Tuesday, 20 Apr 2010 – In case you forgot American Government 101, the U.S. has a federal system in which states can make their own laws. Nowhere is that more evident than with marijuana policy.

Laws differ drastically state-to-state, and certain states are significantly more progressive than others.

Here’s a look at some of the states with more moderate or lenient laws; as a rule they tend to be in the West and Northeast, the places with more marijuana users.

Mellow California

The state-leader in marijuana reform is California. Though Oregon was the first to decriminalize possession of small amounts in 1973, the Golden State followed shortly after, and broke the mold by allowing medical marijuana in 1996.

Possession of less than a ounce merits a $100 fine, and while trafficking is still a felony, the sale of any amount is punishable by two to four years in prison without any fine.

In February 2009, however, State Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced another piece of landmark legislation, AB 390, the first bill of its kind to call for taxation and regulation of marijuana.

Though the bill expired and was replaced with a newer version, AB 2254, Quintin Mecke, Communications Director for Ammiano says, “the momentum regarding legalization and the conversation around overall drug policy really took off last year in ways that I’m not sure that even we expected when we first introduced the bill.”

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Since then, reform advocates, led by Richard Lee, owner of Oaksterdam University, a school that teaches people how to harvest, cultivate and run their own medical marijuana dispensaries, collected enough signatures to secure a ballot measure, that will allow California residents to vote about whether to tax and regulate the drug in November 2010.

Though the ballot item is different from Ammiano’s bill in that counties must “opt in” to the legalization model rather than it being uniform legislation, it represents a huge opportunity for reform advocates.

If the vote is yes, Meckle says, those counties that are actively regulating marijuana and have dispensaries will be the ones that will quickly get up and running.

“There is a general assumption is that a lot of new counties are not going to come online,” he adds. “The counties that are currently supportive of the issue have created a system, and no one wants to reinvent the wheel if there is already a system in place for medical.”

Although Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Mike Meno says it is too early to say what November’s vote will conclude, he points to a field poll done in May 2009 that showed that 56 percent of Californians supported ending marijuana prohibition.

A good portion of this is happening right now due to the state’s economic problems. The economics are presenting a window for the larger reform conversation, which has been building for quite a long time.

“We can’t continue to keep our heads stuck in the sand and pretend that this current model of prohibition works in any way shape or form. Our drug policies are an abject failure. Anyone who looks at the situation with regards to the Mexican violence on the border has got to be literally smoking something,” Meckle says.

California’s legislative is considering a number of other bills, from reducing adult possession penalties to medical marijuana-related paraphernalia.

Continental Divide

Other western states like Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska also have progressive marijuana policies. (Two-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson called for legalization in 1998.)

Cities like Denver, Portland, Oregon, Missoula, Montana as well as cluster in California (Oakland, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo) have made pot use the lowest of priorities for local police departments.

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Oregon, also one of the earliest states to sanction medical use, continues to reform its laws. There are currently more than a dozen bills in the state legislature, covering everything from medical users and the workplace to sentencing to the creation of a task force to study driving while under the influence.

Hawaii is considering legislation to reduce the already-light penalty for possession under an ounce.

In Alaska, marijuana is also both decriminalized and allowed medically. It also has a low arrest rate based on the user population. According to the Marijuana Policy Almanac, compiled by Jon Gettman, Criminal Justice Professor at Virginia’s Shenandoah University and public policy consultant, Alaska ranks 49th in arrest rates nationally. In 2007, of the state’s 74,000 users, only 1.4 percent were arrested.

This is markedly lower than a state like Kentucky, which ranked third, with 5.8 percent of the 350,000 users being arrested. Both New Mexico and Colorado allow medical marijuana and are considering taxation and regulation, as well as decriminalization.

On the other side of country, Rhode Island also has relatively liberal marijuana policy. First off, it passed medical marijuana two years ago. Bills on reduced penalties for adult possession and outright possession, manufacture and sale of limited amounts are pending.

Rhode Island also ranks 47th In Gettman’s Marijuana Policy Almanac in terms of arrest rates; of their 144,000 annual users, 1,463 people are arrested each year.

Like other states in the Northeast, Rhode Island has a relatively high proportion of users compared to its total population. This is why, says Gettman, their interests may be better represented. In the Ocean State, for example, there are 144,000 annual users, out of a total population of 1.05 million.

In California, there are 3.3 million users out of 36.6 million people. These ratios are higher than in a state like Delaware, which has a more conservative marijuana policy and an estimated 79,000 users and 865,000 residents.

