Update: Lawmakers have sent a revised depenalization bill to Gov. Scott for his consideration during a special legislative session. The bill would eliminate criminal and civil penalities regarding the possession of up to one ounce of cannabis and/or the cultivation of two mature plants. The bill also imposes civil fines for marijuana use while in a vehicle.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday, May 24, vetoed legislation, Senate Bill 22 that sought to eliminate criminal and civil penalties for the adult use and possession of marijuana.
The Governor said that he did not support the legislation as written, but that remains open to working with lawmakers over the summer on ways to amend the state’s cannabis policies. Make sure that he does so.
Please contact the Governor, as well as your members of the House and Senate, in support of a legislative compromise that will free responsible Vermont adults from the threat of criminal arrest or civil fines for possessing personal use amounts of marijuana.
Fifty-seven percent of Vermont voters support “allowing adults who are 21 or older to use, possess, and securely grow marijuana.” Please continue to urge lawmakers to implement the will of the people.
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Update: Lawmakers failed to reconcile the House and Senate versions of HB 197, killing it for this legislative session.
Update: The Senate has passed the amended version of HB 197 by a 20 to 10 vote. The measure now must be reconciled with the House.
Update: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved HB 197, however the scope of the bill has been narrowed enough that NORML now opposes this legislation. HB 197 now only covers the possession of marijuana infused products weighing up to three grams. Due to the changes, Wyoming NORML has also withdrawn support of the bill. Frank Latta, Executive Director of WY NORML, stated, “A lot of us worked for several years to reach a compromise we could live with,” but that the Senate changes are too much to tolerate.
Update: Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have proposed amendments to HB 197 that largely gut the bill.
As passed by the House by a 56 to 2 vote, HB 197 reduces existing marijuana possession penalties from up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine to no more than 20 days in jail and a $200 fine for first-time offenders. Repeat offenders would face stricter penalties under the proposal.
But recently approved changes by members of the Senate eliminate these penalty reductions.
House and Senate leaders must now reconcile the two versions of the bill.
NORML urges you to tell your lawmakers to reject the Senate changes and to approve HB 197 in the manner in which it was passed by the members of the House.
For more information about legislative efforts in the state, please visit Wyoming NORML http://www.wyomingnorml.org/.
Update: Governor Doug Burgum signed SB 2344 on April 18. You can read the full text of the measure here.
Update: Members of the House and Senate have reconciled SB 2344. The measure now awaits action from Gov. Doug Burgum, who intends to sign it into law. The measure allows only two state-licensed manufacturing facilities and up to eight dispensaries statewide (These facilities are anticipated to be operational within 12 to 18 months after law’s passage). It removes provisions in Measure 5 permitting patients who do not reside near a dispensary to cultivate their own cannabis. Amendments that sought to prohibit smoking herbal formulations of cannabis were not included in the final version of SB 2344, although qualified patients under the age of 19 will now be mandated only to consume cannabis in ways other than smoking.
Update: The bill passed through the Senate with the required majority. It will now go through a conference committee of three senators and three house members to negotiate the final details.
Update: SB 2344 cleared a House committee on April 3 with additional changes including the removal of the prohibition of herbal cannabis and a reduction of the annual patient application fee from $200 to $50. The bill will now go to a vote in the full House and requires a 2/3rds majority due to the fact that it changes a voter-passed initative. If passed in the House, the two versions of the bill will have to go through reconciliation.
Update: SB 2344 passed the Senate by a vote of 40-6, exceeding the two-thirds majority needed for amending the ballot measure. The bill now awaits further action by the House.
Update: Members of the Senate Human Services Committee have recommended passage of Senate Bill 2344. In response to voters’ concerns, they have amended the language so that the definition of ‘usable marijuana’ includes herbal forms of the plant but only in cases where such a formulation has been explicitly recommended by a physician. The amended language also removes provisions that would have allowed patients to petition the state to expand the list of qualifying conditions. NORML believes that these changes, as well as many others, undermine voters’ intent. The North Dakota Democratic Party has also raised various concerns regarding SB 2344. The measure now awaits action by the full Senate.
Senate legislation is pending, Senate Bill 2344, to significantly rewrite the North Dakota Compassionate Care Act.
