Vermonters Want Comprehensive Marijuana Legalization in 2016
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Petitioning Vermont Legislators: Members of the Vermont State House, Members of the Vermont State Senate Members of the House Committee on Judiciary, including: Rep. Maxine Grad, Chair Rep. Marcia Martel Rep. Willem Jewett, Vice Chair Rep. Betty A. Nuovo Rep. Thomas Burditt, Ranking Member Rep. Barbara Rachelson Rep. Charles Conquest Rep. Vicki Strong, Clerk Rep. William Frank Rep. Gary Viens Rep. Martin LaLonde Vermonters Want Comprehensive Marijuana Legalization in 2016 Vermonters have a history being on the moral side of history by opposing unjust law. A leading example is the Habeus Corpus Law of 1850 which was passed by the Vermont Legislature to command state law enforcement agents and judges to assist captured fugitive slaves. In response to Vermont's Habeus Corpus Law, then U.S. President Millard Fillmore threatened Vermont with a military occupation for essentially nullifying the Fugitive Slave Act within Vermont's borders. Vermont was not intimidated. Marijuana prohibition is another example of an unjust law we Vermonters oppose. While federal code criminalizes the voluntary use, cultivation, and exchange of marijuana by informed and consenting adults, jurisdictions such as Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the District of Columbia, have taken independent measures apart from the U.S. Congress to decriminalize and/or re-legalize the consumption, cultivation, and trade of marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes. Vermonters who support marijuana decriminalization and legalization do not necessarily condone casual drug use. However, we do oppose the dangerous practice of criminalizing consensual and victimless behavior by responsible adults. We the undersigned Voters of the State of Vermont, petition the State of Vermont to uphold it's constitutional duty to promote the general welfare through public health and safety policy, by defining reasonable regulations around personal marijuana use, personal growing, cultivation, and commerce, such as defining product safety standards and product labeling requirements to facilitate informed consumer choice. We believe marijuana has not been empirically proven to be a significant danger to public health and safety justifying criminalization. No dangerous physiological health effects have ever been proven to be caused by consuming tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidiol (CBD) found in marijuana. Since legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012, Colorado violent crime rates have declined and true THC impaired driving rates have not spiked. A 2015 landmark study from the University of Iowa found drivers with blood concentrations of 13.1 ug/L THC drove similarly to drivers with a 0.08 BAC. A 0.08 BAC is the legal limit in Colorado and Vermont, but Colorado pegged their blood concentration for marijuana intoxication at 5 ug/L THC. That is 62% below the 0.08 BAC equivalent or 0.031 BAC. Colorado failed to define a reasonable legal limit for THC blood concentration resulting in a skewing of driver impairment rates. We believe marijuana prohibition is not a reasonable form of regulation, but the abdication of regulatory authority by the State of Vermont, whereby public courts become closed to a group of consumers for adjudicating civil and business disputes, arguably in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and whereby state regulatory authorities cease defining the product safety standards and product labeling requirements that protect and empower Vermont consumers. We recognize the collateral damage caused by marijuana prohibition as a greater danger to public health and safety than personal marijuana use, cultivation and regulated trade. Our conclusion is based on the large number of otherwise law abiding, functional, and peaceable human beings having their private property confiscated under civil asset forfeiture law, and whose prospects for future prosperity are harmed after being labeled criminals for life over a marijuana related arrest and conviction. Over 80,000 Vermont residents surveyed by the RAND Corporation admit to regularly using marijuana. This suggests a narrow jury pool for Vermont prosecutors who wish to convict persons for the consensual acts of possessing, growing and voluntary trading for marijuana. We affirm every human being has natural authority over their mind and body, whereby the free exercise of informed choice, voluntary consumption, consensual trade, and cultivation of marijuana among responsible adults must be protected by Vermont state statute and municipal ordinance. We believe moral ends require moral means, and we recognize marijuana prohibition as both an ineffective and immoral means of promoting public health and protecting public safety. Our belief is based on overwhelming evidence from legal and policy research groups dating back to the 1972 National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (aka