XPost: alt.drugs.pot, alt.hemp.politics, rec.drugs.cannabis
From: bliss@mouse-potato.com

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1076 -- 8/23/19
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1076

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. NEW JERSEY MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION THIS YEAR MAY NOT BE DEAD AFTER ALL [FEATURE]
Marijuana legalization may not be dead this year in the Garden State
after all. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/12/new_jersey_marijuana

2. APPEAL: HELP US RESPOND TO THE OPPORTUNITIES AND THE CRISES StoptheDrugWar.org needs your support to help us stay on the move at a
time of both opportunity and crisis in drug policy https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/23/opportunities_and_crises

3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A California police department pays for its crooked cops' misbehavior, a
former Rio Grande Valley cop heads to prison for escorting drug
shipments, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/21/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

4. CHRONICLE AM: BERNIE SANDERS CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROPOSALS, BRITISH DRUG
DEATHS AT ALL-TIME HIGH, MORE... (8/19/19)
Bernie Sanders rolls out a radical criminal justice reform package,
marijuana legalization initiatives get moving in Arizona and South
Dakota, Atlanta rejects expansion of drug-free commercial zones, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/19/chronicle_am_bernie_sanders

5. CHRONICLE AM: FEDS OKAY HEMP BANKING, PHILADELPHIA SAFE INJECTION
SITE COURT CASE, MORE... (8/20/19)
A federal financial institution has given the thumbs up to banking
services for the hemp industry, a potential Philadelphia safe injection
site is the subject of a court battle, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/20/chronicle_am_feds_okay_hemp

6. CHRONICLE AM: MEXICO COURT OKAYS PERSONAL COCAINE USE, ELIZABETH
WARREN CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY, MORE... (8/21/19)
Elizabeth Warren rolls out her criminal justice and drug policy
platform, a Mexico City court rules that two petitioners can legally
possess and use cocaine, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/21/chronicle_am_mexico_court_okays

7. CHRONICLE AM: NO CBD FOR MILITARY MEMBERS, HAWAII DECRIMINALIZES POT POSSESSION, MORE... (8/22/19)
The Defense Department makes it crystal clear that service members can't
use CBD products, Hawaii's governor fails to veto a decriminalization
bill -- thus allowing it to become law -- and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/22/chronicle_am_no_cbd_military

(Not subscribed? Visit https://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!)

================

1. NEW JERSEY MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION THIS YEAR MAY NOT BE DEAD AFTER ALL [FEATURE]
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/aug/12/new_jersey_marijuana

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said he wanted marijuana legalized.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said he wanted it, too,
and Assembly Leader Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) was also on board. But
the state's most powerful politicians couldn't get their act together
enough to actually get marijuana legalization passed earlier this year,
and despite all the initial excitement, it seemed like New Jersey was
doomed to endure another year of pot prohibition.

Now, though, it's looking like Garden Staters may end up enjoying an
unexpected Christmas present after all. Last week, both Sweeney and
Murphy were making noises about reviving the stalled legalization effort
before year's end.

"I'm not going to give up trying. I would love to do it. We'll make one
more run at it," Sweeney told NJ.com last Wednesday (https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2019/08/legal-weed-bill-for-nj-may-be-revived-later-this-year-well-make-one-more-run-at-it.html).
He added that he believed an agreement among himself, Coughlin, and
Murphy on the language in the bill would be enough to get it through the legislature.

That prompted a quick expression of support from Murphy, who campaigned
on marijuana legalization in 2017 and once vowed (https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2018/03/murphy_wants_legal_weed_in_nj_by_end_of_year.html)
to get it done by the end of 2018.

Last Thursday, Murphy told the PhillyVoice (https://www.phillyvoice.com/new-jersey-marijuana-legalization-phil-murphy-lawmakers-stephen-sweeney-bill/)
that he was "happy to hear" Sweeney wanted to move again on
legalization. "I was encouraged to see that, and count me all in to try
and work toward that," he said. "Getting something to happen sooner if
we have a real shot at it, I'd be all in for that."

Sources close to Sweeney said (https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/nj-marijuana-legalization-bill-alive-heres-when-its-coming)
the renewed push to get legalization through would come after the
November elections, most likely during the lame duck session between
Election Day and January.

That's a real turnaround for Sweeney, who announced in May that he was
ending efforts to pass the bill (https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2019/05/top-dems-back-away-from-bill-to-legalize-weed-in-nj-now-theyll-move-to-expand-medical-marijuana-clear-past-convictions.html)
because he didn't have the votes for it. At the time, he said the most
likely path to legalization was for the state's voters to decide the
issue in a November 2020 ballot referendum. But that would mean another
year of prohibition.

Sweeney and Murphy were also at odds (https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/nj-marijuana-legalization-bill-alive-heres-when-its-coming)
over investigations by the administration into whether corporations
misused tax breaks in the past. One of the companies being scrutinized
is owned by state Democratic powerbroker George Norcross, a Sweeney
ally. Once the investigations got underway, negotiations between Sweeney
and Murphy over the pot bill stalled.

What has prompted Sweeney to change his mind now and whether he has the
five votes he lacked in May remains unclear, but the Senate leader is definitely signaling he's ready to try to push the bill though.

It would be the popular thing to do. A February Monmouth University poll (https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2019/02/18/new-poll-finds-broad-support-for-marijuana-legalization-858293)
had support for legalization at 62 percent, with just 32 percent
opposed. The people of New Jersey are ready; now, it's up to the
politicians to get it done.

If New Jersey does legalize it this year, it will become the 11th state
to do so and the second one to do so this year, after Illinois. And it
will beat neighboring New York across the finish line.

================ ...
___________________

It's time to correct the mistake:
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
<http://www.leap.cc>
Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________

bliss -- Cacao Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)