Hemp legalization added to Senate farm bill

By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, June 7

In a last minute addition to the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has submitted an amendment that would legalize the production of industrial hemp, a potential new bumper crop for U.S. farmers.

“Industrial hemp is used in many healthy and sustainable consumer products. However, the federal prohibition on growing industrial hemp has forced companies to needlessly import raw materials from other countries,” Wyden said in prepared text. “My amendment to the Farm Bill will change federal policy to allow U.S. farmers to produce hemp for these safe and legitimate products right here, helping both producers and suppliers to grow and improve Oregon’s economy in the process.”
Allowing American farmers to produce industrial hemp, which is different from its more notorious cousin marijuana, would yield significant and immediate profits the first year, according to an analysis conducted in 1998 (PDF) by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Kentucky. (CONTINUE READING)

White House Denies Responsibility for Confusing Everyone About Medical Marijuana

Scott Morgan
Stop The Drug War

In a long piece detailing Obama’s badly botched approach to medical marijuana, the San Francisco Chronicle has a rather ridiculous quote from the White House:

A White House spokesman said that its position on medical marijuana "has been clear and consistent." 

"While the prosecution of drug traffickers is a core priority, targeting individuals with cancer and serious illnesses is not the best allocation of federal law enforcement resources," said the spokesman, Adam Abrams.

It’s really an amazing thing to say, considering that literally nobody understands what the hell Obama’s position on medical marijuana is supposed to be anymore.(CONTINUE READING)

Willie Nelson pot possession charge shows ludicrousness of marijuana prohibition

NaturalNews) Marijuana prohibition is the cornerstone of the U.S. police state. It gives cops a reason to search vehicles and keeps DEA employees on the payroll while filling the prisons with literally millions of people who have harmed no one except themselves.

Country singer superstar Willie Nelson is the latest victim of this police state marijuana prohibition. His vehicle was stopped at an immigration checkpoint (yes, immigration) in Sierra Blanca, Texas, where an officer claimed he smelled pot. A search of the vehicle turned up six ounces of marijuana for which Willie Nelson was arrested along with two other people.

For the record, Willie Nelson is 77 years old. The whole point of arresting people and sending them to prison is to isolate violent, dangerous people from the rest of the public in order to protect public safety. Does anybody seriously believe that Willie Nelson is a threat to public safety? He's practically the most harmless guy on the planet.
(CONTINUE READING)

Voters approve Arizona medical marijuana measure | Top AP Stories | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

PHOENIX — Arizona voters have approved a measure that will legalize medical marijuana use in the state for people with chronic or debilitating diseases.
Final vote tallies showed Saturday that Proposition 203 won by a tiny margin of just 4,341 votes out of more than 1.67 million votes counted. The measure had started out losing on Election Day by about 7,200 votes, but the gap gradually narrowed in the following 10 days.

"Now begins the very hard work of implementing this program in the way it was envisioned, with very high standards," said Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project. "We really believe that we have an opportunity to set an example to the rest of the country on what a good medical marijuana program looks like."
Arizona is the 15th state to approve a medical marijuana law. California was the first in 1996, and 13 other states and Washington, D.C., have since followed suit.
The Arizona measure will allow patients with diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and any other "chronic or debilitating" disease that meets guidelines to buy 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks or grow plants.
The patients must get a recommendation from their doctor and register with the Arizona Department of Health Services. The law allows for no more than 124 marijuana dispensaries in the state.
Backers of Proposition 203 have argued that thousands of patients faced "a terrible choice" of suffering with a serious or even terminal illness or going to the criminal market for pot. They collected more than 252,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot — nearly 100,000 more than required.
All Arizona's sheriff's and county prosecutors, the governor, attorney general and many other politicians came out against the proposed law. ( CONTINUE READING)

AZ CENTRAL ARTICLE
http://www.marijuana-movies.com/3151/proposition-203-passes-medical-marijuana-approved-az-central-com-blog/

UPDATE: Now, citizens of Arizona will be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for personal use every two weeks, and will be able to grow their own marijuana for medicinal purposes if they live more than 25 miles away from a dispensary.