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Pot Decriminalization Advances in US, Former World Leaders Call for End to Failed War on Drugs
September 10th 2014 at 11:56 am
https://www.freespeech.org/video/pot-decriminalization-advances-us-former-world-leaders-call-end-failed-war-drugs
Pot Decriminalization Advances in US, Former World Leaders Call for End to Failed War on Drugs
On Monday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said he would sign a bill that would make Philadelphia the largest city in the country to decriminalize marijuana possession. Just two weeks ago, the City Council in Santa Fe voted to decriminalize marijuana. Earlier this year, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray signed a bill to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in the U.S. capital. Ballot initiatives on legalization of marijuana will go before voters in Oregon, Florida and Alaska in November. This comes two years after voter initiatives in Colorado and Washington state legalized recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, a group of former presidents and United Nations leaders gathered in New York Tuesday to call for an end to the criminalization and incarceration of drug users. Known as the Global Commission on Drug Policy, the panel includes the former presidents of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland. The commission first made headlines in 2011 when it declared the war on drugs to be a failure. Full episodes of Democracy Now! can be viewed at the link: https://www.freespeech.org/collection/democracy-now
http://cannabis.hawaiinewsdaily.com/2014/09/09/huge-story-global-commission-calls-for-decriminalization-regulation-and-legalization/
The full commission includes:
Aleksander Kwasniewski
Former President of Poland
Asma Jahangir
Human rights activist, former UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary, Extrajudicial and Summary Executions, Pakistan
Carlos Fuentes
Writer and public intellectual, Mexico – in memoriam
César Gaviria
Former President of Colômbia
Ernesto Zedillo
Former President of Mexico
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Former President of Brazil (chair)
George Papandreou
Former Prime Minister of Greece
George Shultz
Former Secretary of State, United States (honorary chair)
Javier Solana
Former European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Spain
John Whitehead
Banker and civil servant, chair of the World Trade Center Memorial, United States
Jorge Sampaio
Former President of Portugal
Kofi Annan
Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Ghana
Louise Arbour
Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, president of the International Crisis Group, Canada
Maria Cattaui
Former Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce, Switzerland
Mario Vargas Llosa
Writer and public intellectual, Peru
Michel Kazatchkine
Professor of medicine, former Executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
Paul Volcker
Former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve and of the Economic Recovery Board, US
Pavel Bém
Former Mayor of Prague, member of the Parliament, Czech Republic
Ricardo Lagos
Former president of Chile
Richard Branson
Entrepreneur, advocate for social causes, founder of the Virgin Group, cofounder of The Elders, United Kingdom
Ruth Dreifuss
Former President of Switzerland and Minister of Home Affairs
Thorvald Stoltenberg
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Norway
This is truly an impressive set of recommendations that have the potential to really shake up the status quo of international drug policy.
Pot Decriminalization Advances in US, Former World Leaders Call for End to Failed War on Drugs
September 10th 2014 at 11:56 am
https://www.freespeech.org/video/pot-decriminalization-advances-us-former-world-leaders-call-end-failed-war-drugs
Pot Decriminalization Advances in US, Former World Leaders Call for End to Failed War on Drugs
On Monday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said he would sign a bill that would make Philadelphia the largest city in the country to decriminalize marijuana possession. Just two weeks ago, the City Council in Santa Fe voted to decriminalize marijuana. Earlier this year, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray signed a bill to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in the U.S. capital. Ballot initiatives on legalization of marijuana will go before voters in Oregon, Florida and Alaska in November. This comes two years after voter initiatives in Colorado and Washington state legalized recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, a group of former presidents and United Nations leaders gathered in New York Tuesday to call for an end to the criminalization and incarceration of drug users. Known as the Global Commission on Drug Policy, the panel includes the former presidents of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland. The commission first made headlines in 2011 when it declared the war on drugs to be a failure. Full episodes of Democracy Now! can be viewed at the link: https://www.freespeech.org/collection/democracy-now
http://cannabis.hawaiinewsdaily.com/2014/09/09/huge-story-global-commission-calls-for-decriminalization-regulation-and-legalization/
The full commission includes:
Aleksander Kwasniewski
Former President of Poland
Asma Jahangir
Human rights activist, former UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary, Extrajudicial and Summary Executions, Pakistan
Carlos Fuentes
Writer and public intellectual, Mexico – in memoriam
César Gaviria
Former President of Colômbia
Ernesto Zedillo
Former President of Mexico
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Former President of Brazil (chair)
George Papandreou
Former Prime Minister of Greece
George Shultz
Former Secretary of State, United States (honorary chair)
Javier Solana
Former European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Spain
John Whitehead
Banker and civil servant, chair of the World Trade Center Memorial, United States
Jorge Sampaio
Former President of Portugal
Kofi Annan
Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Ghana
Louise Arbour
Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, president of the International Crisis Group, Canada
Maria Cattaui
Former Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce, Switzerland
Mario Vargas Llosa
Writer and public intellectual, Peru
Michel Kazatchkine
Professor of medicine, former Executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
Paul Volcker
Former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve and of the Economic Recovery Board, US
Pavel Bém
Former Mayor of Prague, member of the Parliament, Czech Republic
Ricardo Lagos
Former president of Chile
Richard Branson
Entrepreneur, advocate for social causes, founder of the Virgin Group, cofounder of The Elders, United Kingdom
Ruth Dreifuss
Former President of Switzerland and Minister of Home Affairs
Thorvald Stoltenberg
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Norway
This is truly an impressive set of recommendations that have the potential to really shake up the status quo of international drug policy.
