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Anne Davis: A Mother’s Prayer to End Prohibition

B0ard — Sun, 09 May 2010 15:13:48 +0000

A Mother’s Prayer to End Prohibition

by Anne M. Davis Esq., NORML-NJ Board of Directors 5/9/10

The video of the SWAT Team raid on the home of the Whitworth family was one of the most graphic acts of violence that I ever had the unfortunate experience of viewing. True, the man in the home was in possession of marijuana. The quantity was so small it was only enough to charge him with a misdemeanor resulting in a $300 fine.

The amount in his possession certainly did not justify a nighttime entry into a family’s home by a team of gunmen dressed in black. Marijuana possession did not justify firing seven rounds of gunshots at the family dogs in front of the seven year old little boy who sat in terror clenching his mother as these gunmen jacked his father up against a wall.

It brings tears to my eyes to think of the horror that this little boy experienced. I subsequently learned that police are permitted to shoot animals if they feel endangered. The right to kill pets applies in every raid because most dogs will bark and react to a team of gunmen entering their families’ home. In my opinion, the Missouri drug enforcement team acted no different than terrorists like the Taliban.

I wish I could believe that this was an isolated incident and wasn’t the norm. Unfortunately, I know the truth from the experiences of my friends in the marijuana community. I know how the DEA’s SWAT teams armed with guns knock down doors and destroy lives. I know that loving and good parents have their children taken away for possessing marijuana in the home in quantities as small as a joint.

The most disturbing of all of this reality is that many of these victims of the drug war are medical patients with chronic illnesses. This madness must end.

Thank you God for giving us the courage to make the progress we have seen in the past year. Please give us the strength to end the violence and peacefully conquer the drug war.

NJ Senators renew call for John Wilson pardon

B0ard — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:37:51 +0000

Two state Senators in New Jersey have renewed their call that an Executive Pardon should be granted to John Wilson, the MS patient convicted of growing 17 marijuana plants to treat his disease. Senators Raymond Lesniak and Nicholas Scutari issued a press release yesterday and appealed to Governor Chris Christie to issue the pardon. Wilson was sentenced to 5 years in prison on March 19th.

READ MORE

NORML-NJ has supported John throughout his trial! Gov. Christie can be contacted at 609 292 6000 or on Twitter @GovChristie

NJ Pot Laws – The Conditional Discharge: What is it?

B0ard — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:43:02 +0000

Frederic DiMaria is an experienced criminal defense attorney specializing in marijuana cases. He serves on the NORML-NJ Board of Trustees.

The Conditional Discharge: What is it?

By Frederic DiMaria, Jr., Esq., Chairman, NORML-NJ

The Conditional Discharge (CD) is one-time-use-only form of Pre-Trial Intervention, pertaining specifically to simple marijuana offenses in New Jersey. When you receive a conditional discharge, it means that you have agreed to get placed in a probation-like monitored program (conditional discharge program) for a period of up to one year or more, and have agreed to pay harsh fines (greater than $700) — in return for the State dropping the drug charge at the end of the conditional discharge period and, if successfully completed, ultimately having no conviction on your record.

While in the Conditional Discharge program, prosecution of the charges will be put on hold by the Court and you will have a conditional discharge officer who you will be required to report to, and who will administer, at whim, multiple random urine tests for drugs over the conditional discharge period. Each conditional discharge officer is different and methods differ between counties and people. Some test frequently. Others do not test at all.

In order for the charges to get dismissed, you must successfully complete (to the satisfaction of the conditional discharge officer) the conditional discharge program which basically means that you report to your conditional discharge officer when he/she requires, you take (and pass) urine tests when requested and you stay out of trouble. You must not be convicted of another offense during the conditional discharge period. If you fail to complete the program for any reason, the Court will renew its prosecution of the original charges.

If you successfully complete the program to the satisfaction of the probation officer, the Court will ultimately drop the original charges and your record will remain free of a drug conviction. The arrest will still be on your record, but you will likely be able to get that removed through a process known as expungement.

If you are conditional discharge eligible, you can request a Conditional Discharge from the Court. Eligibility depends upon multiple factors. A past conviction of a drug offense in New Jersey or any other State, or the past use of the Conditional Discharge program in New Jersey will make you ineligible for the program. If the Court places you in the Conditional Discharge program, the Court will order you to pay the fines set by the Court (again, expect to pay more than $700) and the Court will make you fill out paperwork before you leave. The Court will then give you further instructions.

NOTE: Like a get-out-of-jail-free card in Monopoly, you can only participate in the Conditional Discharge program once. After you use it, it can never be used again.

