Month of 01/Feb/2006 to 28/Feb/2006

A recent piece in the Fernley News discussed the marijuana initiative.

Key quote:

Nevada's current marijuana laws are costly, they have failed to prevent teenagers from using marijuana, and they keep police from focusing on DUI and other real crimes. Bringing marijuana into a regulated system will serve all Nevadans well.

Nevadans deserve a system that serves them well. Help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

The Review-Journal noted our playful jab at Conan's communications credentials.

The Las Vegas Weekly seems to have missed the point that CRCM was only kidding about adopting Conan's slogan. But then, they also had a week to come up with something funny to say about the story, and the result was ... a gag that the marijuana campaign smokes marijuana. Zing!

From a recent story about Nevada law enforcement having trouble attracting strong candidates:

When asked about marijuana use, an applicant for the Nevada Highway Patrol told a recruiter he smoked a joint earlier that same day. He said he was anxious about the job interview and it helped him relax.

We'd love to know how the rest of that interview went.

Prohibitionists in the Alaska Legislature remain out-of-touch with their constituents, at least according to a recent Juneau Empire Web poll. The unscientific poll asked readers if they support the Alaska Legislature's sneaky attempt to recriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana by lumping the measure in with a bill to control methamphetamine manufacture. The result? An overwhelming majority, 76% of the vote, said "no."

The bill is now in conference committee. Stay tuned ...

CRCM's campus chapter at the University of Nevada, Reno, got a little press this week. Congrats on the launch of a successful student outreach effort!

Cincinnati City Council Member Cecil Thomas was strongly rebuffed after proposing that the city increase criminal penalties for marijuana possession. It seems residents and fellow elected officials know a bad idea when they see one.

Key quote:

But Councilmen Jim Tarbell and David Crowley said they would not support the measure, echoing a chorus of citizens who attended a meeting of Council's Law and Public Safety Committee.

"Whatever energy we have, we need to put it into more glaring problems," Tarbell said, emphasizing that former Councilman David Pepper made a similar proposal in August that failed for lack of support.

"There was absolutely no conspicuous support from this community," Tarbell said of Pepper's measure.

That was also the case Tuesday for Thomas' proposal.

While Council Member Thomas gears up to out-fail Pepper, we Nevadans will have a chance to end marijuana prohibition.

Please help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

Conan's campaign slogan of "Whores and gambling aren't enough" was defeated by 68% in our poll.

How to sum up the loss?

[Insert cheeky comment here.]

Anjeanette Damon got the joke.

An article about marijuana-related court cases in North Carolina examines the incredible waste of resources caused by prohibition.

Key quote:

For now, [former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Burley] Mitchell is talking only about decriminalization and drug users. But maybe the time has come to talk about nickel-and-dime marijuana dealers, too.

"You just kind of wonder in a world of limited resources what we're trying to do," Mitchell said.

Indeed. In a world where we desperately need better roads, improved schools, and more drug and alcohol treatment programs, why are we spending so much to take nonviolent marijuana users to court? Perhaps we should consider a sensible alternative -- such as removing criminal penalties for personal marijuana use and putting our resources where we really need them. Any takers?

Please help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

It's our retail grand opening! Stop by the CRCM online store and pick up some nifty marijuana-regulating gear. It's your chance to contribute to the campaign and get some cool stuff at the same time.

Love,
The CRCM Management

P.S. You can browse as long as you want: Like much of Nevada, the CRCM store never closes.

A recent article reports that marijuana has surpassed cherries to become Washington state's number eight agricultural commodity. If you needed an example of the failure of marijuana prohibition, there it is: An illegal product ranks in the top 10 of agricultural moneymakers.

In the article, state law enforcement officials offered some key insights on their efforts to wipe out this cash crop. We couldn't help but imagine the following Q&A:

Why is marijuana such a huge crop in Washington if growers are at risk of criminal penalties?

[T]he net results are worth the effort, said [head of Washington State Patrol narcotics program Rich] Wiley, who coordinates pot busts with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and local law enforcement agencies. A single plant can produce as much as a pound of processed marijuana, worth an estimated $2,000, he said.

But surely marijuana prohibition is diminishing these illegal growing operations?

In recent years, marijuana grows have been larger and more sophisticated than in the past, law enforcement spokesmen said.

Douglas County sheriff's Chief Criminal Deputy Robbin Wagg said while some “mom and pop� grows of 500 or fewer plants are still being found, most are larger and more sophisticated, with as many as 10,000 plants being irrigated and tended.

