Ballot Initiatives

St. Joseph News-Press, 20 Feb 2012 - Sixteen states, as well as the District of Columbia, have legalized the use of medical marijuana. A statewide group is looking to take it a step further, however, and legalize all marijuana use in Missouri. A group of about 65 volunteers have been hitting the streets in St. Joseph, looking for supporters of Show-Me Cannabis, an association that seeks to legalize and regulate marijuana use in the state. Missouri's Secretary of State requires 150,000 signatures on a statewide petition by May 6 in order for a legalization measure to appear on November's ballot.

Helena Independent Record, 19 Feb 2012 - The number of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana continues to plummet, while the number of legal marijuana providers is a fraction of its peak, as the industry faces an uncertain future here. The 2011 Legislature passed of a much more restrictive law, Senate Bill 423, which has reduced these numbers. Then there were several dozen federal raids of medical marijuana growing operations, along with the arrests and convictions of some owners.

Missoulian, 19 Feb 2012 - HELENA-The number of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana continues to plummet, while the number of legal marijuana providers is a fraction of its peak, as the industry faces an uncertain future here. The 2011 Legislature passed of a much more restrictive law, Senate Bill 423, which has reduced these numbers. Then there were several dozen federal raids of medical marijuana growing operations, along with the arrests and convictions of some owners.

The Billings Gazette, 19 Feb 2012 - MEDICAL MARIJUANA NUMBERS DROP AS UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDS INDUSTRY HELENA -- The number of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana continues to plummet while the number of legal marijuana providers is a fraction of its peak, as the industry faces an uncertain future here.

Livonia Observer, 18 Feb 2012 - State Rep. John Walsh said Wednesday the House Judiciary Committee will begin a series of hearings Thursday, Feb. 23, on a four-bill package to clarify the 2008 law addressing medical marijuana. "The intent of the voters was not to allow the back-door legalization of marijuana when this issue was on the ballot, and our intent is to close loopholes in the law," said Walsh, R-Livonia, chair of the committee.

Columbia Missourian, 18 Feb 2012 - COLUMBIA - A low turnout didn't keep Missouri cannabis supporters from discussing marijuana legalization on Friday. The Show-Me Cannabis Regulation ballot initiative campaign held a signature drive outside the Missouri state Capitol in Jefferson City.

The proponents of a Colorado initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol turned in more than 14,000 additional voter signatures Friday in a last bid to qualify for the November ballot. The initiative needs only 2,400 valid signatures to qualify, meaning a whopping four out of five signatures handed in would have to be invalidated to keep the measure off the ballot.

[image:1 align:right]The campaign had earlier turned in 159,000 signatures, nearly twice the 86,000 needed to qualify. But on examining the signatures, state election officials found that nearly half were invalid, an usually high percentage.

The initiative would amend the state constitution to allow the use, possession, and limited growing of marijuana by persons aged 21 or over. It would also establish a system through which marijuana is taxed and regulated -- like alcohol.

If the initiative qualifies for the ballot, Colorado will become the second state to ask voters to choose to legalize marijuana this year. New Approach Washington has successfully placed a similar measure, I-502, on the Washington ballot. Legalization initiative campaigns are also underway in California, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and Oregon, but none of those have passed the signature-gathering hurdle.

An initiative that seeks to reform California's three-strikes sentencing law appears to have the financial wherewithal to qualify for the November ballot after philanthropist and drug reform supporter George Soros kicked in $500,000 donation last Friday. The Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 has now accumulated more than $1.2 million in contributions.

[image:1 align:right caption:true]The conventional wisdom is that a California initiative needs at least one million dollars just to get through the signature-gathering phase. Initiatives need 504,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, a daunting task that defeats all but the best funded campaigns.

The other big contributors reported are Stanford University professor David Mills, the measure's proponent, who has so far kicked in $603,000, and Washington, DC, investor Peter Ackerman, who gave $100,000.

The initiative would amend the state's Three Strikes law, approved by voters in 1994, so that only serious or violent felonies would count as a third strike punishable by 25 years to life in prison. It would also allow re-sentencing for people serving three strikes sentences if their third strike was not a serious or violent felony.

A 2004 initiative that would have reformed the three strikes law made the ballot and appeared to be on the verge of victory until a campaign against it spearheaded by Arnold Schwarzenegger turned the tide at the last minute. That initiative, known as Proposition 66, lost with 47.3% of the vote. Soros also donated to that campaign, kicking in $400,000.

This year's campaign has until May 14 to turn in signatures.

Kent Reporter, 17 Feb 2012 - The smoke-filled room of medical marijuana legislation in Olympia will continue to be shrouded in haze. Many folks in Kent and members of the City Council were hoping the Legislature would clear the air on the medical marijuana issue, which had caused a considerable dose of consternation at several council meetings and in the Economic and Community Development Committee.

Sacramento News & Review, 16 Feb 2012 - Grassroots Effort Aims to Legalize Pot Clubs Once Again Remember last summer? There were at least 80 medical-cannabis-dispensing collectives in Sacramento County-maybe more. The board of supervisors was working on a regulatory plan. People had jobs, patients had medicine-the overall industry seemed to be doing great.