Many people find the Conditional Discharge program a more palatable outcome than being found guilty of marijuana possession since the Conditional Discharge will not result in loss of a New Jersey driver’s license nor will it result in a criminal record. However, in the opinion of this author the conditional discharge should be utilized as a last resort when other defenses are not available, as the conditional discharge can be an uncomfortable process for someone engaged in a marijuana prevalent lifestyle and can certainly substantially interfere with one’s life.

* Tell us in comments on this blog what other marijuana related legal topics we can address here at NORML-NJ.

Mainstream Media Get Serious About Legalizing Pot

B0ard — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:25:19 +0000

by Chris Goldstein

Intense. That’s the only word to describe the recent focus of the national mainstream media on issues related to cannabis. Last week alone there are 3 Newsweek articles and an investigative piece on PBS Newshour. Several of the recent items feature Richard Lee and Oaksterdam.

How Oakland Is Leading Marijuana Legalization

Ethan Nadelmann’s Fight to Legalize Marijuana

How L.A. Became Overrun With Legal Marijuana

PBS News Hour – 10-15-09: Marijuana

Recently there was a 7500-word cover story in Fortune Magazine and a major piece in the Wall St Journal.

Even the FOX Business folks chimed in with an entire week of segments culminating in this editorial by Cheryl Casone:

Again, I don’t smoke the stuff, but I listen to those that do to ease pain, and I don’t have a problem with what they choose to do. In fact, marijuana is a plant that grows naturally. I’ve been trying to eat healthier foods and choose organic items. Is there that much of a difference between my choices and the choices of those who want to smoke a joint? Read full

Paul Armentano the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws told me last Friday “We may be seeing a high-water mark this week for media covering this issue. They have covered pot for sure, but now the tone is certainly different.”

Prior to 2009, media were quick to give false facts and have classic reefer madness enter into their stories. But now there is a decidedly more pragmatic approach. Instead of covering the emotional side of the issue, they are looking at the real-life mechanics of cannabis reform taking place in America already. There is also not the deference shown by the media in the past toward opposition and law enforcement. Now it is the prohibition reform advocates who take center stage.

And why not? Two states are actively considering the legalization and regulation of recreational cannabis: California and Massachusetts. Thirteen states allow medical marijuana programs and 5 states have active medical marijuana legislation. The FBI Uniform Crime Report shows that almost 850,000 Americans were arrested in 2008 for marijuana violations, most for minor possession. Now there are even Stiletto Stoners in Marie-Claire and celebrities like Megan Fox boldly call for legalization.

The issues of marijuana law reform have compelling activity on the ground every day. And the media seems to have wised up that marijuana consumers are part of their audience too. In the ever-competitive world of blogs, print, tv and radio, marijuana remains a topic that most are interested to see.

The media may also have some big green dollar signs in their eyes. If the #1 Cash Crop in America were indeed legalized it is the media themselves who will benefit directly from marketing and advertising.

All of this action is not just at the state level. There are three federal pieces of legislation still active this year in Congress:

FEDERAL MARIJUANA BILLS

The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009

HR 2943, the Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults

HR2835 The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act of 2009

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowski told us this year that he has yet to add ‘legalize’ to his vocabulary. Just in case there is not a Webster’s nearby on Capitol Hill:

Main Entry: le·gal·ize
Pronunciation: 'lE-g&-"lIz
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: -ized; -iz·ing
: to make legal; especially : to give legal validity or sanction to —le·gal·i·za·tion noun —le·gal·iz·er noun

Georgine DiMaria-Jay Leno Response

B0ard — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:20:11 +0000

10/23/2009

Georgine DiMaria-Jay Leno Response

While I am thrilled that Mr. Leno took notice of my use of cannabis therapy, his facts about my personal usage of medical marijuana and comments about marijuana, in general, are both naive and false.

Hopefully, correcting this misinformation can be an opportunity to further advocate the strong benefit of medical marijuana and the grave importance of marijuana reform here in my home state of New Jersey.

As a life-long severe asthmatic, living with a debilitating disease and staring death in the face almost every day of my twenty-five years, I know firsthand how important finding a miracle drug can be. Finally, after years of constant suffering, I have found that miracle in marijuana, yet I am denied access to my lifesaver due to its illegality and a general lack of knowledge about marijuana as a medicinal substance. Used responsibly
in its purest form through either vaporization or ingestion, marijuana has saved my life numerous times, and has the potential to do just that for so many others.