(Yes, that's right. Farms of fewer than 500 plants qualify as "mom and pop" operations.)

But surely law enforcement has lots of resources to help them in their work against these illegal activities?

Marijuana eradication efforts have been hampered by cutbacks in Air National Guard budgets and personnel have been assigned to tasks related to the Iraq war, Wagg said. National Guard helicopters are "the most productive way" to spot marijuana patches in the county's remote fields and draws, he said.

And these efforts to eradicate marijuana farms are successful?

"We get half if we're lucky and good," Wagg said.

But half is pretty good, right?

"They're very innovative," Wiley said of the growers. "Our informants tell us they overplant, knowing we are going to get a percentage of it."

OK, we give up. Marijuana prohibition in Washington has failed like it has everywhere else. Fortunately, we Nevadans have a chance to stop pursuing this failed policy by voting for the marijuana initiative this November.

Please help us pass the initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

Sean Hannity of Fox News got a firsthand view of the failure of marijuana prohibition.

Our border police are working furiously to stem the tide of marijuana flowing into our country, but they simply can't overcome the lure of a profitable criminal market. Marijuana will continue to be smuggled across our borders by the ton as long as there is money to be made in the unregulated criminal market.

Our current marijuana laws don't work. Please help us change them. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

CRCM's Neal Levine appeared in today's Nevada Appeal.

Conan's comments about CRCM received more coverage: in Sunday's Las Vegas Review-Journal and in this week's issue of Time (pictured above).

Should CRCM adopt Conan's slogan? You decide. (Cast your vote at the top right hand corner of the page.)

Harm Reduction Journal just published a report that examines how the drug war has shifted to focusing on low-level marijuana offenses.

Key quote:

The results of this study suggest that law enforcement resources are not being effectively allocated to offenses which are most costly to society. The financial and personnel investment in marijuana offenses, at all points in the criminal justice system, diverts funds away from other crime types, thereby representing a questionable policy choice.

So ... arresting nonviolent marijuana users undermines efforts to prosecute truly dangerous criminals? Sounds familiar.

Please help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

Reno's KTVN covered our initiative.

An Illinois state Senate committee passed a medical marijuana bill today. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for a potential vote.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) this week revealed new commercials attempting to discourage teen marijuana use. The irony is loud and clear: The White House continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on advertising that is supposed to persuade teens not to smoke marijuana, but teenage marijuana use has remained constant over the last 30 years. Meanwhile, the ONDCP refuses to acknowledge the true problem -- that a completely unregulated market guarantees that kids have easy access to marijuana.

We know it's hard for them to admit that their tactics have failed; after all, they've been working hard and spending a lot of taxpayer money on these ads. But it's time to face that truth: Our current marijuana policies aren't working. We need to change them, and Nevadans have a chance to do just that this November.

Please help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

Our current marijuana laws don't work. You, marijuana initiative, will provide a sensible solution by taxing and regulating marijuana.

You will eliminate the threat of jail or arrest for responsible adults aged 21 and older who use marijuana in the privacy of their own homes.

You will create retail establishments for the safe, regulated sale of up to an ounce of marijuana to adults.

You will take marijuana out of the criminal market and place it into a strictly regulated system, so that we can have control of marijuana use in our communities.

You will reduce the money flowing to drug dealers and violent gangs, who don't deserve to profit from responsible marijuana use.

You will create a huge tax revenue for the state of Nevada, so that we can fund things like drug and alcohol treatment programs.

You will allow our under-resourced law enforcement officers to focus on truly dangerous, violent crimes, rather than on nonviolent marijuana users.

You will create sensible safeguards, like increasing the penalty for providing marijuana to minors and not allowing marijuana to be sold in convenience stores, gas stations, supermarkets, casinos, or nightclubs.

You will prohibit all advertising for the sale of marijuana.

You will give adults in Nevada the right to make their own choices about responsible marijuana use.

You will ensure personal freedoms are alive and well in our state.

Love,
CRCM

And for those of you who want to show CRCM a little love this Valentine's Day, you can do so simply by volunteering for or donating to the campaign.

A Massachusetts legislative panel supported a bill to reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana from a criminal offense to a fine.

Key quote:

Supporters say the goal is to make sure that someone found with a small amount of marijuana doesn't have a criminal record that could make it difficult for them to get into college, obtain student loans and make it harder to find a job.

Reducing harsh penalties for nonviolent marijuana users -- seems like a reasonable policy to us, in a "punishment-fits-the-crime" sort of way.