Global Commission Calls For Decriminalization Of Marijuana
Posted on: September 9, 2014
http://www.livetradingnews.com/global-commission-calls-decriminalization-marijuana-70458.htm#.VBBqNqGm0vl
A report released Tuesday by the Global Commission on Drug Policy calls on governments around the world to legalize Marijuana, and decriminalize drug use.
Members of the commission, including former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former US Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, call for drug policies shaped by a greater emphasis on public health, as well as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug crimes.
The participitants say it is time to permit the legal regulation in all countries of psychoactive substances like Marijuana and Coca leaf.
“The import of the Commission’s report lies in both the distinction of its members and the boldness of their recommendations,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a partner organization of the commission reported. “The former presidents and other Commission members pull no punches in insisting that national and global drug control policies reject the failed prohibitionist policies of the 20th century in favor of new policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.”
An excerpt from the report’s Executive Summary reads, as follows;
The Commissioners call for an end to the criminalization and incarceration of users together with targeted prevention, harm reduction and treatment strategies for dependent users.
In order to reduce drug related harms and undermine the power and profits of organized crime, the Commission recommends that governments regulate drug markets and adapt their enforcement strategies to target the most violent and disruptive criminal groups rather than punish low level players. The Global Commission’s proposals are complementary and comprehensive. They call on governments to rethink the problem, do what can and should be done immediately, and not to shy away from the transformative potential of responsible regulation.
Members of the commission met Tuesday in New York City to discuss the report at a press conference.
The report was released ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs, scheduled in Y 2016.
Members of the commission say they hope the UN will take their report’s recommendations into consideration in reshaping global drug policy.
The report’s Executive Summary summarizes the group’s recommendations for internatinal drug policy reform, as follows;
1. Putting health and community safety 1st requires a fundamental reorientation of policy priorities and resources, from failed punitive enforcement to proven health and social interventions.
2. Ensure equitable access to essential medicines, in particular opiate-based medications for pain.
3. Stop criminalizing people for drug use and Marijuana possession, and stop imposing “compulsory treatment” on people whose only offense is drug use or possession.
4. Rely on alternatives to incarceration for non-violent, low-level participants in illicit drug markets such as farmers, couriers and others involved in the production, transport and sale of illicit drugs.
5. Focus on reducing the power of criminal organizations as well as the violence and insecurity that result from their competition with both one another and the state.
6. Allow and encourage diverse experiments in legally regulating markets in currently illicit drugs, beginning with but not limited to Marijuana, Coca leaf and certain novel psychoactive substances.
7. Take advantage of the opportunity presented by the upcoming UNGASS in Y 2016 to reform the global drug policy regime.
“Ultimately, the global drug control regime must be reformed to permit legal regulation,” said former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in a statement on the report. “Let’s start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, rather than as a crime, and by reducing drug demand through proven educational initiatives. But let’s also allow and encourage countries to carefully test models of responsible legal regulation as a means to undermine the power of organized crime, which thrives on illicit drug trafficking.”
The report comes as traditional punitive Marijuana and other drug policies around the world are already being reconsidered and reshaped.
In Y 2013, Uruguay became the 1st country in the world to approve the legal regulation of the production, distribution and sale of Marijuana.
The US federal government continues to ban Marijuana, but in Colorado and Washington State programs are in place that legalize the recreational use of the drug.
Twenty-three other US states and Washington DC have legalized Marijuana for medical use, and many more states are expected to consider legalization in some form in the coming years.
“We can’t go on pretending the war on drugs is working,” Mr. Branson said in a statement about the commission’s report. “We need our leaders to look at alternative, fact-based approaches. Much can be learned from successes and failures in regulating alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceutical drugs. The risks associated with drug use increase, sometimes dramatically, when they are produced, sold and consumed in an unregulated criminal environment. The most effective way to advance the goals of public health and safety is to get drugs under control through responsible legal regulation.”
