cannabisnews.com: Election '02: Party Seeks Pot Reform





Election '02: Party Seeks Pot Reform
Posted by CN Staff on October 17, 2002 at 16:12:50 PT
By Tom Grace, Cooperstown News Bureau
Source: Daily Star 
Cooperstown - When voters go to the polls Nov. 5, at the bottom of the ballot they'll find a marijuana leaf, symbol of the state's newest party — the Marijuana Reform Party.The mission of party members, who gained ballot status a few weeks ago by collecting about 21,000 signatures, is not hard to guess. They want to legalize medical marijuana and hemp production, and throw out the state's Rockefeller drug laws.
That accomplished, they also want to legalize pot possession for personal use. Thomas Leighton, the party's candidate for governor, said Wednesday he believes he will collect at least 50,000 votes this year, guaranteeing the party a spot on the ballot for the next four years."In this state, we don't have the right to initiative, so our party is a substitute for that," he said. "If you want to reform the state's marijuana laws, what you do is vote for the Marijuana Reform Party."Leighton, 51, said other gubernatorial candidates, including Thomas Golisano of the Independence Party, are trying to steal the Marijuana Reform Party's thunder by joining a rising chorus for drug reform."I say he's a political opportunist, blowing smoke at the issue," Leighton said. "He's not going to get elected, so a vote for him will do nothing for marijuana reform. But if we can put the Marijuana Reform Party on the ballot for the next four years, we can make this an issue."In recent years, most European nations have liberalized marijuana laws. Now Canada, the United States' largest trading partner, is considering similar changes. According to The Associated Press, "the changes being considered by Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government would make the penalty for getting caught with a joint similar to a traffic ticket."By contrast, the zero tolerance policy of the United States makes possession of even small amounts illegal," the AP reports.Eight states — California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Colorado — have taken steps toward permitting use of marijuana for medical reasons, the AP reports. However the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal prohibitions on marijuana will still be enforced, even in states where laws have been reformed.The Marijuana Reform Party's drive for ballot status, accorded to parties whose gubernatorial candidates receive at least 50,000 votes, may hurt other reform-minded parties, according to Adrian Kuzminski of the Otsego Greens."There's a chance that they'll knock the Greens off the ballot, and the Greens also want to reform the state's drug laws," he said. "What's really a shame is the smaller parties haven't gotten together and tried to coalesce into a real contender for offices around the state."Leighton, a former Green, said his party was formed out of frustration with other parties, including the Greens, who haven't worked consistently to obtain results. With the Marijuana Reform Party, voters know exactly what they're voting for, he said."We want to legalize hemp production to help our farmers," he said. "We want to reform the state's harsh drug laws, and we want to get medical marijuana to patients who need it desperately."Otsego County Sheriff Donald Mundy said he would be willing to hear more about medical marijuana use."I'm skeptical about it and how it would be controlled, but I wouldn't be opposed to hearing more about marijuana for medical reasons," Mundy said.The sheriff said he does not favor the recreational use of pot, however, "because I think it's true for some people that you start on marijuana and go on to harder drugs."Otsego County Assistant District Attorney Richard Brown said as long as the present drug laws are on the books, he'll prosecute offenders accordingly. Brown added that he believes there are risks in legalizing pot, because once it's legal, it might be impossible to outlaw it again, even if that seems necessary.Richard Rothermel, Otsego County's public defender, said he wants to see marijuana laws reformed."Lots of younger people are using marijuana, and when they break the law this way it lessens respect for law in general," he said. "I think if we legalized it, we'd take the profit motive out of it. And if society weren't spending so much on trying to stop people from smoking it, we could put that money toward drug treatment for people who really need it."According to the Family Education website at -- http://www.factmonster.com -- marijuana has been used by people since at least 2,737 B.C., when it was cultivated in China. In the United States, it was used recreationally until the 1930s, when the federal Bureau of Narcotics began a campaign against it.The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana along with Heroin and LSD as a scheduled One drug. In the years after, laws against using it became harsher. For years, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, has campaigned to reverse the trend. Walter Wouk of Summit ran a NORML chapter in Schoharie County for a number of years and now is trying to help the Marijuana Reform Party obtain ballot status.Wouk said laws against people smoking pot, when they are doing nothing to harm anyone else, are a violation of constitutional rights.Source: Daily Star, The (NY)Author: Tom Grace, Cooperstown News BureauPublished: Thursday, October 17, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Daily StarContact: letters thedailystar.comWebsite: http://www.thedailystar.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Marijuana Reform Party of N.Y.http://www.marijuanareform.org/Lesser-Knowns Still Detect No Respect http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14452.shtmlDebate's Lighter Moments http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14444.shtml Candidate Fires Up Campaign for Pot Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14243.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by darwin on October 18, 2002 at 06:56:39 PT
This guy hit the nail on the head, in my opinion
"What's really a shame is the smaller parties haven't gotten together and tried to coalesce into a real contender for offices around the state"This is the case all of the US.
