ArkNORML News-
January 2008
______________________________________________________________
Next Meet up for Reform Activists! Wednesday, January 23, 7
pm
at the LR Main Library, `100 S. Rock Street, 1st Floor west
meeting room.
Agenda Items:
Is there a doctor in the house? We have received s few calls
from patients who are looking for a doctor who is willing to
write a prescription or a letter of recommendation for
marijuana to relieve pain or symptoms. Most all doctors are
unwilling to jeopardize their hard earned license on such a
move, but we keep asking.
Massachusetts will vote on a decriminalization initiative this
year. One more shot at the legislature in 2009, then we will
try the same route.
The state's inmate population has reached 14,000. No one
knows how many are in for marijuana crimes. But one is too
many.
Our web page master is not keeping the site current. We need
a volunteer to take on this important task.
The Fayettville De-prioritization initiative is under way..
Just 3,000 signatures will put this measure on the November
ballot.
Rep directories, activist brochures and buttons will all be
available at the meeting. Peace.
____________________________________________________________________
Reform Report Card
By Glen Schwarz
Arkansas just got tired of having the presidential race
decided by the time we voted in our party primaries in May.
So last year the ledge moved up the presidential primary to
February 5, creating a Super Duper Tuesday, a national
primary day that will virtually decide the major party
nominees.
Fourteen candidates will appear on the major party
ballots here, 8 Democrats and 6 Republican. The Green
Party has also placed 4 candidates on its primary ballot.
We assume they are all for reefer reform, since it is a part
of their party platform.
In the early primary states, most notably New Hampshire,
the Marijuana Policy Project has sent citizens to ask the
hopefuls how they stand on Medical marijuana or
decriminalization of the herb. Here is how they shake out.
Candidate Medical Marijuana Decrim.
Grade
D. Kuccinich Yes Yes
A
D. Dodd Yes
Yes A
M. Gravel Yes
Yes A
B. Richardson Yes
? B
H. Clinton Yes
No C
B. Obama Yes
No C
J. Edwards Yes
No C
J. Biden Yes
NO! D
Republicans
R. Paul Yes
Yes A
M. Huckabee No
No F
R Giuliani
No No F
M. Romney No
No F
J. McCain No
No F
F. Thompson ?
No D
All of these candidates also have a record based upon
their public service, some of which is noteworthy in regards
reefer reform. Congressman Ron Paul (R- Texas), introduced
a bill in the last Congress to re-legalize hemp for American
farmers. Governor Richardson, D- NM) signed into law the
most advanced medical marijuana law in the country,
providing for supply of those patients in need of the
effective herb.
Hillary, you Prohibitionist Bitch
Some of the other candidates have distinguished
themselves as ardent prohibitionists. Most notably Joe
Biden, whose rabid drug war record stands out in Congress.
Then there is Mayor Giuliani, who set the NYPD on a spree of
marijuana busts in New York city. Finally there are our
homegrown favorites: the Clintons and Mike Huckabee, whose
main contribution seems to be the building of prisons.
Plenty of brick and mortar went into spanking new Federal
and state prisons at Malvern, Forrest City, Batesville and
Calico Rock. These are filled with drug users and dealers,
helping making the U.S. the leading prison-police state in
the entire world. Expect more of the same if any of these Arkies
become our next executive.
See the Hempy Cafe
If you have cable you can check out "the Hempy Cafe" on
Wednesday nights at midnight on Comcast channel 18 in Little
Rock. Come to the meeting and you can do a 5 minute rant
for the show! For more info call 568-1598 or check our
webpage at ArkNORML.org.
_____________________________________________________________________
ASA Convinces Committee Chair to Intervene on
Intimidation
Congress may intervene with the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration over the DEA's recent attacks on medical
marijuana in California, thanks in part to ASA's lobbying
on behalf of patients.
Chairman John Conyers (D-Michigan)
The DEA's new acting administrator of the DEA, Michele
Leonhart, will soon be forced to answer "sharp questions"
about its latest tactics, according to a December 7
statement issued by Representative John Conyers (D, MI),
chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, which
has oversight of the DEA.
ASA Government Affairs Director Caren Woodson has been on
Capitol Hill urging Rep. Conyers and other members of
Congress to rein in the DEA. The DEA has sent what it
describes as "courtesy" letters to hundreds of landlords
in California, threatening them with imprisonment and
forfeiture of their property for renting space to legal
patient collectives that dispense cannabis in accordance
with California law.
