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CI-110 Will End Marijuana Prohibition in Montana

December 31st, 2011

CI-110 was approved for signature gathering this week, and the campaign to place the measure on the 2012 ballot will begin in January. A ballot issue committee has been formed, Montana First, to coordinate the campaign. This is an important effort that deserves attention and support.

A review of the status quo:

Selling (or giving away) any amount of marijuana in Montana could result in a sentence of life in prison (MCA 45-9-101).  By the letter of the law (MCA 45-9-102), a one-gram bust can earn you six months in the county jail, or up to a year for a second offense. Possession of three ounces can land you in state prison for up to five years.  In Missoula County alone, a bust for a small amount of marijuana occurs just about every day.

The Montana experience of medical marijuana over the past two years has been tumultuous and controversial. Traveling mass clinics and what seemed to some to be a “pot shop” on every other corner led to public outcry and skepticism. The legislature responded by repealing medical marijuana and replacing it with an onerous new program. Thousands of people and many businesses have since dropped out of the program and presumably returned to the black market.

Meanwhile,  the prohibition machine, with its taxpayer-funded drug task forces, confidential informants, asset forfeiture seizures, drug testing and treatment industries, private prisons, unregulated black market production and distribution networks, and the arrests of thousands of Montanans with a few grams of cannabis in their pocket,  has continued its expensive, destructive, and ineffective work.

 

The Solution: CI-110

CI-110 is a constitutional initiative. In other words, it’s a proposal submitted to the citizens of Montana which, if it passes, will change the Montana constitution.

CI-110 would alter Article II, Section 14, titled “Adult Rights”, which currently reads:

Section 14. Adult rights. A person 18 years of age or older is an adult for all purposes, except that the legislature or the people by initiative may establish the legal age for purchasing, consuming, or possessing alcoholic beverages.

If CI-110 passes, this section would be changed as follows (new text underlined):

Section 14. Adult rights. A person 18 years of age or older is an adult for all purposes, except that the legislature or the people by initiative may establish the legal age for purchasing, consuming, or possessing alcoholic beverages, and marijuana. Adults have the right to responsibly purchase, consume, produce, and possess marijuana, subject to reasonable limitations, regulations, and taxation. Except for actions that endanger minors, children, or public safety, no criminal offense or penalty of this state shall apply to such activities.

The changes would become effective on July 1st, 2013.

The 2013 legislature would be unable to amend or repeal the change. However,  with a two-thirds vote, they could refer the amendment back to the people to vote again in 2014.

The legislature (many of whom we’ll have the opportunity to elect in 2012) may choose to develop new laws which implement the “reasonable limitations, regulations, and taxation”. They may also choose to repeal the current prohibition laws. Or they may do nothing (whether due to inaction or gridlock).

The federal government may pressure state leaders to not create any sort of regulatory infrastructure. If our legislators bow to that pressure, there will be no defined limits or rules aside from what’s implied in the measure itself.

On the other hand, the legislature may craft a regulatory system for legal marijuana, possibly including personal possession and plant limits (or garden sizes, a more reasonable measure of production capacity), licensing, taxes, and so forth. What they come up with is anyone’s guess, but we’ll all have a chance to assist in the process, if we get involved. This makes it especially important to elect legislators who are willing to work with us.

If the marijuana prohibition laws stay on the books, then it’s possible that state law enforcement officials may still conduct marijuana arrests, despite CI-110. If that happens, it’s possible that judges will throw marijuana cases out at first appearance, and the law enforcement agencies may face liability for wrongful arrest and/or due process.

Medical marijuana will still be on the books (either some form of SB 423, or I-148, if the people so choose). However, any adult will have a constitutional right to grow their own cannabis garden, and/or buy cannabis from another adult.

None of this protects Montanans from federal law enforcement agents. However, ending state prohibition of marijuana sends a powerful message to federal authorities that Montanans will no longer participate in their war on people who choose cannabis. This is an important step in the process.

