{"id":626,"date":"2012-08-29T07:26:16","date_gmt":"2012-08-29T07:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/?p=19731"},"modified":"2012-08-29T07:26:16","modified_gmt":"2012-08-29T07:26:16","slug":"marijuana-gets-political-as-gop-convention-gets-underway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-gets-political-as-gop-convention-gets-underway\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana Gets Political As GOP Convention Gets Underway"},"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-gets-political-as-gop-convention-gets-underway\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/GOP-Convention.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Republican National Convention\" title=\"Republican National Convention\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-19734\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/marijuana-gets-political-as-gop-convention-gets-underway\/attachment\/republican-national-convention\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-19734\" title=\"Republican National Convention\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/GOP-Convention-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>This week the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gopconvention2012.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Republican National Convention<\/a> has commenced.\u00a0 The goal of the convention will be to officially nominate former Governor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mittromney.com\/forms\/meet-mitts-choice-vp\" target=\"_blank\">Mitt Romney<\/a> as the Republican candidate for president of the United States.\u00a0 The convention has been forced to do a balancing act because Hurricane Isaac has been looming.\u00a0 The guest speakers, which included Ann Romney, Rick Santorum and Chris Christie, were tasked with the goal of painting Mitt Romney as the man who can turn our country around.\u00a0 Absent from any of the speeches was marijuana reform, even as it is becoming a large concern for many Americans.\u00a0 The convention will continue throughout the week, however, since mainstream coverage will ignore the issue, marijuana.net would like to take this time to discuss some political updates that will not make it to the airwaves this week.<\/p>\n<p>The two party system in the United States has disenfranchised many and created a sentiment that we have very limited choices.\u00a0 This could explain why the United States Medical Marijuana Chamber of Commerce has now officially endorsed a president that has overseen the largest attack on medical marijuana patients in 16 years.\u00a0 Fear of Mitt Romney seems to have prompted the endorsement.\u00a0 Thomas L. Leto III, President and Founder of the group said in a statement this week \u201cThe Economic Potential of the Cannabis Business in the U.S. is Limitless and President Obama understands this, It is our impression that Mr. Romney just doesn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 Mitt Romney is known for his business success and would probably be able to forecast how large the legalized marijuana is set to grow in the coming years.\u00a0 However, his campaign has been forced to embrace far right wing ideals which would likely prevent him from enacting reform measures.\u00a0 Many are confident that an Obama second term would see a less toxic atmosphere for marijuana, while many fear the unknown with a Romney presidency.<\/p>\n<p>We would also like to touch on another political issue that will likely fly under the radar this week.\u00a0 The NAACP has announced their endorsement of Washington States Initiative 502.\u00a0 New Approach Washington has been instrumental in collecting enough signatures from residents in order to get the issue of marijuana legalization and regulation in front of voters this November.\u00a0 As reported by marijuana.net last week, the group also backed Colorado\u2019s Ammendment 64, a ballot initiative that will also face a vote by residents and is similar to Washington\u2019s Initiative 502.\u00a0 NAACP President of the Alaska, Washington State, and Oregon chapter, Oscar Eason, Jr. said \u201cTreating marijuana use as a crime has not only failed, it has perpetuated racial inequities through unequal enforcement.\u201d\u00a0 He also went on to say \u201cAfrican Americans are no more likely than whites to use marijuana, but we are much more likely to be arrested for it.\u201d\u00a0 This sentiment also matches the rationale for the NAACP backing of the Colorado legalization efforts.<\/p>\n<p>As the road to the White House unfolds we will continue to provide updates.\u00a0 Next week is the Democratic National Convention to be held in North Carolina.\u00a0 While we expect a dodging of the marijuana issue there, we would like to remind the president that he could truly galvanize a large voting base by demonstrating some concern for reform and medical patients.\u00a0 We would also hope that Hurricane Isaac passes through with minimal damage.