PhillyNORMLNews

Breaking News! 11/5/2007

PhillyNORML Gets Marijuana Decriminalization Question Asked at MSNBC Democratic Debate: Dodd and Kucinich support decrim, all others do not

October 31, 2007

The Democratic Presidential Candidates participated in an MSNBC Debate hosted by Drexel University this week. PhillyNORML, the premier reform group in the greater Tri-state area, had previously submitted questions about marijuana for the candidates to answer.

While MSNBCs Tim Russert did not use the ones PhillyNORML submitted, clearly the subject is gaining potency and support because he did ask a question concerning marijuana decriminalization. The question was posed in way to allow the others a response to Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's open support of decriminalization. Candidates raised their hands if they disagreed with Dodd. All but Kucinich raised their hands, though Obama seemed to do so somewhat reluctantly. Sen. Dodd was allowed time to re-iterate and expand on his position.

MR. RUSSERT: "Senator Dodd, you went on the Bill Marr show last month and said that you were for decriminalizing marijuana. Is there anyone here who disagrees with Senator Dodd in decriminalization marijuana? Senator Biden?"
SEN. BIDEN (?): (Inaudible.)
MR. RUSSERT: "Senator Edwards? Why?"
MR. EDWARDS: "Because I think it sends the wrong signal to young people. And I think the president of the United States has a responsibility to ensure that we're sending the right signals to young people."
SEN. DODD: "Can I respond, I mean just why I think it ought to be? We're locking up too many people in our system here today. We've got mandatory minimum sentences that are filling our jails with people who don't belong there. My idea is to decriminalize this, reduce that problem here. We've gone from 800,000 to 2 million people in our penal institutions in this country. We've go to get a lot smarter about this issue than we are, and as president, I'd try and achieve that."

PhillyNORML is currently collecting signatures to a petition that would allow a voter referendum on marijuana decriminalization in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia metro area is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the country. Currently over 6,500 Philadelphia residents are arrested annually due to marijuana prohibition. About 78% - a huge majority - of those arrested are black, and almost 90% are arrested for simple possession.

Philly NORML Spokesperson Derek Rosenzweig was pleased to see the continued support on the issue of marijuana decriminalization from Kucinich and Dodd. He pointed out that although the other Democratic presidential hopefuls did not express their support it was important for voters to see their stance on this important issue. During the large protest at 32nd and Chestnut Streets, a large amount of people - from almost every candidates' camp - showed support for ending prohibition. "We were very encouraged by the support we received by the other demonstrators. The people are tired of being lied to about cannabis, and they want local, state, and federal policies to reflect science and reality instead of doctrine and ideology."

According the FBI uniform Crime report police arrested a record of almost 830,000 Americans in 2006 for marijuana prohibition violations, and reflecting the local statistics, 90% were arrested for simple possession.

Marijuana decriminalizing has been successfully implemented in a number of states, counties and municipalities. New York State decriminalized one ounce or less of marijuana almost 30 years ago. In 2004 the city of Seattle, WA decriminalized small amounts of cannabis which has resulted in a dramatic drop in such arrests, from almost 2,000 down to less than 100 annually.

In areas where marijuana has been decriminalized it has been cited as a positive step for the community and law enforcement personnel allowing police time to be spent on violent crime and other serious issues.

PhillyNORML is dedicated to continue to ask the presidential candidates of both parties questions about marijuana as the campaign season continues and the candidates make stops in the city.

Please consider a donation to PhillyNORML to help with the decriminalization initiative.

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PhillyNORML Unveils "Legalize weed" Banner at Phillies Game 9-27
By Derek Rosenzweig

PhillyNORML took our activism to the highly visible Citizens Bank Park to show the masses that support for ending prohibition has a voice in Philadelphia. Taking the initiative, we unveiled a gigantic banner which read "LEGALIZE" above home plate during the Sept. 27 Phillies vs Braves game.

After the game, we started our campaign to collect 25,000 signatures for a petition to decriminalize marijuana, and we enjoyed good success. Philadelphia is ready for decriminalization.
See the Video!

Marijuana Arrests For Year 2006 – 829,625 Tops Record High...Nearly 6 Percent Increase Over 2005
September 24, 2007 - Washington, DC, USA

Washington, DC: Police arrested a record 829,625 persons for marijuana violations in 2006, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. This is the largest total number of annual arrests for pot ever recorded by the FBI. Marijuana arrests now comprise nearly 44 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.

"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, who noted that at current rates, a marijuana smoker is arrested every 38 seconds in America. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 738,915 Americans were charged with possession only. The remaining 90,710 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses, even those where the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use. In past years, roughly 30 percent of those arrested were age 19 or younger.

"Present policies have done little if anything to decrease marijuana's availability or dissuade youth from trying it," St. Pierre said, noting young people in the U.S. now frequently report that they have easier access to pot than alcohol or tobacco.

