Aptly Named 'Joint Resolution' Succeeds; California Senate Urges Change in Federal Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

​By a 23-15 vote, the California State Senate on Monday approved a "joint resolution" urging the federal government to stop Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raids on medical marijuana patients and providers. The Sen. Mark Leno-authored resolution additionally calls for the nation to "create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access to any patient that would benefit from it."

Marijuana advocates say recent enforcement activity, including DEA arrests following a raid in Upper Lake, Calif. last week, underscore the need for Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14, introduced by Leno in June. Although both President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have signaled willingness to change federal policy on medical marijuana, the Administration hasn't come forward with an actual implementation plan.

"Patients and providers in California remain at risk of arrest and prosecution by federal law enforcement and legally established medical marijuana cooperatives continue to be the subject of federal raids," Leno said.

Read the rest at Chronic City in the S.F. Weekly blog, "The Snitch":

Chronic City: Aptly Named 'Joint Resolution' Succeeds; California Senate Urges Change in Federal Medical Marijuana Rules

Washington's Marijuana Decrim Bill: State Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing

This Washington Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Senate SB 5615, to decriminalize the possession of 40 grams or less of marijuana, took place Tuesday, February 10, 2008, in Olympia.

The marijuana discussion begins around 1 hour, 32 minutes, 36 seconds into the video presentation (it is easy to skip to this part by moving and clicking appropriately on the progress bar).

Shankar Narayan of the Washington ACLU was there to eloquently and effectively go to bat for decrim, as was former State Representative Toby Nixon, bill sponsor Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, John Cary of the King County Bar Association, and Jeremy Miller of the Olympia Hemp, Love, and Freedom Foundation.

After the informative and intelligent contributions of others, Seth Dawkins took the hearing off on a surreal and bizarre tangent as he wove a breathless mix of half-truths, botched studies, woeful inaccuracies, and outright lies in his irrational opposition to marijuana decriminalization.