cannabisnews.com: Alliance Stepping Up Efforts for Marijuana Vote Alliance Stepping Up Efforts for Marijuana Vote Posted by CN Staff on July 28, 2004 at 15:28:59 PT By Drew Terry, Northwest Arkansas Times Source: Northwest Arkansas Times The Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana is planning one last push in an effort to place a medical marijuana proposal on the Nov. 2 ballot. Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels announced Tuesday the organization collected 29,947 valid signatures. Proposed Act 1 must contain 64,456 valid signees to be certified for the ballot. The alliance has until Aug. 26 to reach that number. "We think if we’ve got enough perseverance and do enough hard work we can collect these signatures," said Denele Campbell, executive director of the alliance. "We’re going to try. That’s all we can do. I want to stand here and say we’re confident we’re going to pull this off, but we’re not confident. It’s a lot of hard work." Campbell has spent the past five years attempting to place the issue on the ballot, and a lack of confidence hasn’t affected her or the group’s determination. In the past two weeks it raised $10,000, which will go toward paying a firm in Little Rock to collect additional signatures. Canvassing teams spent April through June collecting the initial signatures. Campbell estimated a repeated effort could attract 15,000-17,000 new endorsements, leaving a volunteer campaign to gather the remaining signatures. Action packets were sent to the nearly 850 supporters on the alliance’s mailing list, which Campbell said includes people who could become eligible under the proposal, their relatives or friends, and advocates with jobs in health care, counseling and social work. "These are people on the front lines who see the need," she said. The alliance also is seeking additional donations to hire more people to solicit signatures. Campbell said she has received several e-mails in the past day from people looking to get involved. She suggested that people wanting to contact the group go to its Web site — http://www.ardpark.org/ "If they don’t want to stand out on a hot street corner and get signatures, they can just send us money and we can pay other people to stand out there," Campbell said. If passed, the proposal would allow people to use marijuana to alleviate severe pain, nausea, seizures, severe muscle spasms or symptoms associated with ailments such as HIV, AIDS, cancer and glaucoma. "This is about the patients," Campbell said. "They’re facing the end of their lives, facing tremendous suffering. It doesn’t make any sense to keep them from using anything that would make them feel better. " This is an effort based in compassion. It would improve their quality of life. "A prospective user would be required to obtain a physician’s recommendation, which would be reviewed by the state health department. Once the referral is approved, the health department would issue the patient a photo identification and present him or her the rules associated with medical marijuana use. Patients using marijuana would be able to possess an ounce of prepared marijuana or grow up to six marijuana plants. If patients are unable physically to administer the marijuana to themselves, a registered caregiver would be allowed to assist them. A database of authorized patients could be created to allow law enforcement officers to determine who could legally use marijuana. Similar laws have been enacted in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington to protect sick and dying people, Campbell said, and the alliance is attempting to provide the same rights for people in Arkansas who could benefit from marijuana. " Everyone seems to feel this is a really important issue, "she said." It’s pretty clear cut that we’re just trying to help sick people here. " Campbell estimated 100 volunteers each would need to garner 60 signatures a week for the alliance to obtain the necessary amount to send the proposal to a public vote. If it fails, she said, the alliance will attempt to push a bill through the state legislature in January. Complete Title: Alliance Stepping Up Efforts for Medical Marijuana VoteSource: Northwest Arkansas Times (AR)Author: Drew Terry, Northwest Arkansas TimesPublished: Wednesday, July 28, 2004Copyright: 2004 Community Publishers Inc.Contact: email nwarktimes.comWebsite: http://www.nwanews.com/times/Related Articles & Web Site:ARDPark http://www.ardpark.org/ Petition on ‘Pot’ Falls Short of Names http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19238.shtmlGroup Aims To Put Marijuana on Ballot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19194.shtmlCampaign To Legalize Medical ‘Pot’ Not Overhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19177.shtmlBallot Drive for Pot Rx in Arkansas Loses Its Legshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19165.