does — moved fastest from legalization to actual access, according to Nagib. At the other end of the spectrum is Massachusetts, still waiting on access to medical marijuana despite voters overwhelmingly approving it on a ballot measure more than two years ago.
“One criticism was that [Illinois’ law] doesn’t allow for home cultivation,” Nagib said. “If that provision had been in this bill, patients could have access already.”
Mooney said the dearth of licensed marijuana businesses in Illinois means patients are being denied not only access to the drug, but guidance as to which strains will best help certain conditions.
“For my multiple sclerosis, I’ve found [specific types of marijuana] very helpful,” Mooney said, noting that without licensed dispensaries, finding and using the best strain is a challenge. “I just have to scour the streets for my Maui Waui,” she added, referring to the name of a strain of marijuana.
Nagib said most advocates and lawmakers are anticipating that patients will have medical marijuana access sometime between late spring and early fall of this year.
“I think this next week is going to be very telling,” he said. “We’ll see if things move or not. If we get to 2015 and there’s still no patient access, I’d consider that to be a significant failure.” – Huffington Post
One raised cash for former Gov. Pat Quinn.
Another ran the state’s department of agriculture for Quinn and his predecessor.
And a third is a retired judge who ended his judicial career as the chief of Will County’s felony division.
All three might have had a chance to legally grow or sell medical marijuana in Illinois had the former governor followed through on recommendations for awarding the coveted licenses before he left office.
RELATED: Pot czar reacts as Quinn fails to issue licenses: ‘I am so sorry’
Instead, records show Quinn left behind a list of companies recommended by the Department of Agriculture to operate 21 medical marijuana farms and by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to run 56 medical marijuana dispensaries. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office released the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Quinn administration officials have said the former governor wanted to get relief to patients waiting to use the drug, but also wanted it done right and “in a fair and careful way” that shouldn’t be rushed at the last minute.
They’ve also stressed the applications went through a blind scoring process. But among those recommended to receive one of the coveted licenses was a company listing Keith McGinnis of Ottawa as a managing member.
McGinnis held a fundraiser at his home for the former governor in August.
The next month, McGinnis’ firm, In Grown Farms LLC, applied for a license to grow medical marijuana in Stephenson County, records show.
And staffers in the Quinn administration had recommended In Grown receive the license, records obtained by the Sun-Times show.
McGinnis himself contributed $1,500 to Quinn last year, records show. He also contributed $250 in December to Rep. Lou Lang’s campaign fund. Lang, a Democrat from Skokie, has championed the medical marijuana program.
McGinnis said he doesn’t believe the fundraiser had any influence on his successful application.
“The only way you can win this is by writing the best application,” he said.
His company applied in other districts for licenses but was not recommended for the license, he said
Another company that may have been allowed to grow medical marijuana is Ieso LLC, which was recommended for a license in the downstate district that includes Marion and Carbondale.
A manager of that company is Tom Jennings, the state’s former Department of Agriculture director who was appointed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Jennings, who served under Quinn before retiring from his state post in 2011 after more than three decades with the department, downplayed his connection to Quinn and said he worked for the state under a myriad of governors. Jennings declined to comment further.
Though Quinn administration officials have stressed applicants were scored in the blind, notations beside some of the applicants suggest it wasn’t that simple. However, no such notations appeared beside In Grown or Ieso.
Finally, staffers working in the Quinn administration recommended two dispensary licenses for 3C Compassionate Care Center LLC, which is co-owned by Traci Fernandez, her husband Hugo Fernandez, and her father — retired Will County Judge Robert Livas.
“I retired as the chief of the felony division in Will County,” Livas said. “I was a little tough on drugs.”
But about six years ago his daughter, Traci Fernandez, was stricken with transverse myelitis in 2008 — essentially waking up paralyzed over Labor Day weekend of that year. The mother of two young children, now bound to a wheelchair, started a foundation to help find a cure but ultimately had trouble raising money.
She persuaded her husband and father to help her found 3C.
Fernandez said she felt a mix of excitement and pride when she learned 3C had been recommended for a license. Livas, who said the venture is part of the reason he retired in November, called it a “tribute to how much effort we put in.”
Still, he said it won’t mean much until the Rauner administration makes its own decision and determines who will be allowed to legally grow and sell medical marijuana.
Applicants like 3C are ready for that day to come, he said.
