Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee neutered two marijuana policy reform bills. Instead of considering the proposed policies on their merits, the committee completely amended the content of the bills to create a task force to study the issues. The two bills, SB 364 and HB 880, formerly would have respectively decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana and regulated marijuana similarly to alcohol.

[caption id="attachment_7447" align="alignright" width="144"] Rep. Bobby Zirkin[/caption]

The decriminalization bill, sponsored by Sen. Bobby Zirkin, has passed the Senate two years in a row with overwhelming bipartisan support — most recently, last month, in a 36-8 vote.

The Committee acted two days after D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray signed into law the most lenient decriminalization law in the country, and the same day as a national survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 76% of Americans don't think people should be jailed for simple possession.

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A poll released yesterday by the Pew Research Center showed that for the second year in a row a majority of Americans (54%) support making marijuana legal. This represents a two percent increase in support from last year. Only 42% support keeping marijuana illegal. Three-quarters of those polled think that the sale and use of marijuana will eventually be legal nationwide.

The poll also revealed that 69% of respondents see alcohol as more harmful to individual health than marijuana, and 63% think alcohol is more dangerous to society.

Pew’s nationwide survey of 1,821 adults was conducted February 14-23. Detailed survey results are available at .

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A recent survey by WebMD found that 69 percent of health professionals said marijuana “can help with certain treatments and conditions.” The finding is surprising in contrast to the consumers’ response to the question, which only yielded a 52 percent approval of the notion.

The numbers continued to climb when the results were narrowed by the doctor’s specialty. “Oncologists and hematologists showed the highest level, with 82% saying marijuana delivers real benefits to patients.” Of course, these doctors have a high percentage because medical marijuana has a long history of being used to treat cancer pain and nausea related to chemotherapy; it has also been used to stimulate appetite.

The survey also looked at how much doctors and the general public favor legalizing medical marijuana, which still showed doctors at a higher rate, but just incrementally.

WebMD’s survey questioned 1,544 doctors and 2,960 people from the general public between Feb. 23 and Feb. 26, 2014 nationwide.

Here are the findings:

 Doctors:

• 69% say it can help with certain treatments and conditions.
• 67% say it should be a medical option for patients.
• 56% support making it legal nationwide.
• 50% of doctors in states where it is not legal say it should be legal in their states.
• 52% of doctors in states considering new laws say it should be legal in their states.

Consumers:

• 50% support making it legal nationwide.
• 49% of consumers in states where it is not legal say it should be legal in their states.
• 52% say it can help with treatments and conditions.
• 45% say the benefits outweigh the risks.

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Last week, the Mississippi General Assembly overwhelmingly passed HB 1231, which would legalize certain, very limited medical marijuana extracts for patients suffering from seizure disorders. While this bill is a strong endorsement of the medical benefits of marijuana by the Mississippi legislature, it is extremely limited and does not even create a realistic way for patients to obtain the extracts.

[caption id="attachment_7490" align="alignright" width="179"] Gov. Phil Bryant[/caption]

The bill, approved by the House 112-6 and the Senate 49-0, now heads to Gov. Phil Bryant, who is expected to sign it. If enacted, it would apply only to patients suffering from epileptic conditions, leaving the vast majority of patients behind. Furthermore, patients would only be able to use marijuana extracts that contain no more than 0.5% THC and more than 15% CBD.

The bill also only allows three specific medical research centers — the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi, the Department of Pharmacy Services at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station at Mississippi State University — to produce or possess the marijuana extracts for research. Given that federal law does not allow medical marijuana, it is extremely unlikely that universities will produce marijuana.

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A battle is underway in Minnesota, where Gov. Mark Dayton is standing in the way of an otherwise widely supported medical marijuana bill because he does not want to upset his friends in law enforcement.

The governor is under intense pressure to support the bill, but time is running out in the legislative session, so we are cranking up the heat with an aggressive TV ad that will begin airing tonight throughout Minnesota. It features St. Paul mom Angela Garin and her five-year-old son, Paxton — who suffers from a rare condition that causes hundreds of seizures per day — calling on Gov. Dayton to stop blocking the legislation. It should make waves because the governor is currently under fire in the media fortelling patients and parents like Angela to just find medical marijuana on the street!

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[caption id="attachment_7485" align="alignright" width="152"] Sen. Iris Martinez[/caption]

Last Tuesday, all eight members of the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee who were present at the public hearing voted to advance a bill that would add seizure conditions to the list of qualifying medical conditions to the state medical cannabis program. The bill, SB 2636, sponsored by Sen. Iris Martinez, would allow access to both adults and minors for this serious condition.

Unlike the 19 other states with workable medical marijuana laws, Illinois currently prohibits physicians from recommending the use of medical marijuana for seriously ill patients based on a seizure condition. It’s time for Illinois to stop leaving behind people with seizure conditions and the families that support them. Seizure patients and the parents of children with the condition should have safe access to a medicine that is safer than many pharmaceutical medications.