Contrary to the implication in Mr. Leno’s “joke,” I have opposed and continue to oppose smoking in any capacity, as I am a National Spokesperson for the American Lung Association for Asthma and Tobacco Control, and I feel that smoking in any case, is negative for one’s health. The most beneficial and effective way I have found to ingest medical marijuana is through vaporization, which has served as my method of treatment.

Even though Mr. Leno’s remarks about my personal use were seriously misinformed , and while he took a tiresome shot at New Jersey’s air quality, his comments are positive in that they are yet another indication of just how mainstream medical cannabis has become. The whole reason I originally went public with my medical marijuana experience is to advocate for the compassionate use of marijuana and our rights, as patients, to be and feel healthy.

Jay utilized the provocative nature of an asthmatic using marijuana as the *crux of his joke last night, but this matter is no laughing one and has now become so much larger than just a medicinal/health issue*: it is a matter of personal autonomy and liberty.

It is a cruel tease to have breathed freely due to marijuana’s positive and scientifically well-documented bronchodilation effects, only to then have that ability stripped away from me because I do not have legal access to the medication. Hopefully the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act will pass this year in 2009 and provide us all with relief. *However, because cannabis is not legally available to me, I have not even come close to overcoming the disease and I continue to struggle with the crippling effects of asthma. Instead I use deadly steroids on a daily basis.

These drugs I pump into my body, whether orally, through injection, or inhalation, are extremely harmful. While they have absolutely no longterm positive effect on my health and breathing, I have become chemically dependent on them . They have made me even more ill than before, raising my chances of death each day I continue to take them.

However, marijuana, the drug that I know for a fact will help me breathe–a drug that has never been associated with even one overdose or death -is at the tip of my fingers yet completely out of reach. It is unfortunate that I may not survive because I have no legal access to cannabis. Even more sadly, I am just one of millions of patients being denied their miracle, and we will all continue to fight death and the destruction of our quality of life unless we end prohibition.

*In the Washington Post article by Kathleen Parker that sparked Jay Leno’s comment, we are reminded that it was women who led the movement toward ending alcohol prohibition. I believe Ms. Parker is right when suggesting that women may lead “the next revolution in personal autonomy.”

*Women can be the most powerful source in breaking the stereotypes and stigmas associated with marijuana use. This is the perfect opportunity for more women like me to break the silence and come out in support of sensible marijuana reform rather than unnecessarily hiding in fear. I believe we can and will be the driving force to end this fight and begin saving lives.

So thank you again, Mr. Leno, for taking notice and allowing me to “Stone the Stigma,” once and for all!

CONTACT: director (at) normlnj.org

NORML-NJ Board Member Gets Medi-Pot Into Governor Debate

B0ard — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:44:50 +0000

10/8/2009 – NORML-NJ Executive Director

Last week New Jersey Network’s NJN News took their cameras to the street looking for questions to pose to the candidates for Governor. Rick Cusick, a NORML-NJ Board Member and the Associate Publisher of High Times Magazine, took the opportunity to ask the candidates their view on medical marijuana.

The question ended up being posed directly to Democrat Jon Corzine, Republican Chris Christie and Independent Chris Daggett. Video of Rick was shown during the first televised debate of the 2009 election on NJN. All three supported medical cannabis access. The surprise was Republican Christie, who in the past had criticized any concept of medical marijuana.

Candidates on medical marijuana

The media picked up on the candidates’ answers to the issue from The New York Times to network television news.

The Newark Star-Ledger printed the transcript of those answers today http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/nj_gubernatorial_candidates_ad_1.html

Corzine: “I’d sign that legislation. I want to make sure, as it goes through the Assembly, that it has the right constraints on it but I think we’re in the zone. I need to actually run through it with my counsel, all of the alternatives, but I think we’re close. I think we ought to move to this quickly. I think the people who would benefit from it, we would want to get to that sooner rather than later. I don’t think this, in any way, should be allowed to be a back-door access to recreational marijuana and we’ll make sure any bill that comes to my desk that gets my signature, we’re secure in that.”

Christie: “I do think that we can do a little bit better on the restrictions. I do favor allowing folks who have serious illnesses — in a restricted number of illnesses — to have medical marijuana to alleviate suffering. I do want to make sure that we don’t have what’s gone on in California, where you have marijuana shops all over the place and people who are not really using it for serious illnesses. The current legislation, I think, is still a little bit weak on restrictions. I’d want to see it tightened up a little bit, but assuming that we could do that I would support it. I would take an active part in trying to make it the best bill we could so that I’d be able to sign it. It’s something that I would like to have be available to people who have significant pain and suffering issues connected with tragic illness.”