Law And Economics

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In a traditional Blue State like Rhode Island, one might think that reform would move quickly. However, this is not the case. One of the reasons is that the state likes to be methodical, and in June 2009, legislators formed the Special Senate Commission to Study the Prohibition of Marijuana in Rhode Island. The Commission’s Chair, Rep. Joshua Miller (D-Cranston) says that Rhode Island likes to have experts come in and look at issues.

“Once medical marijuana was behind us, those of us who were interested wanted to start a conversation about decriminalization.” They waited because they didn’t want medical marijuana to lose any momentum as a result of other potential initiatives.

Knowing Rhode Island’s major fiscal problems, Miller says proponents knew the only way they would be taken seriously is if they could demonstrate some kind of positive impact on the state budget.

Though morality and civil liberties are still relevant issues in the broader debate, the Commission found that there are serious budgetary advantages to decriminalization, and that treatment is a better policy than incarceration.

“I think the public sentiment is very favorable towards it, but whether it has legislative momentum is a whole other thing,” says Miller.

Miller says the only way decriminalization will be passed before the session ends in June is if it is seen as having an important role in solving pressing state fiscal problems, for example, flooding or the budget crisis. Otherwise, Miller says, it will have to wait until next year.

Of the other states in the Northeast, Maine also has a liberal policy—it allows medical marijuana and has decriminalized possession.

The state also comes in 40th on the Marijuana Policy Almanac’s arrest-rate ranking based on user population with 2.3 percent of the 143,000 state users arrested. The sale of less than a pound is a misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

“I want to be very clear, there’s no knocking the South here,” says Gettman. “There are states in the south that have very reasonable policies about marijuana – North Carolina and Mississippi both have decriminalization. Georgia also has a lenient policy for first offenders with small amounts.”

Though times seem to be changing, Gettman points out in his blog that there are many obstacles to marijuana law reform, citing overconfidence on the part of reformers as the No. 1 barrier: “While many marijuana users think legalization will never occur, it seems that just as many are so convinced it is inevitable they don’t bother to take part in activities to bring it about.”  Source.

April 18, 2010 – After a recent shootout at the home of medical-marijuana activist Steve Sarich, police found 375 pot plants, $10,700 in cash and a stack of credit-card receipts showing Sarich’s business had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from pot-related sales and services in just a few weeks.

Sarich now is waiting to find out if the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will charge him with drug dealing.

The case is being watched closely in the medical-marijuana community, in part because the number of patients qualifying to use pot for medical purposes is expected to swell in the next few years, thanks to a new state law. To cater to those patients, a number of for-profit companies are staking claims in territory once dominated by nonprofits.

By most accounts, Sarich is one of the most aggressive players. He says he grows marijuana, dispenses it in exchange for a “donation” at a dispensary called CannaCare, and hires doctors to write medical authorizations for patients at $200 a pop under a business called Sentry Medical Group. The entire operation is housed in two buildings at his Kirkland residence.

His model has thrived, in part, because of a complicated state law that makes it legal to possess and use pot for medical purposes, but illegal to buy or sell it.

Sarich’s one-stop shop became so popular that he employed parking attendants and shuttle buses to handle as many as 800 patients a month who flocked to his address, according to a sheriff’s search-warrant affidavit.

To supply those patients, Sarich kept hundreds of plants in his basement, a number that far exceeds the 15 plants allowed each patient under state rules. Sarich, however, argues that the law allows him to have many more as long as he’s serving as the “designated provider” for other patients.

Sarich, who says his business isn’t profitable, said he wants prosecutors to charge him.

He said nothing in the law prevents him from directly providing pot to many patients.

“They [prosecutors] haven’t challenged that because, if they lose, dispensaries will be legal.”

Surge could be ahead

The King County sheriff’s investigation comes at a time when the number of medical-pot patients — and businesses that help those patients obtain it — seems guaranteed to explode.

A new law effective June 10 will expand the authority to write medical-marijuana authorizations from doctors to a variety of health-care professionals, including naturopaths and nurse practitioners.

“It will dramatically increase the number of people who receive authorizations and lower the cost, which will make it more affordable for patients to qualify,” said Paul Stanford, executive director of THCF, The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation.

The new law also likely will mean a lot more competition for companies, such as THCF, that connect patients seeking pot authorizations with doctors willing to write them.

THCF runs for-profit clinics in nine states, charging patients up to $180 for a first-time pot authorization.