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The New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association now officially supports legalizing the possession of marijuana, which is quite an unlikely source of support, since they are the principle group who prosecutes marijuana users in the state.

[caption id="attachment_7482" align="alignright" width="157"] Jon-Henry Barr[/caption]

“Each week, New Jersey police officers arrest hundreds of citizens for the disorderly persons offense of possession of under 50 grams of marijuana,” said Jon-Henry Barr, president of the board of trustees of the Municipal Prosecutors Association. “Those arrested include professionals and many people who would never think of committing any type of serious, victim-related crime.”

In an interview with Kathleen Hopkins from the Asbury Park Press, Barr enumerated the reasons why a strong majority (seven out of ten) of the association wants to support the legalization of marijuana:

• Requests by prosecutors to analyze samples of marijuana are overwhelming the state’s drug-testing laboratories, sometimes leading to dismissals of cases when defendants invoke their rights to speedy trials;

• Studies show that marijuana is less addictive than alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine;

• Marijuana is easier for high school students to obtain than alcohol because the sale of alcohol is strictly regulated;

• Very few of the thousands of DWI cases prosecuted annually are for driving under the influence of marijuana;

• Statistics show that African Americans are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana offenses than white people are, but there is no evidence to show there is disproportionately more marijuana use in minority communities;

• The state loses money by not collecting sales tax on marijuana, while drug dealers profit.

This much-needed support from the New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association comes at a pivotal time in the state’s struggle to define its stance on marijuana. Two bills have recently been introduced; one bill permits citizens to carry an ounce or less of marijuana, while the other sets up a tax-and-regulate system.

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The 18-year-old question as to whether or not legalizing medical marijuana causes an increase in crime seems to be answered in a recent study by a team of researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas this week. The results did not indicate a “crime exacerbating effect” of medical marijuana on any of the Part I offenses, which (according to the FBI) include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and auto theft.

Alternatively, states with medical marijuana laws showed a reduction in homicide and assault rates. This is congruent to other studies by The National Academy of Sciences that found THC -- the active ingredient in pot -- actually causes a decrease in "aggressive and violent behavior" in chronic marijuana users.

"The findings on the relationship between violence and marijuana use are mixed and much of the evidence points toward reductions in violent behavior for those who smoke marijuana," Robert Morris, the study’s lead author, said in a recent interview with the Huffington Post. "In fact, researchers have suggested that any increase in criminality resulting from marijuana use may be explained by its illegality, rather than from the substance itself."

These findings run counter to arguments that suggest making marijuana legal for medical purposes poses a danger to public health, in terms of exposure to violent crime and property crimes.

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On Wednesday, medical marijuana patients and advocates held an emotional press conference slamming Gov. Mark Dayton for bowing to law enforcement and stalling on a medical marijuana bill currently being considered in the Minnesota legislature.

Those present, several of them parents of children with severe forms of epilepsy who could benefit from medical marijuana, said the governor told them they should risk arrest and obtain their medicine from the illicit market.

"He told me, 'You can buy it on the street. It's decriminalized in Minnesota. There's a good distribution system here already,'" Jessica Hauser, 36, of Woodbury, told The Associated Press in an interview.

She said he also told her another option would be to buy it another state where medical marijuana was legal and bring it back to Minnesota.

"I told the governor that was unacceptable," said Hauser, who has another son who is 5. "I shouldn't have to become a criminal to help my son. I could lose both my children."

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The latest round of Battleground polls by George Washington University found respondents (nationally) would be 40% “much more likely” to visit the voting booth if marijuana’s legalization status was on the ballot. Thirty percent of respondents would be “somewhat” more likely as well. This brings the numbers up to a total of about 70% of voters who would be more likely to vote this fall if marijuana was in question.

Considering midterm elections have historically had low voter turnout, politicians are keeping a watchful eye on those states that have marijuana policy initiatives in the upcoming election. The results are promising for Democrats, because they tend to have a rougher time than Republicans in getting voters out in non-presidential election years.

The study goes on to show that 76 percent of liberals said they would be more likely to vote if marijuana was on the ballot, compared to a 64 percent for conservatives and 61 percent for moderates.

For instance, in Florida, Republican Governor Rick Scott’s reelection campaign says the “spillover effect” from high voter turnout because of the medical marijuana ballot question threatens to weigh the scales against him. In fact, the state’s Republicans feel so threatened that they have filed a legal challenge to keep the referendum off the ballot.

“It’s an issue that the Democrats can use to pump up the youth vote,” said Alex Patton, a Republican political consultant and pollster based in Gainesville, Florida. “The politics of it are dangerous for the GOP.”

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