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How much cannabis do you consume? How much do you pay for your cannabis? How much extra would you pay for cannabis delivery? How often do you share your cannabis with friends?

New York State plans to legalize cannabis for adult-use with the 2019 Budget in April. The time is NOW to make your voice heard loud and clear!

The New York State Department of Health, in partnership with NYU and RAND, want to know your (anonymous) answers to these questions, and more! Please take this short survey to offer your first hand experience as a cannabis consumer, advocate, or supporter in New York. Answers will be used to help shape the legislation currently being drafted that is going to determine what the the adult-use cannabis market will look like.

Survey responses are requested ASAP, but will be accepted until January 15th. Please send this survey to your friends and family, pull out your phone during holiday parties and ask people to fill it out, and talk to your co-workers (if they’re cool) and ask them the fill out the survey. We need to get at least 1,000 cannabis consumers, advocates, and supporters to fill out the survey. Will you help us reach this goal?

Click here to submit your survey response now.

Up until a few years ago low-income housing that received federal subsidies were required to maintain a “drug-free” environment. This meant that if anyone living in subsidized housing was caught possessing and/or consuming marijuana onsite, everyone living in the property was at risk of being evicted.

Fortunately, in 2014 the Obama Administration amended this policy to no longer mandate evictions which provided some discretion to housing management. As a result, the decision is now left to property management so they can insist on a “drug-free” environment, but are not required by law to impose such restrictive policies.

Unfortunately, due to inconsistencies in the different policies adopted by property management companies and limited knowledge of the law, marijuana patients residing in subsidized housing are losing their homes. A situation that is becoming all too common. Most recently, John Flickner, a 78-year-old wheelchair bound medical marijuana patient, was evicted from his low-income senior housing facility in Niagara Falls for using medical marijuana that was recommended by his physician.

In response, Lynne Patton, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regional official announced that she is working to resolve the ongoing conflict between federal and state marijuana laws as it applies to tenant rights in federally-subsidized housing.

“State & federal law needs to catch up with medicinal marijuana usage & require private landlords to legally permit the same. Period,” Patton wrote. “Regardless, my team is already working with Mr. Flickner & a local grantee to place him in permanent housing again, as anyone else in his boat.”

Read more here: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/trump-official-wants-to-legally-permit-medical-marijuana-in-federally-subsidized-housing/

That’s why NORML is supporting the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act, which would prohibit property owners of federally assisted housing from establishing standards to prevent access to federally assisted housing to anyone who engages in the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana as long as they are in compliance with state laws.

Washington, DC: Today, President Trump announced his intention to nominate former Attorney General William Barr to be considered by the Senate to replace former Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions.

“With every move by the Department of Justice facing intense public scrutiny, maintaining Jeff Sessions’ policy of reefer madness would be self-defeating,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal. “The movement to end the failed and cruel policy of marijuana criminalization is larger and stronger than ever, supported by a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and non-partisans.”

“In 2018, five states legalized either the medicinal or adult-use of marijuana, making the total number of states out of compliance with the Controlled Substances Act now 47. It would be utterly absurd for William Barr or any agent of the Department of Justice to take any action against these state-sanctioned and operational programs.”

“Over half of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee represent states that have or are in the process of enacting a legal marijuana marketplace. It is our intention that Mr. Barr be put on the record regarding his current position on cannabis given his record as a proponent of the failed War on Drugs.”

—

Thirty-three states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. territories of Guam and Puerto Rico have enacted legislation specific to the physician-authorized use of cannabis. Moreover, an estimated 73 million Americans now reside in the ten states where anyone over the age of 21 may possess cannabis legally. An additional fifteen states have passed laws specific to the possession of cannabidiol (CBD) oil for therapeutic purposes.

Sixty-eight percent of registered voters “support the legalization of marijuana,” according to national polling data compiled by the Center for American Progress. The percentage is the highest level of support for legalization ever reported in a nationwide, scientific poll.

Majorities of Democrats (77 percent), Independents (62 percent), and Republicans (57 percent) back legalization. The results of a 2017 nationwide Gallup poll similarly found majority support among all three groups.

To date, these statewide regulatory programs are operating largely as voters and politicians intended. The enactment of these policies have not negatively impacted workplace safety, crime rates, traffic safety, or youth use patterns. They have stimulated economic development and created hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue.

Specifically, a 2017 report estimates that over 149,000 Americans are now working full-time in the cannabis industry. Tax revenues from states like Colorado, Oregon, and Washington now exceed initial projections. Further, numerous studies have identified an association between cannabis access and lower rates of opioid use, abuse, hospitalizations, and mortality.

Welcome to the latest edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Roundup!

At the state level, certain provisions of Michigan’s voter approved legalization measure specific to the adult possession and cultivation of cannabis took effect on Thursday. Missouri’s voter-approved medical marijuana measure also took effect on Thursday.

Iowa’s first medical cannabis dispensary, MedPharm, opened on Saturday. And Alzheimer’s disease was added to Minnesota’s list of medical marijuana qualifying conditions by the state’s Department of Health.

Members of the New York state assembly held a public hearing on adult use marijuana legalization at Babylon Town Hall on Long Island.

At a more local level, Michael Hancock, mayor of Denver, Colorado, announced via Twitter that his administration will begin to “vacate low-level marijuana convictions.” And two city councilmen in Cincinnati, Ohio are advocating for marijuana decriminalization in the city with legislation that would put the question on the ballot.

Following are the bills that we’ve tracked this week and as always, check http://norml.org/act for legislation pending in your state.