“There’s no question now that the genie of reform has escaped the prohibitionist bottle,” Mr. Nadelmann, a member of the commission’s “expert review panel,” said in an interview. “I’m grateful to the Commission for the pivotal role it has played in taking drug policy reform from the fringes of international politics to the mainstream.”
This is an on going story.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
Global Commission Calls For Decriminalization Of Marijuana
Posted on: September 9, 2014
http://www.livetradingnews.com/global-commission-calls-decriminalization-marijuana-70458.htm#.VBBqNqGm0vl
A report released Tuesday by the Global Commission on Drug Policy calls on governments around the world to legalize Marijuana, and decriminalize drug use.
Members of the commission, including former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former US Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, call for drug policies shaped by a greater emphasis on public health, as well as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug crimes.
The participitants say it is time to permit the legal regulation in all countries of psychoactive substances like Marijuana and Coca leaf.
“The import of the Commission’s report lies in both the distinction of its members and the boldness of their recommendations,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a partner organization of the commission reported. “The former presidents and other Commission members pull no punches in insisting that national and global drug control policies reject the failed prohibitionist policies of the 20th century in favor of new policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.”
An excerpt from the report’s Executive Summary reads, as follows;
The Commissioners call for an end to the criminalization and incarceration of users together with targeted prevention, harm reduction and treatment strategies for dependent users.
In order to reduce drug related harms and undermine the power and profits of organized crime, the Commission recommends that governments regulate drug markets and adapt their enforcement strategies to target the most violent and disruptive criminal groups rather than punish low level players. The Global Commission’s proposals are complementary and comprehensive. They call on governments to rethink the problem, do what can and should be done immediately, and not to shy away from the transformative potential of responsible regulation.
Members of the commission met Tuesday in New York City to discuss the report at a press conference.
The report was released ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs, scheduled in Y 2016.
Members of the commission say they hope the UN will take their report’s recommendations into consideration in reshaping global drug policy.
The report’s Executive Summary summarizes the group’s recommendations for internatinal drug policy reform, as follows;
1. Putting health and community safety 1st requires a fundamental reorientation of policy priorities and resources, from failed punitive enforcement to proven health and social interventions.
2. Ensure equitable access to essential medicines, in particular opiate-based medications for pain.
3. Stop criminalizing people for drug use and Marijuana possession, and stop imposing “compulsory treatment” on people whose only offense is drug use or possession.
4. Rely on alternatives to incarceration for non-violent, low-level participants in illicit drug markets such as farmers, couriers and others involved in the production, transport and sale of illicit drugs.
5. Focus on reducing the power of criminal organizations as well as the violence and insecurity that result from their competition with both one another and the state.
6. Allow and encourage diverse experiments in legally regulating markets in currently illicit drugs, beginning with but not limited to Marijuana, Coca leaf and certain novel psychoactive substances.
7. Take advantage of the opportunity presented by the upcoming UNGASS in Y 2016 to reform the global drug policy regime.
“Ultimately, the global drug control regime must be reformed to permit legal regulation,” said former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in a statement on the report. “Let’s start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, rather than as a crime, and by reducing drug demand through proven educational initiatives. But let’s also allow and encourage countries to carefully test models of responsible legal regulation as a means to undermine the power of organized crime, which thrives on illicit drug trafficking.”
The report comes as traditional punitive Marijuana and other drug policies around the world are already being reconsidered and reshaped.
In Y 2013, Uruguay became the 1st country in the world to approve the legal regulation of the production, distribution and sale of Marijuana.
The US federal government continues to ban Marijuana, but in Colorado and Washington State programs are in place that legalize the recreational use of the drug.
Twenty-three other US states and Washington DC have legalized Marijuana for medical use, and many more states are expected to consider legalization in some form in the coming years.
“We can’t go on pretending the war on drugs is working,” Mr. Branson said in a statement about the commission’s report. “We need our leaders to look at alternative, fact-based approaches. Much can be learned from successes and failures in regulating alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceutical drugs. The risks associated with drug use increase, sometimes dramatically, when they are produced, sold and consumed in an unregulated criminal environment. The most effective way to advance the goals of public health and safety is to get drugs under control through responsible legal regulation.”
“There’s no question now that the genie of reform has escaped the prohibitionist bottle,” Mr. Nadelmann, a member of the commission’s “expert review panel,” said in an interview. “I’m grateful to the Commission for the pivotal role it has played in taking drug policy reform from the fringes of international politics to the mainstream.”
This is an on going story.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
Global Commission Calls For Decriminalization Of Marijuana
Posted on: September 9, 2014
http://www.livetradingnews.com/global-commission-calls-decriminalization-marijuana-70458.htm#.VBBqNqGm0vl
A report released Tuesday by the Global Commission on Drug Policy calls on governments around the world to legalize Marijuana, and decriminalize drug use.