 

How You Can Help

To put CI-110 on the ballot, signatures must be obtained from 10 percent of the total number of qualified voters in Montana, including 10 percent of the voters in each of 40 legislative house districts (a total of 48,674 valid signatures for the 2012 ballot). They must be collected, submitted, and validated prior to June 22nd, 2012.

That’s a lot of signatures, twice as many as the recent referendum campaign needed. This will require an army of volunteers and professional management.  In the fall, there will need to be a voter education campaign in the media to defuse criticisms and get out the vote.  This campaign will require substantial donations of time and money to succeed.

Montana NORML has committed $1000 to help Montana First kick things off, and will continue to offer financial help as we’re able.

Whether an adult uses marijuana as serious medicine,  herbal preventative, social relaxant, or spiritual sacrament, such use should be of no concern to government authorities, absent harm to others. CI-110 will enshrine that principle as a constitutional right, and end marijuana prohibition in Montana.

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Posted in Montana, Prohibition, Tax & Regulate

Independence and Unity in Cannabis Politics

July 4th, 2011

“Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.”

- Thomas Paine

All our activism is undergirded by principles, a “constitution” of moral values that inspires us to action, and identifying those can help clarify strategy and tactics in the battle to end cannabis prohibition. For NORML, the end goal is legalization.

A recent essay by a cannabis publishing entrepreneur in Montana alleges the legalization movement will “sink” medical marijuana. (The essay then argues that the author’s advertising-supported trade magazine is superior to its competitors. It may be, and I don’t intend to critique that portion of the essay here.)

But right at the outset, the essay makes a specific attack on what the author refers to as the “Culture Club”. Perhaps this is an admonition to never admit that marijuana can be enjoyable, enhance experiences of art and philosophy and sex, and has a tangible influence on music and culture. Or perhaps it’s a specific criticism of a competitor’s publication which bills itself as a “cannabis lifestyle magazine”. Or maybe it’s intended to chastise anyone who uses advocacy rhetoric inconsistent with the tired (but true) “precious medicine for the sick and dying” theme.

Regardless, it’s a divisive approach, and more damaging than advocating for systems other than medical-use only (which, in my view, is a flawed policy).

Today is Independence Day, and while for some it means flag waving and parades and burgers and fireworks, I prefer to recognize the patriotism inherent in our work in cannabis politics. Consider these words, which should sound familiar to Americans:

…all men are created equal, that they are endowed… with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…. Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…

Cannabis prohibition is destructive to liberty and happiness, that’s for sure. And we’re all working hard to alter or abolish it.

Cannabis activists are by their very nature an eclectic, iconoclastic bunch of “outlaws”, with a passion for action and a healthy distrust of authority. We’re “independent-minded”, to be sure. So we’re going to come at this battle from different angles. We’ll all have an opinion about the perfect strategy.

What unites us is a fundamental principle:  that the government is lying about  this plant, and it’s wrong to put people in jail for it.

What flows from that principle is a policy proposal: end cannabis prohibition, and create a legal system for all responsible adults to have safe access if they want to.

In the West, the public will support such a proposal if it’s framed well.

As for me — I wrote a few months back about the reasons for medical marijuana patients to support policies expanding legal access to all responsible adults, and I sincerely hope that patients will take those words to heart. After all, legalization will be the best thing for patients.

I welcome your thoughtful critique.

 

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Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana, Prohibition, Tax & Regulate

Will Montana’s Medical Cannabis Patients Support Legalization in 2012?

March 28th, 2011

A version of this article appeared in Kush magazine.

In Montana, there are around 100,000 adult cannabis consumers. Some of them suffer qualifying medical conditions and use cannabis as a natural treatment for their debilitating symptoms. Some use it for non-qualifying conditions, such as insomnia, depression, anxiety, cramps, PTSD.

And then there are people for whom cannabis is a non-medical life enhancer: to increase their enjoyment of food, sex, poetry and cinema, or inspire their art and writing, gardening and programming, or enrich their social interactions, or simply relax after a hard day’s work.

There’s no reason that these two groups need to clash, and in fact, they often overlap. The card-carrying Crohn’s disease patient who derives both symptomatic relief and enjoyment from sharing a fat joint of Super Silver Haze with his buddies before kicking back on the couch to watch Pineapple Express (for the third time) is in both camps.

