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By Jeremy Daw
Coming soon to Canada?
WCL News — In response to new rules enacted in Canada allowing foreign corporations to open retail cannabis establishments, the head of the premier US cannabis brand has said that he plans to enter the Canadian market.
“Absolutely,” said Jamen Shively, co-founder and Executive Director of Diego Pellicer Inc., when asked whether he planned to enter the Canadian market.
Long known as an illicit supplier of the US market for British Columbia’s famous “BC Bud,” Canada may soon find itself awash with high-grade American cannabis, courtesy of a former Microsoft executive.
Por Martin Williams
La policía de los EE.UU. llevó a cabo un arresto por drogas cada 20 segundos y un arresto marihuana cada 42 segundos en el 2012, según un informe de la Oficina Federal de Investigación lanzado 16 de septiembre 2013. El Reporte Uniforme del Crimen (UCR ) Informe del Programa cuenta con un arresto por cada instancia independiente en el que una persona es arrestada , citado o convocado por un delito.
Esto demuestra que el 82,2% de todos los arrestos por drogas en 2012 fueron por posesión y sólo el 42,4% de todos los arrestos por drogas fueron por posesión de marihuana (88% de todos los arrestos por marihuana) . Esto equivale a casi 750.000 arrestos por marihuana y más de 1.5 millones de arrestos totales de medicamentos en 2012. El total representa un ligero descenso de los últimos años. Durante los años 2006 a 2010, la
Read More: Pequeña caída de los arrestos por marihuana, EE.UU. todavía cerca récord
By Martin Williams
WCL News — Police in the US conducted one drug arrest every 20 seconds and one marijuana arrest every 42 seconds in 2012, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation report released September 16, 2013. The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program report counts one arrest for each separate instance in which a person is arrested, cited, or summoned for an offense.
It shows that 82.2% of all drug arrests in 2012 were for possession only and 42.4% of all drug arrests were for marijuana possession (88% of all marijuana arrests). This amounts to almost 750,000 marijuana arrests and more than 1.5 million total drug arrests in 2012. The total represents a slight decrease from years past. During the years 2006 to 2010, police annually made over 800,000 arrests for cannabis violations.
By comparison, police made 757,969 arrests in 2011 for marijuana-related offenses, according to the annual Uniform
Read More: Small drop in marijuana arrests, US still near record high
By Allison B. Margolin, Attorney at Law
WCL News — Many, many marijuana felons can and should vote. With the next election cycle right around the corner, it is imperative for current and ex-felons to know and exercise their right to vote when the law allows them –which is most of the time . This way voters can choose leaders who will most effectively improve the legal, political and social contexts that led to their convictions.
In California, the Court of Appeals ruled in League of Women Voters of CA v. McPherson, 145 Cal. App 4th 1469 (2006), that felons can vote when they are in county jail or off parole. The Court relied on the CA Constitution Article II, Section IV: “The Legislature shall prohibit improper practices that affect elections and shall provide for the disqualification of electors while mentally incompetent or imprisoned or on parole for the conviction
Read More: Many felons can vote unless they are physically in state prison
By Betty Aldworth and Darby Beck
WCL News – Deputy US Attorney General James Cole told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 10, 2013 that in states where marijuana has been decriminalized or made legal, implementing a strictly regulated system in which cannabis is sold is the only way to prevent criminal activity such as diversion to youth and across state lines and empowerment of criminals and cartels. Cole did not challenge states’ rights to make their own drug laws, only restated the federal government’s right to challenge their regulatory schemes in pursuing certain priorities, such as preventing sales to minors, trafficking to other states, impaired driving, and increases in violence.
Committee members Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) were fully supportive of the new state laws and repeatedly stated the need for greater clarification of federal policy, particularly in relation to guidelines which prohibit financial institutions, security
Read More: US Senate hearing seeks path for Feds to coexist with state-legal marijuana
By Martin Williams
WCL News — The California Assembly voted September 4, 2013 to let prosecutors charge personal possession of illicit drugs as a misdemeanor rather than a felony case, as circumstances warrant. The bill, SB649 authored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), passed with 41 votes and bipartisan support. It cleared the Senate earlier and now heads toward the governor’s desk after concurrence.
Current law provides for up to three years of prison, even for a small amount of drugs intended for personal consumption. The option of filing misdemeanor charges is expected to help reduce prison and jail overcrowding in California and potentially reduce overall court costs because misdemeanor offenses do not require setting a preliminary hearing, as felony charges do.
A statewide poll conducted by Tulchin Research in 2012 found that an overwhelming majority of Californians support this type of drug sentencing reform, with 75% favoring prevention and
Read More: California Assembly votes to reduce drug possession penalty
By Chris Conrad
WCL News — A major shift in federal banking policy may have been ignited with the August 29, 2013 US Dept. of Justice policy memo. According to reports from CNN.com and the Huffington Post, the agency offered leeway to banks and other financial institutions to provide banking services to marijuana-related businesses that comply with eight priorities that were outlined in Deputy Attorney General James Cole’s memo. Members of the National Cannabis Industry Association have reported closure of personal and business bank accounts, discontinuation of merchant processing services, and even the termination of armored car services. Yesterday’s apparent reversal opens the door to allowing the estimated $1.5 billion regulated marijuana market access to business checking and savings accounts, merchant processing, and other vital services.
