cannabisnews.com: Bill To Legalize in Maine Gains 35 Co-Sponsors
function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Bill To Legalize in Maine Gains 35 Co-Sponsors');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/27/thread27399.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}






Bill To Legalize in Maine Gains 35 Co-Sponsors
Posted by CN Staff on March 27, 2013 at 13:30:05 PT
By Robert Long, BDN Staff
Source: Bangor Daily News 
Augusta, Maine -- A bill to legalize recreational use of marijuana and regulate it like alcohol in Maine has garnered 35 co-sponsors and now heads to a legislative committee hearing. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, would make major changes in Maine’s drug law, ranging from making possession of up to 2.5 ounces of pot legal to imposing a tax of $50 per ounce. It was referred to the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday.Russell and Republican Rep. Aaron Libby of Waterboro, a co-sponsor, publicized the measure last month during a media event at the State House. Since then, the bill, LD 1229, “An Act to Regulate and Tax Marijuana,” attracted 34 other co-sponsors. Among them is Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, Senate chairman of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, which will determine the fate of the bill after a public hearing and work sessions.
Other co-sponsors include tribal representatives of the Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseets, independent Rep. Ben Chipman of Portland, 28 Democrats and three Republicans.“Maine can and should take a more sensible approach to marijuana policy, and we are glad to see so many legislators agree,” David Boyer, Maine political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said Wednesday in a prepared statement.Russell’s bill would make it legal for individuals to grow as many as six plants if they are cultivated in a locked space. She also supports allowing the transfer of the drug from one adult to another without compensation, as long as they are at least 21 years old. The bill would keep in place the legal prohibition against smoking pot in public and calls on the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to license marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities and testing facilities.The proposed legislation also says an individual couldn’t be denied a permit to carry a concealed handgun on the grounds that he or she “lacks good moral character” because of marijuana use allowed if the bill is enacted.“I believe that ending marijuana prohibition is a true part of limited government,” Libby said during the February media event to introduce the proposal. “As a fiscal conservative, I see great potential in the economic growth of removing these prohibitions.”The bill likely will draw opposition from public health and law enforcement groups. Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, said last week that his group remains adamantly against the legalization of marijuana at any level.If the Legislature approves the bill, it would go to a statewide referendum. Washington and Colorado approved ballot measures last year that legalized marijuana for recreational use. Bills to regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol also are expected to be debated this year in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.Momentum for legalizing marijuana as more than a medicinal product in Maine seems to be growing, especially in Portland. In addition to Russell, six members of the city’s legislative delegation — Chipman, Rep. Richard Farnsworth, Rep. Eric Jorgensen, Rep. Matt Moonen, Rep. Peter Stuckey and Rep. Denise Harlow — are co-sponsoring LD 1229.Last week, a consortium of advocacy groups and activists launched a petition drive to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Portland. On the same day, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat who represents Maine’s 1st District, signed on as a co-sponsor of a federal bill that would lift federal prohibitions against marijuana use.Russell sponsored similar legislation in the previous Legislature. That bill fizzled after the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 10-3 that it ought not pass.A public hearing on this year’s bill has yet to be scheduled.Source: Bangor Daily News (ME)Author:  Robert Long, BDN StaffPublished: March 27, 2013Copyright: 2013 Bangor Daily News Inc.Website: http://www.bangornews.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/5oEkWs6XContact: http://drugsense.org/url/MWLhV21WCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help 
     
     
     
     




Comment #8 posted by Ryannn29 on March 30, 2013 at 13:41:19 PT:
$50? Insane....
$50 tax per oz? An ounce goes for $200-400 while still recreationally illegal. But when it's legalized for recreational use like this bill will do, mj's price will go down drastically. A $50 tax could end up being at least a 50% tax which is insane and completely unheard of.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by afterburner on March 28, 2013 at 07:25:22 PT
The Rick Simpson Story
RUN FROM THE CURE - Full Version 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0psJhQHk_GI
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by afterburner on March 28, 2013 at 06:43:04 PT
Cannabis Oil, Rick Simpson, Dr. Abrams
O'Shaughnessy's / By Fred Gardner.  