While cannabis can be a “precious medicine for the sick and dying”, that’s not all it is, and we run a real risk of painting ourselves into a corner and setting up needless conflicts within the cannabis community by insisting that it’s only for one group and not the other.

Legalization would be better for patients than the expensive and bureaucratic system we have now: No “qualifying conditions”, no annual doctor certification requirements, higher product quality, lower prices.

So why would patients not support legalization if given the chance?

Selfish ambivalence, for one. After all, the thinking goes, once “I got mine”, who cares about the rest of you “undeserving” non-patients, right?

Not exactly an enlightened position. Don’t forget that there were an awful lot of non-patients who supported medical marijuana back in 2004. How about returning the favor?

Another objection to legalization you may hear from the only-medical camp concerns taxation. They demand an exemption from taxation, because they say their cannabis is medicine, and no other medicine is taxed.

It’s a nice thought, but there are many reasons cannabis should be taxed.

  • First, taxes are not inherently evil. Taxes ensure we have roads to drive on, that someone comes when we call 911, that we have a civil society in general. What’s taxed and to what degree is worth debating, but it’s absurd to start from a position that all taxes are automatically bad.
  • Second, plugging cannabis tax policy into the law books makes all us responsible adult cannabis consumers in Montana part of a legitimate civil/political structure. It brings us out of the shadows, into the light.
  • Third, while you and I may be passionate about pot policy, a whole lot of people don’t care much. Offering a new revenue source for critical public services can create new allies, and solve real funding problems. In fact, most cannabis consumers would agree that we’re the one consumer group likely to say “please, tax us!”

A final reason that some in the medical marijuana industry may oppose legalization: naked greed.

Medical marijuana is a partial market for cannabis consumers, and hence leaves a substantial portion of the black market intact. By preserving a black market for cannabis, prices (and profits, if your production is efficient) remain high for sellers.

There is no reason that this dried plant material needs to sell for $250 or more per ounce. The drastically more labor-intensive herb saffron sells for less. For perspective, a full football field of saffron flowers produces a mere one pound of the dried herb. A guy could could grow a pound of cured cannabis flowers in a spare bedroom or a corner of his back yard.

Whether the “I got mine” crowd, the naive anti-tax folks, or the greedy business types will be able to sink legalization in 2012 is yet to be seen. Of course the moralistic anti-freedom crusaders will make a vigorous showing as well, so we’ve really got our work cut out for us.

As the day approaches, cannabis consumers statewide should keep talking with one another about the details of legalization, acknowledging that compromise and some sort of tax or fee will probably be a necessary part of any proposal with a chance of passage. But how exactly should it work? What’s got the best chance of winning? Hopefully, we’ll all be able to see that liberating this plant, even via imperfect legislation, is just the right thing to do, and far preferable to the failed, expensive, and destructive policy of prohibition.

21 comments »

Posted in Elections, Medical Marijuana, Montana, Prohibition, Tax & Regulate

Cruelty, Hypocrisy, and Bigotry

March 26th, 2011

On March 25th, 2011, I testified as an opponent of SB 423, a Senate subcommittee’s attempt to “get medical marijuana under control”. A summary of the bill is here. Late in the day, the bill passed committee with a vote of 10-2 and is expected to hit the floor of the Montana Senate on Monday March 28th.

My testimony as prepared:

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my name is John Masterson, and I am the founder and director of the Montana chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. At NORML we believe that responsible adult use of marijuana should be of no concern to government.

I am here today to rise in opposition to SB 423.

First though, I would like to thank the Legislative Services Division for producing 50 pages of robust legislation based upon the bad ideas provided to them.

And, I have to say there is one thing about this bill that I like: it seeks to regulate, rather than prohibit, marijuana. Because we all know that prohibition does not work.

However, the rest of the bill is a trainwreck. I believe that in the future, historians will judge this bill, and this effort, as one conducted by dinosaurs, clinging to puritanical ideals that are far from mainstream and undergirded by nothing but ignorance, fear, and prejudice.