Rep. Conyers’ statement, which notes that the committee
has already "questioned the DEA about its efforts to
undermine California state law" on medical marijuana, says
that he is "deeply concerned" about the DEA's attempt to
"evict organizations legally dispensing medical marijuana
to suffering patients." And Rep. Conyers is not the only
one speaking out. akland Mayor Ron Dellums, who
served in the House with Conyers for 27 years, denounced
the tactic in late December and asked his former
colleagues on Capitol Hill to investigate. The mayor's
action came thanks in part to the lobbying of a coalition
of activists, including ASA, the Marijuana Policy Project
and the Drug Policy Alliance.
"The DEA's recent surge tactics, such as the dissemination
of threatening letters to property owners and unrelenting
raids that continue to place citizens in harm's way,
undermine state and local authority, and jeopardize the
integrity of state law," Dellums wrote. He noted that
Oakland has a "long history of successful regulation" of
its cannabis dispensaries. Mayor Dellums’ call for action
comes on the heels of a resolution by the Oakland City
Council earlier in the week, which also called for
Congressional hearings on the DEA's intimidation tactics.
The hundreds of letters sent to landlords throughout
California, in addition to the more than 50 raids on
medical cannabis collectives in the state, represent a
serious escalation of federal interference with the
state's efforts to care for its most seriously ill and
injured citizens. ASA's National Office will continue to
work with Conyers' staff and other Democratic leadership
in the New Year to ensure that the voice of patients and
property owners are heard on Capitol Hill.
Chairman Conyers' statement is available online at
www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Conyers.
| For Immediate Release |
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey |
| December 07, 2007 |
Melanie Roussell |
(Washington, DC)- House Judiciary Committee Chairman
John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released the following statement
today about reports that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
is threatening private landlords for housing legal medical
marijuana facilities:
I am deeply concerned about recent reports that the
Drug Enforcement Administration is threatening private
landlords with asset forfeiture and possible
imprisonment if they refuse to evict organizations
legally dispensing medical marijuana to suffering
patients. The Committee has already questioned the DEA
about its efforts to undermine California state law on
this subject, and we intend to sharply question this
specific tactic as part of our oversight efforts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARKNORML News- October 2007
____________________________________________________________________
Record Pot Busts for 2006
by
Paul Armentano policy analyst
for the NORML Foundation in Washington, D.C.
What would cops do without weed? For one thing, they'd sure
spend a lot less time arresting and processing petty pot
violators. How much time? However long it took to bust the
estimated 739,000 Americans arrested for minor pot possession in
2006.
That's according to the
FBI's Uniform Crime Report,
which reported last week that a record 829,625 Americans were
arrested for violating marijuana laws last year. Of those
arrested, 89 percent of those were charged with simple pot
possession -- the highest annual total ever recorded and nearly
three times the number of citizens busted 15 years ago.
Yet to hear local law enforcement spin it, busting small-time
potheads isn't their priority. The record number of busts, they
claim, is simply a reflection that record numbers of Americans
are now smoking pot. But don't tell Drug Czar John Walters that.
After all, the czar just
claimed earlier this month --
at a press conference announcing the release of the federal
Office of Applied Studies (OAS) 2006 National Survey on Drug Use
and Health -- that pot use has been declining for the better
part of the past five years.
Predictably, both the cops and the drug czar are playing fast
and loose with the facts. Yes, in fact more Americans are now
admittedly consuming pot today than in 1991 (so much for the
past 15 years of the so-called "war on drugs"), but this
increase is hardly proportional to the dramatic spike in overall
pot arrests. As for Walter's comments, while the survey did
indeed report a minor decline in adolescents' self-reported use
of pot, it further reported a minor uptick in the total number
of Americans who report using marijuana regularly, from 14.6
million in 2005 to 14.8 million in 2006. Of course, a less than
2 percent increase in pot users from '05 to '06 doesn't
explain why pot arrests jumped more than five percent from a
then-record 786,545 to today's total. Or why the overall number
of annual pot arrests has gone up every consecutive year but two
for the past 16 years. Perhaps the explanation is two-fold. It's
plausible that the federal government is -- and always has --
greatly underestimated the number of Americans who use pot.
(Does anyone really believe that cops are busting -- on average
-- five percent of all pot smokers each year?) It's also
plausible that an outgrowth of the ever-growing number of cops
on the street (and citizens' increasing number of interactions
with them) is inevitably leading to more and more pot arrests.