2 COMMENTS. 
As Anecdotal Reports of Anti-Cancer Effects from Cannabis 'Oil' Pile Up, Doctors Stress Need to Document Its Effects.
Evidence mounts as a growing number of papers published in scientific journals are establishing that cannabinoids have anti-tumor effects on the cellular level and in animals. 
 March 27, 2013
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/anecdotal-reports-anti-cancer-effects-cannabis-oil-pile-doctors-stress-need-document-its?akid=10246.313040.Nae9ai&rd=1&src=newsletter815950&t=17
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by The GCW on March 28, 2013 at 06:33:21 PT
Colorado Correctional Industries both ways.
Legislators criticize spending at agency overseeing medical marijuana..."we haven't learned anything from $400 federal hammers."... "The division bought the furniture without a competitive bidding process from Colorado Correctional Industries, a division of the Department of Corrections that puts criminal offenders to work through 60 programs — including manufacturing furniture.Revenue officials cited a state statute requiring agencies to purchase some items from the corrections division. But auditors found more affordable furniture available online, and pointed out agencies can get waivers to put purchases out to bid.Sen. Louis Tochtrop, D-Thornton, said she was surprised Colorado Correctional Industries charged $1,000 for office chairs."Cont.http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_22887156/legislators-criticize-spending-at-agency-overseeing-medical-marijuana-0-"Colorado Correctional Industries" Are cannabis prohibitionists finding ways to profit from RE-legalizing cannabis or what? Profits BOTH ways it looks like. Is there a conflict of interest? NO, their interest is union based and designed to screw everyone else so they profit, that's not a conflict fro them.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by HempWorld on March 27, 2013 at 18:15:12 PT
I'm doing some research and I wanted to share
a little.It is just too interesting and it explains how we got to where we are today. Please keep in mind that FDR and the Bush family had huge stakes/shares in IG Farben:"Codex Alimentarius"
Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical companies did not give in, even though America, the most powerful country in the world, had started to liberate itself from the yoke of the pharmaceutical interests. Led by the German pharmaceutical companies and under the political auspices of the German government, the international pharmaceutical consortium started its latest offensive. They activated a so-called expert commission of the United Nations with the mysterious name, “Codex Alimentarius.”This commission held a clandestine meeting under German presidency and guidance in Bonn, Germany, in October 1996. The official participation of high-level representatives of the German government (Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture) showed that the aims of this commission have the support of the German cabinet and Chancellor, a case of highest priority for Chancellor Kohl. Against the votes of the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and representatives of other countries, the German delegation pushed the following decisions through:All health statements in relation to the preventive and therapeutic effects of vitamins and other natural substances shall be prohibited for all member countries of the United Nations, that is, worldwide.
 Only those natural vitamins and other natural products that meet the much too low so-called daily allowances of the pharmaceutical cartel, can be sold in the future.
