Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 29 Jul 2014 04:20:21 PST
Oregon: Marijuana Regulation Measure Qualifies For 2014 Ballot
Salem, OR: Oregon voters will decide this November whether to approve a statewide initiative to regulate the commercial production and retail sale of marijuana. State election officials announced on Tuesday that petitioners, New Approach Oregon, had submitted enough valid signatures from registered voters to qualify the measure for the 2014 ballot.
The proposed ballot initiative (Initiative Petition 53) seeks to regulate the personal possession, commercial cultivation, and retail sale of cannabis to adults. Adults who engage in the non-commercial cultivation of limited amounts of cannabis for personal use (up to four marijuana plants and eight ounces of usable marijuana at a given time) will not be subject to taxation or commercial regulations.
Passage of the initiative would not "amend or affect in any way the function, duties, and powers of the Oregon Health Authority under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act."
Alaska voters will decide on a similar legalization initiative in November. Florida voters will also decide in November on a constitutional amendment to allow for the physician-authorized use of cannabis therapy.
More information @ https://newapproachoregon.com
House Members Vote To Limit Restrictions On State-Approved Marijuana Commerce
Washington, DC: A majority of members of the US House of Representatives voted last week in favor of an amendment that restricts the Treasury Department's ability to take action against financial institutions that possess relations with businesses engaged in state-sanctioned activities specific to cannabis commerce.
The amendment, offered by Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) states, "None of the funds made available in this Act may be used ... to prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discourage a financial institution from providing financial services to an entity solely because the entity is a manufacturer, producer, or person that participates in any business or organized activity that involves handling marijuana or marijuana products and engages in such activity pursuant to a law established by a State or a unit of local government."
Members of the House decided 231 to 192 in favor of the amendment. Forty-five Republicans and all but 12 House Democrats backed the measure. The amendment now awaits additional action by members of the US Senate.
In May, a majority of the US House of Representatives voted in favor of a budgetary amendment to the 2015 Commerce, Justice, and Appropriations Bill that restricts the Justice Department's ability to take action against those who are compliant with state medical cannabis laws. However, members of the US Senate have yet to take any action on the bill.
District Of Columbia: Minor Marijuana Possession Offenses Now Punishable By $25 Fine
Washington, DC: A municipal ordinance took effect last Thursday reducing minor marijuana possession offenses in the District of Columbia from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil violation.
The new law amends District law involving the possession or transfer of up to one ounce of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor (formerly punishable by up to 6 months incarceration and a maximum fine of $1,000) to a civil violation (punishable by a $25.00 fine, no arrest, no jail time, and no criminal record). Members of the DC City Council approved the change this past spring in response to data indicating that the District possessed the highest percentage of marijuana possession arrests per capita in the nation.
Although Congressman Andrew Harris (R-MD) has introduced language to undermine the implementation of this act, members of the Senate have so far failed to take up the issue. Representative Harris' plan is also strongly opposed by the White House.
The District's $25.00 fine-only measure is similar to existing 'decriminalization' laws in California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont where private, non-medical possession of marijuana is treated as a civil, non-criminal offense. Five additional states - Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio - treat marijuana possession offenses as a fine-only misdemeanor offense.
Three states - Alaska, Colorado, and Washington - impose no criminal or civil penalty for the private possession of small amounts of marijuana.
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