However, regardless of the explanation, it seems remiss for
police and politicians not to acknowledge this growing trend and
its burdensome fiscal and perhaps even cultural implications.
The bottom line: Since 1990 over 10.4 million Americans --
predominantly young people under age 30 -- have been busted for
pot. Thousands
have been disenfranchised, tens
of thousands have been unnecessarily sent to "drug treatment,"
hundreds of thousands have lost their eligibility for student
aid, and perhaps an entire generation (or two) has been
alienated to believe that the police are an instrument of their
oppression rather than their protection. These are the tangible
results of the government's stepped up war on pot -- results
that go beyond the FBI's record numbers, and it's high time that
politicians and the general public began taking notice.
NORML Stuff
For more legalization rant see the Hempy Cafe on Wednesday nights
at Midnite,
on Comcast Channel 18 in Little Rock.
Next meeting of ArkNORML: Wed. Oct. 17, 7 pm
at the LR Main Library, 1st floor west meeting room.
The Power to Tax..... by Glen Schwarz, ArkNORML
Pres. 2007
" The power to tax is the power to control". Perhaps our
democratic society has forgotten or never learned this axiom.
Instead of using taxation as the main means of governmental power,
the United States has resorted to direct police and criminal
incarceration methods.
The result is a supposedly free country that leads the world
by a wide margin in the rate at which we imprison our own people.
Looking back at the sorry history of marijuana prohibition, we
find that Louisiana was the first state to criminalize marijuana,
as a racist reaction to the growing success of New Orleans jazz
musicians. Within ten years however, every state in the Union
followed suit, culminating in the Federal marijuana tax act of
1937.
The key word in the '37 law is TAX. A $100 an ounce tax was
placed on the herb, a ridiculous amount at the time. But
ironically, consumers of good quality marijuana would be happy to
pay that amount today, rather than face the multi-year
incarceration threat common in the 39 states that have not
decriminalized personal possession.
Fortunately, the cost of maintaining a prison-police state has
drawn the attention of some Arkansas lawmakers. Four state
Senators promised some action in the next legislature of 2008.
The volunteer activists of Arkansas NORML will walk the halls and
point out the irony of the statistics to anyone who will listen.
And the Alliance for Drug Policy Reform is casting about for grant
money to hire a professional lobbyist. The Arkansas ledge only
meets for 3 months every two years, so we have to be ready from
day 1.
Here is another fact; 8,000 people will be busted for marijuana
crimes in the Natural State this year. Do you think we could
possibly get 8 people in the Capitol city to stand up and oppose
this tyranny? Last time I checked, the freedom of speech and
assembly were still intact, even here in Arkansas. Use them, or
they become useless.
----------------------------------------------------------------
ArkNORML News April 2007
Contact Info: PO Box 191031, Little Rock Ar. 72219; (501) 568-1598;
lrnorml@juno.com or normlschwarz@yahoo.com
________________________________
The quarterly meeting of the Arkansas chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws will held on......
Wednesday, April 18, 6:30 pm (7 pm for returning members)
Little Rock Main Library, 100 S. Rock, 1rst floor west meeting room.
Agenda: I. Introduction and distribution of materiel'.
II. Roll and call to order
III. Officer's reports and announcements
note Treasury = $8, so buy a button or something
IV. Committee Reports
A. Lobbying- Property Forfeiture Reform net result from 2007 session
B. Eureka Springs and UA student government votes
C. Education: Buttons and literature
D. NORML does Hemp!
V. Open Forum- New Mexico passes medical bill, Gov. Bill Richardson
signs it!
VI. Set next meeting and adjourn
2007 State Legislature- Session Report
Since our hero Jim Lendall was term limited in 2004, reformers were
shut out in the 2005 legislative session. All that we could muster
in hours of lobbying were vague promises to do something this year.
Well that year is now, and the promises of politicians are as
ephemeral as ever. Senator Bryles of Blytheville, who supports
decrim, would not pull the trigger by himself and introduce a real
bill. Instead he filed a shell bill, with hopes to fill it in as the
session progressed.
On March 30 the State Senate Judiciary committee adjourned without
considering SB 934 or 935. This is not surprising since these were
still shell bills. The legislature itself adjourned on Tuesday April
2.
Summoning Senator Bryles out of chambers to explain this somewhat
pathetic effort, he appeared after a time with 3 other Senators in
tow. They were Senators Baker, Luker and Pritchard. Bryles said that
all of these men were aware of the problem, and that there is
bi-partisan support for doing some reforms. In other words, it looks
good for a limited decrim measure next year or perhaps in a special
session.
