#NORML #News Source: @norml @WeedConnection Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com media :: news - Tue, 15 Nov 2016 04:20:21 PST
Voters In Eight States Approve Marijuana Law Reform In Unprecedented Election Victories
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Washington, DC: Millions of Americans cast votes on Election Day in favor of sweeping statewide marijuana law reforms.
Voters in four states: California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada approved ballot measures legalizing the adult use of cannabis and licensing its commercial production and retail sale. Voters in four additional states: Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota approved initiatives legalizing and/or expanding the use and dispensing of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.
In all, 29 states now authorize the medical use of cannabis by statute. Eight states, home to some 64 million Americans, now authorize the adult use and sale of marijuana.
Commenting on the results, Erik Altieiri, NORML's new Executive Director said: "The American people have spoken and spoken clearly. They do not support prosecuting and stigmatizing responsible adults who choose to consume a substance that is safer than either alcohol or many prescription medications. These results provide a mandate to the incoming administration and to Congress to reform federal laws in a manner that comports with marijuana's rapidly changing legal and cultural status."
Broader statewide sentencing reform measures were also enacted by voters in California (Proposition 57) and Oklahoma (State Question 780). Voters in four Ohio municipalities (Newark, Bellaire, Logan, and Roseville) passed local measures eliminating penalties regarding the possession of up to 200 grams of marijuana.
"These victories represent a repudiation of America's ongoing war against marijuana consumers and the mentality that if 'you do drugs, you do time,'" said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. "Marijuana use and marijuana markets are here to stay, and it is high time to legalize and regulate these activities accordingly."
Obama: Federal Marijuana Prohibition Untenable
Bill Maher Interview with President Obama
Washington, DC: President Barack Obama says that passage of state laws legalizing and regulating the use of marijuana calls into question the future of federal prohibition.
Speaking in a taped interview with Bill Maher prior to the election, Obama said, "[T]his referenda, to some degree it's gonna call [into] question [federal marijuana prohibition], because if in fact it passed in all these states, you now have about a fifth of the country that's operating under one set of laws, and four-fifths in another."
He added, "The Justice Department, DEA, FBI, for them to try to straddle and figure out how they're supposed to enforce laws in some places and not in others. ... [T]hat is not gonna be tenable."
Voters in eight states passed statewide ballot initiatives on Tuesday regulating the use and distribution of marijuana.
Study: Marijuana Retailers Not Selling To Youth
Golden, CO: Licensed marijuana retailers are complying with regulations that forbid businesses from selling to minors, according to data published in the Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs.
A team of investigators from California, Colorado, and New Mexico assessed whether licensed retail cannabis facilities would sell to pseudo-underage buyers who failed to show proof of age.
Authors reported, "Compliance with laws restricting marijuana sales to individuals age 21 years or older with a valid ID was extremely high and possibly higher than compliance with restrictions on alcohol sales."
They concluded, "The retail market at present may not be a direct source of marijuana for underage individuals."
Similar assessments of facilities in other jurisdictions have also shown that the overwhelming majority of marijuana retailers refuse sales to apparent minors.
A pair of studies published earlier this week from Columbia University researchers reported that changes in marijuana's legal status is "not associated with higher prevalence rates of marijuana use among adolescents."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director. Full text of the study, "Pseudo-Underage Assessment of Compliance With Identification Regulations at Retail Marijuana Outlets in Colorado," appears in the Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs.
