LEAP Cheering Marijuana Legalization Bill AB390!

[Skip]

The group of police officers and judges known as LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), has come out cheering tomorrow's vote in Committees for AB390, the marijuana legalization bill before California's legislature.

The group is very active in educating law enforcement and the public about the negative effects of marijuana prohibition upon society and promoting the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana.

"The mere fact that there will be votes in the Assembly to regulate and control the sale and distribution of marijuana would have been unthinkable even one year ago. And if the bill doesn't pass this year, it will soon. Or, the bill will be irrelevant because the voters will have passed the measure to regulate and tax marijuana that will be on the ballot this November."

On Tuesday, January 12, the Public Safety Committee will conduct a formal hearing on Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's marijuana legalization bill, AB 390. Following the hearing the committee will vote and, if the bill is approved, there will then be a second hearing and vote in the Health Committee.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/marijuana/legalize/prweb3430594.htm

 

[igrowone]

the momentum seems to building to a crescendo
and the sanity is becoming contagious when a vocal LE community is seeing the insanity of the consequences of prohibition

 

[vta]

This is great news. Here is what else the Judge has to say...

BALLOT MEASURE IS WAY TO PROPERLY POLICE POT

As a retired Orange County judge, I've been on the front lines of the drug war for three decades, and I know from experience that the current approach is simply not working. Our marijuana policy must change in order to achieve the following goals:

. Reduce marijuana consumption by children.

. Stop or reduce the violence that accompanies the growing and distribution of marijuana.

. Stop or reduce the corruption that accompanies the growing and distribution of marijuana.

. Stop or reduce crime both by people trying to get money to purchase marijuana and by those under its influence.

. Reduce the harm to people who consume marijuana.

. Reduce the number of people we must put into our jails and prisons.

California's Initiative to Tax, Control and Regulate Cannabis - which will appear on the November ballot will accomplish each of those goals. Our present policy of marijuana prohibition will never accomplish any of them - prohibition has been pursued since the early 1970s, and the entire situation has gotten demonstrably worse.

As an added benefit ( no small thing during these challenging times ) the initiative will generate billions of dollars in revenue to fund essential services, according to studies by the Board of Equalization and the Legislative Analyst's Office.

By allowing each city in California the option to devise a program for the regulated sale of cannabis to adults, marijuana would soon become less available for children. Why? Ask young people and they will tell you that currently it is easier for them to obtain marijuana than alcohol. That's because today's illegal marijuana dealers don't ask for ID!

The initiative contains significant safeguards and controls: It increases the penalty for providing marijuana to minors, expressly prohibits public consumption, forbids smoking marijuana while minors are present and bans possession on school grounds.

Regulating cannabis will put street drug dealers and organized crime out of business just as the repeal of alcohol prohibition put the Al Capones of booze out of business. This will allow police to redirect their resources toward protecting the public by preventing violent crime.

Most of the health risks of the usage of marijuana today are caused by its unknown strength and unknown purity. For example, sometimes the illicit marijuana has been laced with methamphetamines. But the FDA resolved virtually all of these problems with over-the-counter and prescription drugs years ago, just as the repeal of alcohol prohibition virtually eliminated the "bathtub gin" impurity problems.

Under this initiative, all crimes committed by people under the influence of marijuana would still be prosecuted, just like we do today with alcohol-related offenses. Holding people accountable for their actions, instead of what they put into their own bodies, is a truly legitimate criminal justice function.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n031/a01.html
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Author: James P. Gray
Note: James P. Gray is a retired judge of Orange Superior Court and the author of "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It" (Temple University Press). Reach Gray at through his Web site at www.JudgeJimGray.com
Cited: Initiative to Tax, Control and Regulate Cannabis http://www.taxcannabis.org/

 

[mpd]

MPD is cautiously optimistic. Nevada seems also poised to do the DEED. Once prohibition falls in California it will have to fall everywhere else as people will demand reciprocity and there will be the inevitable issues of crossing state lines where it is legal to buy marijuana and bringing it back to states where it is not. This will be the predicate cause for other states to throw up their hands and admit that (once again!) legislating morality in human behavior can't be made to work.

