cannabisnews.com: Rep. Polis of CO Glad To Talk About MMJ Reform
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Rep. Polis of CO Glad To Talk About MMJ Reform
Posted by CN Staff on April 24, 2011 at 07:24:33 PT
By Allison Sherry, The Denver Post
Source: Denver Post
Washington -- Rep. Jared Polis is the first to say that decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level is not his top priority in the scheme of things.But the Boulder Democrat — hunkered in a relatively safe seat at the moment — is happy to talk about the issue with whomever asks, be it a cannabis blog, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the cable networks or, as was the case Saturday, the national convention in Denver of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
His message is about a $1 billion industry nationally that, with the change of a president or a U.S. attorney general, could be shut off like a light."We're heading for a game of chicken," Polis said. "If we have more states that legalize it and we haven't changed our federal laws, there is a great potential for chaos."Right now, the more than 120,000 people who have medical-marijuana cards and the more than 1,000 Colorado medicinal-pot dispensaries are operating at the mercy of an Obama administration decision to look the other way rather than enforce federal marijuana laws.Since that announcement early in Barack Obama's presidency, Colorado's industry has blossomed to collect more than $2 million in state tax revenue last fiscal year. Denver County collected an additional $2 million in local taxes.After California, Colorado has the most lucrative and mature medicinal industry, industry experts say.That leads to University of Denver law professor Sam Kamin's prediction that the two states could be ground zero for a state's rights battle if a new president, or even the current president, changes course.Kamin thinks a solution needs to come from the legislative branch, instead of the White House."What's happening now does not strike me as a real solution," Kamin said. "It's sort of a half-solution. As long as the laws are on the books, it doesn't feel like it is solved." Snipped   Complete Article: http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_17917071Source: Denver Post (CO)Author: Allison Sherry, The Denver PostPublished: April 24, 2011Copyright: 2011 The Denver Post CorpWebsite: http://www.denverpost.com/Contact: openforum denverpost.comCannabisNews  Medical Marijuana  Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on April 25, 2011 at 12:32:38 PT
Pa. Senators Introduce Medical Marijuana Bill
April 25, 2011On Thursday, four state senators introduced Senate Bill 1003—which, as of now, only has one unofficial name: “Medical Marijuana.”Those Pennsylvania lawmakers are Daylin Leach (D-Montco), Larry Farnese (D-Philadelphia), Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheney/Westmoreland/Armstrong) and Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheney)—three of whom introduced similar legislation last year.According to an unofficial PDF of the bill viewed by PhillyNow (the official bill has not been made public), the senators’ potential law would provide for “the medical use of marijuana; and repealing provisions of law that prohibit and penalize marijuana use.”URL: http://drugsense.org/url/PCThpKeC
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Comment #2 posted by keninsj on April 24, 2011 at 13:38:13 PT:
Well Said runruff
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. The Pharma industry is huge, but pale in comparison to what hemp would be able to take over. Not to mention the environmental benefit to hemp.
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on April 24, 2011 at 09:16:33 PT
This is the dealeo!
"As long as the laws are on the books, it doesn't feel like it is solved."As long as the laws are on the books they can control their real threat...hemp.Governor Arnold saved the day with decrim-law. This was a "settle for" law since they had to do something fast. This also tells me they are not as concerned over people getting high recreationally as they want to control the many industries they know hemp will take away from them. Just the slightest thread of control will allow them to keep hemp out of the industrial equation.Full prohibition would protect even the pharm-pseudo medication industry as well but they seem to be having a more difficult time with that one.
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