Tag: Legalization

Eighty-two years ago today, the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act effectively banned the sale and use of cannabis in the United States. The support garnered to pass this act was propelled by racist fearmongering. While the Marihuana Tax Act was overturned in 1969 through a ruling in the Supreme Court case Leary v. United States, marijuana prohibition was rolled up into

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Historic legislation centers justice in cannabis reformToday, Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced groundbreaking companion legislation in the United States House of Representatives and Senate to address the state-federal conflict in marijuana laws by removing marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act and establishing cannabis as a legal product which may be regulated by the states.

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The best part of working at Students for Sensible Drug Policy is hearing amazing stories every day about what our members are doing to end the War on Drugs and protect their communities from the harms caused by drug prohibition. If you’re as inspired by their work as I am, please make a gift to support the students who are

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Written by Arturo Lua Castillo, SSDP’s Latin America Policy Intern. Although marijuana legalization in Mexico lacks appeal amongst much of the public and is still a subject of stigma and misinformation, the country has recently taken crucial steps towards legalization. A Different Process In the United States, marijuana policy reform has primarily taken shape through state-wide ballot initiatives which have resulted

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Written by University of Massachusetts Boston SSDP chapter leader Joseph Gilmore The decision by Massachusetts legislators to delay the opening of recreational marijuana dispensaries was both fiscally irresponsible and politically underhanded. The consequences of S. 2524, which pushed the start date for recreational cannabis sales back by 6 months, will negatively impact our communities both socially and economically along with directly

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We have more power than we know. We certainly have more power than we use. This year, there are more Americans under 35 who are eligible to vote than Boomer voters. And as fond as we may be of Boomers in our own lives, one thing is for sure: they don’t represent our interests when it comes to drug policy. This

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Written by Leland Radovanovic, chapter leader of CUNY Baruch College SSDP. This post originally appeared on The Odyssey Online.  The tide is coming in on cannabis legalization. Public consensus has never been higher. It’s time to legalize. One of the most important states may be next. California. They’ve had, for several decades now, a medical cannabis program. For better or

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Written by Guest Blogger Morgan Tougas, University of California Berkeley This November, voters in California will consider a number of ballot initiatives. One of these initiatives, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), seeks to regulate and legalize cannabis for adults over the age of 21. Although there were a variety of other initiatives hoping to gain support to regulate cannabis, AUMA is the

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Following an intense and deeply thoughtful debate this summer, Students for Sensible Drug Policy opted to remain neutral on Ohio’s Issue 3, the wildly controversial ballot initiative to legalize cannabis for adult and medical use in Ohio in 2015. The cannabis community at large is torn on the issue; the SSDP Board of Directors (largely students elected by their peers), Trustees,

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Written by Kevin Akpan, SSDP Stories Intern, and Greg Gaffney-Bills, Policy and Legislative Affairs Director at George Washington University In 2001, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. Possession of everything from marijuana and psychedelics to heroin and cocaine now results in mandatory drug education, counseling, and rehabilitation, instead of incarceration. Oddly enough, the sky didn’t fall and the world kept spinning. However, the prohibitionists were right about one

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Written by Kevin Akpan, SSDP Stories Intern, and Greg Gaffney-Bills, Policy and Legislative Affairs Director at George Washington University Synthetic marijuana, a byproduct of the United States’ war on drugs, is killing Americans. In August 2012, officials in Davie, FL banned the sale of some forms of synthetic marijuana after 30-year-old Tod Parkinson was found dead on his kitchen floor, near packages labeled

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Written by Greg Gaffney-Bills of George Washington University SSDP The Washington Post’s article, “Bit of pot won’t land you in Maryland jail,” illustrated the beginning of Maryland’s journey towards sensible drug policy on October 1st. By decriminalizing marijuana, Maryland citizens and lawmakers are proving a level of commitment to the idea that drug use is a public health issue, not a criminal

