A Saint Leo University poll released in late September indicated public support for an amendment that would legalize the use of medical marijuana in Florida. Amendment 2 will allow Florida doctors to legally recommend medical marijuana to their patients with debilitating illnesses.

Passage of Amendment 2 also authorizes the Department of Health to issue identification cards to patients and caregivers who qualify, as well as register and regulate facilities to produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes.

Although a Florida amendment to legalize the use of medical marijuana in 2014 was unsuccessful, advocates are confident that voter support is much stronger this year. The favorability of the amendment has increased from 65%  in June to 68% in September. The amendment is required to get 60%  of the vote for it to pass into law. In 2014, it received 58%.

“It appears as though medical marijuana supporters will get the victory they were denied by voters in 2014.” Frank Orlando, director of the Saint Leo University Polling Institute, said. "The higher the turnout among young voters, the better the chance that this amendment passes.”

Another poll released by the Florida Chamber of Commerce indicates that Amendment 2 is receiving 73% favorable support. The one take-away that voters supporting Amendment 2 have to consider is the importance of showing up to vote at the polls when it counts the most, on Election Day.

The Yes on 2 campaign working hard to maintain support and is currently working to raise money to counter an expansive campaign of misinformation by the much more well-funded opposition.

Backers of Initiated Ordinance 300 (I-300), a Denver ballot measure intended to permit cannabis consumption in certain private places in order to reduce it in public spaces, announced Tuesday that it had received several major political endorsements. The Democratic Party of Denver, New Era Colorado, State Sen. Irene Aguilar of Denver, and State Rep. Jonathan Singer have joined more than 100 local businesses and organizations that are encouraging Denver residents to vote “YES” on 300 to establish a Neighborhood-Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program.

I-300 would permit certain private establishments to allow adult cannabis consumption in designated areas if they follow a number of guidelines. The city will only issue permits to establishments that have received formal support from their officially recognized neighborhood organization or business-improvement district. A full description of I-300 is available here.

I-300 received the support of nearly three-fourths of the voting members of the Denver Democratic Party’s Central Committee. Multiple precinct captains and party leaders spoke in favor of Initiative 300, while no members spoke in opposition. Sen. Aguilar was among party members who spoke in support of I-300, citing a need for places where tourists and residents can safely and legally consume cannabis if they do not have a private residence where they can do so.

[caption id="attachment_10077" align="alignright" width="200"] Del. David Moon[/caption]

The Marijuana Policy Project announced Wednesday that it is endorsing Del. David Moon for the Maryland Senate in District 20. The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee is expected to appoint a successor to Sen. Jamie Raskin, who is running for Congress.

As a member of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Delegates, David Moon has been an impassioned leader and a continuous advocate for marijuana policy reform, including acting as an important sponsor of legislation to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. While some Democratic members of the House were joining their Republican counterparts in co-sponsoring bills to recriminalize smoking in public, which would have continued the racially disparate enforcement of the criminal law against people of color, Del. Moon was trying to move Maryland’s policy forward.

For example, he introduced a bill to help victims of prohibition expunge past convictions for marijuana possession. This is especially important because African Americans in Maryland have historically been 2.9 times more likely to be arrested for possession despite very similar usage rates. Thus, Black Marylanders are more likely to be burdened with a criminal record that can derail their ability to get a job and cause other collateral consequences — an issue that was not addressed in the decriminalization bill.

Delegate Moon is as impassioned about bridge-building as he is about policy solutions. He regularly crosses the aisle to discuss key civil liberties and decriminalization issues with conservative colleagues from across the state.

The FBI just released its annual Crime in the United States report, detailing national crime data for 2015. According to the report, marijuana arrests are at a two decade low. This is definitely a good sign, but even one marijuana arrest is too many, and more than one marijuana arrest occurs every minute.

Huffington Post reports:

...authorities in the U.S. made 643,000 arrests for marijuana-related charges in 2015 ― or about one every 49 seconds. Charges related to the drug accounted for 5.9 percent of all arrests, and about 43.2 percent of all drug arrests. 

The number of marijuana arrests has been generally decreasing since peaking in 2007. That year, police made 872,720 total arrests related to the drug, including 775,137 for possession. Just about 574,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2015 involved possession, and arrests for the sale and manufacture of the drug reached a nearly 25-year low.

...

Opponents to legalization often downplay the significance of marijuana arrests, arguing that they don’t lead to severe punishments and that a very small percentage of Americans wind up jailed for low-level marijuana offenses. 

Yet a recent report from the Drug Policy Alliance found that getting arrested for marijuana can still significantly affect a person, even though marijuana-related penalties have been scaled back in many places over recent years. 

“A marijuana arrest is no small matter,” reads the report, which also shows that most people arrested for marijuana are held in jail for a day or more. Many are also branded with a permanent criminal record, which can hurt their employment status and access to education and housing. 

Additionally, a one-year HuffPost analysis of jail deaths found that several inmates arrested on a marijuana offense died behind bars.

Such arrests are also costly ― authorities spend approximately $3.6 billion annually enforcing laws against marijuana possession, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

With five states considering initiatives to regulate marijuana like alcohol in November, another three voting on medical marijuana initiatives, and lobbying efforts planned in dozens of states next year, we could start to see those numbers drop even more in the coming years. There is still much work to do.

In addition to providing for state-legal dispensaries, the bills will finally allow Michigan patients to use extracts and products like oils and edibles that are made from them.

MPP thanks the National Patients Rights Association and those who support it for working so hard to help guide these changes in the best direction possible

On September 14, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed A 457, which adds post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for the state’s medical marijuana program. Christie, who has frequently said he opposes medical marijuana, cited the large number of PTSD sufferers among military veterans as his reason for supporting the bill.

This law takes effect immediately, and you can find instructions on how to register as a patient here.