Marijuana Legalization

The Next 5 States To Legalize Marijuana

December 5, 2016 Phillip Smith, www.alternet.org Create! Legislation, Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization

By Phillip Smith for AlterNet - Four states, including California, the nation's most populous, voted to legalize marijuana on November 8. That doubles the number of legal states to eight, and more than quadruples the number of people living in legal marijuana states, bringing the number to something around 64 million. Every one of those states legalized marijuana through the initiative process, but we're not going to see anymore initiatives on state ballots until 2018, and perhaps 2020. That means that if we are to make more progress on spreading marijuana legalization in the next couple of years, it's going to have to come at the state house instead of the ballot box.

Legal Marijuana Systems Do Not Have To Be For Profit

December 2, 2016 Beau Kilmer, www.usatoday.com Create! Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization, Profit

By Beau Kilmer for USA Today - As of last week, voters in California and seven other states have passed ballot initiatives to allow for-profit companies to produce, distribute and sell non-medical marijuana. With more than 65 million peopleliving in states that have passed marijuana legalization, and a Gallup poll showing that 60% of the country supports legalizing marijuana use, national legalization may seem inevitable. As goes California, so goes the nation, right? Not necessarily. Consider what happened with medical marijuana. California was the first state to allow medical marijuana, starting nearly 20 years ago.

Minimum Wage, Marijuana, Gun Control & Other Issues Win Voters’ Approval

November 13, 2016 Liz Essley Whyte, www.publicintegrity.org Create! Campaign Finance, Democracy, Education, Gun Control, Healthcare, Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization, Medical Marijuana, Minimum Wage

By Liz Essley Whyte for the Center for Public Integrity. Despite massive losses for Democrats in races from the White House to governors’ offices Tuesday, those on the left celebrated some significant victories with state ballot measures. From marijuana to minimum wage to gun control laws, they won many key initiatives among the 162 statewide measures — part of a concerted plan put in motion more than a year ago to circumvent Republican-led legislatures and take policy questions directly to voters. Progressive advocates appeared to lose major healthcare initiatives in California and Colorado, however. The Center for Public Integrity tracked how those fighting over these measures shaped their messages with TV ads, typically an expensive yet far-reaching endeavor. Media tracker Kantar Media/CMAG estimates that more than $384 million was spent through Monday just to air TV ads about such measures this election.

Marijuana Wins Big!

November 10, 2016 Phillip Smith, www.alternet.org Create! Marijuana Legalization

By Phillip Smith for AlterNet - This week's election doubles the number of legal marijuana states from four to eight and brings the number of full-fledged medical marijuana states to 28. It also means some 50 million people just got pot-legal, more than tripling the number of people living in states that have freed the weed. "This is one of the most significant days in the history of marijuana prohibition and this movement," said Rob Kampia, long-time head of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

Colorado’s $2.4 Billion Lesson For Five States Considering Legalization

October 30, 2016 Alan Pyke, www.thinkprogress.org Create! Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization

By Alan Pyke for Think Progress. It turns out pot is a stronger economic driver than 90 percent of the industries active in Colorado. Legal weed created 18,005 full-time jobs and added about $2.4 billion to the state’s economy last year, an analysis from the Marijuana Policy Group (MPG)shows. Between the dollars that customers spend and the money businesspeople invest in their crops and shops, pot is generating more wealth and activity than almost anything else on a pound-for-pound basis. Every dollar spent in the industry generates between $2.13 and $2.40 in economic activity. Only federal government spending has a higher multiplier. Normally a business boom redounds immense benefits to people far outside of its immediate influence, as the money generated in one set of activities gets recirculated into others through consumer spending and business investment. But federal prohibition puts undue friction on that cycle, preventing it from reaching its full potential to create jobs and generate new opportunities.

Newsletter – Outing The Prison-Industrial Complex

October 16, 2016 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Drug War, Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization, Militarizatation, Prison Industrial Complex

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese for Popular Resistance. What do you call a system in which private entities partner with law enforcement to spy on peaceful protesters and arrest them, in which the poor and people of color are preyed upon to meet private prison quotas in order to provide slave labor, in which drug use is treated as a crime rather than the public health issue that it is, and in which police are heavily militarized and violate the law without being held accountable? Like the military-industrial complex, the prison-industrial complex (PIC) has become a behemoth that feeds personal and corporate profits through human exploitation. Its tentacles reach into many parts of our society. It is necessary to understand how the many aspects of the PIC operate in order to confront it and stop it from swallowing up our families and communities.

