A Fresh Beginning
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First Anniversary FREE! Issue WestCoastLeaf.com ISSN 1945-221X • Volume 2 No. 1 Spring 2009 ENDING MEDI-MARIJUANA RAIDS “NOW AMERICAN POLICY” AG Holder: Obama will end The federal Drug Enforcement Admin- istration (DEA) forced the issue onto the Bush policy of prosecutions agenda early when it raided a California By Bill Piper Drug Policy Alliance dispensary on the day President Obama AA freshfresh beginningbeginning In response to a reporter’s Feb. 25 ques- took office, then raided several dispen- tion, Attorney General Eric Holder said the saries on the day Eric Holder took office. US Justice Department will no longer raid Asked if such raids were going to con- medical marijuana dispensaries in states tinue, Holder said, “No.” “What the presi- where they are legal. His statement was the dent said during the campaign, you’ll be second time in a month that the Obama surprised to know, will be consistent with Administration indicated it would end the what we’ll be doing in law enforcement. unpopular Bush-era policy of arresting He was my boss during the campaign. He cannabis patients and providers. Candi- is formally and technically and by law my date Obama had said on the campaign trail boss now. What he said during the last year that he would end the raids. Please turn to page 6 CA ‘tax and regulate’ bill introduced Ammiano’s AB 390 would ment efforts to more serious crimes.” raise over $1 billion for State Ammiano’s bill would provide for licensed producers and distributors, who By Dale Gieringer California NORML director could sell to adults over 21. Producers California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano would pay an excise tax of $50 per ounce, (D-SF) Feb. 23 announced the introduction just under $1 per half-gram cigarette. Sales of AB 390, a landmark bill to tax and regu- taxes would generate additional revenues, late cannabis like alcohol and tobacco. bringing total tax revenues to $1 billion. TRANSPLANT SEASON — With a new President, a new growing season, new calls for reform “With the state in the midst of an his- Additional economic benefits would be and two TV specials promoting the West Coast’s cannabis ‘gold rush,’ 2009 is shaping up to be toric economic crisis, the move towards generated in the form of employment, an exciting year. For garden tips, see our story inside. West Coast Leaf photo regulating and taxing marijuana is simply business and payroll taxes and spin-off common sense,” said Ammiano at a San industries, like the wine industry, amount- Francisco press conference. “This legisla- ing to some $12 - $18 billion. Poll shows growing support for reform tion would generate much-needed revenue Last but not least, the bill would save More than half in West now Another Zogby poll question spon- for the state, restrict access to only those hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for sored by NORML asked voters whether over 21, end environmental damage to our arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of support ‘tax and regulate’ Obama should fulfill his election pledge to public lands from illicit crops, and improve cannabis offenders. By Dale Gieringer Cal NORML end DEA raids on medical marijuana public safety by redirecting law enforce- Please turn to page 8 A growing number of Americans — and a Please turn to page 7 majority in the West — support legalizing marijuana, according to a January 29-31 poll of 1,053 likely voters by Zogby Showdown looms in International, commissioned by California NORML and Oaksterdam University. US High Court appeal When asked: “Should marijuana be San Diego’s last ditch effort taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes to help raise money for pub- to overturn medical access lic services and to reduce law enforcement By Chris Conrad West Coast Leaf costs?” voters responded: 44 percent yes, San Diego and San Bernardino stand on 52 percent no, and 4 percent undecided. shaky legal ground in their appeal to the Surprisingly high support was report- US Supreme Court to overturn repeated ed in the West, where voters favored legal- rulings they lost in both state and federal ization 58 to 36 percent. However, the sig- courts. The Court has not yet stated nificance of this margin is questionable due whether it will grant review. WINDS OF CHANGE — (Left to right) Aaron Smith of Marijuana Policy Project, Dale Gieringer of to the relatively small number of respon- The Court on Dec. 1, 2008, however, California NORML, and Steve Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance stand by as Assemblyman dents (232). Easterners were nearly divid- refused to consider a similar argument in Tom Ammiano announced his bill to regulate cannabis sales. West Coast Leaf photo by Mikki Norris ed– 48 to 49 