cannabisnews.com: Pro-Pot Backers Aim High





Pro-Pot Backers Aim High
Posted by CN Staff on September 29, 2008 at 12:58:47 PT
By Edward Mason
Source: Boston Herald
Boston, MA -- Activists who want joints sold over the counter like cigarettes are bankrolling a Bay State pot referendum backers claim will simply clear the air of piddling marijuana cases choking the court system.The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, which placed Question 2 on the November ballot, collected from the Marijuana Policy Project $200,000, about 30 percent of its total. Indeed, about 90 percent of the $635,000 the committee has raised comes from people who live out of state.
On its Web site, the marijuana project’s mission statement states clearly: “Adults who use marijuana should be able to obtain it from legally regulated establishments and not from illegal drug dealers.”Woody Kaplan, a Hub real estate developer and self-styled “provocateur” who donated $10,000 to the state ballot initiative, also backs the call for legal pot sales.“I believe taxing and regulating is a much better way than what the ballot question proposes,” said Kaplan, who held a $250-a-head fundraiser for the Marijuana Policy Prject earlier this month.“This is government making a choice that something that is clearly destructive - alcohol - is OK, but somebody smoking marijuana isn’t,” Kaplan told the Herald.Daniel R. Lewis, 62, of Coral Gables, Fla. - the scion of the Progressive Insurance fortune and a self-confessed former toker - also would like to see grass legalized and regulated.“I think it’s a relatively harmless drug, as compared to alcohol,” said Lewis, who gave $5,000 to the pot project.The group also counts among its backers actor Jack Black, talk show host Bill Maher and former wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, and uses Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion for its lavish fund-raisers.If passed, the ballot initiative would make having an ounce or less of marijuana a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine. Minors’ parents would be notified, and the kids would have to complete a drug awareness program.Middlesex County District Attorney Gerard Leone slammed the pot activists as out of touch and predicted the measure would be a gateway to weaker drug laws.“Question 2 will allow a foot in the door to people with a misguided, radical agenda,” Leone said.Whitney Taylor, campaign manager, pointed to a Suffolk University poll that showed 72 percent of voters support the ballot question.“They are not out of the mainstream,” Taylor said. “They are the mainstream.”Kaplan, a 66-year-old board member of the Godless America PAC, which “mobilizes nonbelievers for political activism,” said he’s heard it all before.“Same-sex opponents said if you allow same-sex marriage, people would marry dogs,” Kaplan said. “Yeh, right. It’s just fear tactics, and it’s absurd.”Source: Boston Herald (MA)Author: Edward MasonPublished: September 24, 2008Copyright: 2008 The Boston Herald, Inc.Website: http://www.bostonherald.com/Contact: letterstoeditor bostonherald.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policyhttp://www.sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/Measure To Decriminalize MJ Goes On Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24196.shtmlMarijuana Vote Has Allies on Both Sideshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24189.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on September 29, 2008 at 14:27:52 PT
Get Ready For The Great USA 'Election'
Are Your Votes Really Counted?Electronic voting systems have been proposed to make the
voting process faster and more reliable. Unfortunately, all
voting systems recently analyzed by independent security
testers have been found to contain fatal security flaws that
could compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the voting process.In this paper, we presented our experience with the security
testing of real-world electronic voting systems. We
presented the methodology we used, the tools we developed,
and the lessons we learned.Our experience (i.e. our extensive testing, see link below) suggests that there is a need for a drastic
change in the way in which electronic systems are designed, developed, and tested. Researchers, practitioners, and policy makers need to define novel testing approaches that take into account the peculiar information flow of these systems, as well as the combination of computer security mechanisms and physical procedures necessary to provide a high level of assurance.Unless electronic voting systems are held up to standards
that are commensurate with the criticality of the tasks they
have to perform, the very core of our democracy is in danger.
Here Is The Proof!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 29, 2008 at 14:19:48 PT
Federal Judge Strikes Down Nev. Ballot Measure Law
September 29, 2008Nevada -- A federal judge has thrown out Nevada's initiative petition requirements that attempt to compensate for different population sizes in urban and rural counties.U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro in Las Vegas said in his ruling Monday that the rules are unconstitutional.The Marijuana Policy Project filed the complaint along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and four individuals.They are urging Secretary of State Ross Miller not to appeal and say the state has "better things to do." The group has unsuccessfully tried to win voter approval for measures dealing with the drug.They complain the law approved by the 2007 Legislature is no better than another initiative petition law struck down by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.Copyright: 2008 Associated Presshttp://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/sep/29/federal-judge-strikes-down-nev-ballot-measure-law/
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