“We’ve done everything we can do,” Livas said. “There’s nothing left to do. We just have to wait this out.”
Below is the list of applicants that scored highest in evaluations to receive marijuana cultivation licenses in each of Illinois’ state police districts, according to the documents. In some cases, where marked, the Quinn administration did not include those businesses in later drafts of prepared, but unsent news releases.
District 1 – Carroll, Lee, Ogle, Whiteside counties
GTI Clinic Holding, LLC
This company was omitted from later versions of the draft news release.
District 2 – DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry counties
Progressive Treatment Solutions, LLC
District 3 and 4 (C) – Cook County
Illinois Grown Medicine
Bedford Grow LLC
None of the drafts mentioned these business names, saying the “selection process is ongoing.” The businesses were listed on a scoring sheet along with other top scorers, but they were highlighted in red.
District 5 – Grundy, Kendall, Will counties
Cresco Labs, LLC
This company was omitted from later versions of the draft news release.
District 6 – DeWitt, Livingston, McLean counties
Pharmacann
District 7 – Henry, Knox, Mercer, Rock Island counties
GTI Clinic Holding, LLC
District 8 – Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, Woodford counties
Ace Delevan, LLC
This company was omitted from later versions of the draft news release.
District 9 – Cass, Christian, Logan, Mason, Menard, Morgan, Sangamon counties
Cresco Labs, LLC
This company was omitted from later versions of the draft news release.
District 10 – Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Edgar, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Shelby, Vermilion counties
Shelby County Community Services, Inc.
District 11 – Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, St. Clair counties
Progressive Treatment Solutions, LLC
This company was omitted from later versions of the draft news release.
District 12 – Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Lawrence, Marion, Richland counties
Flora Grow, LLC
District 13- Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Randolph, Washington, Williamson counties
Ieso, LLC
District 14 – Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, Warren counties
Natures Grace and Wellness, LLC
District 15 – Downers Grove – Tollway
No applicants
District 16 – Boone, Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago counties
In Grown Farms, LLC 2
District 17 – Bureau, LaSalle, Putnam counties
GTI Clinic Holding, LLC
This company was omitted from later versions of the draft news release.
District 18 – Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery counties
Compass Ventures, Inc.
District 19 – Edwards, Gallatin, Hamilton, Saline, Wabash, Wayne, White counties
Atraxia
District 20 – Adams, Brown, Pike, Schuyler, Scott counties
Ace Barry, LLC
District 21 – Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee counties
Cresco Labs, LLC
District 22 – Alexander, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Union counties
Wellness Group Pharms
None of the draft news releases mentioned this business name, saying the “selection process is ongoing.” This company was listed on a scoring sheet along with other top scorers, but highlighted in red.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/illinois-medical-marijuana-289824201.html#ixzz3Q2ZFCR6S
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“The inexplicable unwillingness of Governor Quinn to finish the job on the medical marijuana program means one thing: unnecessary prolonged pain and suffering of very sick people,” Lang said. “The people suffering from cancer, epilepsy will be further victimized by the governor’s failure to do his job.”
“This single failure may doom the medical cannabis program,” Lang said. “This single failure said to all of those folks that made applications to be cultivators or dispensary owners that, ‘We took your $5 million, but we’ll get to you when we feel like it.’”
Gov. Rauner, who was inaugurated on Monday, is now in charge of the medical marijuana licensing process.
Rauner has criticized the selection process as subject to cronyism.
During his campaign for governor, the venture capitalist suggested just auctioning the licenses off to the highest bidders.
With yet more delays now occurring in a pilot program set to expire in 2017, some discouraged patients are speculating the law might never result in any safe access at all.
“Here we sit again at the whims of the politicians and what they decide they’re going to do,” said multiple sclerosis patient Julie Falco of Chicago. “People are definitely frustrated, the patients are really upset that they are waiting.
“Some very sick people were hurt,” Lang said on Tuesday. “And some very innocent people were hurt yesterday… from a person who has spent his life talking about health care.”
“The state of Illinois has a responsibility to fulfill its obligations under the law,” Lang said.
“We did not do that.”