Sixty-four percent of voters approved the law on Election Day. Lawmakers should respect the public’s will and implement this law as initiated.
Unfortunately, SB 2344 makes several unacceptable changes to the Act. Specifically, it eliminates provisions permitting specific patients the option to cultivate their own medicine, and reduces the quantity of medicine that patients may legally obtain. It also caps the number of medical cannabis cultivators and dispensaries to no more than four and eight, respectively.
Separate legislation, SB 2514, to delay the implementation of the North Dakota Compassionate Care Act to a date to be chosen by the legislature has already been signed into law.
Lawmakers’ decision to seemingly disregard the will of their constituents is both arrogant and troubling. Whether or not one supports marijuana law reform, one should find legislators’ attitudes and actions an affront to the democratic process. Americans have been told time and time again that ‘elections have consequences.’ There should not be a ‘marijuana exception’ to this longstanding principle.
Voters made their opinions on marijuana policy clear at the ballot box in November. Lawmakers in these jurisdictions have a responsibility to abide by the will of the people and to do so in a timely manner. Please urge them to do so by rejecting SB 2344.
Update: SB 129 was killed in the Senate on Tuesday February 21.
More than a dozen lawmakers are backing legislation, Senate Bill 129, to eradicate the state’s marijuana possession by ingestion law.
Under the law, one can be charged with a felony drug offense if their past use of a marijuana shows up on a blood or urine test. In the case of cannabis, byproducts of THC may be detectable for several weeks after one has ceased using it.
The measure does not amend penalties for the physical possession of marijuana.
The 2001 law was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2004.
South Dakota is one of the only states that criminalizes the internal possession of marijuana or other controlled substances, and it is the only state that defines the activity as a felony offense.
For more information, visit South Dakota NORML to learn what you can do in your area.
Please use the pre-written letter below to urge lawmakers to vote ‘yes’ on SB 129.
Update: HB 173 was signed into law by the Governor on April 12.
Update: Members of the Senate passed HB 173 on March 28. It now goes to the Governor who has indicated that he will likely “defer to the will of the Legislature” and not veto the bill.
Update: Members of the House have passed HB 173 by a vote of 65 to 28 March 23. The measure now awaits action from the Senate.
Update: HB 173 has been passed out of subcommittee and now awaits action by the full House Criminal Justice Committee.
Legislation is before the Governor, HB 173, to nullify the enactment of citywide marijuana decriminalization ordinances and to prevent additional municipalities from enacting similar marijuana reform measures.
The intent of the bill is to override the passage of recent citywide measures in Nashville and Memphis — both of which passed local ordinances last year making minor marijuana possession offenses a non-arrestable citation.
By contrast, state law classifies marijuana possession as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a criminal record.
Please urge Gov. Bill Haslam to veto this measure and to allow cities the flexibility to decide their own marijuana policies.
Update: An additional bill which would reschedule marijuana to a Schedule III drug, HR 2020.
Legislation is pending in the US House, HR 715, to amend the Controlled Substances Act so that marijuana is no longer classified as a Schedule I controlled substance and so that cannabidiol (CBD) is excluded from the federal definition of cannabis.
Cannabidiol is a non-mood altering constituent in the marijuana plant that possesses a variety of therapeutic effects, particularly anti-seizure properties. Over a dozen states recognize by statute that CBD is safe and therapeutically effective.
Further, the cannabis plant’s schedule I classification has long been inconsistent with the available evidence. Most recently, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a comprehensive report acknowledging that “conclusive or substantial evidence” exists for cannabis’ efficacy in patients suffering from chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions. This finding is incompatible with the plant’s Schedule I status, which opines that it possess “no accepted medical use in the United States.” Twenty-nine states now permit physicians to authorize marijuana therapy to qualified patients.
While simply rescheduling marijuana under federal law, rather than descheduling it entirely, will not end federal prohibition, it will bring about some needed changes in law. At a minimum, it would bring an end to the federal government’s longstanding intellectual dishonesty that marijuana ‘lacks accepted medical use.’ It would also likely permit banks and other financial institutions to work with state-compliant marijuana-related businesses, and permit employers in the cannabis industry to take tax deductions similar to those enjoyed by other businesses. Rescheduling would also likely bring some level of relief to federal employees subject to random workplace drug testing for off-the-job cannabis consumption.
