January 13, 2017
NORML supporters:
Welcome to this week’s edition of the legislative roundup. With a majority of states now full swing into their legislative sessions, over 400 bills nationwide have been submitted that in some way, shape, or form address marijuana policies. Ranging from ending the criminal prohibition of marijuana to tweaking established legal medical marijuana programs in order to better serve patients; clearly, inch by inch, we are winning.
Below are the priority bills that we are tracking so far, with more being posted on our http://norml.org/act page every day.
If you have not yet, make sure to sign up for our email list and we will keep you posted as these bills and more move through your home state legislature and at the federal level.
Thanks for all you do,
Justin
Federal
– Protecting the sanctity of property rights for those targeted for marijuana related offenses
Legislation is pending before Congress, HR 331, to halt the federal government from taking civil forfeiture action against properties involved in state-sanctioned, medical marijuana-related conduct.
If approved, it would “amend the Controlled Substances Act … to exempt real property from civil forfeiture due to medical marijuana-related conduct that is authorized by state law.”
In the past, federal officials have sought to close dispensaries by threatening property owners with civil forfeiture proceedings. Under these proceedings, property may be seized if there exist evidence that it was involved in activities that violate federal law, regardless of whether those activities are licit under state law.
Presently, the Justice Department is barred from taking such actions because of the passage of the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment. However, that protection will expire on April 28, 2017 unless renewed by Congress.
Click here to email your Representative to urge them to support this measure.
– A change in the guard at the head of the US Department of Justice
Alabama Senator Jefferson “Jeff” Sessions began the confirmation process to become the next Attorney General of the United States.
Senator Sessions is a militant opponent of any efforts to reform marijuana policy who once notoriously remarked that the Ku Klux Klan “was okay until I found out they smoked pot.” He is a staunch proponent of the long-discredited ‘gateway theory,’ and has called on federal officials to return to the ‘Just Say No’ rhetoric of the 1980s. In fact, he was one of only 16 US Senators to receive a failing grade from NORML in our 2016 Congressional Report Card because of statements like these:
“We need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it’s in fact a very real danger.”
“[Marijuana] cannot be played with, it is not funny, it’s not something to laugh about, and trying to send that message with clarity, that good people don’t smoke marijuana.”
NORML opposes his confirmation unless he will clarify that he does not intend to use the resources of the United States Justice Department against marijuana consumers and businesses that are operating in accordance with state laws in regards to medicinal or recreational marijuana.
Click here to email your US Senators and urge them to raise this issue or #JustSayNoToSessions
Connecticut
Legislation to legalize the adult use of marijuana and to regulate its commercial commerce is pending now in both the House and Senate.
SB 11 by state Senator Martin Looney (D) and HB 5314 by Rep. Melissa Ziobron (R) have been filed to regulate the personal use and retail sale of marijuana by adults.
A similar legislative effort led by Juan Candelaria (D) and over a dozen co-sponsors, HB 5539, is also pending in the House. The House Speaker has previously acknowledged that he expects these bills to receive full hearings this session, so it is vital that your lawmakers hear consistent support for these measures from voters like you.
CT Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
Indiana
A Senate lawmaker has reintroduced legislation, SB 255, to regulate marijuana access to qualified patients.
The measure, sponsored by Democrat Sen. Karen Tallian, establishes a statewide medical marijuana program to permit qualified patients — including patients with arthritis, migraine, PTSD, and seizures — to legally obtain cannabis products and to engage in cannabis therapy.
IN Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
Kentucky
Legislation filed by Senator Perry Clark of Louisville, SB 57, seeks to establish a statewide, comprehensive medical marijuana program.
Senate Bill 57, The Cannabis Compassion Act, establishes regulations overseeing the establishment of state-licensed dispensaries to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients. It also permits patients to home cultivate their own supply of medical cannabis.
Senator Clark said: “Too many Kentuckians have had their lives stymied with criminal records as a result of nonviolent marijuana convictions. That is wrong. It is time to stop making criminals out of citizens due to outdated and ridiculous laws concerning cannabis.”
KY Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
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Additionally, Legislation has also filed by Senator Perry Clark of Louisville, Senate Bill 76, seeks to legalize the possession and use of limited amounts of marijuana for those over the age of 21.
KY Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
Maine
Maine Senate President Mike Thibodeau and House Speaker Sara Gideon have struck a deal to introduce emergency resolution LD 88 to impose a moratorium on the enactment of many of the key provisions in Question 1, the voter-initiated Marijuana Legalization Act.