Here in Nevada, we have a chance to tax and regulate marijuana, similar to the way we handle alcohol. We think that's the most reasonable policy of all.

Please help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

Sadly, the medical marijuana bill in New Mexico looks to be dying in committee.

Conan O'Brien mentioned us last week, in typical cheeky fashion.

Update: Here's a video clip of the mention.

To put it mildly. The study claims to have found an association between heavy marijuana use and increased likelihood of bladder cancer, but the study had numerous problems. Primarily, almost every person in the study smoked cigarettes in addition to smoking marijuana -- just 0.06% of the patients smoked only marijuana. Given that tobacco use is a known cause of bladder cancer, it seems ridiculous to state that the patients' marijuana use singlehandedly led to their bladder cancer. Such weak findings can't possibly be used to draw a definitive conclusion about a link between marijuana use and bladder cancer.

Maui County Citizens for Democracy in Action (MCCDA) is working to get an initiative on the ballot that would remove criminal penalties for Maui County residents possessing less than an ounce of marijuana. A noble pursuit.

Meanwhile, here in sunny Nevada, the marijuana initiative is already on the ballot for November 2006. This initiative will remove criminal penalties for marijuana use by adults aged 21 and over in the privacy of their own homes, as well as create a system for the legal cultivation, distribution, and sale of up to an ounce of marijuana to adults.

Please help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

The bill that will recriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana has moved to conference committee. Stay tuned ...

CRCM received a report that someone is conducting a push poll that blatantly lies about what our initiative would do. Apparently, the automated caller implies that, when the initiative is passed, marijuana would be sold in gas stations and supermarkets -- which our initiative specifically prohibits.

These phone calls are an underhanded attack designed purely to scare Nevadans. Deceiving people into thinking the initiative is something it's not is out-and-out voter manipulation, and we urge whoever is behind these calls to stop immediately.

Have you received a phone call like this? Please contact us right away if you have.

If they left a message on your machine, please make sure to save it and send it to us.

And if you want to help us combat the lies of the opposition, please volunteer for or donate to the campaign today.

We have launched an investigation into this deviousness, and we will report back shortly once we identify the underhanded fiends who are behind this scuzzy tactic. Stay tuned ...

Jon Ralston provided some commentary on our opening.

For the record, we believe the hundreds of thousands of Nevadans who agree with us are not rubes. Why on earth would we think people who agree with us are rubes?

And we would love to have a policy discussion about this issue anytime (that's kind of what we do). In fact, in response to this flash, we called Mr. Ralston's show and requested an invite back to Face to Face to facilitate said discussion. Stay tuned ...

Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek of Johnson County, Iowa, wants to ticket people caught with small amounts of marijuana -- instead of arresting them -- so that his officers can use their time more efficiently.

Key quote:

Pulkrabek says in a university town like Iowa City, his staff spends a lot of time booking people who're caught with just a small amount of marijuana. Pulkrabek says over seven-hundred people were arrested in Johnson County last year for possessing a small amount of marijuana.

Fascinating idea -- maybe law enforcement officers should spend their time capturing violent criminals instead of locking up nonviolent marijuana users. The sheriff also points out the absurdity of penalizing college students for the rest of their lives.

Key quote:

"We have a large number of young people [who] come to school and they may get charged with public intoxication and so eventually when they leave town, they not only leave town with, hopefully, a degree, but they unfortunately leave town with a criminal record as well," he says.

And finally, the opposition's suggestion for dealing with marijuana use: ban football.

While the football-marijuana debate rages on in Iowa, we Nevadans have a chance to fix our broken marijuana laws.

Help us pass the marijuana initiative in November. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recently released its new plan to stop drug use in the U.S. They're gonna make it work this time, really.

OK, not really. The report even makes our argument for us on the very first page! A chart of trends in teen marijuana use shows that usage levels have remained steady over the last 20 years, despite the government’s anti-marijuana messages. In contrast, a chart of trends in teen cigarette use shows a steady decline after 1964, when the Surgeon General released a report linking cigarette smoking with health problems. Translation: A carefully controlled system of regulation can help prevent underage use, and drug dealers in an unregulated criminal market don't card.

Sound familiar?

Help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

The RJ's take on CRCM's opening event.

We got coverage in Italy. We think.

This one correctly states that we're on the November ballot.

KLAS on CRCM.

Oh, and regarding the poll, we're already on the ballot.

The Las Vegas Sun covers CRCM's office opening.

