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John Oliver Rips Apart Federal Marijuana Laws

7 Apr

Posted by: Michelle Pancake

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This past Sunday John Oliver ripped apart the dated issue of marijuana remaining illegal at a federal level. Oliver used the classic satyrical humor of his HBO late night show ‘Last Week Tonight’ to truly defend reason, highlighting just how widely marijuana is accepted by the US population yet remains criminalized under federal law.

He sharply pointed out just how ridiculous it is that marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, while at the same time 8 states have fully legalized and 28 states have legalized medical marijuana. The majority of US States have some form of legalized marijuana, and on top of that a Gallup pole shows over 60% of Americans favor legalization.

This inconsistency between the public’s opinion and federal marijuana laws really raises the question, what is keeping the federal government from decriminalizing marijuana? Thank you John Oliver for so clearly articulating the dissonance many of us already feel about federal marijuana laws; that the future is green, and federal laws need get with the times. Looking for some Green? Order our freshest medicine at goddessdelivers.com, offering CA State-wide delivery.

Check out the Episode HERE on John Oliver’s LastWeekTonight Youtube channel

Some other articles discussing the episode:

Vox article

Marijuana Times article

Seattle Times article

Rolling Stone article

 

ARTICLE: Vote yes on Measure M to help L.A. make marijuana laws

21 Feb

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

You may be wondering, if Marijuana is legal, why do I still have to vote for regulations?

Though prop 64 made cannabis legal, it still requires local governments to create legislation dealing with local taxation, regulations, and enforcement before any recreational shops can open.

Check out this article published today by LA Daily News, as it details why it is still so important to hit the polling places next month on March 7th.  It differentiates Measure M from Measure N, explains how marijuana laws are currently positioned under Proposition D, and why it is so important to vote for Measure M for fair and responsible regulations in Los Angeles.

Read the whole article, CLICK HERE!

Citations

Board, The Editorial. “Endorsement: Vote Yes on Measure M to Help L.A. Make Marijuana Laws.”Endorsement: Vote Yes on Measure M to Help L.A. Make Marijuana Laws. LA Daily News, 21 Feb. 2017. Web. 21 Feb. 2017. (http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20170221/endorsement-vote-yes-on-measure-m-to-help-la-make-marijuana-laws)

Vote YES on Measure M! Cannabis Regulations for LA

21 Feb

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While recreational marijuana was made legal with Prop 64 last November, it didn’t detail who can grow, sell, and run pot businesses in Los Angeles. Measure M does this by providing thoughtful and fair taxation, enforcement, and regulations crafted by cannabis business-owners and City Council collaboration. The Los Angeles Times just released an informative endorsement ARTICLE supporting Measure M, which will be on the LA Ballot in two weeks Tuesday, March 7 2017.

Measure M is the only measure supported by the larger marijuana industry and City Council alike. We urge everyone to vote for Measure M because it lays out an inclusive, responsible, and comprehensive plan for marijuana laws and regulations in Los Angeles.

Measure M gives the city of Los Angeles the power to replace Proposition D, a now outdated and restrictive marijuana law, with new regulations. It also gives City Council the power to tweak and change regulations as necessary, allowing smooth adaptation of the marijuana industry to this community.

Under Measure M, the local Los Angeles gross receipt tax would go down from 6% to 5% for medical cannabis, be set at 10% for recreational cannabis, and set at 1-2% for delivery, transport, research, and cultivation of cannabis.

Measure M would also apply civil and criminal penalties to those who break the laws. The department of Water and Power is authorized to shut off utilities in illegal pot shops.

Measure N (as in No!) is another marijuana regulation initiative on the ballot however it is no-longer supported. It unfortunately remains on the ballot due to timing, as it was too late to remove from the ballot. Measure N excludes most existing marijuana businesses and delivery services, hindering access to medicine, and ultimately failed to gain support. Use caution while voting, however, as the two measures will be close together on the ballot. Be sure to choose Measure M.

Don’t forget to send in your vote-by-mail, or go to your local polling place Tuesday, March 7th to vote YES on Measure M to bring LA comprehensive marijuana laws! Only two weeks until voting day!

THE END!

To Check out the article by the Los Angeles Times, CLICK HERE

Citations

The Times Editorial Board. “Measure M Would Give L.A.’s Legal Marijuana Industry the Comprehensive Oversight It Needs. Vote Yes.”Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

(http://www.latimes.com/opinion/endorsements/la-ed-measure-m- 20170207-story.html)

Ballotpedia Staff.“Los Angeles, California, Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Initiative, Measure N (March 2017).”Ballotpedia.org. The Encyclopedia of American Politics, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

(https://ballotpedia.org/Los_Angeles,_California,_Marijuana_Regulation_and_Taxation_Initiative,_Measure_N_(March_2017)

 

FAQ’s: Changes Since PROP 64 Legalized Marijuana

20 Feb

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 Curious about what’s happened since Prop 64 Passed? 

