Montana NORML News
Good evening,
There’s lots going on around the state with marijuana policy. The medical marijuana program continues to be seen as out-of-control, and cities (and, we’re told, interim legislative committees) are working on proposals to regulate or ban marijuana businesses.
Our sense is that ganjapreneurs should embrace some regulation. Hell, last year in Oakland, the growers got together and said, “please, tax us!“ – Brilliant.
Reasonable regulation (not permanent bans (I’m looking at you, Kalispell)) should be embraced, because:
- The legislative battles in 2011 will probably not go well if we continue to have a ‘green rush‘ scene through 2010. You can expect Montana’s medical marijuana law to change next year, it’s just a matter of degree.
- Today’s “caregivers” are the founding mothers and fathers of the legal marijuana industry in Montana. Be upstanding members of your community, and avoid reinforcing the stereotype of “outlaw slacker”. Join the chamber of commerce. Reject the black market mentality. The future of legal marijuana depends in a large part on you.
And now, the news:
Montana NORML Blog
What Would Happen if we Made Marijuana Legal?
A common objection to the prospect of making marijuana legal is that use would immediately skyrocket and we’d become a nation of pot-addled zombies. After all, the thinking goes, once it’s legal, all the people who have refrained from breaking the law will rush out to the new marijuana stores and get hooked. (click to read more…)
Why I Don’t Support Decriminalization of Marijuana
My three main problems with decrim are: 1. Decrim leaves the criminal black market intact. 2. There’s little reason for people who do not use marijuana to support decrim. 3. Decrim supports the lie that there’s something wrong about marijuana use. (click to read more…)
Montana Marijuana News
- Event: Marijuana Education Day, Monday, 4/19, Missoula. More news soon.
- Event: Global Marijuana March, Saturday, 5/1, Missoula. We have posters! Let us know if you can put some up in Western Montana for the Missoula March. (Or, can you organize a march in your neck of the woods? Let us know!)
- Contest: $100 prize for best haiku that expresses why marijuana should be legal. Time is running out!
- Kalispell is considering a permanent ban on state-legal marijuana activities because such activities violate federal law. (This, we are told, is a legal strategy for cities endorsed by the DEA). The local paper has a poll up about it: Do You Agree With the Planning Board’s Proposal to Ban Medical Marijuana Shops in Kalispell? If you’re in Kalispell, now’s the time to chat with your city council folks. Here’s more coverage.
- Whitefish is also considering a permanent ban, but it sounds more likely they’ll pass a version of this draft ordinance. Show up and say your piece on March 18th at 6PM.
- Bozeman, we’re told, just today passed Interim Zoning Ordinance 1782, a temporary rule that prevents marijuana stores from opening within 1000′ of any K-12 school.
- Laurel city council will hold a public meeting March 16th to hear comments on their proposed moratorium.
- In Missoula, some college kids face life in prison for marijuana.
- Registered patients now exceed 10,000 in Montana. That’s about 10% of the adults statewide who consume cannabis from time to time for their own reasons.
- The Montana Pioneer ponders “just how legal is marijuana, really?“
National Marijuana News
- L.A. news team goes “under cover”, discovers it’s ridiculously easy to get your marijuana recommendation. (Because some so-called “clinics” are breaking the law.)
- Californians consume about 16 million ounces of marijuana a year. Adjusted for population, we in Montana go through about 30,000 lbs.
- Washington: poised to add physician assistants, osteopathic physician assistants, naturopaths and advanced registered nurse practitioners – all the medical professionals currently authorized by Washington law to prescribe controlled substances - to the list of health care providers who may authorize the medical use of cannabis. Previously, only MDs and osteopaths could authorize.
- Colorado: Check out this video about a mother & son marijuana growing business.
- One reason marijuana can be effective in a wide variety of maladies may be that some people are cannabis-deficient. Yes, you read that right. The original research, we’re told, was done by none other than Montana’s own Dr. Ethan Russo.
- USA Today made a nice graphic about the wave of marijuana reform sweeping the nation.
- Change.org has a list of ideas for change in America. One day left to vote! Can you guess which idea is already the most popular?
- Nine of 14 states that allow medical marijuana are in the great American West.
- Some guy thought a “Cannabis Ministry” religious use card would exempt him from arrest. Oops.
- In Idaho, your medical card can earn you five days in jail.
Whew. If you’re still reading, thank you. I’ll close with another “high-ku” entry from our $100 contest.
Such sacred plant is
Such ignorant sin to waste
On so cold an end.
Onwards.
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