[caption id="attachment_6102" align="alignright" width="240"] David Boyer[/caption]

The Portland Press Herald interviewed David Boyer, the Maine political director of Marijuana Policy Project, about the specifics of Portland’s proposed measure to legalize marijuana for adults.

Following a vote by City Council on Monday, June 15, voters residing within city limits will be able to decide whether to remove all civil and criminal penalties for the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Portland’s City Council voted 5-1 to send the citizen-initiated ordinance to voters, rather than immediately adopting it.

Watch the interview to hear Boyer’s explanation of how the law might work if the measure passes (and past trends in the city indicate that it will). Boyer said the bill’s primary purpose is to stop “punishing adults for using marijuana, a substance that is safer than alcohol.”

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Since August 2012, Arizona has seen 98 registration certificates awarded for those wanting to open medical marijuana dispensaries. Last December saw the opening of the first dispensary, Arizona Organix, and 16 were reportedly open in late April 2013. However, Arizona state government has not been the industry’s biggest supporter.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, Rep. John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills, and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery have all done their part to derail progress for medical marijuana, and you can find those details here. Luckily, the courts have supported the will of the voters against challenges to the program. The Arizona Department of Health Services is still issuing ID cards for medical marijuana patients, and the list of approved dispensaries continues to grow.

New dispensaries are still burdened by heavy restrictions and regulations, but access to medical marijuana for patients has never been better. In fact, the Arizona Health Department reports that “47 dispensaries have been inspected and approved to operate, and 35 of those are open and operating throughout the state. Approximately 90% of all Arizonans now live within 25 miles of an operating dispensary.” Arizona’s medical marijuana industry, despite troubles from the government, continues to prosper and works to improve access to all patients in need.

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Portland, Maine may become the first city to defy both state and national marijuana laws. Following a vote by City Council on Monday, July 15, voters residing within city limits will have the opportunity to decide whether to remove all penalties for possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for adults 21 and older.

Portland’s City Council voted 5-1 to send the citizen-initiated marijuana legalization ordinance to voters on a November ballot, rather than immediately adopting it. The ordinance received twice as many signatures as was required.

[caption id="attachment_6740" align="alignright" width="213"] Regina Phillips, with MPP's David Boyer (back right)[/caption]

About a dozen speakers delivered presentations during the hearing and a pre-hearing press conference, including Portland City Councilor Dave Marshall, the Marijuana Policy Project’s Maine political director David Boyer, Maine NAACP Executive Committee member Regina Phillips, and Bob Talbot of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.

Phillips highlighted the racial disparities in the enforcement of marijuana laws. She cited recent FBI statistics showing that blacks in Maine are more than twice as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar use rates. “It has begun to feel like locking up young black men has become a national pastime,” she said.

Boyer and City Councilor Marshall emphasized the ineffectiveness of prohibition, the extreme financial costs of enforcement, and the fact that marijuana is objectively safer than alcohol.

“No one’s ever died from a lethal amount of pot,” Marshall told council members at the pre-hearing press conference. “Factually, [marijuana] is safer than alcohol. It doesn’t make logical sense for it to be illegal.”

Currently, Maine is one of 18 states to permit medical marijuana. Recent efforts to legalize marijuana statewide have been accelerating: LD 1229, a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol, was only narrowly defeated in the Maine legislature.

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A new study has affirmed that medical marijuana laws do not increase the likelihood that a young person will choose to smoke marijuana recreationally.

The study, “Effects of State Medical Marijuana Laws on Adolescent Marijuana Use,” compared teen use rates of marijuana in several states that now have medical marijuana laws from 2003 – 2011. Conducted by researchers at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, the study was published in the American Journal of Public Health last month.

Researchers found no evidence to support the claim that enacting medical marijuana laws would increase teen use in those states. Rather, of their statistically significant results, they found that teen use rates in one state actually declined after the passage of a medical marijuana law.

Dr. Sarah Landsman, a study author, said, “This is the exact opposite of what we would have expected if the medical marijuana laws were increasing teen recreational marijuana use.”

The results of this study are just the latest to join a growing body of evidence (including a 2012 study by the Institute for the Study of Labor, a 2012 study from McGill University in Montreal, a 2011 study from Brown University, a 2007 study from Texas A&M, and data on Arizona’s teen use rates, as well as this 2011 publication of California Pediatrician ) that medical marijuana laws do not cause the dreaded spike in adolescent use that many fear.

MPP regularly analyzes all available data from medical marijuana states for our Teen Use Report and reaches the same conclusions.

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The U.S. House of Representatives approved a revised version of the highly contested Farm Bill yesterday. Although representatives re-crafted the bill to remove provisions for food stamp funding, they left a hemp amendment intact.

The amendment would change federal law to allow for colleges and universities to grow hemp for research purposes in states where hemp cultivation and production is permitted by state law. The bill must still pass the Senate before final approval.

[caption id="attachment_6722" align="alignright" width="173"] James Comer[/caption]

Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado and Agriculture Commissioner James Comer of Kentucky expressed their support for the amendment. Comer said, “Without a doubt, this was an historic day for industrial hemp in America.”

The bill narrowly passed on a 216-208 vote.

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A retired Army veteran in Texas was recently barred from purchasing a gun after a background check turned up a misdemeanor marijuana conviction from 1971.

Ron Kelly, who served on the frontlines for 20 years (and fired “perhaps 100,000 rounds of government ammo” in that time), was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana while he was a high school student. He served a night in jail and a year of probation. As a result, he has been added to a list of Americans who are permanently prohibited from purchasing a gun.