Don’t forget to sign up for our email list and we will keep you posted as these bills and more move through your home state legislature and at the federal level. Another great way to stay up to date is Marijuana Moment’s daily newsletter, which you can subscribe to HERE.

Your Highness,
Carly

Priority Alerts

Federal

Penalize States that Maintain Criminalization: The Marijuana Justice Act would (1) remove marijuana from the US Controlled Substances Act, thereby ending the federal criminalization of cannabis; (2) incentivize states to mitigate existing and ongoing racial disparities in state-level marijuana arrests; (3) expunge federal convictions specific to marijuana possession; (4) allow individuals currently serving time in federal prison for marijuana-related violations to petition the court for resentencing; (5) and create a community reinvestment fund to invest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.

Click here to email your federal lawmakers and urge them to support this important legislation

Utah

House Bill 3001 is “compromise” legislation that sought to significantly amend Proposition 2, The Utah Medical Cannabis Act. The changes are likely to adversely impact patients’ medical cannabis access and unduly delay the law’s implementation.

Update: On 12/3, Governor Herbert (R) signed HB 3001 into law shortly after it was approved by the Utah House of Representatives 60-13, and then the Senate 22-4. The new law takes effect immediately.

Illinois

House Bill 2367 seeks to vacate criminal records among those with certain past marijuana possession convictions.

The bill amends the Cannabis Control Act so that Illinoisans may file a petition with the court requesting expungement for any past marijuana violation that is no longer defined as a crime under state law. Several other states, including Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Oregon, have enacted similar laws.

Update: On 11/29, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 67-37 to pass HB 2367. The measure now awaits action in the Senate.

IL resident? Click here to email your elected officials in support of expungement

Drug wars perpetuate destabilizing authoritarian political policies. One such US drug war policy relies on the pharmaceutical industry doping children to forestall rebellious behavior proven absolutely essential for preserving self-government.

Authoritarians rely on their ignorance and the ignorance of others for their own economic and political survival. Where ignorance fails, failed propaganda and failed social policies are deployed. According to author and clinical psychologist Bruce E. Levine, the disinformation schemes can prove disruptive, or even fatal, for individual citizens:

The United States is home to a drug culture in which both authoritarians and anti-authoritarians participate. Some authoritarians seek drugs that can turn large profits and that maintain the status quo by facilitating compliance. Some anti-authoritarians, especially early in life, prize a drug that makes them less compliant to authority and that blissfully connects them with the universe. Some people swear by Prozac or Zoloft, while others swear by marijuana or LSD. […]

…when we have experienced enormous pain from an illegitimate authority, we may be drawn toward any other authority that validates our pain, and it can become difficult to think critically about that validating authority, especially if we are stressed and vulnerable.

Malcolm X’s attraction to the Nation of Islam was similar to people whom I’ve known who have been assaulted by psychiatry and become attracted to the Church of Scientology, and then become embarrassed when they realize they’ve joined an authoritarian organization…. The greatness of Malcolm X lay not simply in his courage to challenge and resist illegitimate authority but in his courage to reassess his views.

As traumatizing as Malcolm X’s young life was, he was lucky in one sense. Nowadays, a teenager with a history of stealing would get a psychiatric diagnosis of “conduct disorder,” a severe “disruptive disorder,” and such kids are increasingly prescribed psychiatric drugs. After the breakup of his family, Malcolm lived in foster homes, and foster kids today in the United States are even more likely to be medicated on antipsychotic drugs than other children. And so it is quite likely that in today’s world, the young Malcolm would have been prescribed antipsychotic drugs, and the arc of his life would have been a very different one. […]

Bruce E. Levine, Resisting Illegitimate Authority: A Thinking Person’s Guide to Being an Anti-Authoritarian—Strategies, Tools, and Models (Kindle Locations 3280-3283, 950-963). AK Press Kindle Edition (2018)

Malcolm X’s confrontations with authorities and the story of the Nation of Islam church members who assassinated him are as informative as any of the religious, juridical or political entities who shortened the life of Peter McWilliams, author of Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do, the title taken from the classic song by Billie Holiday, herself a victim of 1930s Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry Anslinger.

Prohibition-biased politicians serve as lightning rods for prohibition. The legislator’s role emerges as a distraction concocted by a corporate media and aimed at gullible people. Separated from the therapeutic state, prohibitionists have no defense. They can’t rely on science and its vast amount of research that delegitimizes current drug war engagements. By definition, they won’t rely on cannabinoids or psychedelics for self-medication.

Given its pharmaceutical advertising revenue, the major news media is less likely to show up for the rescue. Meanwhile, Big Pharma exhibits no insistence for placing warning labels on its products alerting teenage consumers of threats to their freedom and that of the nation posed by legions of anti-democracy pills. Drug consumers shouldn’t lose hope and feel the need to relinquish their freedom, or die, to help a company’s stock go up, as some have done with opioids.

Provided with the correct information, and maybe some cannabis or magic mushrooms, patients and parents alike will be armed with options that set them and their teenage rebels free.

Key provisions of the state’s voter-initiated marijuana measure, Proposition 1: The Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, will take effect this Thursday, December 6. Michigan is the tenth US state to legalize and regulate the use and sale of marijuana by adults, and it is the ninth to do so via voter initiative.