Many of our patients have been wondering what changes Proposition 64 is bringing about. It passed this last November 2016 allowing legal possession, cultivation, and recreational use of marijuana. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions and Answers regarding the changes from Prop 64.

Q: Do I still need a Medical Marijuana Recommendation to order marijuana products from Goddess Delivers or other marijuana collectives?

A: Yes.

Because there are no laws or regulations available for businesses yet, we must remain a Medical Marijuana collective and must require a doctor’s recommendation. Not until 2018 will recreational shops open where you can buy weed with your California ID showing you’re over 21 old.

Q: Will the price of my medicine go up?

A: Most likely, because of taxes.

Right now CA patients are paying state sales tax based on their county, between 7.5% and 10%. That will go up to a flat 15% across the board for all CA medical marijuana patients. The 15% tax imposed on marijuana businesses by prop 64 applies to medical marijuana too, however medical marijuana patients do not have to pay the additional state sales tax (between 7.5% and 10%) that retail marijuana stores will. The only way the price of medicine would not go up is if the marijuana producers absorb the extra costs from taxes by lowering their prices, which is not likely a viable option.

Q: What’s the breakdown of taxes imposed under prop 64?

A: For the state of CA as a whole, there will be a flat 15% tax on all retail and medical marijuana sales, a cultivation tax on growers of $9.25 per ounce of flowers, and $2.75 per ounce for leaves. For recreational marijuana, the state’s 7.5% sales tax is tacked on in addition, making it a whopping 22.5% tax. The good news is medical marijuana patients are so far exempt from paying state sales taxes, keeping their tax at 15%. Counties can impose their own additional taxes.

Q: What will recreational laws and regulations look like?

A: If you want to open a marijuana business, you will need a state license, and to follow state rules and regulations. Selling pot without a license can bring fines and jail time.  

Los Angeles will vote on (and likely pass) a measure on the ballot next month on March 7th creating regulations for LA marijuana businesses. Measure M, or CERTA (Cannabis Enforcement, Regulation, and Taxation Act), is supported by the City of Los Angeles and would grant licenses to the 135 dispensaries that were prop D compliant first, then many more are expected to be issued. Criminal and nuisance penalties will also be put into effect banning marijuana businesses in proximity to children, etc.

Q: What does prop 64 allow right now?

A: It is now legal for anyone over the age of 21 to use, as well as possess and give away (not sell) up to one ounce of marijuana and eight grams of concentrate. It’s also legal to grow up to 6 plants per parcel of land for personal use. Local laws may ban outdoor growing, but cannot ban growth of 6 plants indoors, or in a ‘secure’ location.

Q: What is still illegal after prop 64?

A: No smoking will driving, or driving under the influence of marijuana. The state has allocated funds to law enforcement to create accurate tests to determine at what point someone’s driving is hindered by marijuana use.

Also, there is still no selling marijuana without a license. You cannot grow your own and sell to your friends or neighbors, only give away as a gift. Sales will have to wait for regulations and a license, likely until 2018.

Q: Can I smoke anywhere now?

A: No.

 It is still illegal to smoke marijuana in public, unless your local city ordinance says it’s alright. Even if locally allowed, it would still be illegal in places you can’t smoke tobacco, as well as 1000 feet from children schools, day-cares, or play areas. If caught smoking in public you can receive a fine up to $250.

Q: Will we see weed ads?

A: Not many.

Since federal law still sees marijuana as an illegal drug, and it is illegal to advertise illegal drugs on TV, so until that changes we will only see the federally funded anti-drug ads. You will see some ads around California, with restrictions. There is no advertising to minors, so you won’t see ads appealing to kids or on kids channels, or within 1000 feet of kids schools, day-cares, or play areas. There is also no billboards allowed on roads leading out of state.

THE END!

Do you have more questions? Email them to info@goddessdelivers.com, attn: BLOG, and we will put together another FAQ of patient questions! Thanks a lot!

(Check out the sources below for more detailed post-prop 64 facts!)