We find in this bill several broad themes. The first of which is cruelty.

This bill is cruel to pain patients, whose cards would be revoked this summer, regardless of their medical situation.

This bill is cruel to entrepreneurs, some of whom have put their life savings into their legitimate businesses. Yes, some of them came from underground, out of the darkness, into the light, to participate in the program. This bill puts them out of business.

This bill is cruel to the hundreds, perhaps thousands of employees who worked for those businesses. Many of them were unemployed prior to getting jobs for cannabis businesses as farmers, carpenters, electricians, accountants, and if this bill passes, they could be out of work again.

This bill is cruel to low income Montanans, some of whom will become sick and want to explore medical marijuana as therapy. Too bad, because they’ll first need to seek four doctor visits in six months, at $150 a pop. Many of them are already on fixed incomes, and this will be impossible.

The second theme we find in this bill is hypocrisy.

We find hypocrisy in that we can buy alcohol and cigarettes over the counter at any convenience store until 2AM, both more dangerous, addictive, and toxic than marijuana.

We find hypocrisy in that this legislature convened with goals of supporting free enterprise, small business, and jobs, and this bill destroys small businesses and eliminates jobs.

We find hypocrisy in that this body and this nation support free speech, and yet free speech is quashed in this bill, by prohibiting all marketing and advertising.

We find hypocrisy in that this bill removes references to “medical” marijuana, in favor of “therapeutic” marijuana, and yet subjects participants in the program to far more onerous restrictions than that which exist for much more dangerous and addictive drugs such as Oxycontin.

We find hypocrisy in the stated intention that this bill is designed to increase public safety and reduce crime. Well, this bill is a gift to the criminal black market. This bill would create crime.

Finally, we find hypocrisy in that this legislature convened to reduce the size of government and reduce expenses. This bill would do the opposite. Have we seen a fiscal note yet?

The third theme we find inherent in this bill is bigotry.

I understand that marijuana scares you. I get that. But criminalizing adults for being otherwise law-abiding marijuana consumers is just another type of intolerance, bigotry.

If you believe that marijuana is dangerous — and it’s not harmless — then all the more reason to regulate, not prohibit.

Because we know that prohibition doesn’t work.

The time is now upon us to legalize and regulate marijuana for all adults, regardless of medical condition.

Thank you.

13 comments »

Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana, Montana Legislature, Tax & Regulate

Why Cannabis Should Be Taxed

January 16th, 2011

Whether (and how) to tax marijuana has been the subject of great debate among reformers for more than a decade. Here’s my personal take on why marijuana consumers should enthusiastically ask to be taxed. A few prefatory notes:

  1. If you believe that all taxes are simply government theft, then you can stop reading now if you like.
  2. The Montana NORML vision for how to regulate marijuana involves licensed (and taxed) commercial growers, licensed commercial retailers, and the ability for adults to cultivate small personal gardens, without any license or tax or regulation, similar to how we allow adults to brew their own beer at home.
  3. I’m contemplating taxation in a fully legal market, rather than the current medical marijuana market, but I think the same principles apply (despite predictable cries of “never tax my medicine”).

So, why tax marijuana?

Taxes fund public infrastructure that benefits the community: schools, roads, emergency services, court systems, snow plows, and so forth. We can debate the merits and fairness of taxing this or that at various levels, but living in modern civil society requires everyone capable of doing so to contribute something to the common good. I don’t “love taxes”, but I gladly accept and acknowledge my obligation to pay my fair share so I can enjoy the benefits of living in a relatively orderly, relatively just society. And when there are policies with which I disagree (such as cannabis prohibition), I am happy that there exists publicly funded mechanisms for changing them: the ballot box and the legislature.

When marijuana (medical or not) is regulated, there is some public expense, large or small depending on how detailed and vigorous the regulations are, and the number of entities being regulated and their locations.  As of January 2011, medical marijuana regulation is very lightweight, and I’m told that the costs of the program are currently being met by the modest patient registration fee.