– See more at: http://hemp.org/news/node/4592#sthash.hR8ziFhy.dpuf
IF IT WAS LEGAL IN VA I WOULD NOT BE PARLYZED FROM THE CHEST DOWN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE BY BEING BEAT DOWN BY 15 PRISON GUARDS FOR ONE AND A HALF POUND OF MID GRADE DONE OVER 7 YEARS FOR IT AND GOT PARLYZED AT THE SAME TIME
Dear Charles,
I hope your attackers see the inside of a jail cell themselves. While I despise our “criminal justice system”, you might take some comfort knowing that “Corrections Officers” regularly kill themselves as their jobs are so depressing and half illegal as locking people up for life is a crime all by itself. And jail times just keep getting longer and longer so criminals that own jails and keep stealing more tax money. All the while the “corrections Officers” slowly morph in “slave overseers”. After taking stock of the damage they personally do to society, many of them decide to eat a bullet.
I’m in Tennessee, one of the most conservative states when it comes to marijuana policy reform. Pray for us guys, because we’re gonna be the very last state to change.
[Editor’s note: In a short period of time the TN NORML chapter has become increasingly busy and visible in the state, please contact them to help hasten an end to cannabis prohibition there.]
I really wish some strong people with titles would stand up for marijuana in Alabama ….we need doctors, lawyers,big business owners I don’t care ….I also don’t care about how conservative you are …how many so called conservative people smoke cigarettes and come shake your hand for an interview smelling like five ashtrays….it’s time to stand up for what we believe in damnit
Dear NORML Blog Editor,
I do believe TGAINES is ALREADY active
w/ the local chapter, (TN NORML),
writing and visiting state representatives,
attending legislative hearings, etc.
Only a handful of legislators here are
even open-minded enough to possibly consider
severely-limited “medical” cannabis, much less
backing more encompassing reforms.
[Editor’s note: At the legislative level, notably in cities and states, elected policy makers are far more influenced by personal lobbying. In essence, in the politico’s mind, a problem has to be pointed out, aggrieved citizens peacefully petition the government for redress, politicos more often than not are responsive to well organized lobbying campaigns from their constituents.
Every year both the chapters and TN get more and more active. In response more hearings will be scheduled in 2015/2016. Indeed, passing a bill and getting executive signature remains tall order still there, but, the building blocks for reform in TN are being erected and the more citizens there active, the faster the reforms. It is that wonderfully binary.]
Illinois has a medical marijuana law…kinda?…maybe?…not?
I remember calling a Chinese restaurant one time many years ago.
The very encouraging voice on the other end of the line asked, ” You want come eat”?
I answered with great enthusiasm, ” Yes”!
She replied, ” We not open”!…and hung up.
This true story reminds me of the current state of The State of Illinois regarding legal access to medicinal cannabis therapy under a law that has been in effect for more than 600 days…without one legally certified patient receiving any medical cannabis.
“We not open”?…until we get the money straight… into the Right pockets of CorporatePotProfiteers (CCP) ?
They are the businessmen who will own a plant!
Think about it?
Can’t grow your own means paying for a plant owned by Businessmen.
Give it a think?…and you may either laugh or cry?…your choice!
As the youngsters say, ” The Stupid, it Burns”!
[Editor’s note: If states adopt overly restrictive licensing and taxing policies, cannabis prohibition will keep chugging along with home cultivation and illegal sales, then, like with the end of prohibition itself, consumers will seek greater consumer choice and freedoms. The only substantive difference is that consumers will be advocating in a post-cannabis prohibition environment that accepts cannabis commerce as compared to lobbying during prohibition when the government sees cannabis consumers as criminals and deviants.]
Advocating and lobbying have substantive and very different and distinct definitions from one another.
You seem to stating they are, in effect, synonymous?
Been “chugging along” for way too long, Mr. Editor!
I imagine you have the benefit of youth/time for the train to keep chugging its merry way along the slow track…many others do not.
[Editor’s note: It is both idiotic to insinuate that NORML is slow walking legalization efforts and to believe that legalization is going to come about without people donating money to the actual organizations that are in fact legalizing cannabis in your lifetime.
Do you think that this webpage, software licensing, numerous servers and bandwidth are provided for free??
The legalization of cannabis in the US is not happening because of magic. Freedom ain’t free.]
Louisiana is in budget trouble big time. If they would change the laws and sell mmj they could dig us out of a hole.
Kansas SB9 and HB2011 is another attempt to reach relief and patient rights once again. Kansas needs cannabis.