Members of the commission, including former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former US Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, call for drug policies shaped by a greater emphasis on public health, as well as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug crimes.
The participitants say it is time to permit the legal regulation in all countries of psychoactive substances like Marijuana and Coca leaf.
“The import of the Commission’s report lies in both the distinction of its members and the boldness of their recommendations,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a partner organization of the commission reported. “The former presidents and other Commission members pull no punches in insisting that national and global drug control policies reject the failed prohibitionist policies of the 20th century in favor of new policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.”
An excerpt from the report’s Executive Summary reads, as follows;
The Commissioners call for an end to the criminalization and incarceration of users together with targeted prevention, harm reduction and treatment strategies for dependent users.
In order to reduce drug related harms and undermine the power and profits of organized crime, the Commission recommends that governments regulate drug markets and adapt their enforcement strategies to target the most violent and disruptive criminal groups rather than punish low level players. The Global Commission’s proposals are complementary and comprehensive. They call on governments to rethink the problem, do what can and should be done immediately, and not to shy away from the transformative potential of responsible regulation.
Members of the commission met Tuesday in New York City to discuss the report at a press conference.
The report was released ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs, scheduled in Y 2016.
Members of the commission say they hope the UN will take their report’s recommendations into consideration in reshaping global drug policy.
The report’s Executive Summary summarizes the group’s recommendations for internatinal drug policy reform, as follows;
1. Putting health and community safety 1st requires a fundamental reorientation of policy priorities and resources, from failed punitive enforcement to proven health and social interventions.
2. Ensure equitable access to essential medicines, in particular opiate-based medications for pain.
3. Stop criminalizing people for drug use and Marijuana possession, and stop imposing “compulsory treatment” on people whose only offense is drug use or possession.
4. Rely on alternatives to incarceration for non-violent, low-level participants in illicit drug markets such as farmers, couriers and others involved in the production, transport and sale of illicit drugs.
5. Focus on reducing the power of criminal organizations as well as the violence and insecurity that result from their competition with both one another and the state.
6. Allow and encourage diverse experiments in legally regulating markets in currently illicit drugs, beginning with but not limited to Marijuana, Coca leaf and certain novel psychoactive substances.
7. Take advantage of the opportunity presented by the upcoming UNGASS in Y 2016 to reform the global drug policy regime.
“Ultimately, the global drug control regime must be reformed to permit legal regulation,” said former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in a statement on the report. “Let’s start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, rather than as a crime, and by reducing drug demand through proven educational initiatives. But let’s also allow and encourage countries to carefully test models of responsible legal regulation as a means to undermine the power of organized crime, which thrives on illicit drug trafficking.”
The report comes as traditional punitive Marijuana and other drug policies around the world are already being reconsidered and reshaped.
In Y 2013, Uruguay became the 1st country in the world to approve the legal regulation of the production, distribution and sale of Marijuana.
The US federal government continues to ban Marijuana, but in Colorado and Washington State programs are in place that legalize the recreational use of the drug.
Twenty-three other US states and Washington DC have legalized Marijuana for medical use, and many more states are expected to consider legalization in some form in the coming years.
“We can’t go on pretending the war on drugs is working,” Mr. Branson said in a statement about the commission’s report. “We need our leaders to look at alternative, fact-based approaches. Much can be learned from successes and failures in regulating alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceutical drugs. The risks associated with drug use increase, sometimes dramatically, when they are produced, sold and consumed in an unregulated criminal environment. The most effective way to advance the goals of public health and safety is to get drugs under control through responsible legal regulation.”
“There’s no question now that the genie of reform has escaped the prohibitionist bottle,” Mr. Nadelmann, a member of the commission’s “expert review panel,” said in an interview. “I’m grateful to the Commission for the pivotal role it has played in taking drug policy reform from the fringes of international politics to the mainstream.”
This is an on going story.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
Global Commission Calls For Decriminalization Of Marijuana
Posted on: September 9, 2014
http://www.livetradingnews.com/global-commission-calls-decriminalization-marijuana-70458.htm#.VBBqNqGm0vl
A report released Tuesday by the Global Commission on Drug Policy calls on governments around the world to legalize Marijuana, and decriminalize drug use.
Members of the commission, including former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former US Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, call for drug policies shaped by a greater emphasis on public health, as well as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug crimes.
The participitants say it is time to permit the legal regulation in all countries of psychoactive substances like Marijuana and Coca leaf.
“The import of the Commission’s report lies in both the distinction of its members and the boldness of their recommendations,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a partner organization of the commission reported. “The former presidents and other Commission members pull no punches in insisting that national and global drug control policies reject the failed prohibitionist policies of the 20th century in favor of new policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.”