\u00a0 Our hearts, once again, are with the Gulf region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/GOP-Convention.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Republican National Convention\" title=\"Republican National Convention\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-19734\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/marijuana-gets-political-as-gop-convention-gets-underway\/attachment\/republican-national-convention\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-19734\" title=\"Republican National Convention\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/GOP-Convention-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>This week the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gopconvention2012.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Republican National Convention<\/a> has commenced.\u00a0 The goal of the convention will be to officially nominate former Governor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mittromney.com\/forms\/meet-mitts-choice-vp\" target=\"_blank\">Mitt Romney<\/a> as the Republican candidate for president of the United States.\u00a0 The convention has been forced to do a balancing act because Hurricane Isaac has been looming.\u00a0 The guest speakers, which included Ann Romney, Rick Santorum and Chris Christie, were tasked with the goal of painting Mitt Romney as the man who can turn our country around.\u00a0 Absent from any of the speeches was marijuana reform, even as it is becoming a large concern for many Americans.\u00a0 The convention will continue throughout the week, however, since mainstream coverage will ignore the issue, marijuana.net would like to take this time to discuss some political updates that will not make it to the airwaves this week.<\/p>\n<p>The two party system in the United States has disenfranchised many and created a sentiment that we have very limited choices.\u00a0 This could explain why the United States Medical Marijuana Chamber of Commerce has now officially endorsed a president that has overseen the largest attack on medical marijuana patients in 16 years.\u00a0 Fear of Mitt Romney seems to have prompted the endorsement.\u00a0 Thomas L. Leto III, President and Founder of the group said in a statement this week \u201cThe Economic Potential of the Cannabis Business in the U.S. is Limitless and President Obama understands this, It is our impression that Mr. Romney just doesn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 Mitt Romney is known for his business success and would probably be able to forecast how large the legalized marijuana is set to grow in the coming years.\u00a0 However, his campaign has been forced to embrace far right wing ideals which would likely prevent him from enacting reform measures.\u00a0 Many are confident that an Obama second term would see a less toxic atmosphere for marijuana, while many fear the unknown with a Romney presidency.<\/p>\n<p>We would also like to touch on another political issue that will likely fly under the radar this week.\u00a0 The NAACP has announced their endorsement of Washington States Initiative 502.\u00a0 New Approach Washington has been instrumental in collecting enough signatures from residents in order to get the issue of marijuana legalization and regulation in front of voters this November.\u00a0 As reported by marijuana.net last week, the group also backed Colorado\u2019s Ammendment 64, a ballot initiative that will also face a vote by residents and is similar to Washington\u2019s Initiative 502.\u00a0 NAACP President of the Alaska, Washington State, and Oregon chapter, Oscar Eason, Jr. said \u201cTreating marijuana use as a crime has not only failed, it has perpetuated racial inequities through unequal enforcement.\u201d\u00a0 He also went on to say \u201cAfrican Americans are no more likely than whites to use marijuana, but we are much more likely to be arrested for it.\u201d\u00a0 This sentiment also matches the rationale for the NAACP backing of the Colorado legalization efforts.<\/p>\n<p>As the road to the White House unfolds we will continue to provide updates.\u00a0 Next week is the Democratic National Convention to be held in North Carolina.\u00a0 While we expect a dodging of the marijuana issue there, we would like to remind the president that he could truly galvanize a large voting base by demonstrating some concern for reform and medical patients.\u00a0 We would also hope that Hurricane Isaac passes through with minimal damage.\u00a0 Our hearts, once again, are with the Gulf region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,407,322,408,52,311,166,409,410,183,184,56,9,68,379,185,51,411,170,412,70,106,413,414,1,3,415,416,72,417,173,61],"tags":[2871,2985,2900,2986,2632,2889,2744,2987,2988,2761,2762,2636,2647,2957,2763,2631,2989,2748,2990,5,2684,2991,2992,2993,2994,2650,2995,2751,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626"}],"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=626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}