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Tuesday, 20 April 2010 |
Greg Risling, Associated Press
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
(04-20) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles --
Most Americans still oppose legalizing marijuana, but larger majorities believe pot has medical benefits and the government should allow its use for that purpose, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll being released today.
Respondents were skeptical that crime would spike if marijuana is decriminalized or that it would lead more people to harder drugs like heroin or cocaine.
Marijuana use - medically and recreationally - is getting more attention in the political arena. California voters will decide in November whether to legalize the drug, and South Dakota will vote this fall on whether to allow medical uses. California and 13 other states already permit such use.
The balloting comes against the backdrop of the Obama administration saying it won't target marijuana dispensaries if they comply with state laws, a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which sought to more stringently enforce the federal ban on marijuana use for any purpose.
In the poll, only 33 percent favor legalization, while 55 percent oppose it. People under 30 were the only age group favoring legalization (54 percent) and opposition increased with age, topping out at 73 percent of those 65 and older.
Those like Jeff Boggs, 25, of Visalia (Tulare County), who support legalization said the dangers associated with the drug have been overstated.
"People are scared about things they don't know about," said Boggs, who is married and works for an auto damage appraisal company.
Americans are more accepting of medical marijuana. Sixty percent support the idea and 74 percent believe the drug has a real medical benefit for some people. Two-thirds of Democrats favor medical marijuana as do a slim majority of Republicans, 53 percent.
With state and local governments desperate for cash, some legalization proponents are pushing marijuana as a potential revenue stream. But only 14 percent of those surveyed who oppose legalization would change their mind if states were to tax the drug.
The AP-CNBC Poll was conducted April 7-12 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. It involved interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/20/MN0B1D12TL.DTL
This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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Tuesday, 20 April 2010 |
Greg Risling, Associated Press
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
(04-20) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles --
Most Americans still oppose legalizing marijuana, but larger majorities believe pot has medical benefits and the government should allow its use for that purpose, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll being released today.
Respondents were skeptical that crime would spike if marijuana is decriminalized or that it would lead more people to harder drugs like heroin or cocaine.
Marijuana use - medically and recreationally - is getting more attention in the political arena. California voters will decide in November whether to legalize the drug, and South Dakota will vote this fall on whether to allow medical uses. California and 13 other states already permit such use.
The balloting comes against the backdrop of the Obama administration saying it won't target marijuana dispensaries if they comply with state laws, a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which sought to more stringently enforce the federal ban on marijuana use for any purpose.
In the poll, only 33 percent favor legalization, while 55 percent oppose it. People under 30 were the only age group favoring legalization (54 percent) and opposition increased with age, topping out at 73 percent of those 65 and older.
Those like Jeff Boggs, 25, of Visalia (Tulare County), who support legalization said the dangers associated with the drug have been overstated.
"People are scared about things they don't know about," said Boggs, who is married and works for an auto damage appraisal company.
Americans are more accepting of medical marijuana. Sixty percent support the idea and 74 percent believe the drug has a real medical benefit for some people. Two-thirds of Democrats favor medical marijuana as do a slim majority of Republicans, 53 percent.
With state and local governments desperate for cash, some legalization proponents are pushing marijuana as a potential revenue stream. But only 14 percent of those surveyed who oppose legalization would change their mind if states were to tax the drug.
The AP-CNBC Poll was conducted April 7-12 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. It involved interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/20/MN0B1D12TL.DTL
This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 |
First Formal Vote in U.S. to Support Taxing and Regulating Marijuana
California’s landmark marijuana regulation bill (AB 390) was approved 4-3 by a committee of the State Assembly on Tuesday, concluding the first formal consideration of marijuana legalization in American history. Authored by Assembly Member Tom Ammiano, the bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol was approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee, which Ammiano chairs.
“This historic vote marks the formal beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition in the United States,” said Stephen Gutwillig, California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Making marijuana legal has now entered the public dialogue in a credible way. Decades of wasteful, punitive, racist marijuana policy have taken quite a toll in this country. The Public Safety Committee has demonstrated that serious people take ending marijuana prohibition seriously.”
Reflecting a broader national momentum toward reconsidering marijuana prohibition, Washington state’s House of Representatives will consider a similar bill tomorrow.
In California, where 56 percent of the public supports legalizing marijuana, proponents of an initiative to tax and regulate marijuana have recently gathered sufficient signatures to place it on the general election ballot this year.
“While actually passing a bill to tax and regulate marijuana may be a heavy lift in any state legislature right now, members of the Assembly today reflected the sentiment of a majority of Californians,” said Gutwillig. “Voters will get a chance to decide if California should tax and regulate marijuana at the ballot box in November.”
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Thursday, 21 May 2009 |
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Paris, France. Jan. 4, 2010
"Ishi, The Last Yahi" was screened to a nearly full audience at the "La Filmothèque du Quartier Latin", one of Paris's many wonderful independent art house cinemas today. It was sponsored by the French chapter of Survival International, an non-profit dedicated to the defense and support of tribal peoples. http://www.survivalinternational.org/
Almost everyone stayed after for the discussion with Matthieu Charle; a French ethnologist specializing in the study of Native Americans, and Daniel Meyers; California born documentary director and cameraman who has been based in Paris for the past 15 years and who had worked with Jed Riffe on two films, "Bear's Hiding Place" and "Who Owns The Past".
"Ishi, The Last Yahi" was extremely well received by all those who attended the screening and praised for it's sensitive and well crafted portrait of Ishi and the times he lived in.
Daniel Meyers
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Monday, 18 May 2009 |
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Monday, May 18, 2009
The Supreme Court announced Monday it will not get involved in a dispute over California's medical marijuana law.
The case presented a direct conflict to the justices of California's Compassionate Use Act which its detractors say contravenes federal laws prohibiting drug use. A California appeals court ruled last summer that the state's medical marijuana law does not preempt a federal drug ban. Monday's decision by the high court effectively affirms that ruling.
Thirteen states have laws allowing for the limited use of marijuana. California's law allows for individuals and their caregivers to "possess, cultivate and transport" marijuana as long as it used for medical purposes. Local officials in San Diego objected and filed a lawsuit saying the state law violates the federal Controlled Substances Act.
In its argument to the Court, the local officials said the California law is contrary to federal efforts to limit drug use. They argued "it is inevitable that marijuana originally grown for medicinal use will fall into the hands of recreational drug users."
California joined a handful of pro-Marijuana groups in asking the Court to not take the case. They argued the specifics of this case made it a "poor vehicle" for the high court to use in deciding such a controversial issue.
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