cannabisnews.com: Pot Possession Decriminalized in California
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Pot Possession Decriminalized in California
Posted by CN Staff on October 01, 2010 at 14:08:13 PT
By  The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press
San Francisco, CA -- Possessing up to an ounce of marijuana in California is now no more serious than getting a speeding ticket. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law late Thursday that reduces possession of an ounce or less from a misdemeanor to an infraction, with a maximum punishment of a $100 fine.Even as a misdemeanor, possession of up to an ounce of pot was still punishable only by a $100 fine and no jail time. But offenders also faced arrest, a possible court appearance and a criminal record.
Schwarzenegger said after signing Senate Bill 1449 that he does not support decriminalization of marijuana, but the law would save the state courts money."In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket," the governor said in a statement.The bill authored by San Francisco Democratic Sen. Mark Leno was supported by the Judicial Council of California — the official policymaking body of the court system — and by the California District Attorneys Association.California's major police associations all opposed the legislation.Opponents said reducing possession to an infraction would discourage people cited for the offense from seeking state-funded drug treatment as provided for drug offenders under a ballot measure passed in 2000.The governor signed the pot law as state voters prepare to weigh in on a closely watched ballot measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use — a measure Schwarzenegger opposes.Proposition 19 would more or less make the new law irrelevant by legalizing possession of up to an ounce for personal use for adults 21 and older.Nevertheless, marijuana advocates praised the change enacted by the bill as they pointed to the spike in misdemeanor marijuana arrests in the state in recent years."Californians increasingly recognize that the war on marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources," said Dale Gieringer, director of the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and co-author of the state's landmark medical marijuana law.Authorities made more than 61,000 arrests for marijuana-related misdemeanors in 2008, the latest year for which data exists, California Department of Justice records show.In the prior decade, such arrests averaged about 48,000 until 2006, when the figure exceeded 50,000 for the first time.Source: Associated Press (Wire)Published:  October 1, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Associated PressCannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on October 03, 2010 at 09:43:55 PT
Daleks!
They are like Daleks!But then again, being an old time Dr. Who fan... maybe I see them like Daleks... because they act like them.I told you I got to meet Jon Pertwee once, by accident, in a Dallas store. Weird, I know. Dr. Who shopping in a Banana Republic in Dallas, Texas. I knew it was him though. He was very nice and seemed to enjoy that I had recognized him and we talked a bit. He gave me autographs, for the kids... and me... and he invited me to a sci fi convention that was going on there in Dallas at the time.Daleks! Dang it! We must "obey" and be their "slaves"... or be "exterminated". Aaargh. Or we can shut them down!
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on October 02, 2010 at 07:36:22 PT:
OMG Hope! Prohibs are Daleks in disguise!
Your comment about the prohib's usual knee-jerk reaction to any potential recreational drug prompted an old memory from my teen years, of watching the venerable old Dr. Who series. The chiefest, absolute baddest enemies of all life in the Galaxy (and who were often being thwarted by the heroic time-and-space traveling Doctor Who and his Human and otherwise companions) were the completely evil through-and-through, monomaniacally murderous, kill-crazy Daleks...whose speech emphasized every syllable, and every word carried menace. They'd get into absolute frenzies, repeating the same sentences together in their weird vocoder voices, their favorite being "Ex-ter-mee-nate them! Ex-ter-mee-nate them!"Some YouTubes of Daleks: http://tinyurl.com/2uoomsvI could just imagine one as a prohib saying about any recreational drug other than alcohol or tobacco, "Il-le-gal! Il-le-gal! It-must-be-made-il-le-gal!" The same kind of narrow-as-an-ax-blade-mindedness...
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on October 01, 2010 at 21:27:54 PT
Paint with light
I saw that article too. Very interesting. As I read it I kept thinking this sounds familiar... but different.Maybe we're going to see some real changes for the good all over about lots of things. I hope so.But you know the preventionists/prohibitionist went crazy when they saw that article and starting chanting... "Illegal! Illegal! It has to be made illegal!"Prohibition of plants like this one, and quite a few others, has to be made illegal.