“The legalization of the adult use of marijuana in Michigan represents a victory for common sense public policy, while delivering yet another body blow to our decades long failed prohibition on marijuana,” stated NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri, “Instead of continuing to arrest over 22,000 citizens a year for marijuana related charges, Michigan will now be able to reallocate precious law enforcement resources to combat violent crime while respecting civil liberties and advancing racial justice. This is a great day for the state of Michigan and, as the first midwest state to legalize marijuana for adult use, a huge step forward in the nationwide fight to end the failed policy of prohibition and incarceration and to replace it with a sensible system of legalization and regulation.”

Provisions specific to the adult possession and cultivation of cannabis will take effect at 12am. Those over the age of 21 may legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and/or 15 grams of cannabis concentrates in a private residence. Adults may also legally cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants in private, and possess the harvest (up to ten ounces) of those plants. Public use of cannabis will remain a violation of law.

Under the new law, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has up to 12 months to begin accepting applications from those seeking to operate licensed cannabis businesses.

Despite majority support for the new law, legislation (SB 1243) introduced by outgoing Sen. Majority Leader Arian Meekhof in the lame duck session seeks to significantly amend many of its provisions. The measure, which NORML opposes, would eliminate adults’ ability to home cultivate personal use amounts of cannabis, among other changes.

“Home cultivation is a vital component of Michigan’s new law, and this policy is consistent with those policies regulating alcohol — which permit home brewing,” Altieri said. “Fifty-six percent of Michigan voters approved Proposition 1. Politicians should respect the will of the electorate; they should not be seeking to undermine them.”

Click here to email your lawmakers and urge them to vote ‘no’ on SB 1243.

The founder of Drug Policy Alliance argues that the current laws are a waste of money and ultimately harmful More and more Americans agree that people with drug problems “deserve treatment, not punishment,” that “we can’t incarcerate our way out of the drug problem,” and that it’s a waste of taxpayer resources to keep locking […]

[Update: Governor Gary Herbert has signed the replacement measure into law.]

Lawmakers voted in a special legislative session on Monday to replace the state’s voter-initiated medical cannabis access program. The former law, Proposition 2, was approved by 53 percent of voters on November 6.

NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri criticized lawmakers’ decision. “Lawmakers should have respected the will of the voters and should have moved expeditiously to honor the spirit of the law — not undermine it,” he said. “Patients deserve the right to cultivate their own medicine, doctors should be empowered to decide what is best for their patients, and there should be no undue hurdles to licensing an adequate number of dispensaries to provide cannabis related products in a retail environment.”

Legislators announced in October their intent to rewrite the legislation, prior to its passage, after meetings with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — who opposed the bill — and other groups, including some backers of the original bill. However, other proponents of Proposition 2, including the group TRUCE Utah (Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education), have announced their intent to file a lawsuit in response to lawmakers’ decision to amend the law.

The replacement legislation, House Bill 3001, significantly differs from the language that was approved by the voters. It eliminates patients’ option to home cultivate cannabis, it largely discourages the dispensing of edible cannabis products, it narrows the list of qualifying conditions, and it significantly reduces the total number of permissible state-licensed dispensaries, among other changes.

Members of the House voted 60 to 13 in favor of the new language. Members of the Senate voted 22 to 4. The bill required two-thirds support from both chambers in order to become law.

The vote to rewrite the voter-initiated law broke down largely along party lines, with Republican lawmakers deciding in favor of the change and Democratic members largely voting ‘present.’ An alternative measure backed by members of the Democratic Caucus that sought to make only minor administrative changes to the initiative was defeated.

Once signed by Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, the new law takes immediate effect.

Everyday NORML Chapters from around the country invest countless hours in advocating for meaningful marijuana law reforms on the local, state and federal level! Below is a brief rundown of some of their most recent accomplishments.

Members of  NORML Chapters in Missouri Host Community Discussion About Amendment 2

“MU NORML, the Mizzou chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, hosted a cannabis conference Saturday with Missouri NORML and Show-Me Cannabis.”

Read more from ABC 17!

Follow University of Missouri NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

NORML Leaders in the Media

Abner Brown, Executive Director, North Carolina NORML

“We’re going to set ourselves up for the best chance possible,” Brown said. “We’ve sent letters out and have contacted all of our elected officials in North Carolina, and those that were running, to get their responses about how they felt about cannabis reform.”

Read more from WSPA 7 News!

Follow North Carolina NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Alan Robinson, Communications Director, Madison NORML

Robinson could not be happier about Walker’s election defeat, since he historically has not supported legalizing marijuana and in May referred to it as a “gateway drug” during an interview on WISN-TV.

Read more from The Badger Herald!

Follow Madison NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Ali Nagib, Deputy Director, Illinois NORML

Nagib said regulations might include limits on the potency of marijuana. And he wonders whether the “number of licenses will be limited and if there’ll be something favoring small businesses.”

Read more from the Rockford Register Star!

Follow Illinois NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Chris Goldstein, Executive Director, South Philly NORML

“Goldstein, however, said the new bill is part of a blinkered mentality that will prevent the city from taking full advantage of the medical marijuana industry and, he claims, eventually full-scale legalization.”

Read more from WHYY Public Media!

Follow South Philly NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Andy Lee, Communications Director, NORML Canada

“A diverse cannabis sector will, ultimately, provide the most innovation, establish high-quality products and a better experience for consumers,”

Read more from The Province!

Follow NORML Canada on Facebook and become a member today!

Christeen Landino, Deputy Director, Michigan NORML

“Landino recalls getting busted for pot in 1968 and attending her first demonstration about marijuana in Detroit in 1974. That one was in support of a decriminalization effort that never made it to the ballot.”

Read more from the Detroit Metro Times!

Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Dan Viets, Executive Director, Missouri NORML

“The measure will officially go into effect Dec. 6, according to Dan Viets, president of New Approach Missouri. But it could be as much as a year later before patients will have access to cannabis.”

Read more from KOMU 8!

Follow Missouri NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Dan Viets, Executive Director, Missouri NORML

“Prices will reflect the content of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetryhydrocannabinol (THC), both active compounds found in marijuana, said Dan Viets, president of Amendment 2’s campaign committee and president of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation, or the NORML Foundation.”

Read more from the Missourian!

Follow Missouri NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Dan Viets, Executive Director, Missouri NORML

“‘Certification’ is the correct term,” Viets said. Doctors will provide patients with a document allowing marijuana use if the patient has been diagnosed with one or more of a list of diseases listed in the amendment.

Read more from Springfield News-Leader!

Follow Missouri NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Dan Viets, Executive Director, Missouri NORML

“Viets has been working with Missouri NORML to answer as many questions as possible about the new laws, and admits that there are still a few things that are still coming together but said they’re working to get everything in motion as quickly as possible.”

Read more from ABC 17 News!

Follow Missouri NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

David Holland, Board Member, Empire State NORML

“National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) lawyer David Holland was recruited by Tesoriero to explain the impacts marijuana arrests can have on people.”

Read more from The New Paltz Oracle!

Follow Empire State NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

David Phipps, Communications Director, Indiana NORML

“Some marijuana advocates downstate, meanwhile, think Michigan’s legalization could spur Hoosier legislators — maybe within the next year or two — to take action on the issue of medical marijuana, which has gradually gained attention over the last decade.”

Read more from News Bug!

Follow Indiana NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Doug Greene, Legislative Director, Empire State NORML

“New York — which already allows medical use of marijuana — will legalize its recreational use next year. He noted that the newly elected senators headed to Albany in January include a number of young progressives who will support legalization.”

Read more from Times Herald-Record!

Follow Empire State NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Eric Marsch, Executive Director, Southeastern Wisconsin NORML

“It’s clear that its popularity is overwhelming. It’s even more popular than many of the candidates who were elected in those areas.”

Read more from WISN 12 News!

Follow Southeastern Wisconsin NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Eric Marsch, Executive Director, Southeastern Wisconsin NORML

“Both are very supportive of medical cannabis and open-minded on recreational cannabis,” Marsh said in an interview. “The close margin in those statewide races means they both owe their jobs to the hundreds of thousands of cannabis voters who came out to support the referendums.”

Read more from the Daily Cardinal!

Follow Southeastern Wisconsin NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Jax Finkle, Executive Director, Texas NORML

“I don’t think that’s going to be a conversation this session,” Finkle told the Dallas Observer. “Texans like to consider themselves their own nation state. We like to do things our own way, and that means that [recreational legalization] will probably be later.”

Read more from Civilized!

Follow Texas NORML on Facebook and become a member today! 

Kandice Hawes, Executive Director, Orange County NORML

“Hawes founded Orange County NORML in 2003 after losing her college financial aid due to a marijuana possession charge. OC NORML has been instrumental in getting recreational marijuana legalized in California, organizing the Medical Cannabis Conference for Seniors in Laguna Woods Village, and working to end the lengthy incarceration of nonviolent marijuana prisoners.”

Read more from The Indy!

Follow Orange County NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Luis Nakamoto, Executive Director, San Antonio NORML

“San Antonio NORML, the local chapter for reform on marijuana laws, is hopeful this go-around in terms of the next legislative session. State Senator Jose Menendez filed S.B. 90. He hopes to expand the Texas Compassionate Use Program.”

Read more from KENS 5!

Follow San Antonio NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Madisen Saglibene, Executive Director, Nevada NORML

“It’s unlikely that President Trump’s new attorney general will spread reefer madness and misinformation to the same extent that Mr. Sessions has,”

Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal!

Follow Nevada NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Mary Krueger, Executive Director, Rochester NORML

“It’s already in our communities, kids are already getting it. When you regulate it, you take it out of the black market, you put it into a store and then you can go after the people who are giving it to kids.”

Read more from News 10 NBC!

Follow Rochester NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Mary Krueger, Executive Director, Rochester NORML

“She and other justice advocates urge lawmakers to vacate or seal records of low-level possession and sale charges brought in the past. They also push for people who are currently incarcerated for such crimes to be released or have their sentences reduced to time served.”

Read more from The River Reporter!

Follow Rochester NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Matthew Able, Executive Director, Michigan NORML

“I expect a rush on the grow stores in December because people are going to be getting lights and fans for Christmas.”

Read more from the Detroit Free Press!

Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Matthew Able, Executive Director, Michigan NORML

“It has not been a smooth roll out on the part of the state,” Abel said. “You’d think Michigan would learn from other states — simple things, like license growers first.”

Read more from Revue!

Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Michael Ford, Executive Director, Minnesota NORML

“Michael Ford and lifelong marijuana activist Oliver Steinberg, offers a moralistic wish list that includes home growing, release of nonviolent offenders, retroactive expungement, public consumption, and a purchasing age of 18.”

Read more from City Pages!

Follow Minnesota NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Mya Smith, Board Member, Purdue NORML

“I have no doubt in my mind that it would become legal if they put it on a ballot.”

Read more from WLFI 18!

Follow Purdue NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Rick Thompson, Board Member, Michigan NORML

“This isn’t done. Just because we passed legalization we have many more hurdles to accomplish. expungement is one, federal banking is one, criminal justice reform on the national scale.”

