BOSTON — Voters in Massachusetts may get to decide by ballot question this November whether to legalize medical marijuana. It’s already legal in Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island.

But in Rhode Island there is continuing controversy over the law.

In that state, we met 62-year-old Ellen Lenox Smith of North Scituate. She’s one of more than 4,500 Rhode Island residents with state-issued medical marijuana cards.

Living With Pain

“I don’t think I know what life is like without pain,” Ellen says. “I live with it all the time.”

Ellen and Stuart Smith of North Scituate, R.I. (Lynn Jolicoeur for WBUR)

Short and thin, Ellen weighs just over 100 pounds and is wearing braces on her upper back and neck.

She suffers from Ehlers-Danlos, a rare disease that makes her collagen defective and in turn weakens her ligaments and tendons.

As she describes, “they’re like over-stretched elastic bands,” which eventually snap and fail to hold her bones in place. She’s had 20 surgeries to stabilize them, some of those operations involving tendons transplanted from cadavers.

With a doctor’s approval, Ellen manages her chronic pain with marijuana, which she grows, legally, at home.

Ellen and her husband were both so amazed at how marijuana helped Ellen manage her pain and sleep better that they decided to become state-authorized “caregivers.” That means each of them can grow marijuana for up to five other patients.

Ellen and Stuart cultivate marijuana plants at various stages of growth inside three big, well-lit cabinets in their basement.

The marijuana plants inside a small room they built in their basement are about 3 feet tall and are maintained with a system of fans, lights and a dehumidifier. They require daily labor.

Fourteen mature marijuana plants in a small room the Smiths constructed in their basement. (Lynn Jolicoeur for WBUR)

I ask Ellen and Stuart if they feel uncomfortable about growing, or in Ellen’s case, using, a drug that for most of the population is illegal.

“This is keeping me alive, so I don’t have any guilt trip here,” Ellen says. “And we became instant advocates for it. I mean, I was scared to try it. I’m not going to lie to you. I hated it in college. I didn’t like the feeling of being stoned. I don’t get stoned as a patient. I get pain relief only.”

“Once you see what the drug does for people, and then you see what other drugs do to people, medicinal marijuana is so benign relative to Oxycontin, Percocet, all these other things,” Stuart says.

Dispensaries On Hold

Those who can’t grow, or don’t want to grow marijuana themselves might eventually turn to a dispensary, or “compassion center” as they’re called in Rhode Island — if the three centers authorized by state law get the final go-ahead.

The problem? U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Peter Neronha has a big issue with those operations.

“I have some real concerns, in a state where I believe there is an appetite for drugs, illegal drugs, that the use of marijuana here could really explode,” Neronha says.

And Neronha has the authority to shut down compassion centers and prosecute those involved. That’s because although medical marijuana is legal on the state level, under federal law it’s not.

“The concern is not with individual patients and their individual caregivers,” Neronha says. “What the department does have concerns about are large, commercial grows of marijuana that are done for profit.”

Red Tape

Last year, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who supports medical marijuana, stopped the centers from opening out of concern over what steps Neronha might take.

Seth Bock, director of the planned Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth, R.I. (Lynn Jolicoeur for WBUR)

So now, Rhode Island lawmakers are working on a compromise amendment they hope will appease the federal government by further restricting the number of marijuana plants each center can grow — centers like the one Seth Bock plans to open.

Bock, who’s an acupuncturist with a master’s degree in herbal medicine, won a state permit to open the Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in a Portsmouth, R.I., industrial park. He insists — no matter how many plants he’ll be allowed to grow there — it will be a nonprofit, as state law requires.

Bock says he’ll have to weigh the chance of being arrested by the feds against his desire to help patients.

“I have a long history of working intimately with people that have benefited from this,” Bock says. “You know, I’m not a pothead. I’m not interested in the marijuana culture. That’s just not my thing.”

Medicine, Not Pot

Back in North Scituate, Ellen and Stuart Smith grow an organic garden, sell eggs from their free-range chickens to Whole Foods and have no plans to stop growing medical marijuana.

Ellen has a half dozen jars filled with pot — which she never calls pot, only medicine. And like many other patients, she says she does not smoke it. Rather, she heats some of hers with olive oil, strains it, and then swallows it about a tablespoon at a time.

“This is a night-time sleeping medication for me,” Ellen says, “and I have found ingesting it this way, getting it into my system, it carries me through most of the day.”

And though she’s seen news accounts of some registered caregivers and patients selling marijuana illicitly, Ellen insists that no one other than patients has ever come to her or her husband asking to buy the drug.

“We want to try to continue to keep this program as clean as we can and eliminate those people that are abusing it, because that’s not what it’s here for,” Ellen says. “We’ve met the real people that need this, and they have a right to dignity and quality of life, and this is giving it to them.”

Mass. Ballot Initiative 

The U.S. attorney and Rhode Island State Police tell us they have made some arrests of people involved in the program, as have local police in Rhode Island. Rhode Island does not keep statistics tracking those arrests.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office has certified the medical marijuana ballot initiative here in Massachusetts. Backers now have to gather about 11,000 signatures to get it on the November ballot. Coakley is not taking a public position on the issue.

When Massachusetts voters head to the polls this November, marijuana legalization will be high on the agenda. As long as advocates collect enough signatures by July — which looks likely — Bay Staters will be able to vote on whether pot can be used for medical purposes.