An excerpt from the report’s Executive Summary reads, as follows;
The Commissioners call for an end to the criminalization and incarceration of users together with targeted prevention, harm reduction and treatment strategies for dependent users.
In order to reduce drug related harms and undermine the power and profits of organized crime, the Commission recommends that governments regulate drug markets and adapt their enforcement strategies to target the most violent and disruptive criminal groups rather than punish low level players. The Global Commission’s proposals are complementary and comprehensive. They call on governments to rethink the problem, do what can and should be done immediately, and not to shy away from the transformative potential of responsible regulation.
Members of the commission met Tuesday in New York City to discuss the report at a press conference.
The report was released ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs, scheduled in Y 2016.
Members of the commission say they hope the UN will take their report’s recommendations into consideration in reshaping global drug policy.
The report’s Executive Summary summarizes the group’s recommendations for internatinal drug policy reform, as follows;
1. Putting health and community safety 1st requires a fundamental reorientation of policy priorities and resources, from failed punitive enforcement to proven health and social interventions.
2. Ensure equitable access to essential medicines, in particular opiate-based medications for pain.
3. Stop criminalizing people for drug use and Marijuana possession, and stop imposing “compulsory treatment” on people whose only offense is drug use or possession.
4. Rely on alternatives to incarceration for non-violent, low-level participants in illicit drug markets such as farmers, couriers and others involved in the production, transport and sale of illicit drugs.
5. Focus on reducing the power of criminal organizations as well as the violence and insecurity that result from their competition with both one another and the state.
6. Allow and encourage diverse experiments in legally regulating markets in currently illicit drugs, beginning with but not limited to Marijuana, Coca leaf and certain novel psychoactive substances.
7. Take advantage of the opportunity presented by the upcoming UNGASS in Y 2016 to reform the global drug policy regime.
“Ultimately, the global drug control regime must be reformed to permit legal regulation,” said former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in a statement on the report. “Let’s start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, rather than as a crime, and by reducing drug demand through proven educational initiatives. But let’s also allow and encourage countries to carefully test models of responsible legal regulation as a means to undermine the power of organized crime, which thrives on illicit drug trafficking.”
The report comes as traditional punitive Marijuana and other drug policies around the world are already being reconsidered and reshaped.
In Y 2013, Uruguay became the 1st country in the world to approve the legal regulation of the production, distribution and sale of Marijuana.
The US federal government continues to ban Marijuana, but in Colorado and Washington State programs are in place that legalize the recreational use of the drug.
Twenty-three other US states and Washington DC have legalized Marijuana for medical use, and many more states are expected to consider legalization in some form in the coming years.
“We can’t go on pretending the war on drugs is working,” Mr. Branson said in a statement about the commission’s report. “We need our leaders to look at alternative, fact-based approaches. Much can be learned from successes and failures in regulating alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceutical drugs. The risks associated with drug use increase, sometimes dramatically, when they are produced, sold and consumed in an unregulated criminal environment. The most effective way to advance the goals of public health and safety is to get drugs under control through responsible legal regulation.”
“There’s no question now that the genie of reform has escaped the prohibitionist bottle,” Mr. Nadelmann, a member of the commission’s “expert review panel,” said in an interview. “I’m grateful to the Commission for the pivotal role it has played in taking drug policy reform from the fringes of international politics to the mainstream.”
This is an on going story.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
Florida May Become First Southern State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Supporters say the measure would help combat the state's epidemic of painkiller abuse, but polls have fluctuated wildly, and opponents are seizing on a controversial video to question their true intentions.
http://www.governing.com/topics/elections/gov-florida-could-become-first-southern-state-to-allow-medical-marijuana.html
If Florida voters authorize medical marijuana in November, they’ll not only make the state the first in the South to legalize the drug for therapeutic reasons. They’ll also make Florida, potentially the third largest market outside of California and New York, one of the only states in the country to enshrine medical marijuana in the state constitution. It would also become one of the only states giving doctors considerable discretion to recommend the drug outside of a specific set of diseases.
It’s on that last point that opponents of Florida’s Amendment 2 have focused the most attention, arguing the measure grants doctors too much leeway. And they’ve raised $3.2 million, mostly with cash from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, to put the measure down.
But supporters, who have raised even more money in large part with the resources of one sympathetic trial lawyer, appear to have public opinion on their side. Polls have fluctuated wildly, though. The most recent one, released Thursday, pegged support at 57 percent -- tied for the lowest yet -- but backers need to hit 60 percent to pass a constitutional amendment. A Quinnipiac University poll in July put support at 88 percent, six percent higher than another Quinnipiac poll from November 2013.