Read more from NBC 25 News!

Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Rick Thompson, Board Member, Michigan NORML

“A person who may have consumed cannabis several days ago might still test positive for the presence of cannabis,” said Thompson. “That does not indicate they were using their automobile in an impaired way.”

Read more from WSBT 22!

Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Rick Thompson, Board Member, Michigan NORML

“It was very predictable that this would happen and just underscores that there needs to be a change in federal law.”

Read more from the Detroit Free Press!

Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!

Pam Dyer, Executive Director, Eastern Washington Women of NORML

“Dyer says consuming raw cannabis has also relieved a friend’s rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. While she doesn’t get high from eating the leaves and stems, Dyer does say that she has to reduce how much cannabis she ingests through other methods.”

Read more from The Spokesman-Review!

Follow Eastern Washington Women of NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

Paul Kirchberg, Executive Director, Connecticut NORML

“We know it’s safer than alcohol,” he said “If we can honestly have an open conversation about cannabis, we can realize that right now there are 30,000 people in Connecticut who are living proof that it’s not something to fear. Adult consumption, however, requires a certain level of responsibility.”

Read more from the Connecticut Post!

Follow Connecticut NORML on Facebook and become a member today!

For more than 45 years NORML chapters have been the driving force behind policy decisions on the local and state level. Have you connected with your local NORML chapter? If there isn’t one in your community, please email NORML Outreach Director Kevin Mahmalji at KevinM@NORML.org for help with starting your own!

Ready to start a NORML chapter in your hometown? Click here to find out how!

Welcome to the latest edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Roundup!

U.S. House and Senate lawmakers this week have agreed on final language for the 2018 Farm Bill, which includes provisions lifting the federal prohibition of industrial hemp. These provisions amend federal regulations to further expand and facilitate state-licensed hemp production, research, and commerce. The language also for the first time amends the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 so that industrial hemp plants containing no more than 0.3 percent THC are no longer classified as a schedule I controlled substance.

Following are the bills that we’ve tracked this week and as always, check http://norml.org/act for legislation pending in your state.

Don’t forget to sign up for our email list and we will keep you posted as these bills and more move through your home state legislature and at the federal level. Another great way to stay up to date is Marijuana Moment’s daily newsletter, which you can subscribe to HERE.

Your Highness,
Carly

Priority Alerts

Federal

Penalize States that Maintain Criminalization: The Marijuana Justice Act would (1) remove marijuana from the US Controlled Substances Act, thereby ending the federal criminalization of cannabis; (2) incentivize states to mitigate existing and ongoing racial disparities in state-level marijuana arrests; (3) expunge federal convictions specific to marijuana possession; (4) allow individuals currently serving time in federal prison for marijuana-related violations to petition the court for resentencing; (5) and create a community reinvestment fund to invest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.

Click here to email your federal lawmakers and urge them to support this important legislation

New Jersey

Senate Bill 2703 and Assembly Bill 4497: The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Aid Modernization Act seek to regulate the adult use marijuana market.

Update: S2703/A4497 were heard by the Joint Committee on Budget and Appropriations Committee on Monday 11/26, and then both measures were approved by the committee.

NJ resident? Click here to email your lawmakers in support of this effort

Legislation is pending, S 10, to expand the state’s medical cannabis program.

The measure facilitates the expansion of additional medical cannabis growers and providers, while also expanding the amount of cannabis a patient may legally purchase and possess. It further expands the pool of licensed health professional who may recommend medical cannabis, and shields registered patients from employment discrimination and the loss of child custody. It also phases out retail sales taxes on medical cannabis, amongst other changes.

Update: Members of the Senate Health Committee and the Senate Budget Appropriations Committee, along with members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, voted on Monday 11/26 to advance the bill. Separate language contained in S2426 to permit physicians to recommend cannabis to any patient they believe will benefit has also been incorporated into S10.

NJ resident? Click here to email your lawmakers in support of medical expansion.

Legislation is pending, S2318, to permit those convicted of past marijuana convictions to seek expedited expungement in the event of decriminalization or legalization.

If passed, the bill would would allow individuals to file a petition with the court requesting expungement for any past marijuana violation that is no longer defined as a crime under state law, but only upon enactment of legislation legalizing or decriminalizing possession and use of marijuana.

A separate measure, S3205, is also pending. If signed into law, it would make more crimes eligible for expungement — including offenses involving controlled dangerous substances — and cut the wait time down to five years. It also includes a “clean slate” process that will wipe away all offenses at once for anyone who has a clean record for 10 years after their last offense. Many more serious crimes would not be eligible.

Update: S3205 was heard by the Joint Committee on Budget and Appropriations on 11/26, then approved by the committee.

NJ resident? Click here to email your lawmakers in support of expungement

Illinois

Rep. Kelly Cassidy plans to introduce legislation in 2019 to legalize marijuana for adults in Illinois.

IL resident? Click here to email your elected officials in support of legalization

Michigan

HB 6508 would allow those who are currently incarcerated for a violation “based on the use, possession, or distribution” of marijuana, to petition the parole board for release from prison. If the parole board denies a petitioner’s request for release, the petitioner would be permitted to appeal the decision to the Department of Corrections.

Another measure, SB 1200, would allow those convicted of certain marijuana-related offenses to file a petition with the court to “set aside” their records.

MI resident? Click here to email your elected officials in support of vacating past conviction records

SB 1243 seeks to amend the voter-initiated Proposition 1: The Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act in a manner that would strip away language that currently permits adults to home cultivate cannabis, among other changes.