Other provisions in the measure seek to remove federal regulations restricting cannabis research and seek to limit federal interference in state-authorized medical marijuana programs.
For these reasons, we urge your support for HR 715 while also recognizing that ultimately cannabis must be removed from the Controlled Substances Act altogether. Passage of HR 715 is a first step in this process.
Update: HJR 11 was tabled on February 3. It will not be considered any further this session.
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Wyoming lawmakers are debating HJR 11, a joint resolution to legalize marijuana for adults over the age of 21.
This resolution legalizes and regulates the commercial cultivation and retail sale of marijuana to adults over the age of 21. Under this measure, adults would be able to legally possess up to three ounces of cannabis and grow up to six plants in the privacy of their home.
Support for legalization in Wyoming is growing year after year.
It is time to stop ceding control of the marijuana market to untaxed criminal enterprises and for lawmakers to implement common-sense regulations governing cannabis’ personal use by adults and licensing its production.
Enter your information below to contact your lawmakers and urge them to support HJR 11.
For more information, visit Wyoming NORML to learn what you can do in your area.
Update: Members of the Committee on Federal and State Affairs decided on March 10 to move forward with substitute language which only permits physicians to recommend “non-intoxicating cannabinoid medicines.” Based on these changes, NORML is now of the belief that HB 2152 is a better alternative for patients.
Update: A hearing was held to debate and discuss SB 155 on February 20.
Legislation is pending before lawmakers, SB 155, to establish regulations governing a comprehensive medical marijuana program.
SB 155 would permit qualified patients to grow their own medical marijuana or to obtain it from a licensed dispensary, while also educating physicians who seek to recommend cannabis therapy.
Kansas is one of fewer than a dozen US states that has taken no action to reform its medical marijuana laws. Please urge your House and Senate lawmakers to support these comprehensive legislation.
Additional information is available from http://www.bleedingks.org.
A separate, more narrow measure — SB 178 — is also pending. You can read the full text of the measure here.
Update: HB 656 has been “retained in committee” and will not receive further consideration.
Legislation is making its way through the New Hampshire House, HB 656, to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use.
Members of the House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety heard testimony regarding the bill on Wednesday, February 2, at 2pm.
Police in New Hampshire arrest some 2,900 individuals annually for simple marijuana possession offenses. The continued criminalization of adult marijuana use is out-of-step with the views of New Hampshire adults, 62 percent of whom now endorse legalizing and regulating cannabis, according to a 2016 WMUR Granite State Poll.
Despite more than 70 years of federal marijuana prohibition, Americans’ consumption of and demand for cannabis is here to stay. It is time for state lawmakers to acknowledge this reality. It is time to stop ceding control of the marijuana market to untaxed criminal enterprises and it is time for lawmakers to seriously consider common-sense regulations governing cannabis’ personal use by adults and licensing its production.
In addition to the legislation in the House, Senator Jeff Woodburn announced his plans to introduce a bill that includes a firm date to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in New Hampshire. Although a legalization bill has passed through the House in the past, the Senate has met stiff resistance and Woodburn’s powerful backing of a bill is a boost that New Hampshire will join the states who are already benefiting from legalization.
Enter your information below to contact your House Representative and urge them to support this legislation.
Update: The House held a hearing about HB 1236 on March 3 at 1pm, and a hearing about SB 891 on March 2 at 1pm.
Update: A new Goucher poll cites that 58% of Marylanders support marijuana legalization and only 36% oppose it.
HB 1236 and it’s companion bill SB891 would amend the Maryland Constitution to ensure citizens have the right to possess, smoke, and cultivate marijuana.
The Amendment would also require the General Assembly to establish a regulatory structure for “the transfer of cannabis by purchase or sale.”
If enacted, the law would legalize the possession of up to two ounces and the cultivation of up to six plants.
However, as a constitutional amendment, the initiative requires a three-fifths majority in both houses of the Maryland General Assembly followed by approval by the voters of Maryland.
According to a recent poll by the Washington Post, 63% of Maryland registered voters support the legalization of marijuana for personal use.
Please enter your information below and urge your lawmakers to support this important legislative effort.
