Schwarzenegger Signs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

TalkieWalkie

Of course this is not my personal blog, so I'll put my CT swing on it...

Ummm, ok, the CT is.... The Terminator has finally decided to keep the masses happy by decriminalising the good medicinal hash we have come to know as.... hash, in the midst of a complete failure of the banking system.

Now, I'm not suggesting that folk will be to stoned to give a fcuk what's happening in the country (numblock), but, as any trainer knows, it's better to hit folk with good news, prior to the bad. It just goes down easier. (one might call it... buttering up)

Anyway, it's so gnarley, after so many decades of battle, and so many unnecarry jailings, they have caved in...

Even to the most manipulated skeppie....arent things starting to look a bit..... unskeppie-like

Currently, small-time pot possession is "semi-decriminalized" in California. There is no possible jail sentence and a maximum $100 fine. But because possession is a misdemeanor, people caught with pot are "arrested," even if that means only they are served a notice to appear, and they must appear before a court.

That has happened to more than a half million Californians in the last decade, and more than 60,000 last year alone. Every one of them required a court appearance, complete with judge and prosecutor. That costs the cash-strapped state money it desperately needs.

Under the bill signed today, SB 1449, by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), pot possession will be treated like a traffic ticket. The fine will remain at $100, and there will be no arrest record.

In a signing statement, Schwarzenegger said he opposed decriminalization for personal use—and threw in a gratuitous jab at Proposition 19, the tax and regulate marijuana legalization initiative—but that the state couldn't afford the status quo.

"I am signing this measure because possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is an infraction in everything but name," said Schwarzenegger. "The only difference is that because it is a misdemeanor, a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury trial and a defense attorney. In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket."

"Gov. Schwarzenegger deserves credit for sparing the state's taxpayers the cost of prosecuting minor pot offenders," said California NORML director Dale Gieringer. "Californians increasingly recognize that the war on marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources."

The law goes into effect January 1. Even if Prop 19 passes in November, it leaves in place misdemeanor charges for smoking in public or in the presence of minors. Those misdemeanors would become infractions under the new law.
Sacramento, CA
United States

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/oct/01/california_governor_signs_mariju

old_aussie

About Time

Terminator 2..Kindergarden cop..couple of minor indiscretions..and now this..
Legend..

WakeUp

Deleted User wrote: »

Terminator 2..Kindergarden cop..couple of minor indiscretions..and now this..
Legend..

:D:D:D:D:D:D

gizmo

The effects of this should certainly be interesting to see anyway.

As for the CT itself, I disagree with it on the basis that there was no right in this case. People have been calling for it's decriminalization for years and governments around the world get a lot of stick for it. It was even discussed in this forum in the CT context due to the initial banning / effect on the textile industry (one which I do believe is true of course). But now that they've finally caved in and done what the people have been asking for it's somehow a conspiracy?

You could argue at the timing of the bill of course, however it was going to happen some time and there have been several previous opportunities for him to pass it following far more damaging events.

uprising2

I wonder will this help Charlie Lynch??
Their legal system is a bit messed up, this poor fella facing 100 years, after getting a medical marijuana licence by state law, then arrested on federal law for selling marijuana.

I wonder how this state law will fit in with federal law?, will they allow people to smoke weed then kick in their doors with federal agents for smoking weed?

If the voters in your state say it's OK to do something, is it?
Apparently not.
http://a.abcnews.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=7041286&page=1

Dueling pot laws tested in federal court

U.S. prosecutors say a man selling marijuana is a trafficker. State law says the drug can be sold for medical use.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/26/local/me-weed26

But the Becks weren't concerned about what other people thought; they were focused on helping their son. So with a written doctor recommendation in hand, they purchased medical marijuana for their teenage son. The new medication eased Owen's pain and nausea like nothing else had, and the Becks grew fond of Charlie Lynch, who would sometimes refuse payment because, says Steve Beck, "He was just a compassionate kind of a guy."