The Daily Californian, 15 Feb 2012 - Medical cannabis is viewed as both a burgeoning industry and a cause of judicial contention for many people in California and across the country. In Berkeley, federal intervention is beginning to affect the city's small -- but growing -- medical cannabis industry. In recent months, the U.S. Department of Justice has cracked down on medical marijuana in California, saying that many of the dispensaries and cultivators operating within the state's legal guidelines are actually violating federal law.

Leader & Kalkaskian, 15 Feb 2012 - Budget issues were a main topic of discussion during the Kalkaska Village Council regular meeting Monday. Regarding a millage proposal for the Kalkaska Village Police Department, Village Council President Jeff Sieting warned that, if the Police Committee's proposal for the November ballot were not to pass, the situation would be "bleak."

The Rocky Mountain Collegian, 15 Feb 2012 - Tuesday evening. After the dispensary was forced out of business by the city yesterday, Garrido will begin filing for unemployment and searching for a new job today. Wednesday, she said she's filing for unemployment and starting her job search.

Spartan Daily, 14 Feb 2012 - San Jose City Council members repealed Ordinance No. 28960, which included regulations of medical marijuana collectives and individual use of marijuana, at Tuesday's meeting. The ordinance allowed city action against collectives until the state creates a regulation system, directed staff to create quarterly reports on tax compliance and complaint data and allowed consideration of a tax increase, according to the council agenda.

The Patriot Ledger, 14 Feb 2012 - Police and prosecutors on the South Shore are praising a ruling by the state's highest court that affirms their ability to charge someone with intent to distribute marijuana even if they're caught with a small amount of the drug. The Supreme Judicial Court on Monday released a ruling overturning a lower court's decision that a Great Barrington man could not be charged with intent to distribute marijuana because he had less than an ounce of the drug and there was no sale or transaction. Passage of a 2008 ballot question made possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a non-criminal offense subject to a $100 fine in Massachusetts. But the high court's ruling said that referendum did not affect laws or penalties for suspects caught with any amount of marijuana and evidence that they intended to distribute it, even if the distribution doesn't involve a sale. "It appears that the court has upheld a separate and distinct crime of intent to distribute," Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said of the ruling. "It'll help settle some cases we have on the books and send a strong message to people who are distributing." Police say it's not hard to tell the difference between a stash meant for personal use and one meant to by divvied up among buyers.

The Register-Guard, 13 Feb 2012 - The Liberalizing of State Marijuana Laws Continues Sixteen U.S. states, including Oregon, and the District of Columbia now allow the cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes, which some view as a foot in the door to eventual legalization of pot for recreational use. Some states are headed in that direction, and Oregon is likely to follow.

A marijuana legalization initiative in Detroit was improperly barred from the ballot in 2010, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday. The appeals court decision overturned the ruling of a Wayne County judge, who had sided with the Detroit Elections Commission's decision to keep the measure off the ballot because they thought it conflicted with state and federal law.

[image:1 align:right]"It was outside the authority of (city officials) to consider the substance and effect of the initiative and defendants have a clear legal duty to place the matter on the ballot," the court held in a 2-1 decision.

That means that unless the city appeals the decision, the measure should be on the August municipal ballot.

[Update: Detroit law department corporation counsel Krystal Crittendon said this week that the city plans to appeal, and it did so Wednesday.]

Sponsored by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit, the initiative would remove from the municipal code all references to the adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in private from the municipal code, in effect legalizing up to an ounce within the city limits. The initiative would not change state law, which still criminalizes marijuana possession.

The appeals court ruling marked "a great day for voters' rights in the city of Detroit," the Coalition's Tim Beck told the Detroit Free Press Friday. The election commission's decision to deny the measure a spot on the ballot was "total hocus-pocus," Beck said. "We did everything right. Every 'i' was dotted, every 't' crossed."

There is an ongoing campaign led by the Committee for a Safer Michigan to put a legalization initiative on the statewide ballot in November, but it appears likely voters in the state's largest city will have the chance to make their voices heard well before then.

Times-Reporter, 11 Feb 2012 - Two area drug-fighting agencies are going public with their opposition to a possible statewide ballot issue in November authorizing the use of marijuana as a medicine for certain types of illnesses. "We wanted to take early action to get our position out there," said Brian Kress, chairman of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services Board of Tuscarawas and Carroll counties.

Detroit Free Press, 11 Feb 2012 - Detroiters could vote as soon as August to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, following a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling Friday that found the city's election commission acted improperly when it blocked the vote in 2010. A 2-1 majority of the appeals court panel said the Detroit Election Commission did not have the authority to thwart the proposal by Coalition for a Safer Detroit, which had collected sufficient petition signatures to force a vote. The commission's decision was backed by Wayne County Circuit Court.

Traverse City Record-Eagle, 11 Feb 2012 - Court: Should Have Been Considered by Detroit Voters in '10 DETROIT (AP) - A state appeals court said Friday that Detroit officials and a judge in 2010 illegally blocked voters from considering whether to ease penalties for marijuana possession, a ruling that could pave the way for the measure getting on the ballot this year.