"Two other major points standout from today's record marijuana arrests: Overall, there has been a dramatic 188 percent increase in marijuana arrests in the last 15 years -- yet the public's access to pot remains largely unfettered and the self-reported use of cannabis remains largely unchanged. Second, America’s Midwest is decidedly the hotbed for marijuana-related arrests with 57 percent of all marijuana-related arrests. The region of America with the least amount of marijuana-related arrests is the West with 30 percent. This latter result is arguably a testament to the passage of various state and local decriminalization efforts over the past several years."

The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2006 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Annual marijuana arrests have nearly tripled since the early 1990s.

"Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens," St. Pierre said, adding that over 8 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past ten years. During this same time, arrests for cocaine and heroin have declined sharply, implying that increased enforcement of marijuana laws is being achieved at the expense of enforcing laws against the possession and trafficking of more dangerous drugs.

St. Pierre concluded: "Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 20 million Americans. Nevertheless, some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater - and arguably far fewer - health risks than alcohol or tobacco. A better and more sensible solution would be to tax and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco."

Pot Prohibition Costs Taxpayers More Than $40 Billion Per Year, Study Says
October 4, 2007 - Washington, DC, USA

Washington, DC: Marijuana prohibition costs US taxpayers nearly $42 billion dollars per year in criminal justice costs and in lost tax revenues, according to an economic analysis released this week.

According to the study, "Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws," law enforcement spends $10.7 billion annually to arrest and prosecute marijuana offenders. This amount comprises nearly six percent of America's total criminal justice expenditures.

Pot's criminalization also artificially raises the plant’s retail price and diverts billions of dollars into the black market economy, the study finds. According to the report, Americans spend some $113 billion dollars annually to consume an estimated 31.1 million pounds of pot. By criminalizing this market, the study estimates that the government loses more than $30 billion per year in tax revenue.

"The market in marijuana in the United States is illicit, illegal, and as such it diverts capital away from the channels of the licit or legal economy, especially the channels from which local, state, and the federal government collect tax revenue," the study concludes. "If [the billions of dollars America’s currently spend on marijuana] were spent on legal commodities … those economic transactions would produce billions in tax revenues for local, state, and the federal government."

According to data released last week by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), police arrested a record 829,625 persons for marijuana violations in 2006. Of those arrested, 738,915 Americans (89 percent) were charged with marijuana possession.

Full text of the study is available online at http://www.drugscience.org.

Involvement Day 2007 - April 19, 2007 - Lower Moreland Highschool

About 2 or 3 months ago, we were invited to attend something called "Involvement Day," where student organizers at this school in Lower Moreland township bring in people from all kinds of groups. There were about 30 different groups there with issues ranging from abortion to maternal death in africa, to the political parties.

The day was split up as such:

8:15am - 9:00am : session 1
9:00am - 9:45am : session 2
9:45 - 11:15 : lunch and entertainment (some local sports comedian)	
11:15 - noon : keynote speaker (some random rightwing O'Reilly-ite)
12:10pm - 1:pm : session 3
1:00pm - 1:45pm: session 4

Third Session of Involvement Day

We were told we could expect 15 - 30 students per session, during which we would speak to and teach them what we are about. Rob Dougherty (PhillyNORML chairman), Derek Rosenzweig (PhillyNORML co-chairman), and Matt Stover (PhillyNORML secretary) arrived around 8:10 to find about 60 kids in the first session room waiting for us. So we go in and proceed to really open these kids' eyes. The second session had about 20 people.

After the second session, we find out from one of the organizers that the DEA didn't show up. They were supposed to be there to talk about the evils of drugs and all that nonsense. The kicker is that when the organizers told the DEA that PhillyNORML was going to be there, the DEA refused to attend! The organizers said "fine, then NORML will provide the only side of the issue". We were thrilled with that news, and apparently the students thought it cowardly of them not to show.

After lunch and entertainment, we go back to our room to refine our speech. About 80 - 100 more students came into the third session! It was crazy. We ended up giving out 2 Grass DVDs to the people who asked the best questions, which we also did during the fourth session, which had about 20 kids and a couple teachers.

Throughout the day we reached 180 - 200 kids with our message. They asked some very good questions (along with a couple funny ones). During each session, we gave every student a pamphlet with all sorts of cool info/legalization arguments, hemp rope, hemp paper, and we showed them other hemp products like our secretary's full 3 piece suit and some hemp cereal.

This whole day was unprecedented and could not have gone better than it had. We had an overwhelmingly positive response, both from the faculty and the students. Couldn't have asked for a better experience.