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On Saturday, March 29th, dozens of SSDP students, supporters, and alumni gathered at West Chester University in Pennsylvania for the 2014 SSDP Northeast Regional Conference! The event was a huge success, with roughly 80 students and experts in drug policy reform joining together for an unforgettable day packed full of drug policy oriented events. Many of the events themselves were

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The momentum of marijuana reform in the US continues to grow, with efforts for medical marijuana, decriminalization, and even legalization accelerating in states around the country. On the opposite side of the Atlantic, the movement also seems to be gaining steam. As Reason reported on Monday, supporters have just last week begun gathering signatures to propose a citizen’s initiative to

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This post originally appeared at The Libertarian. Daniel Hannan, British Member of the European Parliament for the Conservative Party, has suggested that Great Britain should consider legalizing drugs. Hannan had described himself in 2007 as “liberal” on drugs policy, but stated at that point that “There is no appetite in Britain to move towards a decriminalisation of narcotics, and that

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This piece was originally published at http://the-libertarian.co.uk. The New Hampshire House of Representatives has narrowly passed a bill that would legalize marijuana in the state. If signed into law, this would put the “Live Free or Die” state ahead of the rest of New England on marijuana reform. Currently, New Hampshire is the only state in New England without a

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Yet another embarrassing attempt at defending marijuana prohibition has been published in a major news outlet. David Brooks at the New York Times makes the usual personal criticisms of marijuana smokers while ignoring the serious issues surrounding prohibition. The old claim that marijuana simply makes the user stupid, apparently invulnerable to scientific evidence, resurfaces again in Brooks’ piece. “Stoned people

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In a region where drug possession is already widely decriminalized, there are now signs of enthusiasm for farther-reaching reforms. In the wake of the first marijuana legalization bill passed in Latin America, there are signs that some other countries in the region are interested in following Uruguay’s example. The movement is not limited to poor or relatively wealthy countries, and

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The President of Uruguay has defended himself against accusations from the United Nations concerning his country’s recent passage of a bill to legalize marijuana. “Tell this old man not to lie,” José Mujica remarked1, in reponse to claims by Raymond Yans, head of the International Narcotics Control Board, that Mujica had refused to meet with a UN delegation to discuss the

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The current wave of marijuana-related activism has spread to Ireland. Both the spread of Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapters and a recent bill in the national legislature should give residents of the UK’s western neighbor reason for optimism. A bill was put to a vote in the national Irish legislature, the Dáil, on Tuesday. The proposed measure would have

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This article originally published at http://the-libertarian.co.uk/ Readers have presumably all heard of LSD and the drug commonly known as ecstasy, and I have written here previously about their medical uses. There is another substance being investigated for the treatment of some of the same medical issues, however, and it is similarly restricted by a severe prohibition in US federal law. Ayahuasca

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As you know, this election day was an exciting one for drug policy reform. There is a lot we are proud to report, so it’s taken us a few days to get this message to you.  It’s been a crazy week (as you might imagine), and we wanted to take the time to get this important announcement right. Last Tuesday

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Yesterday, SurveyUSA and the Denver Post reported new findings on the chances of Colorado voters legalizing marijuana like alcohol tomorrow. In a memo to the Denver Post, the pollsters explained: “Passage would be driven largely by the support of younger voters, who sometimes are less reliable, turnout-wise, than are older voters. Older voters oppose Amendment 64, and if the amendment should go down to

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Students for Sensible Drug Policy endorses Initiative 502, Washington’s historic marijuana regulation ballot measure, which will make the state among the first in the nation to license and regulate marijuana production, distribution, and possession, for persons over twenty-one years of age. I-502 will be an important milestone in reforming the failed policies of the U.S. War on Drugs. As representatives

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In less than two weeks, voters in Oregon will have the opportunity to vote yes on Measure 80 (also known as the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012), which would regulate the sale of cannabis to adults over age 21 and restore the agricultural hemp industry. Today I’m proud to announce our official endorsement: Students for Sensible Drug Policy endorses Measure

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