If the cannabis reform ballot succeeds, one man will be able to take much of the credit: Peter Lewis, the billionaire behind insurance giant Progressive, who’s put forward almost every penny being spent on pro-legalization lobbying.

In January the group behind the Mass. bill, the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, reported raising $526,000. Of that, $525,000 came from Peter Lewis.

This isn’t the first time Lewis has effectively bankrolled a state’s entire pot legalization movement, usually to the tune of at least six digits.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws estimates that Lewis has spent between $40 million and $60 million funding the cause since the 1980s.

This year, as well as the Mass. vote, he’s backing movements to get marijuana reform on the 2012 ballot in his home state Ohio as well as Colorado andWashington State.

When I interviewed Lewis for last fall’s Forbes 400, he said he’d fund research and lobbying in any state where pot legalization looked likely to get to the voting stage.

You might wonder why a super-rich insurance exec is concerning himself with the controversial politics of drug reform. Well, medical marijuana is personal, not just a pet cause: after chronic health problems, Lewis had part of his left leg amputated in 1998.

Lewis never hid his pro-pot stance, but it took anarrest for drug possession in New Zealand in 2000 for his efforts to gain widespread attention (even the newspaper at his alma mater, Princeton, reported the crime). The lawyer representing him during his New Zealand possession case told the court that he smoked marijuana for pain relief, following his doctor’s advice.

Since then, he’s put his money where his pipe is, taking an active role within the pro-marijuana lobby and planning to funnel his fortune into ensuring no-one else has to break the law to cure their pain.

Luckily, a younger generation of super-rich drug reformers is following Lewis’ lead: in 2010, Facebook billionaires Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz gave $100,000 and $70,000 respectively towards California’s Prop 19 legalization bill, which eventually failed. Not to be outdone, Lewis kicked in more than $200,000.

Read the full Forbes 400 story of Peter Lewis’ war on drug laws, in his own words, here.

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

***

See also:

What The People Want: Abolishment of the TSA and Marijuana Legalization

Obama Administration Shatters Campaign Promise, Escalates Crackdown on Medical Marijuana

The idea of legalizing marijuana and other drugs has been in the news lately. What do you think about Brookline?
By Grahame Turner and Brooklyn Lowery

The death of singer Whitney Houston does not yet have an official cause, but there are plenty of rumors circulating that her death is attributable to drug use.

Those rumors have triggered almost innumerable comments and debates, beginning the night of Houston’s death, regarding the effect of legalizing drugs on their abuse.

“First it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now the magnificent Whitney Houston. Let’s legalize drugs, like Amsterdam, it’s a very sane city now,” the singer Tony Bennett told an audience at a pre-Grammy party just hours after Houston was found, Huffington Post reported.

But for every person speaking out in favor of legalizing drugs, there is someone else who wants to talk about how legalizing them would do nothing to curb abuse. CNN columnist William J. Bennett pointed out that numerous celebrity deaths in recent years have been due to legal, prescribed drugs and alcohol.

In Massachusetts this debate currently centers on the legalization of medical marijuana. Come November, Massachusetts voters could be faced with a ballot question asking them to approve “new treatment centers [that] would be authorized to acquire, cultivate, possess and process marijuana, including the development of related products such as food, tinctures, aerosols, oils, or ointments,” according to a Boston.com article.

The article continues, “Those patients allowed to possess marijuana would be issued registration cards by the state Department of Public Health after a physician determines in writing that they have one of the qualifying medical conditions.”

Drugs can be found in Watertown, and some major drug rings have been linked to the town. Former Town Councilor Gus Bailey faces marijuana cultivation and dealing charges after a warehouse he co-owned was raided by Waltham Police. Also, Federal agents arrested a Watertown man who they believe is the center of a major drug ring bringing pot into the area from Canada.

And last June, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank announced he was working with Texas Republican Ron Paul on a bill to end the federal ban on marijauna.

Marijuana possession, though in an admittedly different context, also hit Wayland earlier this year when a 17-year-old Wayland High School student was found with Cheeba Chews, a chocolate taffy laced with THC, the high-inducing chemical in marijuana.

Patch reported specifically on the 17-year-old being in possession of an illegal substance, but the article drew comments from proponents of medical marijuana and legalizing marijuana in general.

John Perkins wrote in the article comments, “I say legalize MJ use and put the taxes towards regulation and education. These educational resources would be for alcohol and any drug use.”

But Kevin J. Sabet pointed out in a Feb. 10, 2012, column on Huffington Post that “A major study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence by researchers at Columbia University looked at two separate datasets and found that residents of states with medical marijuana had marijuana abuse/dependence rates almost twice as high than states without such laws.”

These incidents, and dozens of others, make it apparent that marijuana – legal, medicinal or otherwise – is already very much impacting Watertown and Boston area. So we want to know what you think?

Do you support the legalization of marijuana? Do you support blanket legalization or simply for medical purposes? Would you recommend age restrictions similar to those imposed on alcohol and cigarettes? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Related Topics: Legalizing Marijuana

Submitted by NORML on Feb 22, 2012
Marijuana law reform legislation is pending in nearly 30 states this 2012 legislative session. Is your state among them? Find out here.

