Lines drawn for legalization of pot

The stakes could rise considerably in 2010 in the argument over marijuana use – and not just for medical purposes.

Officials from a group campaigning to put a marijuana-legalization measure before California voters said they have enough signatures to qualify for the 2010 ballot.

The possibility of marijuana being legalized in the state has riled activists on both sides of the issue.

“First off, we don’t think it’s going to pass at all,” said Paul Chabot, co-founder of the Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition.

“California has really woken up since Proposition 215 passed in 1996. Most Californians now know this fraud is brought to us by those who funded the (marijuana) legalization initiative.”

Proposition 215 legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

A Field Poll conducted in April found that 56 percent of California residents supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help bridge the state budget deficit [ So, as you can see, Chabot lies again. ].

Supervisors to discuss next step in medical marijuana law controversy in CLOSED session

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will meet in closed session June 2 to discuss its next plan of action following the U.S. Supreme Court‘s refusal to hear its joint lawsuit challenging California’s medical marijuana law.”I assume the board, in its judicious manner, will issue a decision forthwith,” said Burt Southard, spokesman for Board Chairman Gary Ovitt, on Thursday.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a joint lawsuit filed in 2006 by San Bernardino and San Diego counties, that argued they didn’t have to comply with the state law, passed in 2004, because the federal ban on marijuana pre-empted the state law.

With all legal avenues exhausted, the county is now in a position to open the door to medical marijuana dispensaries and issue identification cards to legitimate medical marijuana patients.

“You can’t hide behind the skirts of the federal government and say, `We don’t have to do this anymore,”‘ said Palm Springs resident Lanny Swerdlow, addressing the Board of Supervisors at their Tuesday meeting.

Swerdlow is the director of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, an Inland Empire-based medical marijuana patient support group and law reform organization.

See also:

San Bernardino County accused of violating Brown Act

Josie Gonzales, county supervisor, says she supports medical marijuana program

Supreme Court upholds California medical pot law

Un-elected, unwanted, unknown, Nazi/Military PIG

Medical marijuana case dismissed

DMV sued over medical marijuana

County Asks U.S. Supreme Court To Erase State’s Medical Marijuana Law

Lawsuit filed over refusal to issue medical marijuana card

Medical marijuana case dismissed

JOSHUA TREE — Charges of marijuana cultivation and sales pending against Rich McCabe and his wife, JoAnn Cates, since August 2007 were dismissed Monday by Judge Rodney Cortez before a preliminary hearing began at the San Bernardino County Superior Court here.

The Johnson Valley seniors faced three felony drug counts each and could have been required to register as drug offenders. They have contended they used the marijuana investigators found on their property to ease the symptoms of cancer treatment and other ailments.

Lawsuit filed over refusal to issue medical marijuana card

[ San Bernardino County has so whored itself to the military- and prison-industrial complexes that the will of its people is of no concern to its government. ]

SAN BERNARDINO – About 20 people from all points of San Bernardino County met in front of a San Bernardino courthouse Monday to cheer one of the last vestiges of the counterculture — marijuana.

They came to show support for medical marijuana activist Scott Bledsoe, of Crestline, who filed a lawsuit Monday against San Bernardino County for refusing to issue him a medical marijuana card.

Named in the petition writ as respondent is Jim Lindley, director of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. A petition writ such as this only seeks enforcement of a law. It does not ask for financial compensation.

Excellent Article on the Corrupt Prison-Industrial Complex

Report Review: New Federal Drug Threat Assessment Finds Prohibition Greatest Drug-Related Menace

More 10th-Graders Are Smoking Marijuana Than Cigarettes

Round One of Obama’s “Open for Questions” Reveals Clamor for Drug Policy Reform