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The lawyer, John Morgan, may have helped get the measure out of the gate with more than $3.5 million in financial support, but he's not doing the campaign many favors lately. A video surfaced last week showing an apparently drunk Morgan at a rally around the time of a medical marijuana debate with the sheriff of Florida's Polk County. Morgan tells an exuberant audience that he "might smoke a lot of grass" once he's out of the sheriff's domain.
Morgan never says he supports full legalization of marijuana, but opponents have pounced over the general tone, Morgan's explitive-laced plea for supporters to vote and the crowd's chants of "smoke weed!" as evidence that Amendment 2 has less to do with getting sick people medicine than expanding marijuana use overall. Amendment 2's proponents say Morgan then went on to talk about a family member who manages chronic pain with the help of marijuana instead of prescription painkillers, which isn't included in the segment of video opponents are promoting online, shown here.
That video could very well weigh on the Amendment 2 campaign, but on the strength of polling so far, proponents argue the public is on their side. They also make another argument that’s likely to resonate in a state considered the center of a nationwide prescription painkiller epidemic in recent years: medical marijuana use reduces addiction to far more harmful drugs. Between 1999 and 2010, states that legalized medical marijuana had 25 percent fewer deaths from painkiller overdoses, according to a study released in August in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which stressed the study proves correlation, not causation.
“I’ve been saying that for the last year and a half,” said Ben Pollara, a Democratic fundraiser managing a campaign for medical marijuana called United for Care. “It’s a nice kind of affirmation that the study has come out, and to a certain extent confirms what I already believe.”
Pollara, like other advocates for medical marijuana, said he’s seen the damage of prescription opiates first hand, and marijuana is a much better alternative for chronic pain.
Marijuana’s potential for relieving chronic pain is one of many therapeutic benefits cited by proponents, but there’s disagreement over the benefits and influential quarters of the medical establishment remain skeptical. The American Medical Association, for instance, doesn’t endorse recreational use or state-based medical programs, but the group -- like others -- supports changing the drug’s status as a highly controlled substance and expediting research. Critics of U.S. drug policy have long wanted the Food and Drug Administration to relax its position on marijuana, saying it discourages research and the kind of formal clinical trials needed to better establish legitimacy.
The University of California at San Diego’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, however, has performed clinical trials since California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 and has found the drug provides relief from muscle stiffness and spasms among patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and from pain in patients suffering from serious disorders such as AIDS.
But while the U.S. has been more reluctant to formally study the medicinal benefits of marijuana, Israel has become a research powerhouse and established the drug as a treatment for conditions as varied as post-traumatic stress and Parkinson’s disease. Pollara argues the FDA’s reluctance shouldn’t hold back people who find relief in marijuana.
Florida was already caught up in a wave of recent state laws (many of them in the South) legalizing cannabis oil made from a part of the plant that doesn’t get users high but has gained a foothold in treating epilepsy. Advocates say other southern states will surely follow Florida's lead, because there's already visible support. "The Southern states have been slow to come around in terms of changing policy, despite majority support for medical marijuana, so passing an effective medical marijuana law in Florida would be a big step and hopefully help nearby states realize that it is time to enact compassionate legislation and that these programs can be regulated successfully," said Morgan Fox, the spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project.
By legalizing medical marijuana that contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient, Florida would join 23 other states and the District of Columbia. Eleven of those states legalized medical marijuana in just the past four years, signaling growing acceptance among the American public, which now narrowly supports full recreational use as well.
All but a few, including California and Massachusetts, however, limit the number of diseases for which a doctor can recommend medicinal marijuana, such as cancer, AIDS, ALS and multiple sclerosis. The language Florida voters will see uses the words “debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician,” but in the full text of the amendment, which isn’t visible on the ballot, a debilitating condition is also defined as one “for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks.”
Opponents argued the ballot language is deceptive and will lead to de facto recreational legalization, but the state Supreme Court narrowly upheld the measure with the votes of three Democratic-appointed justices and one appointed by Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist, who’s running against the current Republican officeholder, Rick Scott, for another chance at the governor’s mansion this year.
Calvina Fay, executive director of the Florida-based Drug Free America Foundation, worries about trends such as increased marijuana-related hospitalization in the past decade and increased usage among teenagers, which is linked to lower IQ in adulthood (though two prominent, peer-reviewed journals have released studies undercutting the assertion that legalizing medical marijuana leads to increased use among teenagers).
Fay also worries that medical marijuana is a back door to legalized recreational use or at least makes it far more likely in the future. She is concerned about the permanence of a constitutional amendment and thinks the polling on the issue overstates public support because it doesn’t get into the actual details of the ballot measure, which she thinks will turn off voters as they learn more. She takes the most recent poll as a sign of trouble, because anything less than support well over the 60 percent threshold is a bad sign.
“If it’s polling at 60 percent, I think the other side is in trouble,” she said.
