PR Log - Dec 13, 2012 - RIVERSIDE, CA -- On December 10, 2012 the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on President Obama to respect the will of the voters of Colorado and Washington in legalizing marijuana, end federal interference in states that have passed medical marijuana laws and to appoint a commission to look into marijuana law reform.
The resolution was drafted and introduced by the Brownie Mary Democratic Club of Riverside County because of a concern by club members that the Obama Administration did not look favorably on Colorado and Washington’s passage of initiatives legalizing the use and sale of marijuana. According to a December 6 article in the New York Times, none of the options being considered by the Obama Administration allow for the states to implement their new laws without some kind of drastic federal intervention.
Members of the BMDC will be going to the offices of Senator Barbara Boxer in downtown Riverside on Thursday, December 13 at 11 a.m. to request that she facilitate delivering a copy of the resolution passed by the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee to the President’s office.
“Barbara Boxer is our Senator and we hope that she will help us get a copy of the resolution into the hands of someone in the White House who will actually read it and give it some serious consideration,” said Lanny Swerdlow, RN, chairperson of the BMDC. “The President is out of touch with the voters on this issue and Democrats in particular. His only contact with marijuana issues seems to be with law enforcement like the DEA and ONDCP who stand to lose their $20 billion a year marijuana prohibition full employment program if marijuana is legalized.”
Swerdlow continues, “President Obama needs to expand his source of information and hear the views of those whose support the reform of marijuana laws like U.S. Congresswoman Diana DeGette and the other nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have sponsored H.R. 6606, which would exempt marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act in states which have legalized its use.”
The group plans to ask other Democratic Central Committees to pass the resolution and is planning an on-line petition so that the general public can also let President Obama know that they want real change and that it is time to take a fresh look at our nation’s marijuana laws.
· Recent polls conducted by the Gallup, Angus Reid, Public Policy and Quinnipiac polling organizations have found that a majority of American voters support the legalization of marijuana.
· The polls consistently find that the percent of Democrats in favor of marijuana legalization is always higher than the general population with the Quinnipiac poll reporting that marijuana legalization is supported by 58% of Democrats.
· A CBS poll found that fifty-nine percent of Americans believe it should be left up to the states to decide whether or not to legalize marijuana - including 49 percent of those who oppose legalizing marijuana in general.
The Brownie Mary Democratic Club of Riverside County is the first political party affiliated cannabis club in the nation. Club members will be working within the Democratic Party to promote and educate the party members of the medical and financial benefits of cannabis. The club also works to help ensure legislation protects of the rights of medical marijuana patients and bring marijuana prohibition to an end. To learn more about the Brownie Mary Democratic Club please visit their website, www.browniemaryclub.org or contact the Chairman, Lanny Swerdlow, RN at 760-799-2055 or email him at lanny@marijuananews.org
RESOLUTION TO BE SENT TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
WHEREAS 18 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws legalizing the use of cannabis when recommended by a physician, and
Whereas Colorado and Washington in 2012 passed laws legalizing the recreational use of cannabis, and
Whereas over 825,000 Americans are caught up in the criminal justice system every year for marijuana law violations, and
Whereas the United States spends over $20 billion a year enforcing marijuana prohibition laws, and
Whereas thousands of people are murdered every year involving the smuggling of illegal drugs into the United States and marijuana accounts for over half of these illegal drugs, and
Whereas polls show overwhelming support for the medicinal use of cannabis and majority support for legalization of marijuana, and
Whereas marijuana prohibition laws are racially enforced with a far larger percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics convicted and imprisoned for marijuana prohibition offenses than their white counterparts even though marijuana use in their communities is no more than in white communities, and
Whereas college students lose their college grants and scholarships if found to be using marijuana,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee requests:
President Obama to allow the newly enacted marijuana legalization laws in Colorado and Washington to go into effect with no federal interference, and
President Obama to end the Department of Justice interference and raids by federal agencies in states with medical marijuana laws, and
A comprehensive study be immediately undertaken to produce recommendations for reform of our nation’s marijuana prohibition laws.