The measure removes provisions from the law that permit adults to home cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants on their private premises. NORML opposes this legislation.

MI resident? Click here to email your elected officials and tell them to vote NO on SB 1243

North Carolina

Lawmakers plan to reintroduce legislation in 2019 to decriminalize the possession of up to four ounces of marijuana.

NC resident? Click here to email your elected officials in support of decriminalization

Indiana

State Senator Karen Tallian plans to introduce a bill in 2019 to decriminalize the possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana.

IN resident? Click here to email your elected officials in support of decriminalization

Sen. Tallian also plans to introduce a bill in 2019 that would allow qualified patients to use and possess physician-authorized medical marijuana.

IN resident? Click here to email your elected officials in support of medical marijuana access

Utah

A majority of Utah voters decided on election day in favor of Proposition 2, The Utah Medical Cannabis Act. However, politicians are threatening to significantly amend this Act during a special legislative session in December. Their proposed changes are likely to adversely impact patients’ medical cannabis access and unduly delay the law’s implementation.

Update: The Health and Human Services Interim Committee? held a public hearing? on the legislation, prior to the special session that will convene on Monday 12/3.

UT resident? Click here to email your elected officials in opposition to this effort

California

Legislation was reintroduced that would exempt compassionate care programs from paying state cannabis taxes when they are providing free medical cannabis to financially disadvantaged people living with serious health conditions. Last session, the measure was vetoed by Governor Brown.

CA resident? Click here to email your lawmakers in support of protecting compassionate care programs

That’s all for this week!

Washington, DC: House and Senate lawmakers have agreed to a reconciled version of H.R. 2: The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (aka the 2018 Farm Bill), which includes provisions lifting the federal prohibition of industrial hemp.

“For the first time in nearly a hundred years, commercial hemp production will no longer be federally prohibited in the United States,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal. “This represents a significant and long overdue shift in US policy. Nonetheless, future regulatory efforts will still be required to address emerging consumer issues when it comes to the commercial sale and marketing of certain hemp-derived products, particularly so-called hemp-derived CBD extracts. For years, many of the producers of these products have navigated in a grey area of the law — manufacturing products of variable and sometimes questionable quality and safety. Now it is time for lawmakers to craft simple benchmark safety and quality standards for hemp-derived CBD in order to increase consumer satisfaction and confidence as this nascent industry transitions into a legal marketplace.”

The hemp-specific provisions – which Senate Majority Speaker Mitch McConnell (R-KY) included in the Senate version of the bill, but were absent from the House version – amend federal regulations to further expand and facilitate state-licensed hemp production, research, and commerce. The language also for the first time amends the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 so that industrial hemp plants containing no more than 0.3 percent THC are no longer classified as a schedule I controlled substance. (See page 1182, Section 12608: ‘Conforming changes to controlled substances act.’) Certain cannabinoid compounds extracted from the hemp plant would also be exempt from the CSA.

House and Senate lawmakers will need to vote on the engrossed version of the Act, and they are anticipated to do so before the end of the year. Passage of the bill would allow state governments, rather than the federal governments, to be the primary regulators of hemp and hempen products.

Senator McConnell previously shepherded hemp-related language (Section 7606) in the 2014 version of the Farm Bill, permitting states to establish hemp research and cultivation programs absent federal approval. A majority of states have now enacted legislation to permit such programs.

Lawmakers are planning to convene a special session beginning on Monday, December 3 to debate replacing Proposition 2: The Utah Medical Cannabis Act.

Yet, the reason a majority of Utah voters decided in favor of Prop. 2 was precisely because many of these same lawmakers, year after year, failed to adequately address this issue in a manner that provided adequate access to those patients who could benefit from it. Do you trust them to do the right thing now?

Proposition 2 assures that those patients with qualified debilitating conditions who need medical cannabis have access to lab-tested products via a tightly regulated system of licensed, above-ground state-licensed facilities. Rather than amending this voter-initiated proposition – and removing many of its key provisions (such as enabling patients’ rights to home cultivation) – politicians should respect the will of the electorate and move swiftly to enact medical cannabis access in a manner that comports with both the spirit of the law and the letter of law.

Don’t let politicians rewrite Prop. 2 in a way that serves the best interest of bureaucrats rather than patients. Thirty-three states now regulate medical cannabis access, and many of these programs were similarly enacted via voter-initiated measures. Utah patients should not be forced to wait any longer for safe, above-ground medical cannabis access.

Click here to tell your state lawmakers to move expeditiously to enact Proposition 2 in the manner that voters intended

Thanks to all the work we have done together, our issue of ending marijuana prohibition is no longer a regional one confined to deep blue states on the West Coast or the Northeast, we have gone nationwide. Voters increasingly agree with us that legalization is an important issue of civil liberties, personal freedom, racial justice, and sound economics. We are winning this fight, but that is no reason to relent in our struggle, we must double down and end this war on cannabis once and for all.

This #GivingTuesday can you chip in to help us keep the fight going? We have ten states (plus DC) that have legalized marijuana for adult use and are looking at more potentially joining that list in 2019, but we need the resources to help get those states across the finish line.

Donate today through Facebook and Paypal/Facebook will match your donation, doubling your impact! (If you don’t use Facebook you can donate directly to NORML here)

Together, we have already accomplished so much. When we stand shoulder to shoulder and fight with one voice against these unjust laws, we will cross that final finish line. Together, we WILL legalize marijuana nationwide.

Thank you very much.

Erik Altieri
NORML Executive Director

Today’s the day to give!