 Countries resisting the implementation of these decisions as binding laws are to be punished by international economic sanctions organized under the United Nations World Trade Organization and other bodies.The German government had taken precautions in case the activities of this clandestine “Codex” Cartel were revealed prematurely: the presidency of this Codex Commission was assigned to Dr. Somogyi: the head of the German federal agency for consumer protection. The politicians in Bonn were well aware of the explosive power of this commission, and therefore decided to cover up this enterprise as “ consumer protection” in order to deceive the public about the true nature of the “Codex” Cartel.In January 1997 we talked about the goals of the Codex commission to United States Congressman Peter de Fazio, an advocate for vitamin freedom. Of particular interest was the threat of economic sanctions against those countries that did not comply with the “Codex” Cartel. By imposing economic sanctions the Pharma-Cartel wants to force all other industries at its side. The motto of the Pharma-Cartel appears to be, “If you, Microsoft, Volkswagen, and Sony, do not support the information boycott for vitamins, we will make sure that within the framework of the Codex law, you will not be able to sell your software, cars, and electronic products in other countries.”We have to realize that the Pharma-Cartel and its political accomplices apparently declared war on the health and life interests of all mankind. Because the interests of the Pharma-Cartel are against the health interests of entire mankind, the battle will be fierce; therefore, the Cartel tries to force other industries behind its unethical plans by means of laws.Our answer is clear: these unscrupulous and unethical plans are not a sign of strength of the pharmaceutical companies, but a sign of desperation. The news that animals don’t get heart attacks because they manufacture their own vitamin C will bring down a billion dollar market in cholesterol-lowering drugs, betablockers, calcium antagonists, and other cardiovascular drugs. Our determined “No” to these unethical human plans is summarized in the Petition for Vitamin Freedom. I encourage you to talk with friends, neighbors, and colleagues about the Codex Commission, and let them sign the Petition for Vitamin Freedom.Together, we will prevent the unethical plans of the Pharma-Cartel.Why Germany (again)?When looking at the global intrigues of these special interest groups, one question comes to mind: why is it that in these plans, which inevitably will endanger the health and lives of millions of people, do the German pharmaceutical industry and the German government play leading roles? Every visitor to the Frankfurt airport in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, can guess the worldwide influence of the German pharmaceutical and chemical industry.The majority of the signs at the official corporate meeting point at the airport belong to pharmaceutical companies; a kind of business card of the German industry. But this is only the surface. To understand the global key role of the German government in connection with the Codex Commission, we have to consider the close entanglement between the German government and the German chemical and pharmaceutical industry throughout this century.
 The IG Farben - Cartel
The most powerful German corporate imperium in the first half of this century was IG Farben, short for Interessengemeinschaft Farben. Interessengemeinschaft stands for association of common interests and was a powerful cartel of BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, and other chemical and pharmaceutical German companies. The IG Farben was the single largest donor to the election campaign of Adolf Hitler.One year before Hitler seized power in 1933, IG Farben donated 400,000 marks to Hitler and his Nazi party. Accordingly, when the Nazis came into power the IG Farben was the single largest profiteer of the Second World War and of the plundering of Europe by the Nazis. One hundred percent of all explosives and synthetic gasoline came from the factories of the IG Farben. Whenever the German Wehrmacht conquered another country, Bayer, Hoechst and BASF executives followed, systematically taking over the industries of these countries. Through this close collaboration with Hitler’s Wehrmacht, IG Farben participated in the plunder of Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France and all other countries occupied by the Nazis. In 1946, the U.S. government investigation concluded that without the IG Farben the Second World War would simply not have been possible. We have to realize that it was not a psychopath named Adof Hitler, nor the innate character of the German people that brought about the Second World War. Economic greed by companies like Bayer, BASF and Hoechst was the key factor in bringing about the Holocaust.No one who saw Steven Spielberg’s film “Schindler’s List” will forget the scenes in the concentration camp Auschwitz. Auschwitz was the largest mass extinction factory in human history, but the concentration camp was only the appendix. The main project was IG Auschwitz, a 100% subsidiary of IG Farben, the world’s largest industrial complex for manufacturing synthetic gasoline and rubber for the conquest of Europe. On March 1st, 1941, Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer of the SS, inspected the construction site. On April 14th, 