More importantly, have you taken the time to call or write your state elected officials this year and urged them to support these pending reforms? If not, NORML has provided you with all of the tools to do so via our capwiz ‘Take Action Center’ here. (FYI: NORML’s capwiz page is specific to legislation only, not ballot initiative efforts. A summary pending 2012 ballot initiative campaigns may be found at NORML’s Legalize It 2012 page on Facebook here or on the NORML blog here.)

Below is a synopsis of statewide legislation pending in 2012. Detailed information on bill numbers, hearing dates, and how you can get involved to support these efforts is available here.

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

The following 20 states have legislation pending to enact limited legal protections for medicinal cannabis users and/or to improve existing medical marijuana laws:

Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, West Virginia

DECRIMINALIZATION

The following states have legislation pending to reduce marijuana possession penalties to a non-criminal offense:

Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont

REGULATION

Legislation that seeks to legalize and regulate the commercial production and distribution of cannabis to adults is before lawmakers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Legislators in Massachusetts have scheduled a public hearing on this measure, HB 1371, to take place on Tuesday, March 6.

(Also of note, legislation that NORML opposes is pending in Colorado and Florida.)

If your state isn’t listed above then please consider using NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ to send a message to your members of Congress in support of HR 2306, the ‘Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act.’ You can do so here. Then consider taking the next step and contacting your state elected officials and urging them to take action.

Get active; get NORML!

State legislatures have convened or are convening all around the country, and once again this year, marijuana decriminalization or legalization are hot topics at the statehouse.

February 14, 2012  |

State legislatures have convened or are convening all around the country, and once again this year, marijuana decriminalization or legalization are hot topics at the statehouse. Legalization bills are pending in three states (as well as on the ballot as initiatives in Washington and almost certainly Colorado), decriminalization bills are alive in nine states, and bills that would improve existing decriminalization laws have been filed in two states.

And this is still early in the legislative season. Bills can still be introduced in many states, and bills that have already been introduced can advance or be killed. By around the beginning of May, a clearer picture should emerge, but 2012 is already looking to be even more active than last year when it comes to decriminalization and legalization bills.

There’s a reason for that, said leading reformers.

“We’re seeing more bills introduced, and they’re having stronger and more sponsors,” said Karen O’Keefe, state policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). “We’re also seeing more and more public support for decriminalization and legalization. We’re approaching critical mass as more and more people see marijuana prohibition as a failed public policy, and in legislatures because of fiscal constraints and changing public sentiment.”

“Each year, these bills are easier to introduce, there is less controversy, and the media reaction is generally neutral to positive,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML. “Baby boomers, medical marijuana, the Internet, and the state of the economy have all had an impact, even, finally, on legislators and their staffs,” he explained.

“Before 1996, nobody invited NORML; now our staff is regularly going to meetings requested by legislators around the country,” St. Pierre recalled. “First, we couldn’t get them to return our phone calls; now they’re calling us. Everything is in play because of activists around the country doing years of work.”

That contact with legislators has led to results, St. Pierre said. “We’ve been involved in almost all of this legislation. Either we helped write it or legislators contacted us for deep background and we’re testifying at public hearings on these bills.”

MPP has been busy, too, O’Keefe said. “We have paid lobbyists in Rhode Island and Vermont, and one of our legislative analysts, Matt Simon, is from New Hampshire and has been working on bills up there,” she said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, O’Keefe thought the prospects of passage were best in Rhode Island and Vermont. “In Rhode Island, more than half of both chambers are cosponsors of the decriminalization bill, while in Vermont, Gov. Shumlin has been very supportive, and for the first time we have a Republican sponsor in the Senate — we already had one in the House,” she said.

Getting a marijuana bill through a state legislature is a frustrating, time-consuming process, and there is a chance that none of these bills will pass this year. But there is also a chance some will, and some will pass eventually, if not this year, next year, or the year after.

Here is what is currently going on around marijuana law reform at the state house (compiled from our Legislative Center, with additional information from MPP’s list of bills and from cantaxreg.com):

Legalization Bills

Massachusetts

Thirteen months ago, Rep. Ellen Story introduced House Bill 1371, which would allow the legal and regulated sale of marijuana to adults. It was referred to the Joint Committee on Judiciary then, and it is still pending. A hearing is scheduled on March 6.

New Hampshire

Last month, Rep. Calvin Pratt (R) introduced HB 1705, which would allow people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce and allow for regulated retail and wholesale sales. Marijuana would be taxed at a rate of $45 an ounce at wholesale and at 19% of the wholesale price at retail. The bill is now before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

Washington

Last year, Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D) and 13 cosponsors introduced House Bill 1550, which would replace prohibition with regulation. It and a companion bill, Senate Bill 5598, are still both alive. Dickerson’s bill is pending in the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

Decriminalization Bills

Arizona

On January 9, Rep. John Fillmore (R) filed House Bill 2044, which would make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a petty offense punishable by up to a $400 fine. Simple possession is currently a Class 6 felony in Arizona.

Hawaii

In March 2011, the Hawaii Senate passed Senate Bill 1460, which would reduce the penalty for possession of less than an ounce to a civil fine capped at $100. The current law specifies a jail stay of up to 30 days and a $1,000 fine. That bill was carried over and is now before the House Health, Public and Military Affairs, and Judiciary committees. Also carried over is House Bill 544, which would make possession of less than an ounce a violation instead of a misdemeanor and impose a maximum $500 fine. That bill is before the House Judiciary Committee.