Depending on which regulation bills pass in the coming months (perhaps HB68 or SB154 or something else we can’t yet predict), there will be real public costs associated with inspections, background checks, rulemaking, so forth. People participating in and benefiting from the legal, regulated industry should not expect those expenses to be paid by people who have no interest in the industry. They should gladly pay a fair tax (or fee, or assessment) to at least cover the costs of the program.

Besides a basic civic responsibility reason to support and willingly pay a cannabis tax, there is also a strategic political angle.

First, once legal cannabis is responsible for funding a portion of our shared public infrastructures, it becomes an integral part of those infrastructures.  Once marijuana is knitted into the the fiscal fabric of government, that same government is more likely to support and defend the legal cannabis industry in perpetuity.

Second, most adults do not consume marijuana regularly (though almost half will admit to having tried it). By enthusiastically endorsing a cannabis tax to help fund public infrastructures, cannabis consumers can attract the attention and support of the majority who may not have cared otherwise.

I can’t tell you how many Montana newspaper online comment threads I’ve seen that have included cries of “legalize it and tax the hell out of it!” — I don’t propose we “tax the hell out of it”; we should start small and adjust the tax from time to time to collect public funds and minimize black market “bootlegging”. (More on that topic when I write about “How to tax cannabis” in a future post.)

Finally, it seems to me that paying a fair cannabis tax is a small price to pay compared to being persecuted as criminals.

Supporting a marijuana tax demonstrates cannabis consumers’ willingness to pay their fair share, integrates cannabis in government finance, attracts otherwise disinterested supporters,  and is an important part of the migration of the cannabis industry out of the shadows and into the light of legitimate commerce.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

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Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana Legislature, Tax & Regulate

Montana NORML Newsletter – Fundraising, Irv Rosenfeld and the News

December 31st, 2010

Friends,

I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve been told lately about the trickle of financial support from professional growers who want to help defend Montana’s medical cannabis program. It takes lots of time and talent and money to assemble a functional grassroots political apparatus capable of having an impact on the lawmaking process, and things are starting to come together.

There’s still plenty more to do.  Please, forward this email to your grower friends.

For a tax-deductible financial contribution, write your check to Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy, the organization that is taking the lead on organizing education efforts related to defending the medical marijuana program in Montana:

Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy
PO Box 7146
Missoula MT 59807

If you’d prefer to put your funds into pushing forward towards regulating cannabis for all adults, then click the yellow donate  button on our website.

Don’t have money to spare? No problem. Are you registered at http://montanadrugpolicy.org yet? At this site, we’re collecting contact info from people who want action alerts about neighborhood-level advocacy. Get involved!

If you want to be involved, if you want to have an impact, then the next 2-3 months are critical. We’ll be sending out periodic alerts, sometimes daily, about things you can do to provide important constituent feedback to lawmakers who will be rewriting the law in a few weeks.  Montana medical marijuana policies will be a lot different in 3 months.  There is no guarantee of a good outcome, but together we can have an effect on the process. So, please pay close attention to your email and/or Facebook and/or Twitter.

Events

There will be various events throughout the process in which you can be involved. The first is a book signing MMGA fundraiser with Irv Rosenfeld, one of a handful of federal medical marijuana patients, who gets a big aluminum tin of pre-rolled marijuana joints from the federal government every month. For free. Read that again. It’s true.

The event will take place at Zoo Mountain Natural Care in Missoula from 6-8PM next Saturday January 8th. Here’s the Facebook event page. I’ll be out of town on a much-needed vacation, but thank you to Zoo Mountain for hosting the event (check out the video on their site).

Clear your Missoula calendar for an event on the night of the 15th as well — details to be announced soon.

Marijuana News

I’m proud to say that Montana NORML made the news a few times this month:

We’ll keep on pushing forward if you keep on providing your support. Okay?

Here’s some additional recent news:

By the way, from the 5th-15th, you might get alerts from trusted volunteers who are not me. I’ll be (completely) out of town. If you get an email with [Mtnorml-list] in the subject, please pay attention.

Don’t do nothing. Let’s roll!

