cannabisnews.com: Nation Has Marijuana on the Mind





Nation Has Marijuana on the Mind
Posted by CN Staff on November 24, 2004 at 09:01:54 PT
By Sean Patrick Farrell
Source: Daily Californian
Berkeley marijuana advocates this month cheered the leafy plant’s successes in elections in traditionally more conservative areas like Montana, Missouri and Michigan. Many are anxiously awaiting the final results for Berkeley’s Measure R, which seeks to abolish plant growth limits and zoning restrictions for medical marijuana dispensaries.
But marijuana measures have not done as well as expected in some areas known for their liberal stance on the drug. In the Bay Area, the path to legitimacy has recently hit some speed bumps. Local governments are grappling with how best to serve patients while not upsetting neighbors who live near dispensaries. Nationwide, 17 of 20 marijuana ballot measures passed. Locally, Oakland voters overwhelmingly approved Measure Z, which effectively decriminalized adult ownership of pot in the city. “Clearly there is a willingness around the country among voters to consider changes,” said Bruce Mirken, a spokesperson for the Washington, D.C. Marijuana Policy Project, which helped get the measure on the ballot in Montana. But traditional medical marijuana strongholds are struggling with how to regulate distribution. Oregonians turned down an initiative to amend state medical marijuana laws by setting up state-run dispensaries. In Berkeley—one of the first cities in the nation to set up medical marijuana clubs—Measure R’s fate hinges on a few hundred votes. Yesterday the vote narrowed to 49.8 percent in favor to 50.2 percent against. Alameda County Registrar officials said nearly all votes are in. Final results will be released Nov. 30. Opponents and some supporters said the measure’s Achilles’ heel was a clause that would allow new clubs to set up shop without a public zoning hearing. Without the push for relaxed zoning, City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he thinks the measure “would have won by 70 percent.” Zoning is at the heart of recent East Bay pot club shake-ups. In June, Oakland officials, citing associated violence and crime, whittled the city’s stock of marijuana clubs down to four. Oakland sent eight clubs packing from a downtown area known as “Oaksterdam” after the famously liberal Dutch city. Berkeley’s City Council followed suit last month, slapping a three-club quota on the city, preempting some of Measure R’s looser zoning regulations. Berkeley currently has three official clubs. The Berkeley quota satisfied Ted Gartner, a member of Channing Way Neighbors, a group opposing Measure R. “It was just trying to keep a lid on this without Berkeley becoming ‘Amsterberkeley,’” Gartner said. He praised a nearby club for being well policed, but worried about relaxed zoning in his neighborhood, which he said already deals with prostitution and illegal drug dealing. Similar concerns, as well as increased traffic and parking issues, prompted Alameda County supervisors to enact an emergency 45-day ban on new clubs in unincorporated areas. The ban came after neighbors voiced concern about seven dispensaries that emerged along East 14th Street in the wake of the Oakland reduction. “We’re still in the early parts of the frontier on this issue,” said Supervisor Keith Carson, who backed the ban to avoid problems like those that shut down clubs in Oakland. He said the board will likely study the area’s demand and enact an ordinance limiting the number of clubs in suburban areas when the ban expires Dec. 10. The move does not surprise Mirken. “I think all the local jurisdictions are trying to work what works best,” he said. “The bottom line is that there is a balance that needs to be struck.” Note: Measures Mostly Successful, Debates Continue.Source: Daily Californian, The (CA Edu)Author: Sean Patrick FarrellPublished: Wednesday, November 24, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Daily CalifornianContact: dailycal dailycal.orgWebsite: http://www.dailycal.org/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Marijuana Measure Still Has A Chancehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19871.shtmlVote Changes Little About City Pot Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19770.shtmlVoters: Make Pot a Low Priorityhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19762.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Druid on November 24, 2004 at 10:20:06 PT
Survey finds pot puffing rate doubled in 10 years
Survey finds pot puffing rate doubled in 10 yearsCTV.ca News StaffAccording to the results of a new national survey, the number of Canadians who puff pot has doubled in the last decade.Painting Canadians their most comprehensive picture of drug and alcohol use in ten years, Health Canada and the Canadian Executive Council on Addictions released the Canadian Addiction Survey (CAS) on Wednesday.According to the survey results, 14 per cent of respondents admitted using cannabis in the last year. That was up from 7.4 per cent in 1994.Other key findings in the survey include:_Overall, 45 per cent of respondents said they had used pot at least once in their lifetime. Males with higher incomes and more education were the most likely to use cannabis;----------------snipped-----------------
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1101310462809_53?hub=Canada
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