We basically talked about the following during each 40 minute session:

I. Introduction - DOC
	A. Person, Organization, Mission
	B. Intro to prohibition
		1.) Brief history of marijuana laws
		2.) Liken to alcohol prohibition

II. Prohibition does not work - DEREK
	A. 2005 – 786,000 Americans arrested for marijuana (88% possession)
	B. 14.6 million reg. users, ~100 mil Americans have tried it, 1:18 ratio people arrested/not
	C. Demand drives supply, demand always around, therefore supply will never disappear

III. What can be done? Legalize and regulate marijuana - STOVER
	A. Regulate production and sales/Why marijuana should be sold in stores
		1.) Consumer Safety
		2.) Untapped tax revenue

IV. Medical Marijuana - DEREK
	A. Federal patient program (compassionite IND program), state situation
	B. FDA Lies/govt ignoring science
	C. Medically accepted uses/personal anecdote about someone close to me who could benefit from it but wont try it because it's illegal

V. Hemp - STOVER
	A. Its Uses
	B. Its History
	C. Amsterdam and the Cannabis Cup/various strains/etc

VII. Reform Movements - DOC
	A. Different aspects focusing on different parts
	B. LEAP, DPA, that want to reform all drugs
	C. Turn 18 = inherit adult rights including right to choose what to put into body
	D. Must stand up for your rights lest someone take advantage.

VIII. Ending Statements and Questions
	A. Don't take our word for it, research it yourself & come up with own conclusions

Warped Tour! August 6, 2004

SHORT VERSION: (for those with little patience or time)

We got there late, we took in $135, handed out all but one NORML pamphlet (120+), met some cool people, & had fun.

LONG VERSION: (for those that can stand my rambling style of story telling)

So I was supposed to get in touch with the promoter that had our passes on Thursday night. I called him three times, and left voicemail two of them. Never get a call back.

Friday morning rolls around, me being my routine self, wake up late and find there is more stuff to do than I had thought the night before. So I do the stuff, call the Guy and finally get to talk to him, tell him that I am heading over there now, he tells me to park in VIP parking and to call him when we are there. I Pack the rest of the shwag up, it's now 10:20, I was supposed to be picking up Rob at 10:00, damn I suck.

I head out to Rob's and I get a little lost on the way, I finally get him and we are on our way. WRONG!! The blue route is backed up, luckily the backup was short-lived and we were once again on our way. So it's like 11:15 and we are getting into the beautiful city of Camden, along with 5000 other people!

Warped Tour I call the Jeff guy and he is not answering his phone again. I have no idea where VIP parking is. I hand my phone to Rob and he proceeds to call this Jeff guy every couple of minutes, to no avail. We spend the longest 30 minutes of my life going through gridlock traffic. Finally get to where VIP parking is and find that we are not on the list and they have no idea who Jeff is. We call Jeff, and of course, no answer.

We head back into the gridlock hell of east Camden and park 1/2 mile from the tweeter. So as we unpack the car I finally able to get in touch with Jeff and he tells us to meet him at the entrance, I tell him that we had to park a little far away so it will take us a few minutes to get there. So Rob and I put all of our materials on top of the table and stretcher-carry it to the venue. We get to the entrance and our hands and arms are shaking from carrying the 50 or so pounds in an awkward position for 1/2 mile. I call Jeff again and we finally meet up with him and get our wristbands then head into the venue, once again with the table awkwardly between us. We get there and finally get set up around 12:30. It's only an hour and a half later than I wanted to be there.

Warped Tour So till 3:00 it's pretty dead, not that many people visiting the table, Rob and I each take a walk around the grounds to hand out info and to see what is happening. Clinton shows up at some point (2-3p I think) and he is standing out in the middle of traffic telling people to head to our booth, it's great. The pace picks up a little bit, most people just get info, every now and again we sell a lighter or button, not many t-shirts.

At 4:30-5ish we hear that Jeff is back in the bus and has the flu (he mentioned earlier that he was feeling sick and that is why he was unavailable the day before) and that we need to pack up our stuff at 6. Shortly after hearing this, our booth gets flooded with people. Both Rob and I are talking to 2-3 people at once plus Clinton is drawing a nice crowd himself and keeps sending more and more people over to the table. It was a madhouse, but it was fun.

Warped Tour The flow of people starts to die down right around 6 and we begin to pack up our stuff. Jeff arrives and apologizes for not being around, we say it's all cool and that it wasn't too bad, and to get some rest and get healthy. We pack up our stuff and carry the materials out in the same awkward way we carried them in. Luckily we handed out a lot of info and it wasn't as heavy going out, because we hit the biggest people-traffic jam that I have ever been in. We would have had trouble getting through it without a table, with a table it was not fun. Though the table did provide a good excuse to exit quicker, and provided some much needed air space within the crowd.

After we got out I left rob with the table on the side of the road and went to pick up the car. When I arrived with the car I parked it off in what I thought was the shoulder of the road. We are loading the car and all of a sudden a light rail train is coming down the street and will need to pass through where my car is. We have one thing left to load but we decide that moving the card is in our best interests. So I make a U turn and park against the curb on the other side of the street and proceed to load in the last item. Just as I am shutting the trunk another light rail train wants to go through my car. Rob and I quick jump in the car and we leave. At that moment felt that I could live a full life if I never returned to Camden again. The ride home was pretty uneventful. And thus ends the Warped Tour fun.

I hope that was a fun to read as it was to type and relive. I find the whole getting to/from the tweeter very comical now, and I think you should too.

-Chris