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Posted in Events, Medical Marijuana, Missoula, Montana, Newsletter, Tax & Regulate

Medical Marijuana is a Flawed Policy

December 23rd, 2010

Medical marijuana as a therapeutic application has been demonstrably effective. Medical marijuana as public policy has been demonstrably problematic.

It is doomed to be tethered to controversy and crime as long as cannabis, itself, is.

1/2oz of gloryThe solution is to regulate marijuana for all adults, and allow them to use it responsibly — for therapeutic, social, or spiritual reasons of their personal choosing.

Three important clarifications:

  • The solution is not to repeal medical marijuana; that would simply turn control of the industry completely into criminals’ hands.
  • Marijuana is safe, effective medicine for a wide array of conditions.
  • Medical marijuana has been good practice. It has successfully demonstrated that legal marijuana farms and stores can operate responsibly in a community with no ill effects.

It’s the medical aspect of the policy that is doomed. Show me a medical marijuana law that is working perfectly — or even, to the general satisfaction of the public. Each state’s law seems to be either widely ridiculed for the ease with which “patients” get their “green cards” so they can buy their “BubbleBerry SkunkBud” from “Dr. Feelgood”, or loudly criticized by impassioned advocates for denying compassionate access to the sick and dying.

Medical marijuana laws help people, yes,  but the policy is unavoidably haunted by the spectre of the black market. “Diversion”, as law enforcement officials call it, of “medical marijuana” to people not authorized to possess it (non-patients) is a constant concern.

Medical marijuana creates a false divide between people who are too healthy (and honest) for medical marijuana, and people sick (or unscrupulous) enough to have legal access.

Because there is no objective definition of “medical use”, medical marijuana laws are unavoidably controversial. Some say that “if a doctor recommends it, it’s medical”, yet it’s clear to all observers that there have been some opportunistic doctors that have rushed in to sign recommendations for nearly anyone, making a mockery of both law and medicine.

The flood of new “patients”, many or most of whom are judged in the court of public opinion as “abusing” the law are making, admittedly, a rational choice. Marijuana has a place in their lives, and they’d like not to be arrested for that choice. In that sense, they’re not abusing the law, they’re eager to comply with the law. They’d like to “be legal”.

The solution to all these difficulties is to eliminate the “medical”.

Allow all adults to buy marijuana from licensed, regulated store fronts,  supplied by licensed, regulated producers.

Eliminating medical cannabis laws in favor of integrating cannabis into a legal marketplace for all adults doesn’t eliminate medical use. In fact, it creates a safer product and more functional marketplace, for medical users and others, because the design of the industry can be driven by standards and overseen by knowledgeable regulators rather than driven by the needs of law enforcement and overseen by people with guns.

There is simply nothing wrong with responsible adult use of marijuana, and it should be of no concern to the government whether one uses marijuana medically, spiritually, or socially.

2 comments »

Posted in Medical Marijuana, Prohibition, Tax & Regulate

Why Conservatives Should Support Ending Marijuana Prohibition

December 9th, 2010

While ending marijuana prohibition is a policy often associated with liberals, true conservatives should support it too. Consider:

Conservatives support fiscal responsibility and small government. Marijuana prohibition is a massive, expensive government program, requiring millions of dollars in law enforcement against mostly individual users, not kingpins.  The Montana Board of Crime Control reported over 5000 “drug crimes” in 2009, mostly simple possession offenses, and 67% were for marijuana.  Nationwide, someone is arrested or cited for marijuana possession every 37 seconds.

Ron Paul:  “The drug war encourages violence. Government violence against nonviolent users is notorious and has led to the unnecessary prison overpopulation. Innocent taxpayers are forced to pay for all this so-called justice.”

Conservatives support free enterprise and small business. Montana’s controversial medical marijuana law has nonetheless created dozens or perhaps hundreds of thriving small businesses around the state. Some may have previously worked in the black market, but now they’re productive citizens, hiring the unemployed, and paying their fair share. The ones who work the hardest to provide a quality product at a good price could become rich — that’s the American dream, after all, and conservatives should encourage these entrepreneurs, not rebuke them.

