Sunday November 8, 2009, 12:58 am
Maine voters became the first to license nonprofit organizations to sell medical marijuana on Tuesday, with the state's Question 5 cruising to a landslide victory. With roughly half of the precincts reporting, six in ten Maine voters had tallied in favor of allowing state-licensed nonprofits to distribute pot to approved patients.

Two other states -- Rhode Island and New Mexico -- have approved such nonprofits, but Maine is the first to do so through the ballot box. In California and Colorado, the dispensaries are not specifically regulated as pot shops, but rather as businesses in compliance with state laws.

Rhode Island, New Mexico and Maine, by more tightly regulating distribution, present a model counter to California's. As more states approve licensed dispensaries, the debate will shift from whether medical marijuana should be legal to how it should be produced and distributed - a resounding victory for advocates and patients.

Sunday November 8, 2009, 1:35 am
Unfortunately, Maine voters DIS-approved legislation on Domestic Partnerships..... very sad. Don't understand it. Will do some more research and discuss the results.

Sunday November 8, 2009, 1:43 am
Support Freedom of Choice for other Cannabis Users besides Medical Patients!

Support HR 2943,
the Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults

Thank you for your support.

Go HERE to sign the Petition:

http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=13568661

Sunday November 8, 2009, 4:04 am
Confirmation
Your e-mail message was sent to:
Representative Mary Fallin (R-OK 5th)


Big Gorilly Hugs

Sunday November 8, 2009, 8:08 am
Outstanding news!! Two steps forward, one step back...we will push ahead...

Sunday November 8, 2009, 9:04 am
This is wonderful news, which I had not
heard until now. The more things like this
continue to happen (and they will), the more
people will come to correctly understand that
Cannabis is a medicine, and not a party drug.
Now, if only the people of Maine would allow
their LGBT community to legally marry.......*sigh!*
Thanks, BMT!
noted.

Sunday November 8, 2009, 3:40 pm
From Robert S: More fabulous news!!!

DENVER — The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana.

Early returns Tuesday night showed the proposal winning with 72 percent of the vote. The measure would allow adults over 21 to have up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

The measure is largely symbolic because pot possession remains a state crime for people without medical clearance. But supporters said they wanted to send a message to local law enforcement to stop busting small-time pot smokers.

The vote comes as communities nationwide are struggling with how to enforce pot laws at a time when medical marijuana has surged in popularity.

Sunday November 8, 2009, 4:07 pm
GET ALL NON-VIOLENT NON-"CRIMINALS" BUSTED FOR POT/CANNABIS/MARIJUANA, OUT OF JAIL *NOW*!!!
AND RESTORE TO THEM THEIR RIGHT-TO-VOTE. {As ex-felons, in many States they lose their Constitutional Right To Vote. Laws vary from State to State.}

It it my firmest conviction, that the whole "War On Drugs" was instituted ON PURPOSE, in order to NEGATE the real gains of the 1960's and '70's Civil Rights Movement; gains in enfranchising New Voters of many diverse races and ethnicities.

THAT IS WHY BLACK PEOPLE AND OTHER MINORITIES, AND THE POOR, WERE TARGETTED MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN WHITE PEOPLE IN THE "WAR ON DRUGS"; White people actually proportionately used more drugs! But pretty much got away with it, unless they happened to be living next to minorities, or were politically leftist-radical in any way.
The Gores and the Clintons and other rich and middle-class college students at the time, had NOTHING to worry about in regard to being busted for the drugs they took at frat parties, etc.!

Those instituting the Drug Wars KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING. They ACCOMPLISHED it, too! for a while. ALL THOSE INCARCERATED FELONS WHO LOST THE RIGHT TO VOTE; THEY WEREN'T GOING TO VOTE REPUBLICAN, ANYWAY, HA HA!

This definitely HELPED the Repukelican party get POWER! After the big Democratic -- and democratic, small "d"! -- surge during the Civil Rights Movement.....