The company, which started as a nonprofit with Stanford working at home, grossed $4.7 million last year and now has 100 employees, Stanford said. He said THCF is seeking investment capital to expand into 20 new cities.

CBR Medical, a Spokane-based for-profit, sees about 600 patients a month at 11 clinics across the state. Kent Myles, a consultant for CBR, says the 2-year-old business “grew 300 percent last year” and could hit $1 million in revenue this year.

Smaller competitors are cropping up in the area, advertising in publications such as the Little Nickel.

Many doctors reluctant

Businesses such as CBR and THCF thrive, in part, because many doctors won’t provide pot authorizations out of fear of losing their federal license to write prescriptions.

Unlike Sarich’s Sentry operation, CBR and THCF do not provide pot to patients.

At their clinics, patients typically pay around $200 for a doctor’s authorization that must be renewed annually.

“It’s big money out there for the doctors,” said Mark Healy, manager of Green Hope Patient Network.

And although doctors in Washington state can authorize marijuana for medical use, they can’t tell patients where to get it.

As a result, Washington patients navigate a legal netherworld, where finding medical pot can mean joining a co-op or making a donation to a provider.

Green Hope, a family-run co-op in Shoreline, focuses solely on obtaining marijuana for patients already authorized to use it.

The co-op makes a slight profit by selling memberships for $40 a year and offering clones — plant clippings off larger plants provided by other patients who grow their pot — for $20 donations, Healy said. Being a co-op allows Healy’s organization to collectively provide pot to more patients than one caregiver could supply.

“We make OK money,” he added. “As a caregiver, I can only [provide] for one patient. Steve Sarich is doing that for all his patients.”

According to the search-warrant affidavit on Sarich’s house, Sarich’s girlfriend was the designated caregiver for about 138 patients.

No clear guidelines

Advocates and law-enforcement agencies in King County met twice last year to develop guidelines for co-ops that grow and distribute pot, but no agreement was reached, said Alison Holcomb, drug-policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington.

The shootout at Sarich’s house underscores the need for guidelines and could bolster support for legal dispensaries in Washington state, she said.

“When people stretch the envelope of what law enforcement intended, and engage in practices that put their neighborhoods at risk of violence, maybe it’s time to look at amending the law,” Holcomb said.

The ACLU says it will pursue legislation to legalize medical dispensaries for pot. At least one state senator has announced she will introduce such legislation in 2011, Holcomb said.

Under the state’s 1998 medical-marijuana law, patients can grow their marijuana — a long, labor-intensive and expensive process that advocates say often isn’t feasible for sicker people — or designate a “caregiver” to do it for them. They also can obtain pot from caregivers or other patients.

Finding the line between lawful and unlawful use can be difficult, even for law enforcement, said Sgt. Carlos Rodriguez, a State Patrol officer assigned to WestNET, a drug task force that includes agencies from Pierce, Kitsap and Mason counties.

“It would be nice if there was more clarity,” he said. “There are people who use the authorization to hide behind for illegal purposes, and true believers who use it as medicine. It’s not our intention to go after sick people.”

California and Colorado allow the sale of medical pot through storefront dispensaries that are not licensed by the state. Four other states passed laws allowing licensed dispensaries, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Locally, the Internet has made finding a supply a little easier. Web sites such as thclist.comand FindMyMeds.com list organizations and people willing to serve as caregivers for the 15 minutes or so it takes to conduct a transaction.

Tom Ewing — a medical-marijuana patient listed as “Dr. Feelgood” on thclist.com — became a provider for other patients in Walla Walla about three months ago after being ripped off repeatedly by what he called “black-market dealers.”

Ewing said he screens clients carefully, checking to see they live in Washington and have medical authorization before meeting them at their homes. Clients sign a contract that designates him as their caregiver for the time it takes to conduct the interaction.

A bad example?

Meanwhile, some patients and providers claim the size of Sarich’s operation and his willingness to push the boundaries of the law are setting back the medical-marijuana movement.

“I think he hurts the cause,” said Stanford of THCF, noting that teenagers formerly employed by Sarich were shot after breaking into Sarich’s house in March.

“These kind of shootouts and being involved with teenagers in distributing [pot] and cultivating it, it makes us all look bad.”

Sarich acknowledges he’s a polarizing figure.

But he said the challenge to his business ultimately could help patients obtain marijuana more easily.

“They don’t want things to change,” he said of his competitors. “They’ve told me that if medical marijuana were legal tomorrow, they’d be out of business. I want to put myself out of business.”

By Susan Kelleher and Mark Rahner.  Source.