The Shafer Commission). We believe responsible adult Vermonters have the moral and legal right to grow marijuana at home for personal use. If the people do not have a right to grow marijuana at home for personal use, no representative of the people in government may commercialize and license- out a nonexistent right of the people for profit. Lawmakers shall not turn the people into a captive market and divorce them from their values, by commercially licensing-out the people's right to grow marijuana, while denying the same people the same ability to personally exercise this right for themselves. Mahatma Gandhi opposed salt tax laws which protected the taxable salt market. Under the Indians salt tax laws, Indians who wanted to acquire salt were required by law to purchase taxed salt from licensed salt vendors. Therefore, We the undersigned Voters of the State of Vermont, pledge to support political candidates who back comprehensive marijuana legalization. We pledge to oppose any political candidate in Vermont's upcoming state, county, or municipal election cycle(s), who explicitly or implicitly opposes passing a comprehensive marijuana legalization bill during the 2016 legislative session. Signatures Name Location Date John Cisar Essex Junction, VT, United States 2016-01-11 Jason Knapp Randolph, VT, United States 2016-01-11 Russell Hebert Sharon, VT, United States 2016-01-11 Hunter Melville White River Junction, VT, United States 2016-01-11 Rick Lafayette Plainfiled, VT, United States 2016-01-11 Gabriella Dunlevy Colonial Heights, VA, United States 2016-01-11 Kay Freedy Richford, VT, United States 2016-01-11 Jeannette Lachapelle North Springfield, VT, United States 2016-01-11 Jeff Kaufer Shaftsbury, VT, United States 2016-01-12 Ryan Coons Madison, AL, United States 2016-01-12 Anthony Tremblay Orleans, VT, United States 2016-01-12 Adam Weber Hood River, OR, United States 2016-01-12 Concerned Citizen New City, NY, United States 2016-01-13 Jeremy Ryan Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-13 Matthew McGrath Shelburne, VT, United States 2016-01-13 Uniqua Hines Shelburne, VT, United States 2016-01-13 Moriah Hackney Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-13 Roderick LaRocque Winooski, VT, United States 2016-01-13 erin ohara Montpelier, VT, United States 2016-01-13 Patrick Hanley Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-13 Miles Koeller Lincoln, VT, United States 2016-01-13 Chris Danyow Saint Albans City, VT, United States 2016-01-13 natha hundemann Mount Snow, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Matthew Cropp Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Patrick St. John Westford, VT, United States 2016-01-14 liza cowan burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 graham lebel Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 loyal ploof Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Brian Shaw Rutland, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Bill Oetjen Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Name Location Date Mary Syrett Kingston ON, Canada 2016-01-14 Thomas Gram Montpelier, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Jay V. Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 shedrick vanslette Saint Albans City, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Michael Sugrue Saint Albans City, VT, United States 2016-01-14 ChristopherAaron Felker Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Aaron Gould-Kavet Williamstown, VT, United States 2016-01-14 michael ferland South Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Victoria Martin Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Ronald Sweet Middlesex, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Mike Knox Essex Junction, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Paul Kumpitsch Westerly, RI, United States 2016-01-14 stacey chagnon Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Richard McCormick Jeffersonville, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Aaron Silber Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-14 Eric LaClair Winooski, VT, United States 2016-01-14 lain Wallace Montpelier, VT, United States 2016-01-15 Serge Wiltshire Jericho Center, VT, United States 2016-01-15 Dawn Bausch East Hardwick, VT, United States 2016-01-15 Jenny Poirier Essex Junction, VT, United States 2016-01-15 !Matthew LaValley Bread Loaf, VT, United States 2016-01-15 Shane Saathoff Hinesburg, VT, United States 2016-01-16 !Sheila Joslyn Williamstown, VT, United States 2016-01-16 1Michael Pottetti South Royalton, VT, United States 2016-01-17 Milton DeGeorgw West Burke, VT, United States 2016-01-19 !Christopher Mattogno East Calais, VT, United States 2016-01-22 Dylan Kelley Burlington, VT, United States 2016-01-22 Kathryn Payne Ann Arbor, MI, United States 2016-01-22 rnary zimmer warren, VT, United States 2016-01-22 Christopher Boudreau Winooski, VT, United States 2016-01-22 Aron Meinhardt Richmond, VT, United States 2016-01-23 william