The Drug Wars, aided by the CIA, actually BROUGHT CRIME to the ethnic neighborhoods; BROUGHT GUNS AS WELL AS DRUGS {there is a great deal of ACCURATE RESEARCH done on this}. Leading to HARDER DRUGS THAN MARIJUANA; leading to GANGS DISTRIBUTING DRUGS FIGHTING TURF WARS; leading to ALL SORTS OF HOPELESSNESS AND APATHY TOWARDS POLITICS on the part of those non-Republican-voting ethnic minorities. They just didn't see the point in taking any political action at ALL; even if they still had theoretically the hard-won "right" to vote that had recently been the source of so much pain and struggle!

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, OWES IT TO THE PEOPLE WHO ELECTED HIM ON A SURGE OF HOPE, OWES IT TO US, TO IMMEDIATELY STOP THE DRUG WARS IN THEIR ENTIRETY; AND TO LET THE INNOCENT VICTIMS FREE FROM JAIL AND FROM ALL PENALTIES, AND BACK TO THEIR FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES AND BACK TO VOTING AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES IF THEY SO DESIRE IT.

It is obvious, that THE TRUTH IS PREVAILING AND WILL ULTIMATELY PREVAIL; and that the Repukelican hypocritical barrage of "Drug Scare Propoganda" is ENTIRELY LOSING ITS FORCE!!!

Sunday November 8, 2009, 4:11 pm
"Propaganda", oh my!

Sunday November 8, 2009, 4:45 pm
Amen Mutiny!:)

Monday November 9, 2009, 5:21 am
It appears that the cold air of Maine makes people smarter or something. Maine seem to always be ahead of the rest of the states in intelligents. They seem to be saner the the rest of the USA. I sincerely hope the rest of the USA will follow their lead.

Tuesday November 10, 2009, 2:35 pm
Maine voters didn't approve Gay Marriage, tho, in the same ballot.
Very weird. I am going to look into this some more.

Tuesday November 10, 2009, 5:02 pm
FOX NEWS!!!!!!
==============
Not Just Zig-Zag Any More
Medical Marijuana Goes Mainstream
By NORM KENT

A whopping 63% of Fox News viewers have endorsed the Obama Administration’s decision to stop targeting medical dispensaries in California. The disclosure was made by Geraldo Rivera last week on his popular show, ‘Geraldo at Large.’ For once, Fox is catching up with the rest of the nation.

Geraldo presented more than just a fair and balanced report. The news item clearly distinguished the marked differences between the casual user of marijuana for recreational or personal medical use and traffickers operating illegal Mexican drug cartels, which everyone acknowledged should be targeted for enhanced enforcement. Rivera even applauded Attorney General Eric Holder for his new and rededicated efforts to stop that illegality, inserting into his news report the AG’s announcement of a raid last week, which netted 300 suspects nationwide.

Ann Coulter, of course, came on to criticize Obama, but she is a howler monkey who stands on the end of the branch and shrieks at anything Barack and Friends do or do not do. Even she had a hard time coming down too hard on smokers, preferring to just attack President Obama. Surprise. When Geraldo then turned to conservative Mike Huckabee for a countervailing viewpoint, he tempered his criticism of the new policy by recognizing that every governor has to set its priorities. The best objection he came up with was that if the Obama administration wanted to “change the law, go ahead and change it, but don’t keep a law you are not going to enforce.” That is a far cry from stating this was bad policy, a poor change, and counter-productive to our nation.

What viewers eventually saw on the piece Geraldo did was a presentation that medical marijuana is a wave sweeping over our land, and the 15 states which already provide for it are a precursor to a national future. You could almost sense that was the direction Geraldo was headed when he opened with a segue featuring Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin at a recent ‘Smoke Out’ rally in LA.

Afterwards, Rivera followed with a short piece about a white-collared businessman, explaining to the audience that he ran a lawful, state-compliant dispensary which was busted by the feds. That gentleman, Phil Smith, then explained how he had just spent ten months in jail with hardened criminals and murderers. That too is a far cry from the day and time when marijuana growers were presented to American audiences as hardened criminals. Geraldo even scoffed at the way we once thought of marijuana, with a scene from 'Reefer Madness' dropped onto the set in the background.