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #15 posted by kaptinemo on July 29, 2004 at 07:40:49 PT: In re: Dennis I have to admit I'm disappointed..but not surprised, either.The ideas were there, as always. The more progressive (dare I say, 'advanced'?) members of the electorate that had hopes that he might make a difference embraced those ideas with a will that genuinely frightened the Powers That Be. But the PTB have had over a century of guiding American politics in the direction they desire, and they've done it again.But they've done something else, too.They've excised the heart and soul from the Democratic Party. It may be transplanted into a newer, more aggressive form that will eventually supplant the Democratic Party. But I'm not holding my breath on that one.Because the only other place it has to go is the streets. And I don't mean candlelight marches and silent vigils, either. For I fear that the last of the peaceful outlets for change may have been shut off with this election. The smothering of progressive elements in the Dem party in favor of the sheep-bleat of "Aaa-aany-body but Buu-uush!" is what the PTB's want...and they are getting just that. Bush was their most obvious tool in a century; but he's delivered what he was supposed to, and is being discarded in favor of a smoother, more polished device. A prediction: The economic and social conditions that we have endured these past 4 years will both accelerate and degenerate despite whoever is in the White House. It's why both parties have quietly been allowing the militarization of the police all these years under the rubric of 'fighting drugs'; to cope with what's coming down the pike. Like riots against a military draft. And the first signs of that could be seen early in 2005.Such a wonderful way to begin a Millennium originally so full of promise... [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by BGreen on July 28, 2004 at 22:25:51 PT 1958 Newport Jazz Festival I'm watching "Jazz On A Summer's Day," a documentary filmed at the 1958 Jazz Festival in Newport, RI.There are (really straight looking) people smoking cannabis all over the place and having a great time.John Walters should tell those silly people that the cannabis back then was too weak to even get a buzz. The grins and squinty eyes are all just figments of their imaginations.The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on July 28, 2004 at 21:17:52 PT Hope Stay safe during the storm! [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on July 28, 2004 at 21:16:48 PT Hope This is A Review From Amazon ekim you're right Clinton could say something and help. I don't know if he or she will though. Remember don't rock the boat but get the vote! LOL! I'm terribly cynical!****Amazon.comCinematographer, occasional film director, and, yes, longtime rock star Neil Young personally made (under the silly pseudonym Bernard Shakey) the fascinating, strangely affecting, and feature-length experiment Greendale as an after-the-fact movie to accompany his CD of the same name. Shot with low-tech equipment, the grainy, overlit Greendale sets a dreamy, David Lynch-like mood as Young tells the story of the fictional Green family, who live in a Northern California town that bears their name. Multi-generational anti-war activists and pro-environmental warriors, the Greens become beleaguered in a world of intensifying media scrutiny, corporate arrogance, personal tragedy, and the devil himself (in the form of a dancing dude in a red suit), culminating in the family's disillusionment and renewed commitment. There's no dialogue: The lyrics of Young's song cycle speak for the characters, making Greendale a novel hybrid of music video and visionary movie. --Tom Keogh [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Hope on July 28, 2004 at 21:15:12 PT FoM Glad you finally got to watch it. It won't be in theatres? Will it?Lot's of storming here. I may not be able to stay online much longer. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by ekim on July 28, 2004 at 20:59:05 PT Bill could change everything with just a short call to action, to have a do over what a gift where is Hillory. http://www.minorml.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 28, 2004 at 20:07:38 PT Hope Yes I did. It was great. The essence of Greendale is how a small town family can have it's life turned upside down by a shooting of a police officer. Jeb was carrying cocaine in his glove box and pot in his trunk and panicked when the officer caught on and killed him. The officer and Jeb were respected in the community and it was such a waste for everyone. Sun Green becomes active after her Grandpa dies from a heart attack. She is followed by the FBI and they couldn't find anything in her room so they planted pot in her dresser drawer. I said all that to say this. Greendale shows where we live in many small towns in america and how one tragic event can change so many people's lives and even cause Grandpa to die from a heart attack. Greendale is currently 63 on Amazons sale list. That's really good. They interview different people from the movie. They interviewed his daughter. She loves her father and that says a lot to me about character. I hope I didn't make it more confusing then it really is. Greendale grows on a person. You must watch it many times to get what it's all about and I will. They show a live performance of Be The Rain from Red Rocks with the dancers and his son and wife and everyone. That was awesome to see live. Neil Young ended by saying that he feels Greendale was a gift to him. It must have been because it has been a gift to many who are familiar with the concert, the music and now the movie. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Hope on July 28, 2004 at 19:43:18 PT Have you watched Greendale, FoM? I've got too many irons in the fire. I couldn't wait to read the comments to find out if you'd mentioned it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 28, 2004 at 18:30:34 PT global_warming I'll let that article up a little while but it is way off topic on a cannabis article and I feel I should remove it so it doesn't upset some people. Articles like that bother me very much. I wouldn't mind reading it on a news site but not a cannabis news site. I hope you understand. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on July 28, 2004 at 18:23:55 PT global_warming Maybe that sounded narrow but I didn't mean that is all I think about. I meant for doing a Cannabis web site like this is I keep my focus on Cannabis. I don't want Cannabis News to go off in directions that aren't really relevant to changing the laws concerning cannabis. That's why I can keep doing what I'm doing here and not get weary. I talk on another board about another topic but I don't take CNews there but leave it here. That's really best and respectful I believe. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on July 28, 2004 at 18:09:27 PT More on Dennis... Of course Dennis was going to support whoever got the nomination. That's why we even heard his name in the first place. His ideology may be genuine but he is part of a much larger machine. At least he got his message out and that message is obviously still resonating with many! Kucinich Contingent, Not Going Away Quietly: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16800-2004Jul26.htmlKucinich Can’t Stop Campaigning, Launches Progressive Dems of America: http://www.berkeleydaily.org/article.cfm?issue=07-27-04&storyID=19327Here's a very interesting drug-war related piece... Opium trade booms in 'basket-case' Afghanistan http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=545400The way out...9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge.html9/11 - Inside Job: http://www.911review.org/Wiki/InsideJob.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by DevoHawk on July 28, 2004 at 16:50:07 PT Dennis in on Air America right now Kucinich is on Air America http://www.airamericaradio.com/ right now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 28, 2004 at 16:31:57 PT global_warming I believe Dennis did the best he could but he didn't have all the answers. I don't know that there is one person or party that is 100% correct. I am careful not to follow a person unless it is for entertainment. I keep my blinkers on and focus on changing the laws against Cannabis. People are people even if they are very idealistic and deeply involved in politics. A good leaders in my opinion is one who listens and encourages thinking outside the box. That's my 2 cents. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by global_warming on July 28, 2004 at 16:06:15 PT Slightly OT Dennis, We Hardly Knew You by Zbignew Zingh www.dissidentvoice.org July 27, 2004Ah, Dennis, we hardly knew you, and now you've been taken from us.Now that the Democratic Convention is under way in Boston, you have formally endorsed Mr. Kerry and encouraged your delegates to vote for him.We still like you, Dennis. You're still an okay guy. Even though you have sold out your platform and your principles, and even though you misled some of your more naive supporters into thinking you really meant to campaign right to the bitter end, we really cannot fault you too much for being, well, just another pragmatic politician. Those who revered you as part saint and part tooth fairy needed to be disabused of their idolatry. Some of us suspected that your job assignment in 2004 was to be a Political Pied Piper who would round up all the errant Green mice and lefty rats who had bolted the Democratic Party over the years and deliver them in November to the Party's anointed candidate. Maybe you succeeded, Dennis, and maybe you didn't. Anyway, it truly was a great party while your campaign lasted, and we learned a lot.Here's what we learned, Dennis.We learned that the Left is still a minority in the United States if only because it has not yet learned how to acquire and wield power. May we take that lesson to heart and do things differently in the future. That is, we need to do things differently than your campaign did things this time around.This is not about individuals. It is not about charisma. It is not about working within the system. It is about issues. It is about substituting a different system for a tired, old system. It is about leading and not about being led. It is about the acquisition of Power, not just the chanting of slogans and simplistic idealism.We learned to come together as many local communities; communities who gathered, initially, for the purpose of electing you President but who, ultimately, came to understand that the more important thing was the gathering of the communities in and of themselves. We made many friends and connections working for your election, Dennis. These friendships and connections will outlast any political machinations of the Democratic or Republican machines. In the course of your campaign, Dennis, we have also come to see from the inside out how some of the political machinery really works.Centuries ago, the decimated remnants of the French aristocracy used Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, to gather the Lesser People of what would later be known as France, cast out the British occupiers from their land and recapture the kingdom for its 'rightful owners', the French feudal lords. The nobility and the Church used, then discarded Joan and her ignorant masses once the task was mostly done. Centuries later, however, history proved that the Lesser People had learned to gather and use their powers. The French aristocracy had, inadvertently, unleashed the still-unfolding events of our own and of the French Revolution. Who knows but we Lesser People may yet coalesce into our own political force one day, for which we may thank you, Dennis, for the organizational impetus.What else have we learned?We learned this year that we should not ever rely too heavily on any leaders. Those who yearn for a charismatic leader of the Left, like