Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 27 Jan 2014 04:20:21 PST
RAND Study: Vermont, And Other States, Have Various Options On How To Legalize Marijuana
Montpelier, VT: The RAND Corporation has produced a 218-page report at the request of the Vermont legislature and Governor Peter Shumlin (D) to review the options that Vermont, and other jurisdictions, have to create legalization policies for marijuana.
A group of well-established cannabis policy experts from numerous universities were tasked with six basic research questions:
What are the decisions confronting jurisdictions that are considering alternatives to traditional marijuana prohibition?
How much marijuana is consumed in Vermont?
How much does Vermont spend enforcing marijuana prohibition?
What does the current scientific literature find about the consequences associated with marijuana consumption?
How much money could the State of Vermont earn from legalizing marijuana?
How much does it cost to regulate legal marijuana?
The two general recommendations were that 'cannabis policy should not be viewed as a binary choice between prohibition and the for-profit commercial model we see in Colorado and Washington'; and 'Legalization encompasses a wide range of possible regimes, distinguished along at least four dimensions: the kinds of organizations that are allowed to provide the drug, the regulations under which those organizations operate, the nature of the products that can be distributed, and price'.
RAND researchers opine that Vermonters in 2014 likely consumed between 15-25 metric tons of marijuana and spent between $125 - $225 million on sales. If aggressively taxed, the researchers write that between $20-$75 million dollars annually in taxes and fees are possible in Vermont post legalization.
Download and read the new RAND report on marijuana legalization options for Vermont and other states @ https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR800/RR864/RAND_RR864.pdf
Post Legalization In Colorado, Marijuana Arrests Way Down
Denver, CO: The pro-reform group Drug Policy Alliance recently released a comprehensive report examining Colorado's first full year of retail sales of recreational marijuana.
DPA reports that in 2010 Colorado had 9,022 cannabis possession arrests; in 2014 it had 1,464 arrests (an 84% reduction). Also, cannabis cultivation and selling offenses were also down 90% during this same time.
Over 16,000 employees are licensed to work at cannabis-related businesses in the state, helping to push Colorado's unemployment rate to its lowest point in six years. Not factoring medical cannabis sales, the state has taken in more than $50 million in sales taxes for recreational use.
From a public safety standpoint the DPA report concludes that the state saw a 3% decline in fatal auto accidents during the first year of legal cannabis sales and that over $8 million in cannabis tax revenue has gone directly to support youth prevention and education.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, or Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director, at (202) 483-5500. To download and read the entire DPA report, visit https://www.drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Colorado_Marijuana_Legalization_One_Year_Status_Report.pdf
US Attorney General: Civil Forfeiture Reforms Needed
Washington, DC: In an unprecedented move, Attorney General Eric Holder announced this week a major series of substantive reforms to the federal government's civil forfeiture enforcement practices.
Pressed by both liberal and conservative lawmakers, as well as left-n-right leaning think tanks, Attorney General Holder has immediately cancelled the 'Equitable Sharing' program with local and state police agencies, where billions in cash and assets seized since 2008 are divided between federal and local law enforcement agencies.
According to the Washington Post, "Holder's action represents the most sweeping check on police power to confiscate personal property since the seizures began three decades ago as part of the war on drugs."
NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre commented, "Since taking office in 2009, President Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, have made numerous actions to lessen the costs and burdens to the United States from a once out of control criminal justice system, such as changing federal enforcement priorities and practices regarding allowing states that want to end cannabis prohibition and replace with tax-n-regulate policies, recommending changes in federal sentencing guidelines, embracing so-called harm reduction strategies Mr. Holder often refers to as "smart on crime", acknowledging disturbing racial imbalances in the country's criminal justice system, seeking body cameras for police and now civil forfeiture reforms.
If you're a cannabis consumer, patient, cultivator or seller, it is impossible not to acknowledge the good work Mr. Holder did as Attorney General to replace failed and unpopular public policies with functional and publicly-supported policy reforms."
Save The Date: NORML Lobby Day Conference in Washington, D.C.
Washington, DC: NORML's 2015 Marijuana Lobby Conference at the United States Capitol is scheduled for May 20-21. Hundreds of marijuana consumers, activists, patients and business owners are expected to attend a day-long training and informational conference on Wednesday and re-convene on The Hill Thursday to personally lobby their elected members of the House of Representatives and Senate.
Scheduling and registration information will soon be posted to norml.org, and promoted as well across NORML's network via listservs, Facebook, Twitter, etc... Please save the dates and participate in this historic lobbying effort in our nation's capital at this crucial time in the law reform effort as cannabis prohibition increasingly gives way to legalization.
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