But one day, Owen's life took another abrupt turn. Federal agents and local sheriff deputies raided Charlie Lynch's dispensary, and seized nearly everything inside, including Owen's medicine. "He had a prescription from a doctor at Stanford, and they took his stuff!" says Debbie Beck. Federal agents cuffed Lynch, and put him behind bars. Even though state and local laws allow for it, medical marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
http://hightimes.com/news/ht_admin/4634
[

Charles C. Lynch is the former owner of a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, California. In April 2006 Lynch obtained a Medical Marijuana Dispensary business license [1] from the city of Morro Bay. In July 2006 Lynch was issued a Medical Marijuana Nursery Permit [2] which allowed him to provide marijuana plants to the members of his dispensary. Lynch was also a member of the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce.
On March 29, 2007, the dispensary was raided by the local Sheriff Pat Hedges [3] in cooperation with the DEA. The dispensary reopened a week later with the blessing of the city of Morro Bay officials. The dispensary closed on May 16, 2007 after the DEA threatened the landlord of the dispensary with criminal forfeiture of his property.
On July 17, 2007 Lynch was arrested under federal law for marijuana trafficking, and was convicted in August 2008 of operating a drug premises, selling drugs to minors, distribution of over 100 kilos of marijuana, cultivating more than 100 marijuana plants and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. During the trial, his attorneys were barred from referring to the legality of his business under state law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_C._Lynch

EDIT:
Sorry never bothered to see the outcome of the case, but when I read about it a couple of years ago he was facing a possible 100 years.

Cunning Alias

You are now forgiven.

phantom_lord

TalkieWalkie wrote: »

Of course this is not my personal blog, so I'll put my CT swing on it...

Ummm, ok, the CT is.... The Terminator has finally decided to keep the masses happy by decriminalising the good medicinal hash we have come to know as.... hash, in the midst of a complete failure of the banking system.

Now, I'm not suggesting that folk will be to stoned to give a fcuk what's happening in the country (numblock), but, as any trainer knows, it's better to hit folk with good news, prior to the bad. It just goes down easier. (one might call it... buttering up)

Anyway, it's so gnarley, after so many decades of battle, and so many unnecarry jailings, they have caved in...

Even to the most manipulated skeppie....arent things starting to look a bit..... unskeppie-like

Really grasping at straws there Talkie. Legalise it and they're trying to sedate everyone, ban it and you'll say it's an excuse to crack down on poor people. It's a nice day outside, why not give up this ct nonsense?

Wertz

The fact that marijuana remained a ciminalised non-taxable substance of mass consumption for upward of 80 yrs was the real CT here. Now if only it goes federal across the states and the planet...

Soveriegn

phantom_lord wrote: »

Really grasping at straws there Talkie. Legalise it and they're trying to sedate everyone, ban it and you'll say it's an excuse to crack down on poor people. It's a nice day outside, why not give up this ct nonsense?

A good day to give up the counter conspiracy theoryism too. I notice talkie posted at 5:40 am, you replied when it actually was a nice day outside :pac:.
Glass houses phantom, glass houses.

Eradicate

About time. How can something which grows freely be illegal anyway

pablo_escobar

If it were legalized across the US, it could probably replace many pharmaceutical drugs on the market.

It should be legalized immediately for medicinal purposes.

Soveriegn

Good clean smoke +++

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqhPUfODNU

Di0genes

Eradicate wrote: »

About time. How can something which grows freely be illegal anyway

By that rational cocaine, and heroin should be legalised as well.

Di0genes

Wertz wrote: »

The fact that marijuana remained a ciminalised non-taxable substance of mass consumption for upward of 80 yrs was the real CT here.

Interesting conspiracy theory about this William Randolph Hearst was a major proponent of the criminalisation of marijuana, through his newspaper empire. Hemp can be used to make paper, and Hearst had million tied up in timber paper mills and supposedly would lose millions if hemp and marijuana remained legal.

As to Talkie Walkie's "conspiracy theory" One can only look at the vibrant political, artistic, and social scene in the Netherlands to see the idea that they are trying to make us "docile" through weed as pointless. The fact is California is one of the most liberal and progressive states. And is suffering a major financial crisis, so any way of generating new revenue will be welcome.

And as to the Governator, well as that infamous film clip from his body building days.



I think it's fair to say, Schwarenegger inhaled.

Wertz

Di0genes wrote: »

By that rational cocaine, and heroin should be legalised as well.

Arguably they should, although obviously any such move is fraught with it's own set of associated problems but can't be any worse than the current stalemate between law enforcement and organised criminal supply and the countless billions wasted on trying to police the use of narcotics and the 10's of billions lost to the black market. Not a subject for lengthy discussion on this thread though.

The moves to ban marijuana came around the same time in the US (the world would follow) as the move against opiates and cocaine...there are those who would claim the whole move against narcotics was a conspiracy all of it's own (doubtful) and more recently Nixon's War On Drug's and the Reagan era policies that saw Iran Contra develop and the insinuations against the CIA for smuggling cocaine into the US themselves, were conspiracy's by those who didn't have the interests of America's children at heart...