[caption id="attachment_6718" align="alignleft" width="240"] Ron Kelly[/caption]

Kelly’s case is not unique: There have been several court rulings on the legality of denying marijuana users their Constitutional rights. In 2011, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana patients cannot be stripped of their rights to own guns. Texas law, however, states that citizens can be prevented from owning guns if they are convicted of certain crimes. And federal law prevents anyone who uses illegal drugs to own or possess a firearm.

Kelly has contacted U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul and Sen. John Cornyn for their assistance in resolving the issue.

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For medical marijuana dispensary owners and the patients who rely on them for access to their medicine, Colorado Congressman Ed Perlmutter’s (D) bill is common sense.

[caption id="attachment_6714" align="alignright" width="240"] Rep. Ed Perlmutter[/caption]

Perlmutter introduced legislation yesterday that would allow legal marijuana-related businesses to have access to traditional banking services. The Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act aims to accomplish this by updating federal banking laws to account for discrepancies with state laws: Currently, financial institutions are barred from working with any organization that sells a controlled substance, regardless of whether the state it resides in permits marijuana sales. Banks that violate this law risk losing their deposit insurance or their federal charter. If the bill is enacted, medical marijuana dispensaries – and the businesses getting ready to open for recreational marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington – will finally have access to bank accounts, credit cards, and loans.

Under the current system, medical marijuana dispensaries are forced to operate on a cash-only basis. For many businesses, this means storing hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal safes, carrying sacks full of hundreds to the state Department of Revenue in order to pay taxes, and looking for unusual sources of start-up revenue. For some businesses, the added burdens have forced them to close shop.

Jamie Lewis, a board member of the National Cannabis Industry Association and owner of two Denver-based medical marijuana companies, said, “Each year, my companies contribute to the five million dollars in tax revenue Colorado collects from the sales of medical marijuana. Making those tax payments is unnecessarily challenging because we do not have access to banking services other local businesses take for granted. Regulators, business owners, and medical marijuana patients alike all deserve the accountability, safety, and efficiency offered by this legislation.”

The bill has been backed by a bipartisan group of 16 Republicans and Democrats, including co-sponsors Jared Polis of Colorado and Denny Heck of Washington.

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Washington, D.C. Council member and mayoral candidate Tommy Wells (D – Ward 6) proposed a bill today that would decriminalize marijuana in the nation’s capital. Possession of up to an ounce would be punishable by a civil fine of $100 rather than by the current threat of jail time. The bill was also backed by Marion Barry (D – Ward 8).

Wells told reporters that decriminalization would save youths who are caught with small amounts of marijuana from becoming entangled in the criminal justice system and losing out on future employment opportunities.

The bill has arrived at an interesting time for marijuana reform advocates. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union released a report which found that D.C. leads the nation in marijuana possession arrests per capita. The study also found that arrests in the District were racially biased: African Americans were eight times more likely than whites to be arrested on marijuana charges. According to D.C. police statistics, there were roughly 4,300 marijuana possession arrests in 2011.

Surveys indicate that a majority of D.C. residents agree with Wells’ proposal. An April poll by Public Policy Polling found that 75% of D.C. residents support decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana. Additionally, 63% support taxing and regulating marijuana for adults.

MPP spokesman Morgan Fox was quoted in the Huffington Post as saying, “It is time to adopt a more sensible marijuana policy in our nation’s capital, and that is what Councilman Wells has proposed.”

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Robin Room, the director of Australia’s leading alcohol research center, has released a statement calling for the legalization of marijuana for adults. His support is based on research showing that marijuana is a less harmful alternative to alcohol.

[caption id="attachment_6702" align="alignleft" width="240"] Prof. Robin Room[/caption]

Professor Room said that if teenagers chose to use a substance in excess, they would be much safer after consuming marijuana than after binging on alcohol. “Cannabis is not without harm,” Room said, “but it’s substantially less than alcohol and tobacco in terms of social harm.”

He has said that the best way to reduce alcohol-fueled violence is by legalizing and regulating marijuana.

While Australia has not always been at the forefront of rational marijuana debate, it is good to see that science is winning. The relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol is finally starting to be recognized throughout the world.

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Doug and Patricia Rohrick are embroiled in a custody battle over their great-granddaughter. The Colorado couple told reporters that the El Paso County Department of Human Services denied their requests to adopt 10-month-old Saya because they were medical marijuana patients.

[caption id="attachment_6697" align="alignright" width="240"] Doug Rohrick with great-granddaughter Saya[/caption]

Mr. Rohrick said that he and his wife have been open about their legal medical use since the beginning of the adoption process – and even cared for the child without incident for several months - and that it was not a problem until a DHS employee’s intervention on Monday, June 8.

“They walked in with a cell phone in the air and handed it around to everybody and said the deputy director of DHS has stated that anybody with a medical marijuana card could not have custody of any children,” Rohrick said.

The El Paso County DHS has released conflicting statements regarding their policy of placing foster children with medical marijuana patients. In response to Rohrick’s claim, Executive Director Rick Bengtsson said there is no policy denying relatives custody because of marijuana use. Instead, he stated that custody decisions are made on a case-by-case basis with a premium on the child’s safety and well-being.

However, in 2010, Bengtsson issued a directive to the El Paso County DHS clarifying the organization’s policy as one of zero-tolerance. The directive stated: “EPC will not place children in licensed foster homes if a foster parent is using or intends to use medical marijuana, even though under state law they may do so legally.”

Child custody problems have become increasingly common among medical marijuana patients and advocates, due to the intolerance of state and local officials who think that marijuana use automatically makes one unfit to raise children. Recent victims include California mother Daisy Bram and outspoken Idaho activist Lindsey Rinehart.

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