some thought you were, Dennis, have been, and will always be disappointed. They ought to have been disappointed. It was unfair to bestow sainthood on you. You are a good man and you meant well. But you are just a man and just a politician. No one can or should expect more from you. From that we have now learned - we must learn - that we, collectively and individually, are the true leaders of the movement, not you Dennis, not the counter-elite, not the democratic glitteratti who continue to insist that they will tell us who to vote for in November... for our own good, of course.We will take a page from the Free Software movement, where every user is a potential contributor; where 'leadership' is diffused among many; where the profit to the community trumps the profit of the few. We have learned, we must learn, that politics requires a collective effort, collective vigilance and collective leadership, not just endless, deliberately exhausting leafleting and door-belling and running round in circles for the single man on whose mortal shoulders we heap all our hopes.If your purpose was to keep us distracted and busy working all these months for your campaign within the Democratic Party so that we would not work at all for anyone outside the Democratic Party, then you may have succeeded. But it might only be a short-term success, for, perhaps, we have now learned to distinguish political busy-work from the real, long term, hard work that needs to be accomplished.We have also learned how the future of the “democratic” party depends on its disaffected Lefties and Progressives. Together, we comprise a mere few percentage points of the electorate. But, we make or break the elections. The Party Muckamucks have said as much. That is why they both deride and fear us. Maybe that is why they sent you. You, Dennis, have taught us that our Power lies in our ability to swing the decisive tides of politics. The Muckamucks know this and are afraid that one day we, too, will recognize how powerful we can be. Like the Lesser People who followed Joan in the Fifteenth Century and who, ultimately, morphed into more potent movements in later centuries.Unfortunately, Dennis, you did not teach us how to parlay our strength into anything of significance. We must learn that lesson from other groups – African Americans, Latinos, Gays, Women, the labor movement of yesteryears – all of whom share some membership and some common ground with our Community, but most of whom have better learned that their agendas can progress only when they hold as hostage the political prize sought by the parties' Powerful Elite. Indeed, this is a lesson that the Christian Right teaches the left-out Left. The Christian Right, through hard work and long-range planning, masterfully inveigled its way into the power circles of the Republican Party in mere decades. By contrast, and in a display of how ineffective it is to just weakly 'plead' for what is correct, you have also shown us, Dennis, that to make our own future means, literally, that We Have To Make Our Own Future, and not beg our Masters for mere table scraps.Now that the Convention is underway and the November elections loom just around the corner, you, Dennis, and everyone else from the Democratic Party, have launched a united campaign to rally all of us behind the Kerry ticket, whatever it does or does not stand for.We recognize, as you do Dennis, what is at stake in this election. We recognize, as you do, Dennis, that Mr. Kerry, is another Lesser Evil in a succession of elections between one Evil and another. We also recognize that for Mr. Kerry to woo the Left might cost him votes on the Right and Center, and that to satisfy all, he may satisfy none. And we recognize that when Mr. Kerry squeaks out his win in November the Democrats - that is the DLC Democrats - will claim a Mandate for their neo-liberal policies that the Left detests, and the Muckamucks will party and snicker and congratulate themselves for, once again, having roped in their wayward lefty mice.We do not begrudge the Party its party. We, too, will lift a glass to the demise, and we will dream (forlornly) of criminal trials, here and abroad, for the present administration.Nevertheless, we want something from the Democratic Party, Dennis. We want more than a pat on the head for being good little boys and girls who have returned home after running away for a while. We are not children any more; we want adult political rewards for our role in returning the (Hold Your Noses) DLC business-as-usual Democrats back to power. We want more than just the rumor of a possibility of a chance of a few scraps of access to the second and third tiers of Power. We want, in other words, to be assured of some significant influence and tangible results for our effort.Dennis, we thank you for the experience and for the wisdom we learned while working in your campaign. However, you have not the authority to tell us for whom to vote in November. We might vote for Ralph Nader or we might vote for John Kerry or we might vote for a Third Party or we might not vote at all. Who we will vote for is still our choice, and we will not make that decision until The Last Minute.In the meanwhile, Dennis, tell the Leaders of the Democratic Party who are now your pals: If they want our votes, if they want to win in November, then they need to show us what tangible results we will achieve, specifically what we will gain, and how our issues and concerns will be advanced if we are to help Mr. Kerry get elected.Our votes are here. Let Mr. Kerry come and earn them. Dennis, We Hardly Knew You [ Post Comment ] Post Comment