marijuana

The Justice Department is sending letters to banks that hold the mortgages of, as well as the landlords of, property where legal (under California law) marijuana dispensaries are located. In these letters, the Justice Department threatens legal action against the banks and landlords if the tenants aren't evicted within a short time period.

Remember in 2008 when Barack Obama promised to leave the states alone on their marijuana laws? He is now considered the worst President in history on marijuana.

Mary Fallin held her "Facebook Townhall" today. One of the questions brought up was that of legalizing Marijuana.

Her response? (At 15:52 into the video)

"I oppose legalizing marijuana in Oklahoma." Fallin went on to make claims that legalizing marijuana would lead Oklahomans to turn "to other substance abuse" and become criminals who steal and drive recklessly and end up in prisons for other crimes.

In other words, she has no clue about the history of marijuana prohibition nor the fact that the crimes that she alleges Oklahomans will turn to are secondary byproducts of a prohibition doctrine.

He's obviously missing the ability to apply or consider logic... or perhaps meets or exceeds the negative requirements to be a Congressman...

According to CBS News, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-MD) believes that "[d]ecriminalizing marijuana will only lead to millions more Americans becoming addicted to drugs and greater profits for drug cartels who fund violence along the U.S.-Mexico border."

Mr. Smith, I have a question for you. What kind of logical disconnect helps you reach a conclusion that repealing federal marijuana laws will provide greater revenue for drug cartels when the only reason drug cartels exist is the fact that marijuana is prohibited in the United States?

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) are introducing legislation in Congress to limit the federal government's role in marijuana prohibition. While it only reduces the federal government's role to policing cross-border and interstate smuggling, it is definitely a step in the right direction.

The legislation would leave it completely up to the states to decide the issue for themselves. This is important because the federal government has been enforcing the federal prohibition on marijuana in states where it is explicitly legal, even after Obama claimed that the feds would be directed to not enforce federal law in that manner.

President Nixon declared a War on Drugs.

And here is a short video on what it has cost us.

This time, the list is "The 5 Worst States to Get Busted with Pot".

Of course, this isn't surprising at all.

You might recall that Facebook didn't allow ads for marijuana legalization to run, citing the "tobacco" and "alcohol" parts of their advertising guidelines last August.

I noticed an ad earlier this morning and expected it to be gone by now (four hours later). It's still up and running, as can be seen in the screenshot below taken around 10:15AM:

Is this a sign that maybe Facebook has decided that it might be okay to show ads calling for legalization of a natural weed? (Note: Panda Express ad included for munchie effect.)

Oklahoma has the highest female incarceration rate in the country, 48% of whom are in prison on non-violent drug charges. This story is a good illustration why.

Seriously? A 30 year suspended sentence for the grandmother, and a 10 year prison sentence for the mother. No prior convictions. $31 frickin' dollars of a naturally occuring plant.

Wow...

Oklahoma Senate Bill 573, the bill to decriminalize marijuana possession and cultivation for those under the supervision of a physician, is currently in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. It faces two obstacles to making it to the floor: it needs a House author, and Committee Chair Sen. Brian Crain (R-Tulsa) needs to allow the committee to hear it.

While I have said before that I don't think the bill goes far enough, it is a step in the right direction. Everyone who supports this bill should be contacting each member of the committee, especially people who are in those Senators' districts. You should also be contacting your Senator and ask them to represent you in expressing your feelings about the bill to those committee members, and especially to the committee chair.

The State of Oklahoma currently has some of the most restrictive drug laws in the nation. In fact, if you cultivate even a single plant for personal use, you're subject to a felony conviction that comes with a sentence of up to life in prison.

Senator Constance Johnson (D-Holdenville) will introduce Senate Bill 573, the "Compassionate Use Act of 2011". If this were to pass, then the penalties for cultivation will not apply to a patient or a patient's primary caregiver if the patient has the approval of a physician. The relevant portion of the bill follows (all that's not posted is the effective date).

A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2-800 of Title 63, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Compassionate Use Act of 2011".