1941 Otto Ambros, the IG Farben board member responsible for the Auschwitz project, rose to his IG Farben board colleagues in Ludwigshafen and stated, “our new friendship with the SS is a blessing. We have determined all measures integrating the concentration camps to benefit our company.” The pharmaceutical departments of the IG Farben cartel used the victims of the concentration camp in their own way: thousands of them died during human experiments such as the testing of new and unknown vaccines.There was no retirement plan for the prisoners of the IG Auschwitz. Those too weak or too sick to work were selected at the main gate of the IG Auschwitz factory and sent to the gas chambers. Even the chemical gas Zyklon-B, used for the annihilation of millions of people, came from the drawing boards and factories of the IG Farben.The Nuremberg War Criminal Tribunal convicted 24 IG Farben board members and executives for mass murder, slavery and other crimes against humanity. Amazingly however, by 1951 all of them had been released and were working for German Corporations again.The Nuremberg Tribunal divided the IG Farben into Bayer, Hoechst, and BASF. Today each of the three daughters of the IG Farben is 20 times as big as the IG Farben mother was at its height in 1944, the last year of the Second World War. More importantly, the chairmen of the boards, the highest positions in BASF, Bayer and Hoechst, were occupied by former members of the Nazi-Party for almost three decades after the Second World War.Carl Wurster, chairman of the board of BASF until 1974, was on the board of manufacturers of Zyklon-B gas during the warCarl Winnacker, chairman of the board of Hoechst until the late 70’s was a member of the Sturm Abteilung (SA) and was a member of the IG Farben boardCurt Hansen, chairman of the board of Bayer until the late 70’s, was co-organizer of the conquest of Europe in the department of “acquisition of natural resources” Under this leadership the IG Farben daughters, BASF, Bayer, and Hoechst, continued to support politicians representing their interests. During the 1950’s and 60’s they invested in the political career of a young representative from a suburb of the BASF town of Ludwigshafen: Helmut Kohl. From 1957 to 1967 the young Helmut Kohl was a paid lobbyist of the Verband Chemischen Industrie, the central lobby organization of the German pharmaceutical and chemical cartel.Thus, the German chemical and pharmaceutical industry built up one of their own as a political representative leaving to the German people only the choice of approval. The result is well known: Helmut Kohl has been chancellor of Germany for 16 years and the German pharmaceutical and chemical industry became the leading exporters in the world with subsidiaries in over 150 countries, more than the IG Farben ever had.Germany is the only country in the entire world in which a former paid lobbyist for the chemical and pharmaceutical cartel is head of the government. In summary the support of German politics for the global expansion plans of the German pharmaceutical and chemical companies has a 100-year tradition. It is with this background that we understand the support of Bonn for the unethical plans of the Codex Commission.The U.S. head prosecutor in the Nuremberg War Criminal Tribunal against the IG Farben anticipated this development when he said: “These IG Farben criminals, not the lunatic Nazi fanatics, are the main war criminals. If the crimes of these criminals are not brought to daylight and if they are not punished, they will represent a much greater threat to the future peace of the world than Hitler if he were still alive.”Twice during this century, indescribable and worldwide grief originated from German soil. If, with the help of German politicians, the Pharma-Cartel prevails, the eradication of heart disease will be prevented, and in the next generation alone, over 500 million-people unnecessarily will die from heart attacks.Learn from HistoryTwice this century the people in Germany have kept their mouths shut until it was too late. This cannot happen a third time. We, the people of Germany, now have a chance to prove to the entire world that we have learned from history.From:http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_industrybigpharma07.htm
Death Inc.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by HempWorld on March 27, 2013 at 16:20:39 PT
US MI: Column: Cannabinoids And Cancer 
Recent article:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n139/a06.html?102Check it out!Andhttp://www.CannabisCuresCancer.com
Cannabinoids And Cancer 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on March 27, 2013 at 14:42:46 PT
Are the good people in Maine 'getting' it?
Do they want to be cancer-free for the rest of their lives by using some cannabis every day?May God bless them! Or are they listening to the police and let themselves get intimidated by them?
Hemp Magazine
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by The GCW on March 27, 2013 at 14:11:13 PT
Go Maine.
Maine Chiefs of Police Association, said last week that his group remains adamantly against the legalization of marijuana at any level."-0-I expect no less from law enforcers and their unions since they stand to lose some jobs over the future law changes.For entertainment, ask them why they believe responsible adult humans should be caged for using a God-given plant.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment