cannabisnews.com: Petitioners Gathering Signatures to Legalize MMJ!





Petitioners Gathering Signatures to Legalize MMJ!
Posted by FoM on May 11, 1999 at 11:03:35 PT
Source: Daily Emerald
A petition drive to legalize marijuana has begun to circulate. The Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp is heading the effort in hopes to qualify the initiative for the November 2000 elections. This latest marijuana initiative needs 66,748 signatures to qualify for a vote, said Paul Stanford, one of the three chief petitioners.
"But we want to turn in 90,000 to make certain we have enough to cover for people who sign but aren't registered," he said. The petition drive began April 19 after getting approval by the secretary of state elections division on April 2. Stanford said they hope to finish gathering signatures early so that they can focus on an ad campaign. The vast majority of money for the campaign is coming from five Oregon residents, the biggest donor being a software engineer, Stanford said. The initiative seeks to replace all current local and state marijuana laws with the exception of DUII laws. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission would be changed to the Oregon Cannabis & Liquor Control Commission and would be in charge of regulation and taxation. The commission would license marijuana cultivation by qualified persons and purchase the entire crop. Marijuana would then be sold, at cost, to medical research facilities and pharmacies who in turn would sell the marijuana , untaxed, to those with medical need. The commission would also sell taxed marijuana to people 21 and older through current state liquor stores. Ninety percent of the taxes collected would go to the state general fund, according the initiative. Drug Enforcement Agency statistics show illicit marijuana sales is a $2 billion industry in Oregon. One of the chief petitioners is Dr. Phillip Leveque, a retired professor of pharmacology and toxicology, who became involved with the issue because of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. The act won voter approval on Nov., 3, 1998. Voters in Washington, California, Arizona, Alaska and Colorado also passed medical marijuana-use initiatives. But Leveque said that obstacles are still in place that make it very difficult or illegal for people to purchase marijuana. He believes this initiative would change that. "Marijuana is good for AIDS wasting disease, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and chronic pain," Leveque said. "Mostly marijuana is a euphoriate, so it makes people feel better. It has been used for medicine for 5,000 years." The legalization effort, be it for medical use or industrial use, has been opposed in the past by law enforcement agencies around the state. Law enforcement agencies didn't want to make a statement about the new initiative until they learned more about it. But Sgt. Rick Gilliam, campus supervisor of the Eugene police, shared his concerns. "Marijuana is a gateway drug to harder drugs like heroine, " Gilliam said. "So I think blanket use is not the answer to the drug problem. It will only exacerbate it." Backers of the initiative disagree. They point to courts in Alaska, Hawaii and Michigan that sight presidential commission findings and scientific studies on marijuana that say marijuana is not a "stepping stone" or a "gateway drug." Another opponent to the legalization of marijuana is House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass. "She is opposed and she's always been opposed," Snodgrass' spokesman Ron Blankenbaker said. "She has a strong religious background and has an aversion to drug use as such." But petitioners don't see it as a moral issue so much as an issue of freedom. "I truly believe that the future of freedom in America hinges on which way the war on drugs continues," Stanford said. "We now have more people incarcerated than any country in the world. To keep one person in prison for a year for marijuana costs $40,000. On that amount of money you could go to the University of Oregon or Harvard." http://www.dailyemerald.com/http://www.crrh.org/News article found by Cryote!Thanks Cryote!
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Comment #2 posted by Dr. Ganj on May 12, 1999 at 09:33:49 PT
Get Out and Vote!
ApacheRose is correct! Although having laws approving the use of medical marijuana is great for the people who qualify, it doesn't affect all the other people who enjoy its recreational properties. These are the people who risk their freedom by simply wanting to ingest a plant to feel better. We all know the laws are wrong, but the only way we'll change these laws is by voting in new ones. Please register, and know, it does work. Just look at all the states that have passed medical marijuana initiatives.In the next few years we will see this plant legalized, but it's going to take an effort. Be part of that effort, and when the laws change, you can be proud that YOU helped change them!Dr. Ganj 
http://www.norml.org
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Comment #1 posted by ApacheRose on May 11, 1999 at 22:47:29 PT
Petitioners Gathering Signatures to Legalize MMJ
This illustrates the need for all of us to register to vote.Remember: the people who make the policies reflect the views of the VOTERS. They have no choice. It is their job. In order to get re elected they need to make their constiuents happy. If their constiuents were all registered voters who supported legalization of marijuana, think of what a difference that would be. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!!!!! It is our right. Demand it.
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