I’m very concerned I have heard nothing with marijuana and decriminalization/legalization in the same sentence in regards to WI. I guess its time to find a local chapter and get some work done. I ask any and all WI residents who read this to do the same. And while we’re at it lets ask, or I should say “tell” all government officials thanks but no thanks. We don’t need them making decisions for us in regards to if we should as adult taxpayers be told that we shouldn’t put marijuana in our bodies for whatever reason they are peddling this time. Come on Wisconsin…we are rolling over playing dead letting some overweight, uninformed, likeminded politician schooling us on “there” unfounded facts. Let’s get national headlines WI opens its arms to legal Marijuana in 2015/16!!!
Connecticut’s MMJ is about the same price as “street weed”; maybe more expensive!!! About the only advantage is “full counts”!!:)
“State by State”; like the proverbial Dominos!
I have Gillian barre . Dr don’t know what causes it and want to use me for a guina pig. Plasmapheresis uh no. It’s a shame people like me suffer. And a lot of others. Because of out dated polices and fear of loss of jobs in enforcement. Let’s face it Tricky dick onward have done nothing but escalate drug use. No pot oh I’ll try coke or even worse heroine. Kids are dying daily because we need to stand up and say no. Taxation could do much for education. And put a end to the idiocy we have at hand.
I want Indiana to step up to the plate instead of just sitting on their hands .
It’s time to do this…
Mississippi was the only state that grew the medical Marijuana for the entire country for years and years. And we have decriminalized it as well. But even though we now have a virtual flood of information showing all of the hundreds of great things about Cannabis, people still have this mentality that its bad in some way. And as I have been an advocate of Cannabis for years and I have done tons of research on Cannabis in which I try to use to inform and educate people with, some people are so stuck in the 50`s with the reefer madness mentality that there will never be a way to change their minds. Thats whats frustrating. When yoiu show those people, literally stick literature and scientific facts in their faces, they nod it off. How can anyone be so shallow, and so stupid. Not ignorant because once you have been shown and informed you have the knowledge so the denial of the truth is in fact just plain stupidity. Im so tired of this. And then when they can`t use all of the garbage and conjecture that they dreamed up because they at least acknowledge the facts shown to them, they come up with those “what if`s” What if they make it so strong it can kill or “what if” kids can buy it, bla, bla, bla. With tobacco killing nearly half a million people each year and alcohol killing 90,000 each year and Marijuana killing ZERO each year you would think that anyone with a brain could understand how completely ridiculous it is to have Cannabis titled as a schedule one narcotic. I know a man who was sentenced to 60 years for growing Marijuana. SIXTY YEARS!! The judge who sentenced this man should be sentenced to 100 years in prison. I could go on for hours but I wont bore you. PLEASE HELP US IN MISSISSIPPI!
Has anyone pointed out the success that Portugal has had after legalizing “ALL” drugs. Let’s end the war on drugs.
Here in Florida there is a dark cloud over our cause. We have had 2 houses blow up in one month in south FLA by people trying to make hash oil using butane. Please people do not do this because the press and the sheriff are exploiting this to scare people. The other day on channel 5 a Fox affiliate we had the sherif laying the blame on Colorado. He stated that this is Colorado’s fault that they are exporting cannabis to FLORIDA(propaganda ). He claims Fla. is an import state and Co. is an export state(even though it is winter). He tells you to be observant of your neighbors and if smell anything like pot call the police. The station web site should still have his interview up, WPTV in West Palm BEACH. The sheriff invited the reporter to see the evidence and broadcast the pictures. To be honest you could do the same process with horse manure and it would explode. It is the propane that is dangerous not the pot. To keep our cause alive and stop the fear mongering Please do not do this. This battle is as much a propaganda war as it is one based on truth.
I haven’t heard anything pertaining to Louisiana in quite a while. One would think with New Orleans, Mardi Gras, the heavy drinking and all the debauchery our state enjoys, that we would be a little faster to address and implement something like Cannabis. Especially considering that it is MUCH safer.
[Paul Armentano responds: HB 6, which seeks to allow for the therapeutic use of cannabis, has been pre-filed for the 2015 legislative session: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=226448%5D
cannabis should be legal in every state and it is up to us to fight for that right, I live in new york and smoke cannabis daily for severe anxiety, with out this medicine it would be very difficult for me day to day. recreational use should be allowed in every state. this plant has the ability to help so many people and yet our government classifies it as this awful drug that we should not be allowed to use illegally. WE WILL WIN THIS FIGHT EVENTUALLY!