{"id":1452,"date":"2012-03-13T07:52:27","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T07:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/?p=13021"},"modified":"2012-03-13T07:52:27","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T07:52:27","slug":"marijuana-advocates-lobby-california-officials-while-patients-suffer-defeat-in-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-advocates-lobby-california-officials-while-patients-suffer-defeat-in-maryland\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana Advocates Lobby California Officials while Patients Suffer Defeat in Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-advocates-lobby-california-officials-while-patients-suffer-defeat-in-maryland\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/lobbyistgs1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"lobbyistgs\" title=\"lobbyistgs\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-13023\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/marijuana-advocates-lobby-california-officials-while-patients-suffer-defeat-in-maryland\/attachment\/lobbyistgs-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-13023\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/lobbyistgs1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Although laws should be based on facts and common sense, it would be incredibly na\u00efve to assume this was the case.\u00a0 Patients and advocates have found out the hard way that simply having a superior argument is not enough to change the legislative culture.<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana advocates have become increasingly sophisticated in the methods they employ to push for legal change.\u00a0 A high powered group consisting of growers, dispensaries, and union members are shifting course from running a ballot initiative to getting their message on the airwaves with television and radio advertisements.\u00a0 The group will now also use the millions it has collected to lobby California lawmakers to fix the legislative mess that marijuana law finds itself in.\u00a0 Democratic assembly member<a href=\"http:\/\/asmdc.org\/members\/a13\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Tom Ammiano<\/a> is already on board and has proposed a new system for marijuana regulation in California.\u00a0 Ammiano\u2019s plan would\u00a0 create a state run system that could avoid the pitfalls of the current system where individual municipalities interpret state law differently.\u00a0 The state would oversee dispensary\u00a0 permits, cultivation, and distribution of cannabis.\u00a0 The system would offer a flexible tax system where local governments could institute a tax of up to 2% on transactions.\u00a0 One of the most interesting provisions was designed with patients in mind as Ammiano\u2019s plan would require one dispensary for every 50,000 people, ensuring patient\u2019s \u201csafe access\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland activists may also have to consider lobbyists as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.state.md.us\/\" target=\"_blank\">Governor Martin O\u2019Malley<\/a> has vetoed a recent bill that would have allowed medical marijuana.\u00a0 Patients were hopeful they would be receiving their medicine soon as there seemed to be considerable momentum for a medical bill.\u00a0 State legislators passed this recent measure and last year a law was passed in Maryland that eliminates penalties for those possessing marijuana if they have a debilitating illness.\u00a0 All hope is not lost in Maryland, but Governor O\u2019Malley stated that the federal climate would have to change in order for him to pass a medical marijuana bill.\u00a0 Citing a fear of state employees being arrested the governor said,\u00a0 &#8220;I will say that, would the federal landscape look different, then I would support a bill like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>California stands to have an eventful legal year as it tries to overhaul its medical marijuana program.\u00a0 Advocates have taken their movement to the next level and politicians may have no choice but to listen.\u00a0 While the defeat in Maryland is unfortunate, patients can at least have hope as their legislators are not staunchly against providing relief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/lobbyistgs1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"lobbyistgs\" title=\"lobbyistgs\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-13023\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/marijuana-advocates-lobby-california-officials-while-patients-suffer-defeat-in-maryland\/attachment\/lobbyistgs-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-13023\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/lobbyistgs1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Although laws should be based on facts and common sense, it would be incredibly na\u00efve to assume this was the case.\u00a0 Patients and advocates have found out the hard way that simply having a superior argument is not enough to change the legislative culture.<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana advocates have become increasingly sophisticated in the methods they employ to push for legal change.\u00a0 A high powered group consisting of growers, dispensaries, and union members are shifting course from running a ballot initiative to getting their message on the airwaves with television and radio advertisements.\u00a0 The group will now also use the millions it has collected to lobby California lawmakers to fix the legislative mess that marijuana law finds itself in.\u00a0 Democratic assembly member<a href=\"http:\/\/asmdc.org\/members\/a13\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Tom Ammiano<\/a> is already on board and has proposed a new system for marijuana regulation in California.\u00a0 Ammiano\u2019s plan would\u00a0 create a state run system that could avoid the pitfalls of the current system where individual municipalities interpret state law differently.\u00a0 The state would oversee dispensary\u00a0 permits, cultivation, and distribution of cannabis.\u00a0 The system would offer a flexible tax system where local governments could institute a tax of up to 2% on transactions.\u00a0 One of the most interesting provisions was designed with patients in mind as Ammiano\u2019s plan would require one dispensary for every 50,000 people, ensuring patient\u2019s \u201csafe access\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland activists may also have to consider lobbyists as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.state.md.us\/\" target=\"_blank\">Governor Martin O\u2019Malley<\/a> has vetoed a recent bill that would have allowed medical marijuana.\u00a0 Patients were hopeful they would be receiving their medicine soon as there seemed to be considerable momentum for a medical bill.\u00a0 State legislators passed this recent measure and last year a law was passed in Maryland that eliminates penalties for those possessing marijuana if they have a debilitating illness.\u00a0 All hope is not lost in Maryland, but Governor O\u2019Malley stated that the federal climate would have to change in order for him to pass a medical marijuana bill.\u00a0 Citing a fear of state employees being arrested the governor said,\u00a0 &#8220;I will say that, would the federal landscape look different, then I would support a bill like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>California stands to have an eventful legal year as it tries to overhaul its medical marijuana program.\u00a0 Advocates have taken their movement to the next level and politicians may have no choice but to listen.\u00a0 While the defeat in Maryland is unfortunate, patients can at least have hope as their legislators are not staunchly against providing relief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,52,1478,1479,46,56,9,51,70,1,3,795,61],"tags":[2628,2632,4047,4048,2629,2636,2631,5,3368,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}