Illinois

In January 2011, Rep. LaShawn Ford introduced House Bill 100, which would reduce the penalty for possession of up to 28.35 grams of marijuana to a $500 fine for a first offense, $750 for the second, and $1,000 for a subsequent offense. It would also reduce the charge from a misdemeanor to a petty offense. Under current law, possession of up to an ounce can be penalized with up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine. The bill has been referred to House Rules Committee, and is still alive in Illinois’ two-year session.

Indiana

Last month, Sen. Karen Tallian introduced Senate Bill 347, which would reduce several marijuana-related penalties, including by making possession of up to three ounces of marijuana a civil infraction, punishable by up to a $500 fine and court costs. SB 347 was referred to the Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters.

New Hampshire

Last week, House Bill 1526, which would decriminalize possession of up to an ounce, got a hearing in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Sponsored by Rep. William Panek (R),the bill would mandate a maximum $100 fine. It also provides for notification of parents of minor offenders, who could be ordered to attend a drug awareness program.

New Jersey

Last month, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) introduced Assembly Bill 1465, which would reduce the penalty for 15 grams or less of marijuana to a civil penalty. The first violation would be punishable by a $150 fine, $200 fine for a second offense, and $500 after that. Any adult caught three times would be ordered to undertake a drug education program, as would any minor regardless of prior offenses. The bill is currently before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Rhode Island

Last month, more than half of the Rhode Island House of Representatives cosponsored Rep. John Edwards’ bill to fine adults for simple possession of marijuana and to sentence minors to drug awareness classes. The bill, House Bill 7092, was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Current law provides for up to a year in jail and $500 fine; the bill would make it a civil offense with a maximum $150 fine.

Tennessee

In February 2011, Rep. Mike Kernell introduced House Bill 1737, which would reduce the penalty for less than 1/8 of an ounce of marijuana to a fine between $250 and $2,500. Possession would remain a Class A misdemeanor, but the bill would remove the possibility of a year-long jail sentence. Fines would remain the same.  A companion bill, Senate Bill 1597, has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both bills remain alive in the state’s two-year legislative session.

Vermont

Last year, a tri-partisan group of legislators led by Rep. Jason Lorber filed House Bill 427, which would reduce the penalty for adults’ possession of up to an ounce of marijuana to civil fine of up to $150. Minors would be sent to drug education and community service for a first offense, as would adults under 21 convicted of a second or subsequent offense. The current penalty for first offense possession of marijuana is a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail. Second offense possession is currently punishable by up to two years in prison and/or up to a $1,000 fine. The bill is still alive in the state’s two-year legislative session. Last month, Sen. Joe Benning (R) and Sen. Philip Baruth (D) filed Senate Bill 134, which would reduce marijuana penalties, including by reducing the penalty for possession of up to two ounces of marijuana to a civil fine of up to $100. It has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Decriminalization Improvement Bills

New York

Last year, legislators filed bills aimed at removing New York City’s reputation as the world’s marijuana arrest capital. The state’s current decriminalization law creates an exception for marijuana possessed in a public place and which is burning or open to the public view. The NYPD has used that exception to arrest more than 50,000 people a year on misdemeanor charges instead of issuing them tickets. In May, Sen. Mark Grisanti (R) filed Senate Bill 5187, while Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries introduced a companion bill, A 7620. Both bills were referred to their chambers’ Codes Committees and are still alive.

North Carolina

A bill that would reclassify possession of an ounce as an infraction instead of a misdemeanor has been filed in North Carolina. HB 324 increases the decrim amount from a half-ounce, but removes the automatic suspended sentence for a first offense.

Twelve states have decriminalized marijuana possession so far (and possession in small amounts at home is legal under the Alaska constitution), but between an initial burst of reform activity in the 1970s and Nevada’s decriminalization in 2002, there were three decades of stagnation. Since then, three more states- — California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts — have come on board, and chances are more will follow shortly, Legalization remains a tougher nut to crack, but so far, there are opportunities in five states this year.

Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x183256802/Pot-advocate-Billionaire-funds-ballot-initiative#ixzz1mIeL8tEt

Next time you’re channel-surfing and come across yet another of those Progressive Insurance ads featuring the obnoxious character “Flo” don’t get too annoyed, because the chairman of Progressive, Peter Lewis, is one of the most important financial backers of the medical marijuana movement in the U.S. and the man behind the current campaign to legalize medical cannabis in Massachusetts.

by Phillip Smith, February 09, 2012, 10:31am, (Issue #720)

State legislatures have convened or are convening all around the country, and once again this year, marijuana decriminalization or legalization are hot topics at the statehouse. Legalization bills are pending in three states (as well as on the ballot as initiatives in Washington and almost certainly Colorado), decriminalization bills are alive in nine states, and bills that would improve existing decriminalization laws have been filed in two states.

And this is still early in the legislative season. Bills can still be introduced in many states, and bills that have already been introduced can advance or be killed. By around the beginning of May, a clearer picture should emerge, but 2012 is already looking to be even more active than last year when it comes to decriminalization and legalization bills.