Beam it is the 400k I think and the conversion would be around 5,705,233.33 shares..
343M O/S 4.99% of that is 17,115,700 1/3rd of loan is apx 400k so 1/3 of conversion shares would be the 5,705,233.33 shares and that is still at the discretion of lenders... No conversion is written in stone......
ST
Beam, that was tests done on the e-cig cartridges dated 09. I would be of the assumption that the liquid that Vapor has was tested in the last year or two. Just makes me wounder how far ahead of other companies Vapor is and the level of communications and testing with/by the FDA.
ST
Value, in the SA article it is written as to suggest Vapors e-liquid has already been submitted to the FDA for testing. If so i would like to see the findings report from the FDA.
I would like to see the official report on Vapors e-liquid from the FDA..
Manipulation, 3 MM on the stock (cock) block. Blatant manipulation....
Kd, as you can tell I am long in this... Numbers have changed in my TD A account as to the float...... NEED ANSWERS AS TO WHY....
S.T. W/1.375 Million and adding when I can.....
Well we dam sure need some explanation.................
TheSittingtight1 Thursday, 09/04/14 04:28:25 AM
Re: None
Post # of 34596
TD Ameritrade Share Information
Float 132.6M
Shares Outstanding 343.5M
Vapor Group Inc, formerly AvWorks Aviation Corp., and its wholly owned subsidiary, Young Aviation, LLC (Young Aviation) operate as a diversified broker and supplier of parts and services to the worldwide aviation and aerospace markets. The Company services a broad range of clients such as aircraft leasing companies, major airlines, repair stations, fixed-base operators, leasing companies and aftermarket suppliers. The Company was a management consulting firm that planned to educate and assist small businesses to improve their management, corporate governance, regulatory compliance and other business processes, with a focus on capital market participation.
Valuation Ratios
Price/Earnings (TTM) --
Price/Sales (TTM) 7.64x
Price/Book (MRQ) --
Price/Cash Flow (TTM) --
TTM = Trailing Twelve Months MRQ = Most Recent Quarter
Historic Growth and Share Detail
Historic Growth
Short Interest
Share Information
Annual Growth, Past 5 Years
--
VPOR is in a share class of CS
EPS
NM
Current Month
--
Float
132.6M
Revenue
NM
Previous Month
--
Shares Outstanding
343.5M
Dividend
NM
Percent of Float
--
Institutions Holding Shares
--
Days to Cover
--
Held By Institutions
--
ST going long 1.375m
TD Ameritrade Share Information
Float 132.6M
Shares Outstanding 343.5M
Valuation Ratios
Price/Earnings (TTM) --
Price/Sales (TTM) 7.64x
Price/Book (MRQ) --
Price/Cash Flow (TTM) --
TTM = Trailing Twelve Months MRQ = Most Recent Quarter
Historic Growth and Share Detail
Historic Growth
Short Interest
Share Information
Annual Growth, Past 5 Years
--
VPOR is in a share class of CS
EPS
NM
Current Month
--
Float
132.6M
Revenue
NM
Previous Month
--
Shares Outstanding
343.5M
Dividend
NM
Percent of Float
--
Institutions Holding Shares
--
Days to Cover
--
Held By Institutions
--
ST going long 1.375m
I must give credit and thanks to Dror and The Board of Directors for the strategic move to reduce the share structure and to create shareholder value. I have had my own ideas for the company to create shareholder value and their resent move was close to my personal thoughts. We all now can start to see the smoke through the trees. I am still under the belief that this company will be a $10 to $15 stock with in one to two years or possibly sooner.
For all you longs and future investors hold tight to your shares and make the MM pay for their evil ways. I made a post a week or so ago about the 7500 shareholders, here are my thoughts in that post.
Wow!!!!! LOL That is why you never place a stop loss on such a volatile stock...... SUCKERS
jr, how does that 3rd option (40% gone + 1B cancelled) look now to reduce the share structure?
No r/s no share buy back YET. LOL
Wait till Vapor pays off that convertible debt... Might not be totally payed but 50 to 70% would be phenomenal....
I see dividends coming with in a year or two .. IMO Only
Have a great day folks.
ST going long and strong 1.375
Grizz, even with a 10 to 15% variation in my numbers there is a tone of profit to be made.. That is the point for my post.
GRCU strong..
70 grams x 1000 milligrams per gram =70,000 milligrams ÷ 50milligram per capsule = 1400 capsules
1400 / 30 capsules per container that is 46.6 containers at a $90.00 price = $4200
One pound of pot at wholesale is $900 to $1500 depending on XYZ
Lets just say $1200 for $hits and giggles
$4200- $1200 = $3000 revenue then deduct expenses lets say $500 based on ONE pound that is $2500 profit
1 lb. = $2500
10 lb.= $25,000
100 lb.= $250,000
and so on...