Citations

Humphreys, Keith. Special To The Washington Post.“This Blunder on New California Marijuana Law Could Cost State Millions.”The Cannabist. N.p., 16 Nov. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. (http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/11/16/california-medical-marijuana-tax-proposition-64-omission/67735/)

Staggs, Brooke Edwards. “Medical Marijuana Patients Could save Money in Prop 64 Tax Dispute, but State Could Lose.”The Orange County Register. N.p., 18 Nov. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/marijuana-735900-california-use.html)

Bricken, Hilary. “SoCal Ballot Battles: The Future Of Marijuana Businesses In Los Angeles.”Above the Law. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. (http://abovethelaw.com/2017/01/socal-ballot-battles-the-future-of-marijuana-businesses-in-los-angeles/?rf=1)

Canorml_admin. “What’s Legal, and What Isn’t, After Prop. 64.”What’s Legal, and What Isn’t, After Prop. 64 | California NORML. N.p., 8 Nov. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. (http://www.canorml.org/news/what_will_be_legal_and_what_wont_after_Prop_64)

“Proposition 64 | Official Voter Information Guide | California Secretary of State.”Proposition 64 | Official Voter Information Guide | California Secretary of State. California Secretary of State, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. (http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/64/)

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The Week In Marijuana News

1 Dec

Local

Can a tech startup change the way people think about medical marijuana? – Yahoo! News

A bay area man has decided to merge the startup tech world with the growing medical marijuana industry. The inventor has reportedly thought up a vaporizer that is easier to use and more efficient. It looks pretty nifty and is only another piece of writing on the wall predicting more progressive movement toward a more tolerant and healthy society.

Read the entire article here.

National

Increase in US Marijuana Use Tied to Older Americans, Teen Use Flatlining – High Times

Reefer madness has seemed to skip the youth of America and instead landed on their parents. Are we surprised? Not really, especially if you consider the growing availability of marijuana, the shrinking stigma and the fact that older folks have money to burn (haha get it?).

Read the entire article here.

High Hopes: The Marijuana Movement’s 2014 Playbook – The Atlantic

We’ve been making a lot of progress in the last year or so, but there is still a long journey ahead. The Atlantic has laid out what they see as the battle plan/ agenda for the pro-marijuana coalition.

Take a look at the Atlantic thinks are the next steps here.

Lifestyle

Recipe: Almond Canna-Butter Coffee Cake – Big Buds Magazine

Here’s another recipe to add to your cookbook, this time for some medicated coffee cake! Let us know if you try this recipe!

Find all the directions and ingredients here.

Recipe: Pot Hot Chocolate

We though that the coffee cake shouldn’t be go without a hot drink, so why not try this other seasonal recipe? Let us know if this recipe is hot or cold!

Find all the directions and ingredients here.

The Week in Marijuana News

17 Nov

National

Bill Introduced in Congress to Exempt Legal Marijuana from Federal Gun Ban – The Daily Chronic

Did you know that it’s illegal for medical marijuana patients to purchase or own firearms? Well, it’s true and it’s all because of a 2011 ruling from The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The Daily Chronic reports “In a memo released at the time, federal firearms dealers were notified that medical marijuana patients are ‘addicts’ or ‘unlawful drug users’ who cannot legally own weapons or ammunition.” Read the rest of the article from The Daily Chronic to find out what steps are being taken to fix this issue.

Read the rest of the article here.

Most Americans Don’t Think Employees Should Be Fired For Off-the-Job Pot Use – Alternet.org

How’s that for a headline? Times are certainly changing, and according to a new polls published by the Huffington Post in conjunction with YouGov, a whopping two-thirds of Americans say it’s time for it to be ‘unacceptable’ for employees to be fired for consuming marijuana after work hours. We heartily agree.

Read the rest of the article from here.

Can Smoking Pot Be Considered a Form of Free Speech? –  Alternet.org

A man in Philadelphia is arguing that his possession of marijuana was protected under the First Amendment. We’re sure he’s hoping his argument holds water, because if not he could face “six months in prison and $1,000 in fines” according to Alternet.org. Apparently this case could be a huge deal if it turns out to be a success. As Alternet.org reports most cases such as this have argued the right to religious freedom to defend their use of marijuana.

Read the entire article here.

Pharmaceutical Company Gets FDA Approval For Marijuana Plant Derived Drug – The Weed Blog

The FDA has granted “orphan drug designation” to GW Pharmaceuticals for their new medication “Epidiolex”. The medication, which will be used to treat children with Dravet syndrome will contain Cannabidiol as the active ingredient. In case you were wondering what exactly ” Orphan drug designation” means the Weed Blog explains it as such:

 “The FDA may grant orphan drug designation to drugs intended to treat a rare disease or condition – generally a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the U.S. The first NDA applicant to receive FDA approval for a particular active ingredient to treat a particular disease with FDA orphan drug designation is entitled to a seven-year exclusive marketing period in the U.S. for that product, for that indication.”

The Weed Blog asks some interesting questions about this development. Such as can a major pharmaceutical company produce better medical marijuana products? And if this could be the start of a corporate take over of the medical marijuana industry. What do you think?

