cannabisnews.com: Vermont House Considers MJ Decriminalization
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Vermont House Considers MJ Decriminalization
Posted by CN Staff on March 30, 2013 at 06:14:16 PT
By Terri Hallenbeck, Free Press Staff Writer
Source: Burlington Free Press
Montpelier, Vermont -- The marijuana samples were discreetly tucked into a Manila envelope. Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn didn’t ask for them to be brought out until the end of his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee and said he couldn’t pass them around.Marijuana is illegal, Flynn noted, so he had to be discreet, but he wanted the committee to see what 1 and 2 ounces looked like as legislators consider decriminalizing small amounts. The definition of a “small amount” matters, Flynn said. He said he supports decriminalization, but 2 ounces is too much.
“I think 1 ounce is more appropriate,” Flynn told the committee.The bill that the committee is considering, H.200, calls for decriminalizing 2 ounces or less, making it a civil offense with a $100 fine. Committee Chairman Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, said Flynn’s wariness over the quantity matters to him and that will be a key topic of discussion in the next week or so.Lippert said, however, that he thinks there is strong support in the committee and the Legislature for decriminalization and he expects the committee to vote out a bill within the next couple weeks.Lippert said he plans a full day of testimony Wednesday. The bill has legislative leaders’ approval to move forward even though it has missed the “crossover” deadline to go from one chamber to the other. House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, who had been leery of the legislation, said this week that he wouldn’t stand in its way if has support from legislators.In committee Thursday morning, State Police Lt. Matthew Birmingham held up two plastic bags, one with 1 ounce and the other with 2 ounces.Birmingham, commander of the Vermont Drug Task Force, later said 1 ounce has a street value ranging from $100 to $250 and can produce somewhere in the range of 50 to 120 marijuana cigarettes. Both figures are hard to peg, he said, because street value varies as does the size of joints. SnippedComplete Article: http://drugsense.org/url/6UR89Ud2Source: Burlington Free Press (VT)Author: Terri Hallenbeck, Free Press Staff WriterPublished: March 29, 2013Copyright: 2013 Burlington Free PressContact: letters bfp.burlingtonfreepress.comWebsite: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/ CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #6 posted by HempWorld on April 01, 2013 at 08:30:55 PT
Oh My God!
It is so disingenuous of Mark Kleiman to say: "to rely on money from pot - like money from gambling, alcohol and tobacco - means relying on abuse and addiction, which are not necessarily desirable state goals. "The brute fact," said Kleiman, a UCLA drug-policy expert, is that those activities depend on heavy use by a few, not moderate use by many. Just 20 percent of users consume 80 percent of all the weed in the U.S., Kleiman said. ( Forty-six percent of all alcohol consumed in the U.S. is part of drinking binges, he added )."Oh really? What are the sources of your 'facts'? Where is the footnote?Ok, so taxing Alcohol and Cigarettes, the major killers in our society, that's ok, but now comes mari-ju-ana and then he says: ""The only way to get a lot of revenue is to sell a lot of marijuana," he said. "The only way to sell a lot or marijuana is to sell to people who smoke a lot of marijuana. And that's not a good thing." Policymakers may not want the state "fostering disease," he said."Really? I believe the state has been conspiring with the alcohol and cigarette industries for hundreds of years to do exactly that! Fostering disease and killing millions of americans EVERY YEAR!And my FACTS are here, with the source of the numbers:
http://hempworld.com/HempPharm/articles/stats.htmlAnnual Death Toll:CIGARETTES: IN EXCESS OF 435,000 AMERICANS A YEAR!
ALCOHOL: IN EXCESS OF 85,000 AMERICANS A YEAR!
MARIJUANA: 0 A YEAR!WHERE ARE YOU NOW MR. KLEIMAN?
The Real Death Statistics Not Mr. Kleiman's
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Comment #5 posted by HempWorld on April 01, 2013 at 08:20:18 PT
Dear FoM please post this article so we can take
it apart, piece by piece...Mark Kleiman is the fox guarding the hen house, he is not implementing the will of the voters.This is how the powers that be, make an end-run around democracy and our voting powers.STOP MARK KLEIMAN NOW!http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n145/a01.html?1042
Mark Kleiman is a traitor!
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on March 31, 2013 at 10:38:37 PT
kaptinemo #3
Yes, kap. The War on Nature continues courtesy of Big Oil and Big Pharma. Plastic synthetics for your car, your floor, your walls, your tools vs. natural wood, wool, hemp, shells, and solid metal. A pill for every ill vs. God-given herbs. Virtual reality on screens instead of walks in the park and family dinner. Break out and live free, everyone.Happy Easter.Free the wonder plant.Frank Zappa - Plastic People 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFcmJoNed9M
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on March 31, 2013 at 07:17:26 PT:
Heeeeeere we go, aaagaain....same old s**t again
From a marching song in my Army days.This crap of trying to say that huge numbers of joints can be made from a single ounce of weed is as old as the 'concerned parents' (a.k.a. control freak) movement of the early 1980's, and was one of their favorite tactics. The prohibs really do have a low opinion of the mentality of the targets of their canards.The problem here is that a generational shift has taken place, the ignorant ol' duffers they could BS with impunity are dying off, and the prohibs are lying to people who know the truth...some from personal experience.In which case, it's the prohibs who merit contempt, not their intended victims.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 30, 2013 at 18:19:43 PT
Happy Easter Everyone
We have come such a long way over the last few years. I know we will see even more acceptance then ever before in the near future. Have a great day tomorrow.
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on March 30, 2013 at 07:00:33 PT
Flynn?
See, to not know how stupid we sound is what gives us hubris!I wonder if Flynn might be open to a limit on six packs? Four six-packs per month except during football season, then it is eight.Think of the really harmful things available to us. Now think about putting a limit on those things.Bottom line: Limits mean control. All governments crave control. Oh, and plus, Flynn is an Idiot Boy.
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