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The Push for Legal Marijuana Spreads 
Posted by CN Staff on November 06, 2015 at 08:28:39 PT
By The NYT Editorial Board
Source: New York Times 
World News -- Support for making marijuana legal is increasing around the world, and that is a good thing. Earlier this week, the Mexican Supreme Court opened the door to legalizing the drug by giving four plaintiffs the right to grow cannabis for personal use.In Canada, the newly sworn in prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has said he intends to change the law so people can use the drug recreationally; medicinal use is already legal in that country. And in the United States, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, recently introduced a bill that would let states decide if they want to make the drug legal without worrying about violating federal law.
Laws banning the growing, distribution and possession of marijuana have caused tremendous damage to society, with billions spent on imprisoning people for violating pointlessly harsh laws. Yet research shows that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, and can be used to treat medical conditions like chronic pain.The Mexican Supreme Court’s ruling, which applies only to the four plaintiffs seeking a right to grow marijuana, does not strike down the country’s marijuana laws. But it will open the way to more legal challenges and put pressure on President Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican Congress to change the law, which has helped to fuel drug-related crime in the country.Prohibition in Mexico and elsewhere in the Americas will also become harder to maintain if California voters legalize recreational use of marijuana. Activists there are seeking to put legalization initiatives on the 2016 ballot. California was the first state to allow medicinal use of the drug in 1996, and it is a big market for illegal Mexican cannabis. It would make little sense for Mexico to spend countless millions a year in drug enforcement to ban a substance that is legal and regulated across its northern border all the way up the western coast to Canada. Oregon and Washington have already legalized the drug, as have Colorado, Alaska and the District of Columbia.Some proponents of keeping prohibition in place might be encouraged by the defeat of an Ohio legalization initiative on Tuesday. But voters did the right thing by rejecting that measure because it would have granted a monopoly over the growing and sale of legal marijuana to a small group of investors. Even the acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chuck Rosenberg, who opposes legalization, described that ballot measure as an “anomaly.” (Mr. Rosenberg also said marijuana was “harmful and dangerous” but he acknowledged that other dangerous substances are “perfectly legal.”)What’s needed now is responsible leadership from President Obama and Congress. They ought to seriously consider the kind of legislation Mr. Sanders has proposed. His bill would remove marijuana, or “marihuana” as it is called in federal law, from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which is meant for drugs that have a high potential for abuse and no medical use.This change would allow states to decide if they want to make the drug legal and how to regulate it without being limited by federal law. Mr. Sanders’s bill would also make it illegal to transport the drug across state lines. If Congress is unwilling to act, Mr. Obama should move on his own by ordering the attorney general to request a study by the secretary of health and human services, which would be needed if the administration is to remove the drug from Schedule I on its own.A growing group of activists, judges and lawmakers is showing the world a path to more sensible drug policies. Mr. Obama and Congress should join them.A version of this editorial appears in print on November 6, 2015, on page A26 of the New York edition with the headline: The Push for Legal Marijuana Spreads Source: New York Times (NY)Published: November 6, 2015Copyright: 2015 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/f2s5aIOiCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on November 06, 2015 at 16:04:24 PT
The litmus test.
"""Some proponents of keeping prohibition in place..."""That's a kinder, gentler way of describing,people who want to cage other people for using the relatively safe, extremely popular, God-given plant cannabis.Numskulls.If a citizen wishes to know if another citizen is good or bad, one way to find out is to ask them if they support caging humans for using the plant cannabis.A person who supports caging humans for using the plant cannabis is NOT a good person.There is NO way around it!-0-Every minute that goes by, every month and day, from now till election day is another day that cannabis prohibition will be exposed for what it is.On election day, only the worst of the worst will vote to continue caging humans for using the plant. PLANT, as described on literally the very 1st page of the Bible!The worst of the worst.Don't fail the litmus test. It's not My test. It's ETERNITIES test. 
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Comment #3 posted by HempWorld on November 06, 2015 at 10:22:09 PT
I mean to finish with
"And continued injustice for all."
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Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on November 06, 2015 at 10:18:34 PT
OMG
To now read this in the NYT!"Laws banning the growing, distribution and possession of marijuana have caused tremendous damage to society, with billions spent on imprisoning people for violating pointlessly harsh laws. Yet research shows that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, and can be used to treat medical conditions like chronic pain."This was also true about a 100 years ago and now in 2015 'they' are finally getting it?"The Mexican Supreme Court’s ruling, which applies only to the four plaintiffs seeking a right to grow marijuana, does not strike down the country’s marijuana laws. But it will open the way to more legal challenges and put pressure on President Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican Congress to change the law, which has helped to fuel drug-related crime in the country."Please NYT, it is PROHIBITION RELATED CRIME!At least this is what you are trying to attempt to say in the paragraph above?!And yes, only these four plaintiffs can grow it not the other 99.999% of the population. Much like the US compassionate use program only for a lucky few and then the DEA maintains that there no medical use when the US govt has admitted this in a law suit.It smells like the outcome in Mexico was dictated by big brother up north.This is just unbelievable!The demagoguery and yellow journalism, all at the NYT and continued in.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 06, 2015 at 08:30:40 PT
Progress
Let's get it done soon!
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