#NORML #News Source: @norml @WeedConnection Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com media :: news - Tue, 15 Aug 2017 04:20:21 PST
Poll: Voters' Support For Marijuana Law Reform At All Time High
Hamden, CT: A record percentage of voters support reforming the nation's marijuana laws, according to polling data released by Quinnipiac University.
Sixty-one percent of registered voters believe that "the use of marijuana should be made legal in the United States" - the highest percentage ever reported by the poll. Support for legalization is strongest among those between the ages of 35 to 49 (77 percent), those between the ages of 18 and 34 (71 percent), Democrats (70 percent), and Independents (67 percent). Support is weakest among those age 65 or older (42 percent) and Republicans (37 percent).
With regard to the use of medical cannabis, 94 percent of voters say that adults ought to be able to legally consume it therapeutically. Among those polled, no group expressed less than 90 percent support for the issue.
Finally, 75 percent of voters oppose "the government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana." Super-majorities of every group polled, except Republicans (59 percent), hold this position.
The Quinnipiac poll possesses a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.
National Conference Of State Legislatures Endorses Resolution Calling For Marijuana To Be Descheduled
Boston, MA: The National Conference of State Legislatures has endorsed a resolution calling for marijuana to be removed from the US Controlled Substances Act. The plant and all of its organic constituents are classified under federal law as a schedule I controlled substance - the most restrictive categorization available.
Over three-quarters of legislators participating in this week's legislative summit endorsed the resolution, which calls on federal lawmakers to amend the CSA so that each state can regulate cannabis how best it sees fit.
It states: [T]he National Conference of State Legislatures believes that the Controlled Substances Act should be amended to remove cannabis from scheduling thus enabling financial institutions the ability to provide banking services to cannabis related businesses; and ... acknowledges that ... in allowing each state to craft its own regulations we may increase transparency, public safety, and economic development where it is wanted."
Last year, the US Drug Enforcement Administration rejected a pair of petitions that sought to initiate rulemaking proceedings to reschedule marijuana under federal law. In recent years, NORML has argued in favor of descheduling cannabis from the CSA rather than rescheduling it to a lower classification.
Poll: Nearly Six In Ten Voters Say Legalizing Marijuana "Makes Societies Better"
Boston, MA: Nearly six in ten voters ages 18 and older believe that "legalizing marijuana makes societies better," according to the results of a nationwide Harvard-Harris poll.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents answered the question affirmatively. Forty-three percent of respondents said that marijuana legalization makes societies "worse."
Only 14 percent of poll respondents believe that cannabis should not be legal for either medical or social use.
Seventy-two percent of those polled say that those convicted of marijuana possession offenses in non-legal states should not face jail time.
A nationally representative sample of 2,032 registered voters participated in the poll.
Washington, DC: A special Justice Department committee tasked with reviewing existing marijuana enforcement policies and making recommendations has failed to offer support for a federally led crackdown in legal marijuana states, according to documents obtained last week by the Associated Press.
The Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, a group consisting of federal prosecutors and members of law enforcement, did not call for changes in existing policy. Since 2013, the Justice Department has directed US attorneys in all 50 states not to interfere with state legalization efforts and those licensed to engage in the plant's production and sale, provided that such persons do not engage in marijuana sales to minors or divert the product to states that have not legalized its use, among other guidelines.
The Justice Department and US Attorney General are not legally bound by the task force's recommendations, which they have yet to release publicly.
Study: Herbal Cannabis Sales Still Dominate The Retail Market
Santa Monica, CA: Herbal cannabis is far more popular among consumers than are plant-derived edibles or extracts, according to an analysis of retail sales data in Washington state.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and from the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica reviewed data from over 36 million separate retail cannabis transactions in Washington. Sales occurred from July 2014 to September 2016.
Authors reported that "traditional cannabis flowers still account for the majority of spending (66.6 percent), though they acknowledged that sales of plant-derived extracts have increased significantly over the past two years. Researchers also reported that prices on cannabis-related products fell sharply in the months following legalization "as new retailers entered the market and production expanded."
Full text of the study, "Variation in cannabis potency and prices in a newly legal market: Evidence from 30 million cannabis sales in Washington state," appears in Addiction.