 

[igrowone]

tell you the truth, this is getting to be a bit like a horse race
california is in the lead, no wait, oregon is pulling ahead, and from the back of the pack nevada is closing
i just want to be at the finish line, don't care too much who comes in first, just that some state does the big change

 

[Hammerhead]

Here it is. I thought this was very interesting

 

[DoobieDuck]

Skip thank you for keeping us informed, you as well VTA...this is a big deal i think, having thier backing is so important to voters. DD

 

[PkRipper]

I personelly feel that the only thing that should be getting taxed are hookers and heroin.

taxes on cigs are outragous in cali so i can imagine after a few years of being legel that the fed or the next governator will place more and more taxes over time .


also in ca. they only sell cigs that wont stay lit , they are sprayed with chemicals that make tha cig go out if left unatended so people dont burn down there house while smoking in there sleep.

what are the side effects of fire retardents and how much longer untill that shit ends up on all your pre rollled packs of marijuana reds from your conner slurpy store

 

[PkRipper]

californators want tax money? do like they are good at and take it from the indians

 

[chef]

AFAIK? They didn't put fire retardant IN cigs, they took the crap OUT that kept cigs lit. Its more for wildfire prevention from what I heard too? Like to know for sure now lol

Anyway, big ups to LEAP!

 

[itisme]

GREAT POST!

 

[Totah Sam]

Nevada seems also poised to do the DEED.

Nevada being as permissive as it is; should have been the first state to legalize. Weird.

 

[Speedcat]

seems like things are taking off for america with laws on marijuana latley. great job people.

 

[markscastle]

This is one of the worst laws that could be forced on California`s marijuana community! It restricts growing to a 5x5 area and only allows one oz. to be legal.It puts into place huge fines and fees and security costs for commercial growers that will restrict most but corps. backed by bank loans and taxes reach to 800 a pound on sales of marijuana! It is so designed as to make despenceries big fat money holes! But gess who was behind this bill,yep you got it money hungry despenceries! This is not what most people had in mine when they think of how laws should be put in place to legalize marijuana! I can not support this bill or the other one that will be up for the next vote of the people! If it passes I will do everything I can to see it amended. We should be yelling about this outragous piece of shit law,ab 390 !

 

[igrowone]

This is one of the worst laws that could be forced on California`s marijuana community! It restricts growing to a 5x5 area and only allows one oz. to be legal.It puts into place huge fines and fees and security costs for commercial growers that will restrict most but corps. backed by bank loans and taxes reach to 800 a pound on sales of marijuana! It is so designed as to make despenceries big fat money holes! But gess who was behind this bill,yep you got it money hungry despenceries! This is not what most people had in mine when they think of how laws should be put in place to legalize marijuana! I can not support this bill or the other one that will be up for the next vote of the people! If it passes I will do everything I can to see it amended. We should be yelling about this outragous piece of shit law,ab 390 !

i can see you're genuine in your dislike of this proposal
i'll just say, 'don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good'
you are not going to get the ideal law to start, it would be great, but not going to happen for a while
but the amount of change this represents is huge
i'm just a spectator on this, but to see this happen in cali this year would be the best thing i've seen on MJ in my lifetime

 

[SmokyMtnToker]

Here in NC cigs are $45.00 a carton for premium brands..and we are a growing state!! Taxes are too much. If legalized we should be able to grow as much as we want and there will be no way to regulate the vast millions of new growers that will try when legal. The market will work itself out and stabilize so a profit can be made for those who must grow for those who cannot.

 

[armedoldhippy]

i'd KILL for a 5' by 5' growing area to be legal! don't be greedy, we gotta get our foot in the door before some dickhead slams it shut on our toes... AOH

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I'm waiting the vote on this one with bated breath.

Would be absolutely fantastic to be able to freely discuss cannabis with my neighbors. Wow.

Stay Safe

 

[budlykush]

The assembly PASSED the bill today. On to the next step.

Woo hoo!!


From today's chronicle website:

"A bill to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana - and allow the drug to be sold and taxed in California - cleared a key hurdle this morning, as the Assembly Public Safety Committee voted 4-3 to move it to the next step in the debate. But a Friday legislative deadline could mean the legislation will die before making it to the Assembly floor.

Members of the committee who approved the bill are all from the Bay Area and said they did not necessarily support the plan but wanted debate on the state's marijuana policy to continue.

After the vote, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who sponsored the bill and chairs the committee, said "the conversation is definitely gaining traction in Sacramento."

"This is a significant vote today because it legitimizes the quest for debate, the quest for discussion. There was a time when the 'm' word never would have been brought up in Sacramento," Ammiano said."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/12/BA191BH4AR.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0cQnOesOJ

 

[theJointedOne]

SACRAMENTO - Its first victory could also be the last gasp for a California bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.

The state Assembly's public safety committee voted for the bill, 4-to-3, Tuesday.

But the health committee also must approve the measure by Friday before the full Assembly can consider it, an unlikely scenario.

The health committee is not considering the bill during its meeting Tuesday. And the bill's backers would have to get a special waiver to reconvene the health committee later this week.

If the bill does die, a spokesman for the bill's author, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, says the San Francisco Democrat would hold off on reintroducing legislation until after the November election, which could feature a marijuana legalization ballot proposition.

from kesq.com