Bryles liked the rewrite of the simple decrim bill. Basically he
said that the session ended faster than he expected. The modified
decrim bill and current law are listed below.
Looking for any grain of progress from our neo prison-police state,
Senator Luker passed a property forfeiture reform, SB 859. In
section 7(B) the bill exempts conveyances and Real Property from
forfeiture for violation of 5-64-401 (c), possession of various
drugs. The bill became law by the signature of Governor Mike Beebe,
and is now Act 493.
In Solidarity, Glen Schwarz
Pres. of ArkNORML
--------------------------------------------------
Suggested text for SB 935
Section 1: Arkansas Statute 5-64-401 is hereby amended by adding a
new subsection as follows:
"(i) 1. Provided that a person has no controlled substance
convictions in the previous seven years, any person who knowingly or
intentionally is in unlawful possession of one ounce (28.4 grams) or
less of marijuana is guilty of a violation, punishable by a fine of
not more than $200.
2. A second offense of possession of marijuana within 7 years shall
be punishable as a Class C misdemeanor.
3. A third or subsequent offense of possession of marijuana within 7
years shall be punishable as a Class D felony.
4, Simple possession of marijuana shall not constitute a basis for
enhanced penalties, except for non-students convicted of possession
on public or private school grounds."
Section 2: All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.
_________________________________
Current Law; 5-64-401 subsection c
(c) Possession of Counterfeit or Controlled Substance.
(1) It is unlawful for any person to possess a controlled substance
or counterfeit substance unless the controlled substance or
counterfeit substance was obtained:
(A) Directly from or pursuant to a valid prescription or an order of
a practitioner while acting in the course of his or her professional
practice; or
(B) As otherwise authorized by this chapter.
(2) Any person who violates this subsection with respect to:
(A) A controlled substance classified in Schedule I or Schedule II
is guilty of a Class C felony;
(B) Any other controlled substance, first offense, is guilty of a
Class A misdemeanor;
(C) Any other controlled substance, second offense, is guilty of a
Class D felony; and
(D) Any other controlled substance, third or subsequent offense, is
guilty of a Class C felony.
____________________________________
Memo from HogNORML
Hey everyone!
We've got some bad news. Last night the Senate voted on our
resolution
to establish fair and realistic penalties for marijuana use by
students. Unfortunately, the Senate choose to play politics instead
of
filling their role as the representative body of the students. First
they voted to completely gut our bill, then they completely shut of
out of debate while the opposition essential told lies about what
our
bill would do. In the end, we only got 7 or 8 yes votes.
This only proves how much work we have left to do on this school.
Unfortunately, the ASG has proven themselves to be an obstacle to
reform instead of an asset, and we will bear this in mind when the
Fall Senate elections come around.
We have our weekly meeting Thursday at 7PM in Union 504. We'll be
talking about where we go from here, and discussing our upcoming
4/20
Concert-Rally. I hope to see everyone at the meeting tomorrow.
Peace,
Jordan M Dickerson
President, NORML UofA
---------------------------------------------------------Summer
2006
They're Baaack
by Glen Schwarz
The New Year of 2007 greets many new faces in the centers of the
people's government. At City Hall a 50% turnover signifies a
populace uneasy with a growing violent crime rate. At the
statehouse there is a guaranteed 33% turnover due to term limits.
This does not translate into real choice in November however, as
Arkansas again claimed the title of least competitive state in the
Union. Here in Pulaski county, only one State Rep race went to the
voters in November. The other 14 were decided in primary style last
May.
So we've got some new faces and minds in the seats of gub'ment
power. What are we going to do with it? Dare we hope that these
reps will open their minds, and discard the puritan-police state
mentality that has held sway for nigh on 2 decades now? The facts
are clear; This nation now locks up more people than any other
country on the planet. There are over 2.2 million Americans in
prison. Meanwhile we have a higher murder rate than any other
advanced "civilized" country, by about a factor of ten. What to do?
To me the answer is as clear as stepping stones across a muddy
field. The solution to the drug problem is to reform the laws,
especially the marijuana laws, which are based mainly upon ignorance
and racism. And the solution to the violent crime problem is to
solve the drug problem! Eh voila. Write laws that make some
sense, and they will be obeyed. Inscribe laws based on deluded
perfectionism, and they will be ignored. Indeed anarchy, is a
legitimate response to tyranny. The tyranny of the majority or the
tyranny of the puritan plutocracy, whatever.