Read Full Story - Riverside County Democrats Pass Resolution; President Obama Respect Voters' Marijuana Initatives | More news from this source
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The resolution was drafted and introduced by the Brownie Mary Democratic Club of Riverside County because of a concern by club members that the Obama Administration did not look favorably on Colorado and Washington’s passage of initiatives legalizing the use and sale of marijuana. According to a December 6 article in the New York Times, none of the options being considered by the Obama Administration allow for the states to implement their new laws without some kind of drastic federal intervention.
Members of the BMDC will be going to the offices of Senator Barbara Boxer in downtown Riverside on Thursday, December 13 at 11 a.m. to request that she facilitate delivering a copy of the resolution passed by the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee to the President’s office.
“Barbara Boxer is our Senator and we hope that she will help us get a copy of the resolution into the hands of someone in the White House who will actually read it and give it some serious consideration,” said Lanny Swerdlow, RN, chairperson of the BMDC. “The President is out of touch with the voters on this issue and Democrats in particular. His only contact with marijuana issues seems to be with law enforcement like the DEA and ONDCP who stand to lose their $20 billion a year marijuana prohibition full employment program if marijuana is legalized.”
Swerdlow continues, “President Obama needs to expand his source of information and hear the views of those whose support the reform of marijuana laws like U.S. Congresswoman Diana DeGette and the other nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have sponsored H.R. 6606, which would exempt marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act in states which have legalized its use.”
The group plans to ask other Democratic Central Committees to pass the resolution and is planning an on-line petition so that the general public can also let President Obama know that they want real change and that it is time to take a fresh look at our nation’s marijuana laws.
· Recent polls conducted by the Gallup, Angus Reid, Public Policy and Quinnipiac polling organizations have found that a majority of American voters support the legalization of marijuana.
· The polls consistently find that the percent of Democrats in favor of marijuana legalization is always higher than the general population with the Quinnipiac poll reporting that marijuana legalization is supported by 58% of Democrats.
· A CBS poll found that fifty-nine percent of Americans believe it should be left up to the states to decide whether or not to legalize marijuana - including 49 percent of those who oppose legalizing marijuana in general.
The Brownie Mary Democratic Club of Riverside County is the first political party affiliated cannabis club in the nation. Club members will be working within the Democratic Party to promote and educate the party members of the medical and financial benefits of cannabis. The club also works to help ensure legislation protects of the rights of medical marijuana patients and bring marijuana prohibition to an end. To learn more about the Brownie Mary Democratic Club please visit their website, www.browniemaryclub.org or contact the Chairman, Lanny Swerdlow, RN at 760-799-2055 or email him at lanny@marijuananews.org
RESOLUTION TO BE SENT TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
WHEREAS 18 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws legalizing the use of cannabis when recommended by a physician, and
Whereas Colorado and Washington in 2012 passed laws legalizing the recreational use of cannabis, and
Whereas over 825,000 Americans are caught up in the criminal justice system every year for marijuana law violations, and
Whereas the United States spends over $20 billion a year enforcing marijuana prohibition laws, and
Whereas thousands of people are murdered every year involving the smuggling of illegal drugs into the United States and marijuana accounts for over half of these illegal drugs, and
Whereas polls show overwhelming support for the medicinal use of cannabis and majority support for legalization of marijuana, and
Whereas marijuana prohibition laws are racially enforced with a far larger percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics convicted and imprisoned for marijuana prohibition offenses than their white counterparts even though marijuana use in their communities is no more than in white communities, and
Whereas college students lose their college grants and scholarships if found to be using marijuana,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee requests:
President Obama to allow the newly enacted marijuana legalization laws in Colorado and Washington to go into effect with no federal interference, and
President Obama to end the Department of Justice interference and raids by federal agencies in states with medical marijuana laws, and
A comprehensive study be immediately undertaken to produce recommendations for reform of our nation’s marijuana prohibition laws.
Read Full Story - Riverside County Democrats Pass Resolution; President Obama Respect Voters' Marijuana Initatives | More news from this source
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