We need your help to raise $25,000 that will make advancing common-sense federal marijuana legislation in 2019 possible.

The best referral we can get is from supporters like you. In addition to your donation today, could you also post this on your social pages? As the day goes on, we’ll keep you updated on the progress toward our goal and give special thanks to our supporters. Stay tuned!

It’s time to #LegalizeAmerica.

Senate and Assembly lawmakers voted on Monday, November 26, in favor of legislation that seeks to regulate the adult use marijuana market.

Members of a 26-member joint committee decided to move forward the legislation: Senate Bill 2703 and Assembly Bill 4497: The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Aid Modernization Act. Lawmakers will engage in further debate on the measure prior to voting on the bill on the floor.

“Today’s Senate and Assembly votes are a victory for common sense and for sound public policy in New Jersey. We look forward to lawmakers on the Assembly and Senate floors acting swiftly to approve this legislation to send to Governor Murphy to sign into law.” said NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri, “New Jersey holds the dubious distinction of ranking second in the nation in per capita annual marijuana arrests. This policy disproportionately impacts young people of color, violates civil liberties, and is an egregious waste of public resources that can be reprioritized elsewhere. The people of New Jersey are ready to move forward. Their representatives should approve this legislation this year and replace the failed practice of prohibition with the sensible policy of legalization and regulation.”

Key provisions of the initial drafts of the legislation are available here.

Governor Phil Murphy campaigned on a platform that includes legalizing the adult use marijuana market in New Jersey, stating: “Decriminalization alone will not put the corner dealer out of business, it will not help us protect our kids, and it will not end the racial disparities we see. If these are our goals – as they must be – then the only sensible option is the careful legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana sales to adults.”

Fifty-eight percent of voters support “completely legalizing the possession and personal use of recreational marijuana,” and 79 percent support “allowing an individual to clear their record” of a past marijuana possession conviction,” according to an October 2018 Rutgers-Eagleton poll.

NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS: CLICK HERE TO CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS IN SUPPORT OF THIS IMPORTANT LEGISLATION

Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Roundup! I hope everyone had a happy and festive Turkey Day!

In the U.S. Senate this week, it was announced that Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chair of the Judiciary Committee and avid prohibitionist, is stepping down from his position. As Chairmain, he refused to hold any hearings or permit votes on marijuana legislation.

At the state level, Michigan’s new legalization law goes into effect on December 6, which means adults can legally possess and grow marijuana for personal use. And Massachusetts dispensaries began selling adult use marijuana this past Tuesday.

Ned Lamont (D), Connecticut’s soon to be Governor, stated that marijuana legalization is one of his priorities for 2019. The president of the Senate supports this as well. Democratic and Republican lawmakers think legalization is likely next year. And The Senate president in Vermont said he expects a bill regulating marijuana sales to be introduced shortly after the new year.

At a more local level, the attorney general of Washington, DC said he supports regulating marijuana sales if and when the congressional rider blocking the city’s ability to do so is removed.

People in Jackson County, Missouri will no longer be pursued by the county prosecutor in most instances of marijuana possession. Marijuana cases in Kalamazoo County, Michigan are also being dismissed.

Door County in Wisconsin was considering a proposal to put marijuana advisory questions on the April 2019 ballot, but it was rejected.

Following are the bills that we’ve tracked this week and as always, check http://norml.org/act for legislation pending in your state.

Don’t forget to sign up for our email list and we will keep you posted as these bills and more move through your home state legislature and at the federal level.

Your Highness,
Carly

Priority Alerts

Federal

Penalize States that Maintain Criminalization: The Marijuana Justice Act would (1) remove marijuana from the US Controlled Substances Act, thereby ending the federal criminalization of cannabis; (2) incentivize states to mitigate existing and ongoing racial disparities in state-level marijuana arrests; (3) expunge federal convictions specific to marijuana possession; (4) allow individuals currently serving time in federal prison for marijuana-related violations to petition the court for resentencing; (5) and create a community reinvestment fund to invest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.

Click here to email your federal lawmakers and urge them to support this important legislation

New Jersey

S2703 seeks to legalize adult marijuana sales and further expand New Jersey’s medical marijuana program.

The legislation permits those age 21 and older to legally possess and/or purchase up to one ounce of cannabis. It also permits the licensing of 218 retail dispensaries — 120 of which would provide marijuana to adults while 98 would provide marijuana to authorized patients. At present, one half-a-dozen medical dispensaries are operating in the state.

Update: S2703 will be heard in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Monday 11/26 at 10am.

NJ resident? Click here to email your lawmakers in support of this effort

Legislation is pending, S 10, to expand the state’s medical cannabis program.

The measure would increase the number of licenses the Department of Health can issue to new providers in order to meet New Jersey’s increased patient demand.

Update: S10 will be heard in the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on Monday 11/26 at 10am.

NJ resident? Click here to email your lawmakers in support of medical expansion.

Legislation is pending, S2426 and A3740, to further expand the state’s medical marijuana law.

The measures provide doctors the discretion to recommend medical marijuana to any patient for whom they believe it will provide a benefit.

Update: S2426 will be heard in the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on Monday 11/26 at 10am.

NJ resident? Click here to email your lawmakers in support of letting doctors, not politicians, decide what’s best for their patients

Framing US drug enforcement as a war creates an excuse to upend self-governing customs that protect human rights. Part of prohibition’s survival strategy encourages rights violations when it enlists laws to shield drug war ideologies from critics.