While the resolution maintains the January 30th, 2017 repeal of penalties for personal possession and home cultivation of marijuana, it delays provisions specific to the retail production or sale of marijuana, the social use of marijuana, and the consumption or possession of marijuana-infused products. If passed, this legislation would no longer mandate lawmakers to enact these provisions by January 1, 2018 — as is presently required by law — and opens the door indefinitely maintaining the black market’s monopoly on the marijuana market.
Mainers have lived with the failings of marijuana prohibition for far too long already. Any further delay is unnecessary and is an affront to the will of the majority of Maine voters who passed Question 1 on Election Day.
ME Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
Mississippi
Legislation is pending, House Bill 179, to establish a pilot program to provide qualified patients with legal access to medical marijuana products.
Under this program, patients would be permitted to obtain up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and/or cannabis-infused products, such as extracts or edibles, from a state-licensed dispensing facility. Regulators must begin accepting initial applications from dispensaries and testing facilities by January 1, 2018.
MS Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
New Hampshire
After nearly a decade of frustration, 2017 may finally be the year that New Hampshire voters successfully see marijuana possession decriminalized.
Forthcoming legislation to amend criminal penalties for marijuana possession is pending in the House, where lawmakers have overwhelmingly supported such efforts for eight years in a row. However, legislators this year are hopeful that, for the first time, they also have sufficient votes to also clear the Senate.
In addition, new Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said during his campaign he would support decriminalizing marijuana.
New Hampshire is the only New England state that has not either decriminalized or legalized adult marijuana use.
NH Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
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Additionally, Legislation is pending in the New Hampshire House, HB 215, to establish a commission to study the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana.
NH Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
New Mexico
Legislation is pending, Senate Bill 8, to amend the state’s medical cannabis program in a manner that would better serve patients’ needs. A number of basic fixes are included in the legislation, including expanding the amount of cannabis a patient can possess at a time and expedite the processing of medical marijuana state-issued identification cards.
NM Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
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Additionally, State Representative Bill McCamley has announced intentions to propose legislation to regulate the cultivation and retail sale of marijuana in the state.
”It is either going to happen sooner or it is going to happen later and if it happens sooner we can realize the economic benefits now.” McCamley said.
NM Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
New York
Legislation has been filed for the 2017 legislative session to eliminate the ‘public view’ loophole exception in New York state’s marijuana law. Abuse of this provision has led to hundreds of thousands of needless marijuana arrests in recent years, primarily in New York City, despite the possession of the plant being decriminalized in the state since 1977.
Under current law, private possession of marijuana is punishable by nothing more than a simple citation and fine. By contrast, the possession of small amounts of marijuana in a manner that is “open to public view” is classified as a criminal misdemeanor. This loophole has often been used to continue arresting a disproportionate number of minorities, largely as a result of ‘stop and frisk’ policies. Promises from law enforcement in recent years to correct this abuse have not come to fruition.
NY Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
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Additionally, legislation is pending, Senate Bill 1087, to expand the state’s medical marijuana law by removing the existing prohibition on herbal cannabis preparations. This is a simple expansion of patient’s rights to access whole plant cannabis for medical purposes.
NY Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
Oregon
Legislation is pending before the Senate, SB 301, to prohibit employers from discriminating against adults who legally consume marijuana during non-work hours.
Senate Bill 301 states, “It is an unlawful employment practice for any employer to require, as a condition of employment, that any employee or prospective employee refrain from using a substance that is lawful to use under the laws of this state during nonworking hours.”
Passage of this act would not prohibit employers from sanctioning employees who are under the influence at work.
Portland NORML‘s Legislative Committee, in conjunction with the Oregon Chapter of the Employment Lawyers of America, worked on the drafting and filing of this important legislation.
OR Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
Virginia
Legislation has now been introduced in both chambers of the Statehouse to end the practice of suspending drivers licenses for those convicted of marijuana possession. Virginia is one of the few remaining states that implore this archaic policy and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers have stepped up to reverse it.
VA Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
Washington
Washington state Representative Sherry Appleton has introduced legislation, HB 1092: The Adult Home Grow & Criminal Reduction Bill, to allow adults the option to legally cultivate personal use amounts of marijuana in a private residence.
Presently, eight states permit adults to obtain marijuana via retail sales. All of these states except Washington also permit adults the option to cultivate cannabis.
NORML believes that criminalizing the personal cultivation of cannabis is an arbitrary prohibition that has absolutely no basis in public safety.
WA Resident? Click here to email your representatives to urge them to support this effort.
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This Legislative Roundup is a weekly update by National NORML, cataloging the movements of legislation nationwide in order to give you, the citizen, a more effective voice in government.
Sign up with your local NORML Chapter at http://norml.org/chapters