Global Ganja Report

Writing on his Celebstoner blog, Steve Bloom recalls that while campaigning for the Senate in 2004, President Barack Obama said, "We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws." But on July 22, at a town hall meeting at the Univeristy of Maryland, he stated,: "Am I willing to pursue a decriminalization strategy as an approach? No."  Instead, he offered predictable rhetoric about treatment and prevention:

During his much-hyped Twitter Town Hall on July 6, President Barack Obama neglected to answer 4,911 questions about his marijuana policy—making it the most-asked question of the online forum. "Would you consider legalizing marijuana to increase revenue and save tax dollars by freeing up crowded prisons, court rooms?" was retweeted that many times, according to the analytics service. A question about letting the Bush tax cuts expire came in second place, with only 1,800 retweets. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who moderated the online town hall, focused on questions pertaining to the economy, education and space exploration. (Raw Story, July 6)

Unlikely political bedfellows Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced a first-of-its-kind bill June 23 that would end the federal prohibition on cannabis. The legislation is modeled after the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which repealed the federal prohibition on alcohol and handed responsibility for regulating it to the states. Frank said "he's not advocating marijuana use, but believes that criminal prosecution is a waste of resources and an intrusion on personal freedom." The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. John Conyers (D-MI), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Jared Polis (D-CO), and Barbara Lee (D-CA).

A new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy finds that the "global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," and calls upon governments to explore the legalization of cannabis and other controlled substances. "Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately, that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem and that the war on drugs has not and cannot be won," the report states.

Oakland City Attorney John Russo has withdrawn his legal counsel from plans to tax and license large-scale cannabis farms, and told the City Council to hire their own attorney.

The city's original cannabis cultivation ordinance set no limits on the size of the cultivation facilities, which would operate as stand-alone businesses separate from dispensaries. The council had hoped to start licensing the farms as early as last month, but suspended action on the licenses in December so the ordinance could be revised to more closely comply with state law.

Voters in more than a dozen Massachusetts legislative districts backed dramatic expansions to legal access to cannabis in the Nov. 2 elections, and advocates plan to use the results to press lawmakers. Nine of 18 advisory questions placed on the ballot queried voters on medical marijuana, while another nine backed legalizing cannabis outright, allowing the state to regulate and tax it.

Steve Cooley, Republican candidate for state attorney general in California, was a little too quick to declare victory on election night—as the count continues, he trails his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris by at least 12,000 votes. The race is so close that it will very likely take several more weeks to call a winner, because over 2.3 million late or provisional ballots must be counted by the end of the month. A backpedaling Cooley said, "It's one of those Dewey moments."

Proposition 19 mastermind Richard Lee spoke to supporters in Oakland after the initiative lost by some 540,000 votes, 46-53%, the night of Nov. 2. "The fact that millions of Californians voted to legalize marijuana is a tremendous victory," Lee said, noting that the measure won 3.3 million votes. "We have broken the glass ceiling. Prop. 19 has changed the terms of the debate. And that was a major strategic goal."