CRCM kicked off our campaign today with an office grand opening. More than 30 supporters joined us to celebrate the official beginning of the campaign. A number of press representatives attended as well, so look for coverage of our event! Thanks to all of you who came out to help make it happen. Your energy and enthusiasm have set the stage for an incredible campaign.

If you weren't able to make it to our grand opening, you're still welcome to stop by. We're open 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Call us at (702) 425-2242 or drop us an e-mail to find out how you can help us pass the marijuana initiative.

Jack Carter announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate yesterday, and he mentioned our initiative.

Looking for your daily dose of healthy outrage? The Marijuana Policy Project just released new marijuana prohibition facts for 2006.

Key Quote:

While exact figures are unavailable, conservative estimates indicate that between 32,500 and 40,000 Americans are in prison or jail on marijuana charges right now -- more than the entire prison populations of eight individual European Union countries combined.

Please help us pass the marijuana initiative. Register to vote, volunteer, donate.

KVBC asks, "Could marijuana be legalized in Nevada?"

Completely unrelated to marijuana news, but guaranteed to make you laugh.

The New York Times argues for freedom of information when it comes to exposing prohibitionist policies.

Last night, CRCM hit First Friday for the first time, and it was a resounding success! We want to extend a hearty thanks to the more than 20 volunteers who showed up to work the event ... and to all the wonderful Nevadans who took the time to speak to us, register to vote, and volunteer for the campaign.

The Las Vegas Sun noticed our tiff with First Friday.

Unbeknownst to its legislators, Colorado temporarily removed the state penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana in Denver last week.

Key quote:

On Friday, lawmakers were debating a bill about police officer certification when Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, amended it to keep authorities in cities where drug exemptions have been passed from prosecuting offenders under state law.

"If their citizens say it's legal, then the state ought to back off," he said.

His amendment passed, in part, because the bill was so routine that lawmakers were paying more attention to other matters.

So the legislature followed the will of voters. Oops.

First Friday reversed course and called to offer us a table for tomorrow night. Come see us and say hello.

Where: At the corner of Casino Center and E. Colorado,
(in front of the Funk House).
Click here to see a map.

When: Tomorrow, February 3, 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

And if you would like to come out to the event and help us out, please e-mail Krystal.

Organizers of First Friday have refused to give CRCM permission to hand out campaign literature at tomorrow's event. We believe this is a violation of our First Amendment rights, so we're going anyway.

More to follow shortly.

Also:

If you would like to come out to the event and help us out, please e-mail Krystal.

The House refused to go along with Governor Murkowski and the Senate's move to gut Alaskans' right to privacy.

Now the bill goes back to the Senate, and then likely to conference committee. Stay tuned ...

Clark County Sheriff Bill Young says that law enforcement officials who oppose marijuana prohibition are "a few kooks who when they retired became potheads." You decide.

Interesting development in New Mexico.

Key quote #1:

[White House drug czar staffer David Murray] likened medical-marijuana proponents to "medicine shows, traveling charlatans and snake-oil salesmen" selling phony "tinctures, magical herbs and remedies." Murray said medical marijuana is an issue that has been brought forth not by the medical profession but by advocates of drug legalization.

"They use emotion, they use suffering patients, they use anecdote," he said. And in a statement that some committee members criticized, Murray added: "I regard much of that as cynical and manipulative."

Washington bureacrat rolls into New Mexico and mocks New Mexicans testifying on behalf the bill. Interesting lobbying tactic. Surprisingly, it backfired with Senate Majority Leader Michael
Sanchez.

Key quote #2:

“I don’t know how you do it back East,� Sanchez told Murray, “But this is the people’s house. Everybody has a right to be here just as much as you do. When you said this to us, you showed us where you were really at. I don’t think you should go to a state and say such things about their people.�

Why is the federal government fighting so hard to retain the right of New Mexico police to arrest terminally ill patients? Why is medical marijuana still even a question? Simple answer: Marijuana prohibition.

So what ended up happening in New Mexico? The medical marijuana bill passed the New Mexico Senate by an overwhelming majority and now moves to the House.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy filed suit to get more information about the 175,000 students who have lost federal financial aid because of a drug offense. The Higher Education Act unfairly targets these students -- significant numbers of whom are convicted for simple marijuana possession -- in a profoundly damaging way: It limits their ability to get an education. No other group is targeted so unjustly -- not thieves or murderers, not rapists or drunk drivers. But get caught with some marijuana and you lose your financial aid.

Today's lesson: Kill someone and you can borrow money from the government to go to college, get caught with a small amount of marijuana and you can't.

And some say repealing prohibition would send the wrong message to children?