“Our NCIA members and others in the regulated medical and adult-use marijuana industry across the nation have gone to great lengths to ensure they
Read More: Memo may effect major shift in banking for cannabis businesses
By Jeremy Daw and Darby Beck
WCL News — El gobernador del estado de Washington Jay Inslee y el fiscal general Bob Ferguson han llegado a un acuerdo con el fiscal general de EE. UU. Eric Holder para permitir que la legalización de la marihuana siga adelante en el Evergreen State. El anuncio confirma el viejo rumor sobre la existencia de conversaciones de colaboración entre el gobierno estatal y el Departamento de Justicia federal sobre la aplicación de la Iniciativa 502, aprobada por los votantes, para legalizar y regular la marihuana para los adultos.
“Hoy recibimos la confirmación que la ley de marihuana, aprobada por los votantes del estado de Washington, se llevará a cabo”, escribieron Inslee y Ferguson en un comunicado de prensa del 29 de agosto de 2013. “Recibimos una buena noticia esta mañana cuando el fiscal general Eric Holder le dijo al gobernador que el gobierno federal no
Read More: EE. UU. permitirá que el estado de Washington implemente I-502
By Tony Newman, drugpolicy.org
El presidente del Comité Judicial del Senado, Patrick Leahy (D-VT) anunció el 25 de agosto 2013, que él se ocuparía de las discrepancias entre las leyes federales y estatales de marihuana en una audiencia del 10 de septiembre. Con 20 estados con marihuana medicinal y dos adultos que permiten el uso legal, Leahy ha invitado a Fiscal General de EE.UU., Eric Holder, y la Vice Fiscal James Cole a declarar.
En una carta de diciembre de 2012 a EE.UU. zar antidrogas Gil Kerlikowske, Leahy había pedido que el gobierno federal tiene la intención de hacer frente a estados como Colorado y Washington, que han legalizado el uso de adultos no médico, y sugirió que la legislación federal podría introducirse para legalizar hasta una onza de marihuana, por lo menos en los estados que han legalizado. También había pedido garantías de que los empleados estatales no serían
Read More: Senado quiere poner fin al conflicto entre las leyes estatales y federales de marihuana
By Chris Conrad
WCL News — La Asociación Canadiense de Jefes de Policía ha recomendado que la tenencia de marihuana debería ser reducido a un delito de citación que no conduzca a un arresto. De acuerdo con 20 de agosto, 2013, CACP comunicado de prensa de agosto de sus miembros votó en su reunión general anual de Winnipeg a ratificar la Resolución # 04-2013 recomendando que las opciones de aplicación debería ampliarse para aumentar la discrecionalidad policial cuando se enfrenta a la posesión ilícita de cannabis. La asociación representa a más del 90% de la comunidad policial en Canadá que incluyen federales, las Primeras Naciones, provinciales, regionales y municipales, el transporte y los líderes de la policía militar.
“El actual proceso de envío de todos los casos de simple posesión de marihuana bajo la controlada de fármacos y sustancias actúan a la corte criminal está poniendo una carga significativa para
Read More: Jefes de Policía Canadiense ha recomendado que la tenencia de marihuana debería ser reducido a un delito de citación
By Miguel Angel Bifari, en Argentina
WCL News — Las reformas a las leyes de cannabis están cambiando rápidamente la historia en toda América del sur. Uruguay es un pequeño país situado entre los dos grandes gigantes de la economía Argentina y Brasil, con sólo tres millones de habitantes, pero situado en una esquina estratégica de este gran continente.
Este pequeño país está a punto de convertirse en el primer país en legalizar la marihuana en casa jardines cultivados, así como clubes de cannabis, la producción, el comercio y distribution. En 31 de julio 2013 la Cámara Baja del Congreso aprobó la nueva ley sobre cannabis 50 votos a favor y 46 en contra. La cámara superior debe hacer lo mismo.
Esto está teniendo un gran impacto en toda la región. A pesar de que Uruguay se está presionado bu las Naciones Unidas, muchos presidentes actuales y ex presidentes
Read More: Uruguay cambia la historia del cannabis en america el sur
By Chris Conrad, WestCoastLeaf.com
WCL News – The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has recommended that marijuana possession should be reduced to a citation offense that does not lead to an arrest. According to an August 20, 2013 CACP press release, its membership voted at its annual General Meeting in Winnipeg to ratify Resolution #04 – 2013 recommending that enforcement options should be expanded to increase police discretion when confronting the illicit possession of cannabis. The association represents more than 90% of the police community in Canada which include federal, First Nations, provincial, regional and municipal, transportation and military police leaders.
“The current process of sending all simple possession of cannabis cases under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act to criminal court is placing a significant burden on the entire Justice system from an economic and resource utilization perspective,” stated CACP President Chief Constable Jim Chu. “The CACP is
Read More: Canada’s police chiefs want possession reduced to a ticket citation
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