Glenn Beck: “You know what, I think it’s about time we legalize marijuana….We have to make a choice in this country. We have to either put people who are smoking marijuana behind bars, or we legalize it. But this little game we’re playing in the middle is not helping us, is not helping Mexico, and is causing massive violence on our southern border.”

Conservatives support freedom from the “nanny state”. All will agree that the state has some role to play in preventing one citizen from harming another.  But most conservatives believe that the state has no right or duty to interfere in what adults put in their own bodies.  Why should the power of government be brought to bear on what plants you choose to grow on your property, in the absence of any demonstrable harm to your neighbors?

William F. Buckley Jr.: “Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”

Conservatives support the efforts of law enforcement officers to keep our streets and families safe. And yet fighting the drug war makes a mockery of law enforcement, accounting for millions of dollars in expense while marijuana use continues — as it has for thousands of years.  Let’s free up our law enforcement professionals to focus entirely on real crimes, like gang violence, sex crimes, and professional thievery. Many cops agree.

Sarah Palin: “I think we need to prioritize our law-enforcement efforts. And if somebody’s gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody else harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems that we have in society.”

Conservatives want to keep kids off drugs. Everyone else does too.  A cruel irony of our current policy of prohibition is that it makes marijuana more available to youngsters. That’s right, teenagers regularly rate beer harder to buy than pot. Why? Because drug dealers don’t check ID. By bringing marijuana out of the black market and into a legal marketplace, we could establish common sense controls like age requirements, and make it harder for kids to get it.

Milton Friedman: “There are some general features of a socialist enterprise, whether it’s the post office, schools or the war on drugs. The enterprise is inefficient, expensive, very advantageous to a small group of people and harmful to a lot of people.”

Conservatives support state sovereignty. The Tenth Amendment explicitly states the Constitution’s principle of federalism by providing that powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the states by the Constitution of the United States are reserved to the states or the people. While the federal government has asserted its power to prohibit marijuana, one is left wondering where exactly in the Constitution it finds that power. Ending marijuana prohibition is a states’ rights issue.

The time has come for courageous conservatives to be consistent to their principles and support an end to marijuana prohibition. If you support limited government, individual liberty, and safer streets, it just makes sense.

P.S., if you outlaw marijuana, only outlaws will have marijuana. Sound familiar?

20 comments »

Posted in Prohibition, Tax & Regulate

Montana NORML Newsletter – Repeal or Legalization? Politics and the News

November 19th, 2010

Friends,

All my politically-connected friends keep telling me that our most recent election is a catastrophe for medical marijuana. The Republicans, who have a majority in both legislative houses in Montana, seriously considered opening the debate with a proposal (sure to win) to either 1) erase medical marijuana from the books, or 2) send it back to the media en-flamed hysterical voters. There is no guarantee that the voters would support the same law, today.

That said, my politically-savvy friends also say that outright appeal is possible, yes, but unlikely.

Of course, our message and goal is that Marijuana Legalization is the Best Thing For Patients. Really, the current controversy in Montana is not about the “marijuana” part of medical marijuana — the problem is the “medical” part, right?

There is no doubt that marijuana will cause vigorous debates in Helena (check out the proposed bills so far) when the legislature convenes in ~45 days. Whether you think that cannabis is a precious medicine for the sick and dying, or a sacred herb that should be available to all, or all of the above, I hope you’ll take a moment and register your location at http://mjdb.montanadrugpolicy.org — this is the primary way we’ll be reaching out to concerned citizens about the upcoming legislative mayhem. Click, register, make a difference, easy.

One of the challenges for medical marijuana preservation is that there are still lots of honest health care professionals who just haven’t been presented with the information that is available on cannabis’ medical benefits.  How can you help?

Buy a copy of the 86-page booklet, Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Scientific Literature 2000-2010, and tell us which health-care professional you’d like us to send it to.  Or, join a recent anonymous donor in donating $100 to fund the sending of booklets out statewide.

Click the yellow donate button on our website to help out.