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Comment #8 posted by Paint with light on October 01, 2010 at 20:54:59 PT
OT but relavent
Notice the parallels between the effects of this plant and cannabis.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101001/ap_on_he_me/af_south_africa_happy_plantAs I read the piece I couldn't help but think of the same words being used to describe cannabis."For hundreds of years, indigenous South Africans have chewed a plant they say reduces stress, relieves hunger, sedates and elevates moods. Now they have a license to study and market it, and plan to sell it over-the-counter worldwide."Except for the hunger part, how is this any different than cannabis?"Researchers say the plant, called sceletium tortuosum, has great potential and could also help boost the local economy."I want some seeds."The plant - known within South Africa as Kanna, Channa or Kougoed - has been used by the San people to reduce hunger, thirst and fatigue and is said to have sedative, hypnotic and mood-elevating effects. It is commonly chewed, but also can be made into tea or smoked."Maybe we could create a cross and call it channabis.....no munchies just fun.Of course there is the final ominous paragraph."It may be some time before consumers get a chance to try a pill containing the plant's extracts, which they hope to market over-the-counter as Zembrin. Nurnberger said she does not know whether the product has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."Sounds like they want to Americanize it.................Process it, extract it, chemicalize it. patent it, and then outlaw the original safe natural form.We can only hope that the passage of prop 19 signals a retreat from this type of thinking.Legal like alcohol......and less processed and non-toxic.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 01, 2010 at 18:34:28 PT
Had Enough
You said: And BTW thanks for the decrim...But we need more than that... I agree!
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Comment #6 posted by Had Enough on October 01, 2010 at 18:32:32 PT
Too Little...Too Late...
So Arnold wants to throw a bone out for us to chew on...Amazing how when Proposition 19 gains some steam...Here comes Big Brother to the rescue.Arnold nixed/Nixioned every cannabis bill that came to his desk to be signed, including hemp bills. But with Proposition 19 staring him and his phony cronies in their faces...they come up with this as a last resort to foil the big day of November, and try to make the people feel as though they are not mean-spirited in the end.If Ah-nuld were for real he would have signed every one of those bills that hit his desk. But as we all know...He is nothing more than an actor who married up in life.Hey Ah-nuld...Where there is smoke there is fire. Don’t go away mad...Just go away...And take a few of your well connected buddies with you...And BTW thanks for the decrim...But we need more than that... We The People know decrim means nothing more than jackboot selective enforcement, while collecting cash from the very people you govern.
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on October 01, 2010 at 17:59:42 PT:
We can't be bought with table scraps, Ah-nuld
We're not cheap, Governator. The prohibs are REALLY desperate now...and with good reason. Prop19 is still picking up steam, still moving forward. Cannabists across the country know that...and so do our opponents.So, they'll try to sucker us with moves like this...while still keeping laws on the books that a future and possibly more authoritarian Governor and/or legislature will use to attack us again.No. Decrimn is NOT legalization. Decrim means that the hobnailed jackboot is only hovering over your face, ready to smash downward first chance it gets. Legalization means no jackboot. Period.I guess they figure that we've been second-class citizens in our own country for so long we'll happily accept their table-scraps. We want the whole enchilada, Arnie, and we won't stop until we get it...got it?
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Comment #4 posted by keydet46 on October 01, 2010 at 17:05:28 PT:
youth increase
The only way to reduce youth consumption is for the person selling it to ask for an ID. Dealers could care less a persons age. Regulate and control. Yes on prop 19!
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Comment #3 posted by por1 on October 01, 2010 at 16:45:55 PT:
runnruf
We think so much alike
I think Ill put one one in my pipe and smoke to thatrunnruf I remember a link you put up and now I cant find.It was a seed bank Universal God Bud it was pure indaca and all the God budds I find are a cross.If you know what bank it was I would love to know.Here in Colorado I am surprized we have not had alot of busts.We were told by a deputy in this county they were directed to ignor grows and that he thought there was at least one grow on every block."You can smell it everywhere" he said.Early to mid morning and evening the oder is stong I LOVE IT.
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on October 01, 2010 at 15:50:42 PT
Just a little in your facer from Oregon and Cali..
To Big Bill Bennett and the drug Czars past and present, not to leave out the angry pudgey little trolls Mark Souder, Michele Leonhart and Johnny Pee...Hey, put this in your pipe and smoke it!!!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 01, 2010 at 15:50:18 PT
Pot Possession in Calif Now Like Speeding Ticket
October 1, 2010San Francisco --  A new law makes possessing up to an ounce of marijuana in California no more serious than getting a speeding ticket - a development both sides battling over a marijuana legalization ballot measure hope to exploit with the vote just a month away.The law signed late Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reduces possession of an ounce or less of pot from a misdemeanor to an infraction with a maximum punishment of a $100 fine.URL: http://drugsense.org/url/RH9wUhQn
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