There’s a reason for that, said leading reformers.

“We’re seeing more bills introduced, and they’re having stronger and more sponsors,” said Karen O’Keefe, state policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). “We’re also seeing more and more public support for decriminalization and legalization. We’re approaching critical mass as more and more people see marijuana prohibition as a failed public policy, and in legislatures because of fiscal constraints and changing public sentiment.”

“Each year, these bills are easier to introduce, there is less controversy, and the media reaction is generally neutral to positive,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML. “Baby boomers, medical marijuana, the Internet, and the state of the economy have all had an impact, even, finally, on legislators and their staffs,” he explained.

“Before 1996, nobody invited NORML; now our staff is regularly going to meetings requested by legislators around the country,” St. Pierre recalled. “First, we couldn’t get them to return our phone calls; now they’re calling us. Everything is in play because of activists around the country doing years of work.”

That contact with legislators has led to results, St. Pierre said. “We’ve been involved in almost all of this legislation. Either we helped write it or legislators contacted us for deep background and we’re testifying at public hearings on these bills.”

MPP has been busy, too, O’Keefe said. “We have paid lobbyists in Rhode Island and Vermont, and one of our legislative analysts, Matt Simon, is from New Hampshire and has been working on bills up there,” she said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, O’Keefe thought the prospects of passage were best in Rhode Island and Vermont. “In Rhode Island, more than half of both chambers are cosponsors of the decriminalization bill, while in Vermont, Gov. Shumlin has been very supportive, and for the first time we have a Republican sponsor in the Senate — we already had one in the House,” she said.

Getting a marijuana bill through a state legislature is a frustrating, time-consuming process, and there is a chance that none of these bills will pass this year. But there is also a chance some will, and some will pass eventually, if not this year, next year, or the year after.

Here is what is currently going on around marijuana law reform at the state house (compiled from our Legislative Center, with additional information from MPP’s list of bills and from cantaxreg.com):

Legalization Bills

Massachusetts

Thirteen months ago, Rep. Ellen Story introduced House Bill 1371, which would allow the legal and regulated sale of marijuana to adults. It was referred to the Joint Committee on Judiciary then, and it is still pending. A hearing is scheduled on March 6.

New Hampshire

Last month, Rep. Calvin Pratt (R) introduced HB 1705, which would allow people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce and allow for regulated retail and wholesale sales. Marijuana would be taxed at a rate of $45 an ounce at wholesale and at 19% of the wholesale price at retail. The bill is now before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

Washington

Last year, Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D) and 13 cosponsors introduced House Bill 1550, which would replace prohibition with regulation. It and a companion bill, Senate Bill 5598, are still both alive. Dickerson’s bill is pending in the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

Decriminalization Bills

Arizona

On January 9, Rep. John Fillmore (R) filed House Bill 2044, which would make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a petty offense punishable by up to a $400 fine. Simple possession is currently a Class 6 felony in Arizona.

Hawaii

In March 2011, the Hawaii Senate passed Senate Bill 1460, which would reduce the penalty for possession of less than an ounce to a civil fine capped at $100. The current law specifies a jail stay of up to 30 days and a $1,000 fine. That bill was carried over and is now before the House Health, Public and Military Affairs, and Judiciary committees. Also carried over is House Bill 544, which would make possession of less than an ounce a violation instead of a misdemeanor and impose a maximum $500 fine. That bill is before the House Judiciary Committee.

Illinois

In January 2011, Rep. LaShawn Ford introduced House Bill 100, which would reduce the penalty for possession of up to 28.35 grams of marijuana to a $500 fine for a first offense, $750 for the second, and $1,000 for a subsequent offense. It would also reduce the charge from a misdemeanor to a petty offense. Under current law, possession of up to an ounce can be penalized with up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine. The bill has been referred to House Rules Committee, and is still alive in Illinois’ two-year session.

Indiana

Last month, Sen. Karen Tallian introduced Senate Bill 347, which would reduce several marijuana-related penalties, including by making possession of up to three ounces of marijuana a civil infraction, punishable by up to a $500 fine and court costs. SB 347 was referred to the Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters.

New Hampshire

Last week, House Bill 1526, which would decriminalize possession of up to an ounce, got a hearing in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Sponsored by Rep. William Panek (R),the bill would mandate a maximum $100 fine. It also provides for notification of parents of minor offenders, who could be ordered to attend a drug awareness program.

New Jersey

Last month, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) introduced Assembly Bill 1465, which would reduce the penalty for 15 grams or less of marijuana to a civil penalty. The first violation would be punishable by a $150 fine, $200 fine for a second offense, and $500 after that. Any adult caught three times would be ordered to undertake a drug education program, as would any minor regardless of prior offenses. The bill is currently before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Rhode Island

Last month, more than half of the Rhode Island House of Representatives cosponsored Rep. John Edwards’ bill to fine adults for simple possession of marijuana and to sentence minors to drug awareness classes. The bill, House Bill 7092, was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Current law provides for up to a year in jail and $500 fine; the bill would make it a civil offense with a maximum $150 fine.