9 States That Could Be On The Verge Of Legal Weed

October 1, 2016 Janice Williams, www.alternet.org Organize! Marijuana Legalization

By Janice Williams for International Business Times - More than 82 million U.S. residents will have the chance to cast ballots on marijuana measures when they go to vote for president come Election Day in November. Marijuana laws – whether it be to legalize or decriminalize – have been added to the ballot in nine states. Here's everything you need to know about the marijuana proposals voters will decide on come Nov. 8.

Michigan Pot Legalization Takes Double Blow; Vows To Fight On

June 8, 2016 Phillip Smith, www.alternet.org Create! Marijuana Legalization, Michigan

By Phillip Smith for AlterNet - Efforts to let Michiganders vote on legalizing marijuana this year suffered a one-two punch from the state's political establishment today, but organizers are unbowed and are vowing to keep up the fight to get their initiative on the ballot. The campaign is led by the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee, also known as MI Legalize.

Canada Will Move To Legalize Pot Next Year

April 27, 2016 Phillip Smith, www.alternet.org Create! Canada, Marijuana Legalization

By Phillip Smith for AlterNet - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, elected last fall, campaigned on a promise that his Liberal government would legalize marijuana. Now, we're getting an idea of just when that is going to happen. Speaking at the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs Wednesday, Canadian Health Minister Jane Philpott said the government will introduce legislation to legalize and regulate marijuana in spring 2017.

Marijuana Advocates Light Up At White House

April 3, 2016 John Zangas, www.dcmediagroup.us Resist! Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization, Medical Marijuana

By John Zangas for DC Media Group. Hundreds of marijuana activists held a “smoke-in” civil disobedience protest outside the White House on Saturday. The action drew a spectrum of advocacy groups calling on the Obama administration to legalize cannabis by descheduling it under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). (Marijuana is currently scheduled in Schedule I of the CSA, the most restrictive schedule for the most dangerous drugs that have high risks and no medical uses.) They called for access to Cannabis for medicinal purposes and putting a stop to the War on Drugs. Secret Service were deployed in force and blocked 35 activists who tried to carry a 51 foot inflated “joint” onto Pennsylvania Ave. But protesters outwitted police by deflating the prop, taking it to the restricted area adjacent to the White House and re-inflating it. Secret Service looked on in consternation.

Congress: States Can Legalize Medical Marijuana Without Violating Federal Law

March 8, 2016 Faith Barksdale, www.aclu.org Educate! Marijuana Legalization

By Faith Barksdale for ACLU - Last week, the Arizona Court of Appeals heard oral argument in the case White Mountain Health Center v. Maricopa County. The central issue presented in the case is whether federal law — the Controlled Substances Act — invalidates the state-regulated dispensary provisions in the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act through operation of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which means federal law nullifies state law when there is an irreconcilable conflict. Here’s a little background: The AMMA, which Arizona voters approved in 2010, requires those seeking to operate medical marijuana dispensaries to obtain certification...

Call For Crowd To Smoke Marijuana Outside White House

March 4, 2016 Phillip Smith, www.alternet.org Resist! Barack Obama, Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization, Protests, White House

By Phillip Smith for AlterNet - Inspired by a warning from comedian Bill Maher that progress on marijuana reform could be rolled back after President Obama leaves office, pot advocates in the nation's capital have announced a bold protest next month to press Obama to move on marijuana while he still can. While Obama has largely not interfered with marijuana legalization in states that have approved it, he has also signaled that he is not going to be proactive on the issue.

Marijuana, Criminal Justice, Colorado, Marijuana Legalization

January 7, 2016 Art Way, www.huffingtonpost.com Create! Colorado, Criminal Justice, Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization

By Art Way for The Huffington Post - More than three years have passed since Colorado residents voted to legalize marijuana, which immediately allowed adults to possess and cultivate limited amounts of marijuana. This past New Year's Day marked the two-year anniversary of adults being able to legally buy marijuana in Colorado. The policy is still in its formative stage, but the first year after marijuana sales started in Colorado went very well and we continue to see the good shape of things to come.

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