The NORML meet Jan. 17
Those of you not ready to jump into the anarchist camp may want
to mark your calendar for the Wednesday evening of January 17. That
will be the meeting of the Arkansas chapter of NORML, the local
chapter of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
We will have decrim bills, legalization bills, medical pot bills,
whatever you want to send to your state rep, city director,
Congressman or dog catcher. We'll have picture directories of your
elected representative, and links to other groups that stand for
reform.
The vital question is then, will we have you? For there is a
very small intersection between those that still believe that a
people could deign to govern themselves, and those that are too
fucked up to care. Come up out of the mud Frodo, and bring the ring
of power with you. Oh yes, the particulars of time and place:
ArkNORML meetin'
Wednesday, January 17, 6:30 pm
Little Rock Main Library, 100 S. Rock, First floor
west meeting room
ArkNORML News- October 2006
The Quarterly meeting of Arkansas NORML is set for:
Wednesday, October 18, 6:30- 8 pm.
LR Main Library, First floor west meeting room, (100 S. Rock
St.)
We now have bunches of material in regards contacting your state rep,
many of whom have already been elected to serve in the 2007 state
legislature.
These include:
League of Women Voters, Guide to elected official
Guide to Pulaski county officials
Program for the Restoration of Voting rights for felons
And we have bills ready to go:
Decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana
Depriority of pot as a local ordinance
Medical use of cannabis
Hemp as an agricultural crop
Take your pick of the cannabis reform issue that most interests you.
Pick up a copy of the bill at the meeting and contact your state rep
or Senator about doing something important. The short period between
the election and the holidays are is the best time to contact your
reps, before they become covered up busy.
All we need now, is you.
Yours Truly, Glen
Schwarz
Pres.
ArkNORML
____________________________
Eureka Has Found It!
by Glen Schwarz
(author's reprint from October "06 LR Free Press)
Voters in the tiny tourist town of Eureka Springs will be the first
in Arkansas to cast a ballot for a modest marijuana reform. An
initiated ordinance there would place enforcement of marijuana
possession laws at the lowest possible priority for the hamlet's police
department. At least 6 other cities have passed similar ordinances,
including Seattle, Oakland, and Columbia in Missouri. But this toehold
in Arkansas was accomplished by the verification of 144 valid voter
signatures on circulated petitions.
At first citizen activist Ryan Denham had targeted Fayetteville as
the scene of this first inroad towards reform. But a lack of volunteers
and the summer session on the UA campus caused him to re-think his
strategy. With the backing of UA NORML and the Arkansas Alliance for
Drug Policy Reform, Denham took his petition down the road a apiece to
the tourist Mecca of Eureka Springs. There amongst the ex-hippie
artisans and entrepreneurs his idea garnered enough support to make the
November 7 general election ballot. If the voters pass the measure, it
will not bind police to ignore the marijuana laws of the state, but it
will give some momentum to the cause and express a will of the people
for legislators to consider. At present Arkansas has some of the
harshest marijuana laws in the country.
Nevada to Vote on Outright Legalization
Meanwhile out west, Nevada reformers are making a
second attempt in four years to legalize possession and sale of cannabis
herb. The "Campaign for the Regulation and Control of Marijuana" is
shifting into high gear, and polls show the measure creeping ahead in
the polls.
In a second story office about a mile west of the Las Vegas strip,
organizers have set up a phone bank and campaign office. Their intent
is to make contact with every one of the half million voters in the
state to gauge their support and answer any questions they may have. No
pre-recorded messages here, the activists are using live employees and
volunteers trained in the issues to canvass the electorate.
Backed mainly by the Marijuana Policy Project of Washington DC, the
CRCM initiative will provide for not only legalization of simple
possession, but will tax and control the distribution of the
intoxicating herb. Modifying an old maxim of the Republic, "the power
to tax is the power to control." If the people of Nevada pass this
forward thinking proposal, then surely the racist archaic laws of
Arkansas would soon come up for review. You would think.
______________ The End _____________
|
Summer 2006
Fall 2005
Summer 2005
Spring 2005
Winter
2004
Summer 2004
Jack Herer may be speaking in
Fayetteville at the invitation of the the UA NORML chapter. The date set
is Wednesday, April 13, 2005. However we do not have all the details at this
press time, so more on the appearance of this notable hemp reformer and
journalist later. |
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