That’s why we won’t rest until we have liberated cannabis consumers and patients nationwide.
The post NORML Stands for Cannabis Freedom Today and Every Day appeared first on NORML.
Summer ’24 Intern Noah Bass shares his reasons for joining the NORML Internship program.
The post Interning with NORML: A Door to a Lifetime of Advocacy appeared first on NORML.
“These surveys’ findings offer support for the notion that, in some instances, cannabis can act as an intervention for certain persons seeking to reduce their alcohol consumption.”
The post Surveys: Many Consumers Report Drinking Less Alcohol Following Changes to Marijuana’s Legal Status appeared first on NORML.
“State law already recognizes that no one should be in jail for possessing small amounts of marijuana; this new law similarly recognizes that no one should be in jail for possessing marijuana paraphernalia.”
The post Louisiana: Governor Signs Legislation Decriminalizing Possession of Marijuana Paraphernalia appeared first on NORML.
The LA Times has reported, “For the first time in the 170-year history of the California State Fair, which is scheduled to open July 12 in Sacramento, visitors will be able to do something they haven’t been able to do there before — legally anyway. They will be able to purchase and consume cannabis on-site.”
Embarc, the fair’s partner on the project, will host a dispensary and 30,000-square-foot outdoor consumption lounge space at Cal Expo that will allow fair-goers who are 21 and older (and in possession of a valid government-issued photo ID) to buy and try award-winning cannabis.
In 2022 a cannabis exhibit and awards program were added to the fair lineup, and an estimated 160,000 people have come through that educational exhibit in the last two years. This year, those thousands of potential shoppers will be able to buy and consume some 300 different THC-containing products, including many of the 98 freshly crowned winners of 2024 California State Cannabis Awards.
Cal NORML deputy director Ellen Komp was quoted in a Sacramento Bee article about the move, saying that last year, “If you wanted to order or even smell the winning cannabis entries, you could place a call from your cell phone and pick it up in the parking lot, like a criminal. And inside there was no place to peacefully consume it. I told the (Department of Cannabis Control) representatives that if their agency truly wanted to help the California cannabis farmer, it needed to advocate for this change.”
“When people come to the state fair, they can try the best wine, cheese and craft-brewed beer. That’s already in place,” California State Fair Chief Executive Tom Martinez told The Times. “This was just the natural next step that the legislature and our board of directors is taking.”
This year’s California State Fair runs from July 12 to 28. Daily hours for the dispensary and lounge, award winners and additional information will be posted to the 2024 California State Cannabis Awards website at castatefaircannabisawards.com as they are available.
You’ll only be able to consume cannabis products purchased on-site. The lounge will provide rolling papers and expects to have an assortment of other smoking paraphernalia to use, so leave your favorite smoking gear at home. And last, while the dispensary and lounge will be open for most of the fair’s run, there are three dates to be aware of: July 12 and 13 (no inhalable consumption will be allowed on those days) and July 19 when the dispensary will be closed.
Cal NORML will be tabling along with the California Cannabis Historical Society on weekends during the Fair. Stop by and say high.
On June 19, the SB 1264 (Grove), a bill to exclude law enforcement from employment rights protections for off-the-job cannabis use, failed to pass the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee, in a 3-2-2 vote. The bill would have amended AB 2188, the Cal NORML–sponsored bill banning job discrimination based on urine or hair tests for inactive THC metabolites.
Watch the committee hearing (starting about 2:15 in).
Beth Malinowski of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) testified against the bill, saying, “Employers, including law enforcement, are free to test for recent use of cannabis by means of oral swab, blood or breath tests, which detect recent exposure to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, or by performance tests that detect actual impairment. The only thing they may not do is use urine or hair tests that detect inactive metabolites of THC which remain detectable for days or weeks after an impairment is passed.”
Kristin Heidelbach of UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) Western States Council in her testimony held up and read from the San Diego Sheriff’s Rules of Conduct governing against off-duty use of alcohol that would “render the employee unfit to report for their next regular tour of duty.” She said, “When we talk about holding law enforcement to a higher standard, next year is it teachers, after that is it nurses, after that is it doctors? The better thing to do is to loop cannabis into existing policies that are already in place, and trust law enforcement to be responsible with cannabis off the job.” The San Diego policy was sent to Cal NORML by a supporter via our Facebook page.
CELA (California Employment Lawyers Assn.), AFSCME CA (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), California School Employees Assn., Cal NORML, DPA, and CCIA all added “me too” opposition to the bill.
Asm. Juan Alanis (R-Modesto), formerly a Sergeant for the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s department, asked about the “slippery slope” notion. “I don’t care if your grocery store worker is high,” said the bill’s author Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), arguing that sworn law enforcement officers should be held to a “higher standard.” (Or in this case, a less high one.)
Asm. Chris Ward (D-San Diego) spoke next, saying, “I don’t want an officer showing up to work high, or drunk,” adding that he tries be consistent with alcohol policy on cannabis. “We are maintaining a reverence for a higher standard, but the higher standard is ‘be a responsible adult.’”
Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur (D-West Hollywood) said he came from a law enforcement family, with several uncles and cousins on the force. “I have a problem with a system of testing on a legal activity that I don’t see as very different from alcohol use. We’re having trouble recruiting people into law enforcement, where we don’t appreciate them as we often should for putting their lives on the line, and then having a testing regime which doesn’t have much to do with what your condition is on the job is not the best approach.”
Committee chair Liz Ortega (D-Hayward) voted for the bill after she was able to secure a “sunset” provision making the law inactive after 2028. “This one was hard,” Ortega said, adding she’d spent time going back and forth on it. Joining her in supporting the bill were Republican committee members Flora and Alanis. Voting against the bill were Alex Lee (D-Milpitas), the chair of the legislature’s progressive caucus, and Asm. Ward. Not voting were Alan Lowenthal (sitting in for committee member Wendy Carillo) and Asm. Zbur.
Although Sen. Grove asked for the committee to reconsider the bill, we don’t expect it to advance. Thanks to all Cal NORML supporters who took action on SB 1264, including letter writers and citizen lobbyists who joined us on Lobby Day in May. As one participant put it, “We like weed so much we lobbied for the cops to use it!”
“Governors and lawmakers around the country are taking steps to right the past wrongs of cannabis criminalization. It’s a shame to see Louisiana’s Governor taking the state in a different direction.”
The post Louisiana: Governor Vetoes Bill Facilitating Expedited Pardons for First-Time Marijuana Offenders appeared first on NORML.
Summer ’24 Intern Jack Kenyon shares his reasons for joining the NORML Legal Internship program.
The post I’m Interning at NORML To Learn How To Change the Legal System appeared first on NORML.
Moore’s pardon action automatically forgives every misdemeanor marijuana possession charge the Maryland judiciary can locate in the state’s electronic court records system, along with every misdemeanor paraphernalia charge tied to use or possession of marijuana.
The post Maryland: Governor to Issue Mass Pardons For Those With Misdemeanor Marijuana Convictions appeared first on NORML.
“For the foreseeable future, New Hampshire will remain an island of cannabis prohibition.”
The post New Hampshire: House Lawmakers Narrowly Defeat Bill Legalizing Marijuana Possession, Sales appeared first on NORML.