Daggett: “I don’t know all the details of the bill. I generally support the use of marijuana for medical purposes as long as it can be done in a way that targets its use by the intended patient and has adequate safeguards against misuse or illegal use. I would be willing to consider being actively involved but I tend to also agree in the separation of various parts of the government. The Legislature will likely want to put its stamp on it in its own way and we need to let that process have its own course.”

NORML-NJ’s Board and volunteers would like to thank Rick for making medical marijuana a priority in the debate! This was a great example of how effective speaking up can be for the vital issues of marijuana reform.

NORML would also like to point out to the candidates that The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act would already be the most conservative marijuana program in the United States. The restrictions already included into the bill far exceed anything that exists in the 13 states that already allow for safe cannabis access.

Though some work still needs to be done, there is nothing more sensible than passing the medical marijuana bill in 2009.

Rick Cusick will be speaking on behalf of NORML-NJ at Rutgers University New Brunswick on October 19^th. More information is available at www.normlnj.org .

NORML-NJ will be having an open public meeting on October 20^th at 7:00PM. We will gather at the Dog House Saloon 270 Pascack Road Washington Township, NJ 07676.

Medical marijuana information and how NORML volunteers can support the local effort will be the lead topic at the meeting.

For more information please contact NORML-NJ director@normlnj.org www.normlnj.org

NORML-NJ on Stage at Boston Freedom Rally

B0ard — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:18:19 +0000

Georgine DiMaria represents NORML-NJ on stage at the Boston Freedom Rally 9/19/09

NORML-NJ has been going around the country building support and raising awareness for marijuana law reform in the Garden State. Georgine DiMaria is a former Miss New Jersey and on the Board of Directors at NORML-NJ. Georgi spoke about the medical marijuana effort here and was cheered by the crowd. The following is a blog I posted about the event.

Boston: 30,000 smoke pot, celebrate decrim

9/20/2009 - Chris Goldstein

An estimated 30,000 people were crowded onto the Boston Common at the peak moment of the 20th annual Boston Freedom Rally on September 19th 2009.

That moment was 4:20PM ET.

The thousands celebrated freely under a landmark victory for cannabis prohibition reform. In 2008 Massachusetts decriminalized marijuana possession of less than 1/4 ounce by adults with a Ballot Initiative, Proposition 2. That means you can only get a NON-criminal ticket with a $100 fine for a pot violation. The decrim effort was won because of the hard work of the very same folks who organize the rally: MASSCANN/NORML.

A Parks Services officer (who strangely had a thick eastern European accent) agreed that 30,000 seemed a likely estimate of the peak attendance.

A police officer, who did not wish to be named, said the department does not officially release crowd estimates for any event. But Boston Police confirmed that there were 3 arrests for distribution and over 100 citations issued for marijuana possession.

Keith Saunders, MASSCANN’s president, told me that over 50,000 people had probably walked through the grounds over the course of the day and encountered the message of marijuana legalization.

Overall, the police were civil although I saw numerous random searches and heard stories of many more. At past events there have been more than 150 arrests for pot possession… but not on Saturday. Without fear of arrest the crowd was polite and almost everyone I saw was openly enjoying marijuana.

An impressive line-up of bands and speakers appeared on two stages. Styles P, a big time reform supporter showed up and did a surprise set thanks to High Times Magazine. Because of some juggling to accommodate the last minute act, the countdown to 4:20 got squeezed. A sea of people were gathering before the main stage and filling in the large hill.

Steve Bloom of CelebStoner corralled the final 60 seconds, holding a clock up opn stage and pointing as the hands came together. Looking out from that stage you could see huge clouds of smoke rise up from the crowd. There were dozens of spontaneous circles formed in a surreal organic collage of people. They cheered from across the rolling hills of the Common as giant 6-foot long joints were passed around.

Everyone smoked. There really was a quite visible haze over the entire crowd at 4:20. The sweet and fragrant odors of a wide variety of plant strains and hash drifted by offering this interesting quilt of cannabis.

The crowd was extremely well behaved. There cannot be a finer exhibition of the positive effects of human cannabis smoking than large crowds of people doing it together. Without alcohol available at the event there were no fights, pushing or shoving. But with free cannabis consumption there was dancing, conversation and a genuinely happy atmosphere.

Personally, this was the most wonderful day for prohibition reform I have witnessed.

Our country deserves this freedom that Massachusetts already enjoys.

I have seen Victory for Cannabis in Boston. It is sweet and green. It needs to be nationwide.

The first two pics were from my cellphone, this last one is from Derek at PhillyNORML. I’ll have some more blogging about the bands, speakers, backstage and social events from the Boston Freedom Rally.