As he waded through the piece on medical and legal pot, Geraldo even postured this was an issue that crossed ideological lines; that Americans across the board do not want pot law enforced harshly against our citizens. Coming from the barrios of New York City, having grown up in the 1960’s, and spending decades with celebrities in the media, Geraldo uniquely understands how pervasive and personal marijuana is in the American psyche. In fact, as he recovers from knee replacement surgery, I would not be surprised if instead of using Percocet daily he tried out some Purple Haze. (I don't know, I'm just saying...)

The bottom line is Geraldo is one of America's grittiest and most seasoned journalists, who has covered stories from mistreatment in mental institutions to mass murders. He knows where 'pot' fits into the scheme of things- enough so that he could joke and poke at this story, recognizing as he does our nation has greater issues, more pressing problems.

When NORML (www.norml.com) recently held its annual convention in San Francisco, former Mayor Willie Brown opined that “we should legalize pot because as many people are using it recreationally as are using it medically.” Prop 215 author, activist Denis Peron, once stated: “all use is medical.” Last year, NORML’s founder, Keith Stroup, and Rick Cusick, the Publisher of High Times, along with 50 students from local colleges, were foolishly arrested for smoking joints at a ‘MassCann(abis)’ convention in the Boston Commons. The next thing you know Mr. Stroup was testifying before Massachusetts legislative committees to change the laws in the Bay State. Those statutes have now been amended to provide for the medicinal use of marijuana.

One of my clients, Elvy Mussika, is amongst the last of those getting marijuana from the United States government on a now abandoned program entitled the ‘Compassionate Use Protocol.’ Under the plan, the DEA grows experimental marijuana at the University of Mississippi and freeze-dries it for distribution in a prescription can to Ms. Mussika, a grandmother fighting the intraocular pressures associated with Glaucoma, which constantly cause pain in her eyes. 'Smoke 3x daily, or as needed for pain' the jar reads. There are thousands and thousands of other Americans similarly situated, who only want to use pot to relieve pain. For them, marijuana is medicine.

Then there are the Michael Phelps of the world, using bongs and water pipes and rolling papers to get high and give themselves a buzz, for fun's sake. They too should not be criminalized or denied scholarships to school, should they? Some may not win gold medals in swimming pools, but they should not be posting bail in county jails, either. They may not find themselves as guests of the Jay Leno show, but they should not find themselves as guests of the local sheriff either, should they? It is becoming so normal to smoke, talk, and write about pot that NORML now represents the silent majority of Americans who just want to be left alone with their pot. It would seem that even Fox News agrees.

Google medical marijuana and you will find a cross section of articles in every mainstream newspaper and magazine. As a matter of fact, medical marijuana is becoming so ‘ordinary’ a story that it has found its way to cover stories in the past few months in magazines from Forbes to Harper’s Monthly, not to mention the New York Times. Last month, The Today Show, with Matt Lauer as the interviewer, ran a positive news feature featuring ‘Women and Pot in the Workplace.’ Think about it, one of America’s most popular shows presenting marijuana as medicine in a fair and unfrenzied light. Congressman Barney Frank has even postured that medical marijuana may soon become the law of the land.

In Colorado, a state which has opted for the opening of dispensaries, the Denver Westword, a popular newsweekly, has published a classified ad seeking to hire a random ‘marijuana critic,’ in order to ‘taste-test’ the product which its new dispensaries will be distributing. Lots of daily journalists are out of work. I am guessing there will be no shortage of applications for that job.

What is the outcome of all this to be?

Do not be surprised when a consumer affairs television reporter one day, in a neighborhood near you unveils a feature on the best marijuana dispensaries in your hometown. Medical marijuana is coming to Main Street. We are not just Zig-Zag anymore.

Norm Kent, a criminal defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, publishes The Broward Law Blog, www.browardlawblog.com. He can be reached at norm@normkent.com

Tuesday November 10, 2009, 5:05 pm
You know what I think they should legaize this completley Why so some of the haters out there will get stoned and chill the hell out....LOL

Big Goirlly Hugs

Thursday November 19, 2009, 1:44 pm
Gorilly I agree with U.. signed petition BMutiny