Tennessee

In February 2011, Rep. Mike Kernell introduced House Bill 1737, which would reduce the penalty for less than 1/8 of an ounce of marijuana to a fine between $250 and $2,500. Possession would remain a Class A misdemeanor, but the bill would remove the possibility of a year-long jail sentence. Fines would remain the same.  A companion bill, Senate Bill 1597, has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both bills remain alive in the state’s two-year legislative session.

Vermont

Last year, a tri-partisan group of legislators led by Rep. Jason Lorber filed House Bill 427, which would reduce the penalty for adults’ possession of up to an ounce of marijuana to civil fine of up to $150. Minors would be sent to drug education and community service for a first offense, as would adults under 21 convicted of a second or subsequent offense. The current penalty for first offense possession of marijuana is a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail. Second offense possession is currently punishable by up to two years in prison and/or up to a $1,000 fine. The bill is still alive in the state’s two-year legislative session. Last month, Sen. Joe Benning (R) and Sen. Philip Baruth (D) filed Senate Bill 134, which would reduce marijuana penalties, including by reducing the penalty for possession of up to two ounces of marijuana to a civil fine of up to $100. It has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Decriminalization Improvement Bills

New York

Last year, legislators filed bills aimed at removing New York City’s reputation as the world’s marijuana arrest capital. The state’s current decriminalization law creates an exception for marijuana possessed in a public place and which is burning or open to the public view. The NYPD has used that exception to arrest more than 50,000 people a year on misdemeanor charges instead of issuing them tickets. In May, Sen. Mark Grisanti (R) filed Senate Bill 5187, while Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries introduced a companion bill, A 7620. Both bills were referred to their chambers’ Codes Committees and are still alive.

North Carolina

A bill that would reclassify possession of an ounce as an infraction instead of a misdemeanor has been filed in North Carolina. HB 324 increases the decrim amount from a half-ounce, but removes the automatic suspended sentence for a first offense.

Twelve states have decriminalized marijuana possession so far (and possession in small amounts at home is legal under the Alaska constitution), but between an initial burst of reform activity in the 1970s and Nevada’s decriminalization in 2002, there were three decades of stagnation. Since then, three more states- — California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts — have come on board, and chances are more will follow shortly, Legalization remains a tougher nut to crack, but so far, there are opportunities in five states this year.

An Initiative Petition for a Law for the Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana
We, the undersigned registered voters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, submit this initiative petition pursuant to Amendment Article 48 of the Massachusetts Constitution:

Be it enacted by the people and by their authority,

Section 1. Purpose and Intent.
The citizens of Massachusetts intend that there should be no punishment under state law for qualifying patients, physicians and health care professionals, personal caregivers for patients, or medical marijuana treatment center agents for the medical use of marijuana, as defined herein.
Section 2. As used in this Law, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
(A) “Card holder” shall mean a qualifying patient, a personal caregiver, or a dispensary agent of a medical marijuana treatment center who has been issued and possesses a valid registration card.
(B) “Cultivation registration” shall mean a registration issued to a medical marijuana treatment center for growing marijuana for medical use under the terms of this Act, or to a qualified patient or personal caregiver under the terms of Section 11.
(C) “Debilitating medical condition” shall mean:
Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other conditions as determined in writing by a qualifying patient’s physician.
(D) “Department” shall mean the Department of Public Health of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
(E) “Dispensary agent” shall mean an employee, staff volunteer, officer, or board member of a non-profit medical marijuana treatment center, who shall be at least twenty-one (21) years of age.
(F) “Enclosed, locked facility” shall mean a closet, room, greenhouse, or other area equipped with locks or other security devices, accessible only to dispensary agents, patients, or personal caregivers.
(G) “Marijuana,” has the meaning given “marihuana” in Chapter 94C of the General Laws.
(H) “Medical marijuana treatment center” shall mean a not-for-profit entity, as defined by Massachusetts law only, registered under this law, that acquires, cultivates, possesses, processes (including development of related products such as food, tinctures, aerosols, oils, or ointments), transfers, transports, sells, distributes, dispenses, or administers marijuana, products containing marijuana, related supplies, or educational materials to qualifying patients or their personal caregivers.
(I) “Medical use of marijuana” shall mean the acquisition, cultivation, possession, processing, (including development of related products such as food, tinctures, aerosols, oils, or ointments), transfer, transportation, sale, distribution, dispensing, or administration of marijuana, for the benefit of qualifying patients in the treatment of debilitating medical conditions, or the symptoms thereof.
(J) “Personal caregiver” shall mean a person who is at least twenty-one (21) years old who has agreed to assist with a qualifying patient’s medical use of marijuana. Personal caregivers are prohibited from consuming marijuana obtained for the personal, medical use of the qualifying patient.
An employee of a hospice provider, nursing, or medical facility providing care to a qualifying patient may also serve as a personal caregiver.
(K) “Qualifying patient” shall mean a person who has been diagnosed by a licensed physician as having a debilitating medical condition.
(L) “Registration card” shall mean a personal identification card issued by the Department to a qualifying patient, personal caregiver, or dispensary agent. The registration card shall verify that a physician has provided a written certification to the qualifying patient, that the patient has designated the individual as a personal caregiver, or that a medical treatment center has met the terms of Section 9 and Section 10 of this law. The registration card shall identify for the Department and law enforcement those individuals who are exempt from Massachusetts criminal and civil penalties for conduct pursuant to the medical use of marijuana.
(M) “Sixty-day supply” means that amount of marijuana that a qualifying patient would reasonably be expected to need over a period of sixty days for their personal medical use.
(N) “Written certification” means a document signed by a licensed physician, stating that in the physician’s professional opinion, the potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks for the qualifying patient. Such certification shall be made only in the course of a bona fide physician-patient relationship and shall specify the qualifying patient’s debilitating medical condition(s).
Section 3. Protection from State Prosecution and Penalties for Health Care Professionals
A physician, and other health care professionals under a physician’s supervision, shall not be penalized under Massachusetts law, in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, for:
(a) Advising a qualifying patient about the risks and benefits of medical use of marijuana; or
(b) Providing a qualifying patient with written certification, based upon a full assessment of the qualifying patient’s medical history and condition, that the medical use of marijuana may benefit a particular qualifying patient.
Section 4. Protection From State Prosecution and Penalties for Qualifying Patients and Personal Caregivers
Any person meeting the requirements under this law shall not be penalized under Massachusetts law in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, for such actions.
A qualifying patient or a personal caregiver shall not be subject to arrest or prosecution, or civil penalty, for the medical use of marijuana provided he or she:
(a) Possesses no more marijuana than is necessary for the patient’s personal, medical use, not exceeding the amount necessary for a sixty-day supply; and
(b) Presents his or her registration card to any law enforcement official who questions the patient or caregiver regarding use of marijuana.
Section 5. Protection From State Prosecution and Penalties for Dispensary Agents.
A dispensary agent shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or civil penalty, under Massachusetts law, for actions taken under the authority of a medical marijuana treatment center, provided he or she:
(a) Presents his or her registration card to any law enforcement official who questions the agent concerning their marijuana related activities; and
(b) Is acting in accordance with all the requirements of this law.
Section 6. Protection Against Forfeiture and Arrest
(A) The lawful possession, cultivation, transfer, transport, distribution, or manufacture of medical marijuana as authorized by this law shall not result in the forfeiture or seizure of any property.
(B) No person shall be arrested or prosecuted for any criminal offense solely for being in the presence of medical marijuana or its use as authorized by this law.
Section 7. Limitations of Law
(A) Nothing in this law allows the operation of a motor vehicle, boat, or aircraft while under the influence of marijuana.
(B) Nothing in this law requires any health insurance provider, or any government agency or authority, to reimburse any person for the expenses of the medical use of marijuana.
(C) Nothing in this law requires any health care professional to authorize the use of medical marijuana for a patient.
(D) Nothing in this law requires any accommodation of any on-site medical use of marijuana in any place of employment, school bus or on school grounds, in any youth center, in any correctional facility, or of smoking medical marijuana in any public place.
(E) Nothing in this law supersedes Massachusetts law prohibiting the possession, cultivation, transport, distribution, or sale of marijuana for nonmedical purposes.
(F) Nothing in this law requires the violation of federal law or purports to give immunity under federal law.
(G) Nothing in this law poses an obstacle to federal enforcement of federal law.
Section 8. Department to define presumptive 60-day supply for qualifying patients.
Within 120 days of the effective date of this law, the department shall issue regulations defining the quantity of marijuana that could reasonably be presumed to be a sixty-day supply for qualifying patients, based on the best available evidence. This presumption as to quantity may be overcome with evidence of a particular qualifying patient’s appropriate medical use.
Section 9. Registration of nonprofit medical marijuana treatment centers.
(A) Medical marijuana treatment centers shall register with the department.
(B) Not later than ninety days after receiving an application for a nonprofit medical marijuana treatment center, the department shall register the nonprofit medical marijuana treatment center to acquire, process, possess, transfer, transport, sell, distribute, dispense, and administer marijuana for medical use, and shall also issue a cultivation registration if:
1. The prospective nonprofit medical marijuana treatment center has submitted:
(a) An application fee in an amount to be determined by the department consistent with Section 13 of this law.
(b) An application, including:
(i) The legal name and physical address of the treatment center and the physical address of one additional location, if any, where marijuana will be cultivated.
(ii) The name, address and date of birth of each principal officer and board member.
(c) Operating procedures consistent with department rules for oversight, including cultivation and storage of marijuana only in enclosed, locked facilities.
2. None of the principal officers or board members has served as a principal officer or board member for a medical marijuana treatment center that has had its registration certificate revoked.
(C) In the first year after the effective date, the Department shall issue registrations for up to thirty-five non-profit medical marijuana treatment centers, provided that at least one treatment center shall be located in each county, and not more than five shall be located in any one county. In the event the Department determines in a future year that the number of treatment centers is insufficient to meet patient needs, the Department shall have the power to increase or modify the number of registered treatment centers.
(D) A medical treatment center registered under this section, and its dispensary agents registered under Section 10, shall not be penalized or arrested under Massachusetts law for acquiring, possessing, cultivating, processing, transferring, transporting, selling, distributing, and dispensing marijuana, products containing marijuana, and related supplies and educational materials, to qualifying patients or their personal caregivers.
Section 10. Registration of medical treatment center dispensary agents.
(A) A dispensary agent shall be registered with the Department before volunteering or working at a medical marijuana treatment center.
(B) A treatment center must apply to the Department for a registration card for each affiliated dispensary agent by submitting the name, address and date of birth of the agent.
(C) A registered nonprofit medical marijuana treatment center shall notify the department within one business day if a dispensary agent ceases to be associated with the center, and the agent’s registration card shall be immediately revoked.
(D) No one shall be a dispensary agent who has been convicted of a felony drug offense. The Department is authorized to conduct criminal record checks with the Department of Criminal Justice Information to enforce this provision.
Section 11. Hardship Cultivation Registrations.
The Department shall issue a cultivation registration to a qualifying patient whose access to a medical treatment center is limited by verified financial hardship, a physical incapacity to access reasonable transportation, or the lack of a treatment center within a reasonable distance of the patient’s residence. The Department may deny a registration based on the provision of false information by the applicant. Such registration shall allow the patient or the patient’s personal caregiver to cultivate a limited number of plants, sufficient to maintain a 60-day supply of marijuana, and shall require cultivation and storage only in an enclosed, locked facility.
The department shall issue regulations consistent with this section within 120 days of the effective date of this law. Until the department issues such final regulations, the written recommendation of a qualifying patient’s physician shall constitute a limited cultivation registration.
Section 12. Medical marijuana registration cards for qualifying patients and designated caregivers.
(A) A qualifying patient may apply to the department for a medical marijuana registration card by submitting:
1. Written certification from a physician.
2. An application, including:
(a) Name, address unless homeless, and date of birth.
(b) Name, address and date of birth of the qualifying patient’s personal caregiver, if any.
Section 13. Department implementation of Regulations and Fees.
Within 120 days of the effective date of this law, the department shall issue regulations for the implementation of Sections 9 through 12 of this Law. The department shall set application fees for non-profit medical marijuana treatment centers so as to defray the administrative costs of the medical marijuana program and thereby make this law revenue neutral.
Until the approval of final regulations, written certification by a physician shall constitute a registration card for a qualifying patient. Until the approval of final regulations, a certified mail return receipt showing compliance with Section 12 (A) (2) (b) above by a qualifying patient, and a photocopy of the application, shall constitute a registration card for that patient’s personal caregiver.
Section 14. Penalties for Fraudulent Acts.
(A) The department, after a hearing, may revoke any registration card issued under this law for a willful violation of this law. The standard of proof for revocation shall be a preponderance of the evidence. A revocation decision shall be reviewable in the Superior Court.
(B) The fraudulent use of a medical marijuana registration card or cultivation registration shall be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in the house of correction, or a fine up to $500, but if such fraudulent use is for the distribution, sale, or trafficking of marijuana for non-medical use for profit it shall be a felony punishable by up to 5 years in state prison or up to two and one half years in the house of correction.
Section 15. Confidentiality
The department shall maintain a confidential list of the persons issued medical marijuana registration cards. Individual names and other identifying information on the list shall be exempt from the provisions of Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. Chapter 66, section 10, and not subject to disclosure, except to employees of the department in the course of their official duties and to Massachusetts law enforcement officials when verifying a card holder’s registration.
Section 16. Effective Date.
This law shall be effective January 1, 2013.
Section 17. Severability.
The provisions of this law are severable and if any clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this measure, or an application thereof, shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or application adjudged invalid.
We, the Undersigned registered voters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, having read the full text of the foregoing proposed law, do fully subscribe to its content and agree to be among the original signers of the Petition.
Richard Elliot Doblin
3 Francis Street
Belmont, MA 02478