Nothing is perfect, including ideologies. Confronted by imperfections, some ideologues panic. They fanatically defend their own fact-free ideological social identities. Some of the more crazed idealists even launch wars to reach the unreachable reality of their ideal—for example, a drug-free society.

One of the drug war’s ideological lynchpins was ushered into existence during the Reagan era formation of the ONDCP with the help of then-Senator Joe Biden. In addition to Mr. Biden coining the term drug czar, a new and peculiar statutory clause blocked or bottlenecked federal research funding that might prove the government wrong in its declarations of the dangers of schedule I substances. A Controlled Substances Act (CSA) stipulation authorizes, if not encourages, researchers and drug enforcement officials to misrepresent the physical effects of marijuana and other medicinally useful schedule I substances:

The Director shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812); and has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration.

Ideally, ideologies shouldn’t exist within viable legal systems. Ideals ordinarily don’t represent reality. Neither should laws entangle citizens who reject anti-drug ideologies, or disavow people preferring thoughtful persuasions that might otherwise guide citizens to pursue their own best health and happiness.

Mr. Biden’s ideals encourage governments to publish disinformation about controlled substances—propaganda that can turn deadly. His habit of pandering to drug enforcement will harm his chances in 2020 should the arch drug-war-architect run for president.

In Joe Biden’s 2017 e-book—likely published in anticipation of a presidential run—scanning for the words ‘marijuana’ or ‘cannabis’ produces no results. Much is said instead of his son Beau Biden’s untimely death from brain cancer, and the conventional and experimental, non-cannabinoid drugs Beau received.

The Biden memoir also links illegal drugs to the existence of non-drug crimes. Mr. Biden boasts of how he helped put 100,000 new police officers on the streets and how much it reduced crime. No mention is made of the resultant overcrowded prisons holding drug war convicts, nor the lives of US citizens and internationals wasted in a bloody and pointless conflict targeting the use of benign and useful medicinal substances.

If Democrats aim to give Joe Biden a shot at being president in 2020, they might take a few moments to disable prohibition’s pivotal war propaganda vehicle—the cited schedule I drug research exclusion clause. The CSA language threatens Mr. Biden’s political campaign. The clause is toxic enough to threaten any political entity refusing to abolish it.

A healthier, brighter and more peaceful future is possible as more voters choose to support political candidates and legislators favoring laws assuring truthful drug and chemical information is made freely available to American citizens and the world.

Citizens of the Bay State have much to be thankful for this week.

On November 20th, just two days before Thanksgiving, adults over the age of 21 were able to legally purchase marijuana in the state of Massachusetts for the first time in over a century.

Massachusetts was the first state to enact marijuana prohibition — doing so on April 29th, 1911. Voters decided in favor of repealing the ban in November 2016.

“This signal to open retail marijuana establishments marks a major milestone for voters who approved legal, adult-use cannabis in our state,” Commission Chairman Steven J. Hoffman told Cannabis Now. “To get here, licensees underwent thorough background checks, passed multiple inspections and had their products tested, all to ensure public health and safety as this new industry gets up and running. As patrons look forward to visiting Massachusetts stores, we hope they will do their part by first familiarizing themselves with the law and understanding what is required of responsible consumers.”

On the very same day, Representative Joe Kennedy III — who had historically been one of Congress’ leading marijuana prohibitionist — published an op-ed documenting his evolution of thinking when it comes to cannabis and announcing his new position of supporting reform.

Kennedy writes, “Given the rapid pace of state-level legalization and liberalization, I believe we must implement strong, clear, and fair federal guidelines. To do that requires us to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and legalize it at the federal level.”

We have much to be thankful for this year. Lawmakers in 22 states have passed legislation to advance cannabis reform, Vermont became the first state to end marijuana prohibition legislatively, the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth became the first US territory to pass a regulated marijuana marketplace, and four states approved voter-initiated ballot measures that legalized adult use (Michigan) and medical marijuana (Oklahoma, Utah, and Missouri).

Additionally, polling data continues to show improved gains in public support for legalization nationwide, with most recent polls revealing that majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents support ending our failed prohibition.

This progress did not come out of nowhere, nor did it come overnight. Our successes are a result of years of diligent organizing and difficult conversations with our fellow citizens about the role of government, law enforcement, and civil liberties in our daily lives.

We need to make sure that we take every opportunity available to further advance the cannabis conversation. The upcoming holidays provide an ideal venue for these conversations.

Look, we know that political arguments are going to happen at the Thanksgiving dinner table, so why not make it about marijuana? While many Americans disagree about other key issues facing our country, there is so much common ground between those who identify as conservatives, liberals, independents, and everyone in-between when it comes to marijuana policy.

So use us as a resource – NORML.org has Factsheets, Talking Points, and you can even pass your phone or computer around the table to have your friends and family contact their lawmakers right then and there to support reform in our Action Center.

Having these conversations about the scope of the government’s right to stop, search, and incarcerate individuals for possessing a plant that is objectively safer than alcohol and tobacco can be tough, but it’s a hell of a lot more fun than hearing the same story for the millionth time from your cousin or the ranting of your whacky uncle (you know who we’re talking about, but he probably wants to legalize cannabis too).

Since our founding in 1970, NORML has worked to provide a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana consumers. We rely on thousands of individuals to fund our movement to continue our critical work. Sign up to be a sustaining supporter or make a one-time Thanksgiving gift to continue our march to progress.

Together, we’re going to make 2019 the best year yet for reform. To make that a reality, we need you to use your voice at the dinner table this week.

Gratefully,

The NORML Family