When the greens, reforms, Independance party, Marijuana party, libertarian party all come togethor into a viable third party, the big two parties will lose their power. So many people are disillusioned by the republicrats, but they can't hold a coalition togethor. They can't agree on a platform other than the two party system is failing.
A marijuana party seems counterproductive to me, since all the above parties stand for legalization. All this does is further fraction the pro pot vote. Hopefully the other third parties will speak a little louder about the issue know, and the parties can start consolidating into a solid third party.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 17, 2002 at 21:46:06 PT
Thanks Again puff_tuff
I'm listening to it now. 
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Comment #6 posted by Patrick on October 17, 2002 at 20:05:18 PT
Asst District Attorney Richard Brown is a jerk!
"Brown added that he believes there are risks in legalizing pot, because once it's legal, it might be impossible to outlaw it again, even if that seems necessary."I think he meant to say….Once it was made illegal in the late 1930's it might be impossible to inlaw it ever again.
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Comment #5 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 17, 2002 at 19:43:21 PT
Steve Burgauer
Looking through vote-smart.org (love this site!!) and I found the Illinois Libertarian candidate for US Senate, Steve Burgauer:http://www.vote-smart.org/vote-smart/profile.phtml?func=front&ID=MIL44934&dtype=I&state=IL&style=&activecheck=1At last! An Illinois Libertarian candidate who actually wants to END the DRUG WAR! I mean, besides Secretary of State candidate Matt Beauchamp... someone who may actually have the power to DO something about it if elected! Although his website says nothing that I can see about it, that survey at vote-smart.org has all the right answers.
http://www.burgauer2002.com/
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Comment #4 posted by puff_tuff on October 17, 2002 at 18:48:47 PT
Smoke and Dollars 
Thursday, October 17, 2002Smoke and Dollars (Part 3)CBC Radio / World at Six And, continuing our series, "Smoke and Dollars" - an examination of British Columbia's booming marijuana trade. In his final report, tonight Chris Brown examines the debate over B.C.'s pot economy. http://media.cbc.ca:8080/ramgen/radio/news-audio/worldat6/October2002/bro_w6021017.rm
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on October 17, 2002 at 18:21:43 PT:
Zero Tolerance Sucks!
Zero tolerance = passing the buck. "To err is human; to 
forgive is Divine," said Alexander Pope. Zero tolerance is inhuman and surely not Divine.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 17, 2002 at 16:36:01 PT
Glad You Understand JR
I have seen the Golisano commercial 5 times in about a half an hour. It is important because it mentions medical marijuana but it is lacking something very important. It lacks what I call HEART. Thomas Leighton has HEART.
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Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 17, 2002 at 16:23:22 PT
Ahhh
--"I say he's a political opportunist, blowing smoke at the issue," Leighton said. "He's not going to get elected, so a vote for him will do nothing for marijuana reform. But if we can put the Marijuana Reform Party on the ballot for the next four years, we can make this an issue."--Now I think I understand why FoM and others have expressed ire at Golisano for coming out in favor of medical marijuana. I'd vote for the Marijuana Reform Party over Golisano anyway. But I do like how the MRP's policy has influenced Golisano, the "leading" third-party candidate. Hopefully, that will put the pressure on the Demo-Publicans. This late in the game, who knows...
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