Nine States and Localities Vote for More Sensible Drug Laws
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Speakers Available for Comment
In
a historic night for drug law reformers, on Tuesday Colorado and
Washington passed measures legalizing and regulating marijuana,
Massachusetts became the 18th state to allow medical marijuana and six
localities voted to modernize policies on marijuana. Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition, a group of cops, judges, prosecutors and other law
enforcement officials advocating for the legalization of drugs, has
speakers on hand to comment.
Norm
Stamper, former Seattle police chief, had this to say: “I cannot tell
you how happy I am that after forty years of the racist, destructive
exercise in futility that is the war on drugs, my home state of
Washington has now put us on a different path. There are people who have
lost today: drug cartels, street gangs, those who profit from keeping
American incarceration rates the highest in the world. For the rest of
us, however, this is a win. It’s a win for taxpayers. It’s a win for
police. It’s a win for all those who care about social justice. This is
indeed a wonderful day.”
Reformers
are now focused on successfully implementing the new marijuana
legalization laws in Colorado and Washington, and on determining which
states are most likely to enact legalization in the near future.
“Because
of the victories in all of these places, we awakened this morning in a
slightly better country. It’s a little safer, a little bit more just,”
said Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition and 34-year veteran of the Baltimore and Maryland State
police departments. “And when the rest of the country follows the lead
pioneered by the voters of Colorado and Washington, we’ll be closer to
living in a country with a drug policy that is truly about public
safety.”
Following
is a list of all marijuana reform measures on the ballot across the
country and a list of LEAP speakers available to discuss these historic
reforms:
Colorado: Marijuana legalization - Passed!
Washington: Marijuana legalization - Passed!
Oregon: Marijuana legalization – Failed.
Massachusetts: Medical marijuana - Passed!
Arkansas: Medical marijuana – Failed.
Detroit, MI: Decriminalization of adult marijuana possession - Passed!
Flint, MI: Decriminalization of adult marijuana possession - Passed!
Ypsilanti, MI: Marijuana to be lowest law enforcement priority - Passed!
Grand Rapids, MI: Decriminalization of adult marijuana possession - Passed!
Kalamazoo, MI: Three medical marijuana dispensaries permitted in city - Passed!
Burlington, VT: Recommendation that marijuana should be legalized - Passed!
Montana: Referendum restricting medical marijuana likely to pass.
Sampling of LEAP speakers available for comment:
Washington
* Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief
* Matt McCally, former corrections official
Colorado
* Tony Ryan, retired 36-year veteran of the Denver police force
* Jason Thomas, former Colorado detention officer and marshal’s deputy
* Sean McAllister, former assistant attorney general for the state of Colorado
Massachusetts
* Karen Hawkes, retired Massachusetts state trooper and medical marijuana patient
* Jack Cole, LEAP co-founder and former undercover narcotics agent
Other Speakers
* Neill Franklin, LEAP executive director and 34-year Baltimore narcotics cop
* Stephen Downing, Former LAPD Deputy Chief of Police
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media @leap.cc
Darby Beck - (415) 823-5496 or darby@leap.cc
This is good news. Also note in Mass, in at least the voting district I am in, there was a “PPQ” which was Question 5.
ReplyDeleteI think PPQ stands for Public Policy Question. Through it, constituents can direct legislators to put forth legislation.
PPQ #5 was, I don’t have the exact wording with me, said something about directing the representative to put forth legislation for regulating the sale of marijuana, similar to alcohol.
According to the town paper, which arrived today:
Yes — 3,532 — 52.6%
No — 2,057 — 30.6%
So far so good, except by my guestimate there are still over 1,000 votes not yet counted. Let’s hope those continue the “yes” legalize/regulate trend.
The Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts has a page on the numerous PPQs across the state, as well as currently known results.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dpfmass.org/home/