Last year, the New York Assembly voted to pass legislation that would make it legal to use marijuana medicinally under a doctor’s care. The Senate Majority Leader, Joe Bruno, quickly killed the bill. On Wednesday, The New York Assembly voted again, 89-52, to pass Assemblyman Richard Gottfried’s (revised) medical marijuana bill, A.4867B.
Similar to the laws in effect in the other 12 medical marijuana states, this bill allows registered patients to grow plants for their own medicinal use. As soon as the Federal government gives the state permission, it will start regulating distribution. A.4867B is more strict in that it will apply strictly to patients with life-threatening or debilitating conditions, who’s doctors believe marijuana would be the most effective treatment.
Monday, June 23rd, is the day the Senate will adjourn, and New York state needs you to help convince the Senate, and Joe Bruno, to pass this legislation. First, call Joe Bruno. Urge him to bring the bill to a vote. After that, call your senator, whether you already have or not, and have them commit to asking Joe Bruno to bring the bill for a vote.
With nearly the entire state medical community and 76% of voters supporting medical marijuana, there is no good reason for them not to take up the bill! Many senators, including Joe Bruno, have expressed their support for medical marijuana; it’s up to you now to make them take action on their words.
The Marijuana Policy Project recently began airing television ads in New York in favor of pending medical cannabis legislation. In the commercial, Burton Aldrich, a quadriplegic man from Kingston, explains how medical marijuana helps with his excruciating pain and spasms by saying, “I … don’t know if I would be around if it wasn’t for marijuana.”
Being a New Yorker, this hits very close to home. This man doesn’t live even an hour away from me. I really, truly hope that legislation passes and New York becomes the 13th Medical Marijuana state, not only for my own sake, but for everyone in New York suffering like Mr. Aldrich.
If you’re from New York, I urge you to please visit NYPatients.org and contact your legislator. All you have to do is fill your information into the form – The letter is pre-written for you. It can’t get any easier than that! You can also learn more about this issue by going to NYCompassionateCare.org.
Marijuana was decriminalized in New York in 1977, making possession of anything less than 25 grams only a violation with a $100 fine. Smoking or possession in public, however, is a misdemeanor. If caught holding or smoking in public, you can get up to three months in jail.
If this is the case, why has New York City been the ‘Pot Bust Capital’ of the world for the past 10 years? According to an article I read on AlterNet by Steven Wishnia, police and crackdown defenders are giving a few reasons:
· Making large numbers of arrests for minor offenses has reduced major crimes
· It’s an easy way for police supervisors to show their precincts’ productivity
· It’s an easy way for individual officers to get overtime
· It keeps a reserve of officers occupied
Almost 400 thousand people were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession in the past ten years, and a new study sponsored by the New York Civil Liberties Union says the crackdown is both racist and fraudulent:
· Five out of six of the people arrested were black or Latino.
· Nine out of ten were male.
· Most were under the age of 25.
An estimated two-thirds to three-quarters of the people arrested were not even smoking the marijuana! They usually had it well concealed inside their clothing. Why are they still getting arrested? They are victims of police scams. Police officers stop people near suspected dealing spots and tell them that they saw them coming out; if they give up what they’ve got, all they’ll get is a ticket. If they fall for it and hand over the marijuana, they’re charged with possession of marijuana open to public view.
According to Wishnia, this is all thanks to Rudolph Giuliani’s decision to make public toking a top police priority. Though Giuliani’s not in office anymore, new Mayor Michael Bloomberg is continuing with his legacy. And hypocritically, I might add: When asked if he’d ever smoked pot, Bloomberg declared, “You bet I did — and I enjoyed it!”
This war on drugs needs to end! Deborah Peterson-Small, one of the authors of the NYCLU study, states that it violates the spirit of the state’s decriminalization law: “The ban on public smoking was originally intended to apply only to people creating a public nuisance, not to someone lighting up discreetly in the alley behind a jazz club.”
I'm looking for all people that smoke the lovely sweet leaf to write a post explaining why it is that they smoke weed so I can post the collection here on Sweet Leaf Tribune. I'd love for all of you to send me an email with the following information:
your name (an alias is fine if you're worried about work or something)
A little bit about yourself, so I can write an author blurb at the bottom of the post
Your email address (will be kept private. I promise!)
Your post about why you smoke
I'm always looking for more authors for Sweet Leaf Tribune. I'd love for it to become a real e-based magazine, so I need lots of authors! If you'd like to blog about more than just why you smoke pot, please also send me an email with a sample of your writing and what kind of ideas you have for stuff you'd like to write about. Basically anything is fine, so long as it pertains to marijuana law reform or cannabis culture. If you don't know if your topic fits, please don't hesitate to ask me and I'll let you know. ;)