percent no — while other the People v Kha wherein City of Garden regions were strongly opposed. Grove police said federal law prevented Czar Struck: Seattle PD Chief may be stellar pick A similar Zogby/NORML poll in 2006 them from returning a patient’s lawful can- found only 36 percent of Americans sup- nabis. This means the State Court rulings By Dominic Holden thestranger.com one of the nation’s first and largest needle- port legalization, with 55 percent opposed. stand — local governments must obey exchange programs. Seattle IV drug users President Obama’s choice of Seattle WA Nationally, voters under 30 were particu- state law, despite federal law. That move have some of the lowest HIV-infection Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as the next larly supportive, by a margin of 55 to 45 further weakened the San Diego v California rates in the country, but met with initial ‘drug czar’ to head the Office of National percent, suggesting that a majority could claim that federal marijuana law prevents antagonism. “Police would hang around Drug Control Policy looks at first like the emerge in coming years. Of older groups, counties from having to comply with the the exchange site and watch who came and same old beltway bull: Cops and prison Baby Boomers aged 50-64 showed the voter initiative or issue state-mandated went,” said Kris Nyrop, former director of time are the snake-oil cure for drugs. Like strongest support, 48-48 percent. medical cannabis ID cards. many Americans, the chief agrees that Street Outreach Services, a pioneering nee- drugs should be illegal. Some change. dle exchange group. However, since Kerlikowske became “Harassment like that happened rou- Hempseed foods becoming staple of diet SPD chief in 2000, he has been at the tinely up until the mid ‘90s,” but under Kerlikowske, “It has been a laissez-faire department’s helm while Seattle made By Adam Eidinger VoteHemp The poll found that people are reassured some of the most aggressive reforms to thing and the police basically leave needle A first-of-its-kind poll of people who eat that eating hemp nut or hemp oil products drug enforcement in the country allowed exchanges alone,” says Nyrop. hemp food shows that it is “a permanent bearing the TestPledge seal will not cause under federal law. He never stood in the The cannabis test: Arrests have plum- part of people’s diets — more than half of confirmed positive workplace drug tests. It way. And now Kerlikowske is poised to meted under Kerlikowske. When he took respondents said they have been eating also dispels any concerns regarding body become the most influential person in fed- office in 2000, Seattle police arrested 332 hemp foods for more than three years. and skin care products. eral government to set new drug laws. people for misdemeanor cannabis posses- Thirty-two percent said they eat hemp one The results were collected over a two- sion; by 2006, it had dropped to 148. Some What’s Kerlikowske’s record? to three times a week or more,” according week period and can be viewed online at of that decline is due to Seattle voters, who The needle-exchange test: The Obama to Hemp Industries Association (HIA) thehia.org/hempfoodsurvey. Not consid- passed Initiative 75 in 2003, which made administration has already identified this Executive Director Eric Steenstra. ered a scientific sampling, the poll sheds cannabis the city’s lowest law-enforcement as its most pressing drug issue. Last week, light on the quantities of hemp food people priority. Kerlikowske didn’t try to block it, The HIA released the results of an Obama gave US negotiators to the UN Internet survey of more than 1,550 people. eat on a regular basis. orders to reverse Bush’s block on needle and SPD told a City Marijuana Policy Review Panel that “officers [had] been ver- “This is important data because 10 years Authors of a report in the July/August exchange. He wants to allow clean needles ago there was not a single major hemp 2008 Journal of Analytical Toxicology found — in Europe and the US. bally advised during their roll calls that investigation and arrest of adults food brand and today there are at least a that eating hemp foods “should not Seattle King County Public Health runs Please turn to page 3 half a dozen multi-million dollar brands.” Please turn to page 3 Spring 2009 Page 2 West Coast Leaf New 40g decrim bill advances in WA By Alison Holcomb Drug Policy Director, ACLU of Washington Foundation West Coasterdam Report The Washington State Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 5615, which reclassi- fies adult possession of no more than 40 grams of cannabis from a misdemeanor crime with mandatory jail time to a civil infraction with a $100 penalty that can be paid by mail. Canadian judge rules in favor of medi-marijuana collectives A video of the Feb.