Finally, a bit of gossip. We got a tip this morning that the offices of Jason Christ’s Montana Caregivers Network in Missoula were being raided. I walked over to the MCN office personally, and saw Missoula Police and Missoula County Deputies, and Jason in the middle, smiling and talking.

I anticipate there will be some dramatic media coverage soon, and that’s all I know so far.

Speaking of sensationalistic coverage, here’s the news:

Various Marijuana News

A moment of silence now, for the Montana outdoor plants that didn’t make it through the cold this week, and the Montana grown-ups who got busted this week.

Good night.

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Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana, Newsletter, Prohibition, Science, Tax & Regulate

Marijuana Legalization is the Best Thing For Patients

November 18th, 2010

Medical marijuana can be a wonderful medicine and is a blessing to many chronically ill people, and NORML will always be in full support of safe access for patients.

However, if you really want to do what’s best for patients, you must support full legalization.

I am not talking about decrim. I am talking about a regulated (and yes, taxed) market in which businesses and nonprofits sell marijuana to citizens. Or, those citizens grow their own and share it with friends. Sort of like beer and wine today.

In this future world I am envisioning, big businesses will sell tolerable pot for cheap to people who don’t care much for quality. Smaller players will enjoy a connoisseurs’ market of high end crystal-caked gorgeous buds. And local “grassroots” clubs of growers will share the fruits of their gardens amongst their membership.

And the patients most in need, those people for whom marijuana is not social, is not cool, and has little aesthetic aspect, those people for whom marijuana provides important, sometimes near-miraculous therapeutic benefits, will be better off in such a world.

Walk with me, into this world:

First, the price will fall. The price of cannabis is inflated by prohibition currently. Why would a grower sell an ounce for $100 that can be sold for $200-300 by their patient five minutes later? Altruism? Sure, it can happen. But the market bears what the market can bear, and many Montana cardholders, I suspect, would quickly take advantage of such reasonable pricing.

In a world in which everyone can buy it for $100, that temptation, that opportunity, mostly evaporates.

Are there people buying cases of wine and selling $8 glasses? Sure — they’re called restaurants. They’re regulated, it’s legal, it’s okay.

Second, while free market economics is arguably a savage system, one thing it certainly does is offer the consumer lots of options. May the best product win. Imagine if retailers were competing not just on price, but on variety and quality as well. Imagine huge menu boards (like these) of dozens of strains, dozens of edibles, tinctures, cocktails, salves, oils, and who knows what else we’ll come up with.

And, you can go to any retailer you like.  Want a high-CBD banana muffin to ease your pain? Stop by my shop on 3rd street. Does your ailment benefit from Romulan-derived tincture to help with your chemo-induced nausea? The collective in Darby produces the best, and it’s available at retailers statewide. Looking for  a soaring cerebral experience from pre-rolled hemp-paper 2-gram joints  of Super Lemon Haze to inspire art, poetry, and conversation? Got you covered, at the boutique place on the 8th floor of the Millennium Building downtown.

Third, medical marijuana treats patients like second class citizens. In Montana, despite the media hype, a person must jump through various expensive bureaucratic hoops to get and stay legal. If your current doctor (if you are fortunate enough to have one) is too uninformed or afraid to sign the papers, then choosing a potentially-less-than-savory “clinic” is the next unpleasant step.  Then the government papers (hopefully) get sent off to a state agency for review. In weeks, or sometimes months, you get your card. I hope you chose a trustworthy caregiver. I hope their crop succeeds. I hope they don’t get busted. And, in a few months, you need to start thinking about the renewal process.

Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutic herbs known to humankind, less toxic than aspirin and less addictive than caffeine. Why not make it more accessible to people with dire medical conditions?

Further, does anyone believe that marijuana is too dangerous for healthy people? Come on.

Adults shouldn’t need permission from any doctor, any cop, any bureaucrat, to use this plant responsibly, whether it’s for medical, spiritual, artistic, social, or other personal reasons.

Legalization is the best thing for patients. Spread the word.

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Posted in Medical Marijuana, Prohibition, Tax & Regulate