Read the entire article here.

Lifestyle

One Bunch of Fresh Cannabis Leaves – The New Yorker

You know real change is coming to the world when The New Yorker publishes an article with cannabis recipes. While we have not personally tried out this recipe for “Underground Pop-Up Weed-Dinner Green Congee” it sounds absolutely delightful!

Check out the recipe and the whole article here:

 

The Week in Marijuana News

28 Oct

National

Gallup: For First Time, Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana

Gallup released the results of a survey asking participants if they believe that marijuana use should be legalized in the United States. The results were historic to say the least. For the first time a majority of Americans favor the legalization of Marijuana at a grand total of 58%. There has been a dramatic change in opinion since 1969 when Gallup first asked the question in which only 12% of Americans favored the legalization of marijuana.

You can read the rest of the results from Gallup here.

The Gazette: Families of children with epilepsy moving to Colorado, drawn by success of marijuana oil

We shared on our Facebook page the story of a Coloradan family who found success treating their daughter’s seizures with CBD oil. Now, as The Gazette reports, families are migrating to Colorado (one of the two states in the United States with fully legalized marijuana, in hopes of treating their own children with the same method. These so called “marijuana refugees” are separating families and starting new lives in Colorado to hopefully achieve the same success that others have found using CBD oil to treat seizures.

Here is the YouTube video documenting the story of Charlotte, the little girl who suffered from about 300 seizures a week due to Dravet’s syndrome, but found enormous success from CBD oil.

You can read the whole Gazette article here.

Did you know that the Goddess delivers CBD oil? Check it out here.

Time: 8 Things We Won’t Miss When Pot is Legal Everywhere

In light of poll results from Gallup, Time published a list of the eight things none of us will miss when marijuana is legalized everywhere in the US (hopefully sooner rather than later). Our favorites from the list? The “ritual apologies by world-class athletes” and other high profile people who get caught smoking marijuana, and the ending of what Time estimates are 658,00 arrests every year for marijuana possession.

Read the whole list and dream of the future here.

International

The Washington Post: Growers celebrate as Uruguay prepares to legalize marijuana cultivation, distribution

Uruguay is closer than any other country in the world to having full consumption and cultivation laws instated. If voted into law, “Uruguayans will be able to grow up to six plants in their homes,” and “cooperatives of up to 45 members will be able to cultivate up to 99 plants for their own use” the Washington Post reports. The effort to legalize is apart of the country’s list of left leaning social reforms and an attempt to curb the the illegal drug trade which is estimated to have at least $30 million running through it’s veins.

Read the full Washington Post article here

Opinion

CNN: Marijuana is safer than alcohol

CNN’s opinion writer Dan Riffle, a prosecutor for the organization that was behind the campaign to legalize marijuana in Colorado, lays out the bones of the one of the arguments for marijuana legalization: that alcohol (a regulated substance) is far worse for the body and society than cannabis. The parallels between America’s failed alcohol prohibition, and it’s failing war on drugs are intriguing to say the least. Much like how making alcohol illegal put power and money in the hands of criminal bootleggers, the criminal crackdown on marijuana has only empowered the threateningly powerful and violent drug cartels. In addition Riffle lays out the alarming statistics revolving the harmful effects of alcohol, which are quite frightening.

Read his full piece here:

Portland, Maine – the campaign for sensibility.

5 Oct

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In Portland, Maine a billboard and bus stop campaign is going strong.

The focus of the public awareness campaign is the direct comparison between the effects of alcohol and the effects of Marijuana in an attempt to educate the fine citizens of that state to the reality of this valuable quality of life medication.

So what is the reality?

What is the comparison?

37,000 deaths from alcohol per year. 0 deaths from marijuana per entire human history.

Alcohol damages the brain. The CBD element in cannabis minimizes brain damage caused from binge drinking.

Alcohol is linked to causing cancer. Marijuana is linked to inhibiting cancer cell growth, stimulating appetite, and pain relief.

Alcohol can result in physical addiction, including withdrawl symptoms that include death. Marijuana is not addictive.

Alcohol increases risky behavior that results in injury. Marijuana does not.

All of these facts are helpfully linked and cited on the main website for the public education campaign: MarijuanaisSafer.org.

Campaigns like this remind us here at the Goddess not to take the legalization in our state for granted. Just because these facts and figures are well known and obvious to us, doesn’t mean that they are known to the larger population. Just because it’s helped one loved one with pain management or disability, doesn’t mean that someone else’s loved one isn’t rotting in jail because they live in a state rife with ignorance and prejudice.

Sometimes the best challenge to ignorance is to place a smile face on a bus stop and state the truth with a link so the individual can go and read the scientific studies for themselves.

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