Now any one buying 100 300 500 pounds of pot WILL not be paying anywhere near 1200 dollars each
Also, Hemp (no THC) per pound will be considerably less expensive and that is what GRCU is using.
That is what Investors are excited about..............................
Have a great night
You take 1 pound of marijuana and boil down to Roughly 70 grams or 2.5 ounces of the essential oil
Can you all hear it? I darn sure can!
Ching Ching, Ching Ching... SWeeeeeeeeeeeDT
ST going long.
Can we get a HOD close?
Is it November yet?
Thank you MuRk.
cjeff Thanks, I missed the interview due to little one's B-day.
So porky if we have a 7,500 shareholders and lets say a conservative number like 20,000 shares each that would make the float approximately
150M. So what we have here is a naked short of 54,000,000 shares that need to be covered....... LMFAO Some one is in trouble.. lol
Where did you get that 7500 number from?
ST W/1.375 milly and not letting go...........................
Nice volume /consolidation. We are fixing move up off the bottom. IMO
ST 1.375 solid..
Spot on spot off, it does not make a difference to me. The glass is half empty........ lol
I do have another opinion..
So, Vapor pays off Hanover and takes the 4.99% which is equal to the convertible notes and instead of surrendering/retiring them they (Vapor) use that revenue as a dividend to there loyal shareholders...
Here is how it would work...
Wow, I was just answering a question as to how.... I did not get to listen last night. I will. Interesting enough, this is how I answered the question.... LOL Vapor long... $10 to $15 easily.... IMO
LYN I did find another e-cig co. VHU======B they have fillings too if you want to add them to the list.
ST
Hay bears, knowledge is power, don't give up, just step back for a few. Vapor has done extraordinarily well so far. The next two Q will be very telling and you may see your efforts applied and blossom into something great.
Thank you for taking the time to better everyone’s investment in Vapor.
We will prosper.
ST.1.375
G oil D are you sure it was OUT and note ONE UP? heeee hee hee
LYN This is info on TD Ameritrade.
...... Float / O/S
ECIG = 48.9M / 74.6M
VPCO = 10.2M / 16.7M
MCIG = 20.1M / 270.1M
AHII = 63.9M / 99.9M
GLLA = 59.9M / 72.5M
VAPR = 65.5M / 70.6M
WCIG = 32.3M / 45.9M
VAPE = 9.2M / 9.6M
I believe this to be correct. Crossed most with Q's
ST 1.375
CEO and COO surrender back to the treasury 25% 40% or even 50% of their common restricted shares. This will lower the O/S. Then the tresery retires them shares. This will lower the A/S.
No R/S or buyback needed........
In return, the Company issues them a equivalent amount of preferred shares (ratio) so they still maintain control of the company.
That is how it is possible.
Now they could also pay off the convertible debt prior to Oct. 29. 2014 and returned/retired that amount of shares that could (remember Hanover has the option to convert at there discretion) have been converted (up to 4.99% of the float) back to the treasury.
again, No R/S or buyback needed........
Have a great night and rest of weekend.
ST 1.375M
Beam can I guess? lol
And the chase is on.... lol
ST 1.375
Vapor did tell you they sold American Smoke. It's called a Quarterly report not a Daily or weekly report..... Now had Vapor not reported it on that Q for the three months of corporate happenings then you might have a beef, but they did.
Folks we are over the halfway point of Q3 now and investors should be staying cool buying the fear. Vapor's progress has come a long way in such a short period of time. You all know the saying "Your actions speak so loud, I can not hear what you say" and Vapor's business plan to make money so far has not been a disappointment. IMO only
Good morning all, looking to have a great day today.
ST
TheSittingtight1 Wednesday, 08/20/14 02:59:52 PM
Re: Lowhndcpr post# 33633
Post # of 33851
Lowhndcpr, I don't believe the company insiders have anything to do withe the price drop. Remember their shares are locked for 18 months.
Here is how I see this happening.
When the price of SPLI took off after merger announcement in Jan/Feb the demand out weighed the supply as there was only 93.2M shares in the float. So the MM started taking on a short position, it only got worse due to speculation of MMJ hype. Some where along the way they have to cover and with the Sykes of the world along with the MM it got out of hand. I would not be surprised if the short at one time did not match the entire float and until all have covered I believe we will not see any major runs. There are quit a few longs here in Vapor and they refuse to let them shares go back to cover, so it is now and has been a waiting game. This is my opinion only but you can look and calculate from the volume back in Feb and March and see what I am saying.
GLTY and all Longs, sit tight and it will change direction for the good.
ST with 1.375M Long Who holds the rest of the 91.9M shares of the float?
porky, What? NET REVENUES $1,025,365 Q2/2014