Regis A. Desilva
40 Larchwood Drive
Cambridge, MA 02138

Alexander T. Bok
35 Melrose Street
Boston, MA 02116

Barbara Theran
65 East India Row #6F
Boston, MA 02110

Erik Wunderlich
20 Seymour Street, #3
Boston, MA 02131

Rebecca A. Frank
20 Seymour Street, #3
Boston, MA 02131

Harold Theran
65 East India Row #6F
Boston, MA 02110

Marcella M. Duda
151 Bondsville Road
Ware, MA 01082

Madeline E. Paz
29 Sycamore Road
Quincy, MA 02171

Jack Arlen Cole
27 Austin Road
Medford, MA 02155

Michael D. Cutler
130 Prospect Avenue
Northampton, MA 01060

Susan S. Poverman
65 Larchwood Drive
Cambridge, MA 02138

Jesse R. Greenblatt
56 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144

Lorraine Kerz
60 Freeman Drive, Apt 5
Greenfield, MA 01301

David J. Temelini
8 Cornauba Street Extension
Boston, MA 02131

Joanne C. Moore
27 Larchwood Drive
Cambridge, MA

Lawrence S. Elswit
7 Crown Ridge Road
Wellesley, MA 02482

Robert D. Truog
37 Trowbridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Matthew John Allen
8 Woodside Avenue, #1
Boston, MA 02130

Steven A. Saling
165 Captains Row, #203
Chelsea, MA 02150

Chad A. O’Connor
309 Canton Street
Randolph, MA 02368

Anne M. Richmond
43 Brackett St. Unit 1
Boston, MA

John H. Halpern
143 Hudson Raod
Stow, MA 01775

Andrea Landis Solomon
165 Captains Row
Chelsea, MA 02150

Timothy P. Callahan
130 Church Street
Milton, MA 02186

Joyce Wolf Zakim
37 Westbourne Road
Newton, MA 02459