Source: @norml
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Sat, 15 Feb 2014 04:20:21 PST
Rhode Island: Majority of Voters Back Licensing Retail Stores To Sell Cannabis to Adults
Providence, RI: The majority of Rhode Island voters back legalizing and regulating the use and sale of cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol, according to a Public Policy Polling survey commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project.
Fifty-three percent of respondents support "changing Rhode Island law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, so stores would be licensed to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older." Forty-one percent of respondents oppose the idea. Six percent of voters were undecided.
On Wednesday, Rhode Island House and Senate lawmakers held a press conference announcing their intent to introduce legislation to legalize and regulate the possession, cultivation, and retail sale of cannabis for adults.
Study: Alcohol-Positive Drivers Possess Greater Fatal Crash Risk Compared To Non-Alcohol Drug-Positive Drivers
Calverton, MD: Drivers with blood alcohol limits of 0.05 percent possess a greater risk of being in a fatal traffic accident than do drivers who test positive for any other licit or illicit substance, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of Studies on Drugs and Alcohol.
Investigators at the Pacific Research Institute in Maryland and the University of Puerto Rico assessed the relative risk of fatal crash involvement associated with the presence of alcohol, licit drugs (e.g., methadone, opiates, benzodiazepines, sleep aids) and illicit drugs (marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines), as well as a combination of both drugs and alcohol.
They reported: "[O]ur finding that the risk of involvement in a fatal crash at a BAC of .05 percent is significantly higher than that for being positive for drugs other than alcohol."
Authors also reported that the presence of marijuana alone was not a significant contributor to fatal accident risk. They stated: "Although drugs other than alcohol do contribute to crash risk, we found that such a contribution depends on the type of drug under consideration. Somewhat unexpected was the finding that although marijuana's crude OR (odds ratios) indicated a significant contribution to fatal crash risk, once it was adjusted by the presence of alcohol and drivers' demographics, marijuana's OR was no longer significant among either sober or drinking drivers."
Investigators concluded: "Alcohol was not only found to be an important contributor to fatal crash risk, ... it was associated with fatal crash risk levels significantly higher than those for other drugs. ... The much higher crash risk of alcohol compared with that of other drugs suggests that in times of limited resources, efforts to curb drugged driving should not reduce our efforts to pass and implement effective alcohol-related laws and policies."
A separate paper published recently in the journal Injury Prevention reported that drivers with a BAC of 0.01 percent are "46 percent more likely to be officially blamed for a crash than are the sober drivers they collide with." They concluded, "There appears to be no safe combination of drinking and driving."
Full text of the study, "Drugs and alcohol: Their relative crash risk," is available from the Journal of Studies on Drugs and Alcohol. NORML's white paper, "Cannabis and Driving: A Scientific and Rational Review," is online.
Alaska: Measure Seeking To Legalize Marijuana Qualifies For 2014 Ballot
Anchorage, AK: State election officials have confirmed that a proposed initiative to regulate the production and retail sale of cannabis to adults has obtained the necessary number of signatures from registered voters to appear on 2014 ballot.
The initiative's proponents, The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska, gathered more than 45,000 signatures from registered Alaska voters. Last week, the director of the Alaska's Division of Elections confirmed that of those signatures, 31,593 have been verified, thus qualifying the measure for a public vote. The lieutenant governor's office is expected to certify the measure for the 2014 ballot in the coming days, once all of the remaining signatures have been counted and verified.
Once certified, the initiative will be placed on the August 19 primary election ballot, as is required by Alaska election law.
If approved by voters, the measure would legalize the adult possession of up to one ounce of cannabis as well as the cultivation of up to six-plants (three flowering) for personal consumption. The measure would also allow for the establishment of licensed, commercial cannabis production and retail sales of marijuana and marijuana-infused products to those over the age of 21. Commercial production and retail sales of cannabis would be subject to taxation, but no taxes would be imposed upon those who choose to engage in non-commercial activities (e.g., growing small quantities of marijuana for personal use and/or engaging in not-for-profit transfers of limited quantities of cannabis.) Public consumption of cannabis would be subject to a civil fine.
The measure neither amends the state's existing medical marijuana law, which was approved by voters in 1998, nor does it diminish any privacy rights established by the state's Supreme Court in its 1975 ruling Ravin v State.
Under present state law, the possession of marijuana not in one's residence is classified as a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 90-days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
According to the results of a statewide Public Policy Polling survey, released last week, 55 percent of registered voters "think (that) marijuana should be legally allowed for recreational use, that stores should be allowed to sell it, and that its sales should be taxed and regulated similarly to alcohol." Only 39 percent of respondents oppose the idea. The survey possesses a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.
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