Marijuana Blog

The 2014 Texas GOP Convention wrapped up Saturday, June 7th, after a long week of debate and testimony concerning medical marijuana. Supporters of marijuana reform, including several members of RAMP (Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition) along with other medical marijuana advocates, including parents, veterans, and medical doctors, gave testimony in favor of an amendment to the platform in support of allowing Texans access to medical cannabis.

 

It seemed like a short-lived victory when the Temporary Platform Committee passed the amendment after listening to emotional testimony from those whose loved ones could benefit or have benefited from medical cannabis. The Chairman of the committee broke the tie and the amendment passed by a 15-14 vote. In addition, a plank supporting Hemp Cultivation passed the committee and made it into the final platform.

 

The following day, the Permanent Platform Committee met and voted on the medical marijuana amendment. This was the day I arrived at the convention after driving up to Fort Worth from Houston. My second time attending the Texas GOP Convention as a delegate, I was excited to hear about what was happening in the committees and was eager to help.

 

Rewind to August 2013 when I first met Ann Lee. After being involved with NORML for the past 4 years as a corporate sponsor to the legal seminars in Aspen and Key West, I had heard of Richard Lee, the founder of Oaksterdam University, but I didn’t know the full extent of his story until hearing it from his mother. Ann Lee was visiting a group in Houston that several of my friends help organize called Liberty on the Rocks. Along with a representative from Houston NORML, originally co-founded by Richard Lee, Ann Lee spoke to us and her words resonated.

 

She told us about growing up in Louisiana during segregation (Ann Lee is in her mid-eighties, she’s even older than marijuana prohibition itself), and she spoke of how unfairly people were treated and how unfairly minorities are treated today due to the enforcement of marijuana prohibition. She told us about her 5 sons, including educator and entrepreneur Richard Lee, who was injured in a workplace accident, leaving him in a wheelchair as a paraplegic. She told us about being a Republican activist since the 1970s and how she co-founded the group “Women for Reagan” in 1983, the year I was born. She told us about her husband, Bob Lee, and how they had initially reacted when Richard told them he uses medical marijuana to help with his muscle spasticity and neuropathic pain.

 

Ann and Bob Lee founded RAMP in 2012. After much reflection, they had reached the conclusion that prohibition of marijuana is directly opposed to all of their Republican values. I was immediately intrigued upon learning about this. My interest in both party politics and marijuana policy were now being fused together by this idea. I immediately approached Ann and started asking her about RAMP. She handed me a little brochure with the Republican logo with three pot leaves instead of stars. My first thought was “OK, this organization really needs a new logo.”

 

Read more: http://www.theweedblog.com

Most of us know Hilary Clinton as a stiff Republican who would probably have a pretty bogus opinion on marijuana. But in an interview with CNN recently, Clinton surprised us by saying that she supports medical marijuana "under appropriate circumstances" and also thinks that research on the plant should be increased, hopefully leading to new ways that cannabis can improve human life. Even when questioned about the recreational use of the plant, Clinton said that she would like to "wait and see" how the legal states of Washington and Colorado handle their newfound freedom.

 

Changes like this in politics are incredibly important to the cannabis community. While some people may not care for certain political parties or opinions, at least we can all agree that cannabis is being positively talked about and that can't do anything but help our cause. Especially those who have had a previously negative opinion on the plant. Much like Dr Sanjay, people that are "higher up" so to speak are extremely effective at changing how people think of cannabis.

 

The interview with CNN covered a wide range of marijuana questions and policy and included viewer questions. One of the people watching wanted to know where Clinton stood on marijuana policy and her answer was the following;

 

"At the risk of committing radical candor, I have to say I think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes. I don't think we've done enough research yet, although I think for people who are in extreme medical conditions and who have anecdotal evidence that it works, there should be availability under appropriate circumstances. But I do think we need more research because we don't know how it interacts with other drugs."

 

The medical benefits of marijuana are definitely being recognized. It's extremely important that more research be done on the plant, especially in the medical field and for children. As more and more kids suffer from being given an opiate based "medicine" like morphine, which has extremely addictive qualities and can severely effect childhood development. Whether or not you agree with all of Hilary Clinton's points, you should definitely agree that her speaking like this about cannabis will help to change more then a few minds!

It's been about six months since specialty shops selling recreational marijuana began operating legally in Colorado. In July, the first batch of shops licensed to sell retail weed will open in Washington State.

 

Both states prohibit locally-purchased pot from crossing state lines and marijuana remains illegal under the federal laws that also govern the aviation industry.

 

So as the busy summer travel season begins, we checked in with the TSA and some of the airports in the pot-pioneering states to see how they're enforcing – or plan to enforce – rules prohibiting passengers from taking pot on a plane.

 

TSA spokesman Ross Feinstein emphasizes that the agency's focus remains "terrorism and security threats to the aircraft and its passengers." And if you search for "marijuana" on the TSA's "Can I bring my ... through the security checkpoint?" tool, you'll get a message that begins "TSA security officers do not search for marijuana or other drugs."

 

But if TSA officers discover something – let's say a small amount of locally-legal pot – in a passenger's carry-on or checked luggage that may violate the federal law, Feinstein says those officers are required to refer the matter to local enforcement, "whose officials will determine whether to initiate a criminal investigation."

 

In an effort to keep travelers from trying, even inadvertently, to take pot through security checkpoints, airports in Colorado have instituted a variety of measures.

 

In January, Denver International instituted a policy that bans marijuana anywhere on airport property, including pre-security areas where having small amounts of pot would otherwise be allowed. Signs announcing the rules are posted and remind travelers that the airport can impose fines of up to $999.

 

Word seems to have gotten out: Since the beginning of the year, only ten passengers have been found to have small amounts of marijuana on them at the TSA checkpoints. "The Denver Police Department was called for each person and they all voluntarily complied with our rules by throwing [the pot] away before flying," said airport spokesman Heath Montgomery. "We established our rules early and worked to educate people about our expectations. That seems to be an effective combination," he said.

 

Other airports in Colorado are reporting much of the same.

 

At the Colorado Springs Airport, the local police department installed an amnesty box and as well as signs alerting passengers to the laws governing traveling across state lines with marijuana.

 

"We asking people to voluntarily comply," said Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs Police Department, "and so far only a small amount – 1.4 grams – has been turned in on one occasion."

 

In cooperation with its local sheriff's department, in January the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport set up signs and an amnesty box as well.

 

"We haven't really noticed too much of an issue," said Brian Grefe, the airport's assistant aviation director of administration, only that many images of its amnesty box have been showing up online. "It's been one of our biggest social media hits," said Grefe.

 

As Washington State gets ready for its first licensed recreational pot shops to open, "the best lesson it can take from Colorado is that while it is illegal to transport marijuana out of the state, people are still going to inadvertently show up with it at the airport," said Jeff Price an aviation and security expert and an a professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.

 

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com