NORML@UCF Meeting 11-20-2013
Rachael: Welcome to the last NORML@UCF meeting of fall semester2013!
Announcements
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Amanda: February is Medical Marijuana Month
o Medical Marijuana Bash will be Monday, February 17th in the Pegasus Ballroom.
o We need designs for out Medical Marijuana Month merchandise!
 We will have sunglasses, pens, flyers and bumper stickers!
 The logo needs to say Medical Marijuana Month, funded by SGA and
NORML@UCF
o December 7th: Fundraiser for Medical Marijuana Month
 Dress accordingly! The theme will be “what I want to be when I grow up”
Jan
o See Jan about becoming a member!
 $30 a year
 $20 a semester
 Receive your NORML@UCF upon becoming a member! ($15 otherwise)
o Saturday, November 23rd: Harvest Potluck!
 Food is $5 unless you bring a dish or bring 4 canned items and/or other
nonperishables to donate to the Knights Helping Knights Pantry
(www.knightspantry.org), in which case you eat for free!
 Savannah will have an apple cider punch bowl!
 There will be an Energy Healing and Spirituality workshop $5 or free for
members! Let Jan know if you would like to attend this workshop, because
spots go fast.
 Wear a NORML@UCF or a tie dye t-shirt!
 We will have bands such as Aaron Fox Marshall, and John David Williams
 The Potluck ends at 8:00 PM so that members who so chose may attend the
Dose the Slut live album recording at Red Lion Pub later in the evening.
Trey Miller of What’sit Records
o She the Slut (Mario Khoury) will be recording a live album of about 40 songs (
around 2 hours) at Red Lion Pub on November 23rd at 9:00 PM with a bluegrass jam
afterwards!
o The goal of this event is to bring together the culture and atmosphere that music
entails and put it on an album
o It is free and expected to end around 2:00AM
o Other bands present will include: Bear With Me and We’re All Gonna Die
Tonight’s Guest Speaker: Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, Faculty Oaksterdamn
University, Author, Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?
The Fight for Cannabis Freedom: Where we’ve been, where we’re going
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The drug war is an utter failure!
o 1970 Nixon administration declares ‘war on’ drugs; declares marijuana ‘public enemy
1’
 In 1973, there were 328,760 arrests for drug law violations, out of a total
9,027,700 arrests nationwide for all offenses (3% of all arrests) that year,
authorities reported 380,560 arrests for all violent crimes.
 In 2001, the number of arrests for drug law violations rose to 1,531251 out of
a total 12,408,899 arrests nationwide for all offenses (12% of all arrests).
Authorities reported 534,704 arrests for all violent crimes.
 758,000 marijuana arrests in 2011: 43% of all drug arrests are for pot
possession only
 Since 1970, illicit drug experimentation among the general public is up,
annual drug overdose deaths are up, and average drug potency has risen.
Street value of illicit substances has fallen, greater varieties of illicit
substances are now available on the market, the total number of offenders in
prison for drug crimes today totals the number of persons in prison in 1980 for
all crimes.
But it’s great for Big Brother and Big Government
o Mandatory minimum sentencing
o Assets forfeiture
o Suspicion-less drug testing
o Dog searches
o Formation of DEA and ONDCP
o D. A. R. E./Just Say No
o Drug Courts
o ‘Coerced’ Treatment
o Federal anti-drug budget 1970: $100 million. Federal anti-drug budget FY 2014:
$16.1 billion (Associated Press, ONDCP)
o DEA 2014 budget 2.5 billion,11,000 employees
How $$$ is spent
o $20 billion to fight drug traffickers in their home countries
o $33 billion in marketing just say no style messages to youth and to get prevention
programs
o $49 billion for law enforcement along America’s borders
o $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders
o $450 billion to lock those people up in federal prisons.
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o Overall total: Over $1 trillion spent over the past 40 years
o Yet the federal governments admits none of this works:
 US outgoing Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske to the Associated Press, May 2010:
“In the grand scheme, it (he US drug war) has not been successful. Forty years
later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified,
intensified.”
So why does the drug war on cannabis continue unabated?
o Culture war
o Entrenched bureaucratic interests
 Primarily law enforcement
o It’s an effective way to stifle civil liberties by criminalizing relatively common
behavior and then selectively enforcing this prohibition
 Opiates and Chinese
 1910-1930 marijuana, anti-immigrants and Mexican
 101 powder crack cocaine vs. Inner-city urban black males
 Meth vs. white Midwestern’s
 It is not a policy on drugs, it is a policy against those who society thinks uses
those drugs, and when that changes, the policy changes.
o Who is going to admit they made a mistake?
History of prohibition
o 1911-1937 Multiple states enact criminalization
 Massachusetts outlaws cannabis in 1911
o 1937 Congress enacts Marihuana Tax Act
o 1970 Congress enacts Controlled Substances Act
 Cannabis and all of its biological components are classified schedule I
prohibited substances.
 “High potential for abuse… no currently accepted medical use…[and]
a lack of accepted safety for the use of the drug… under medical
supervision.”
 1972 Shafer Commission recommends decriminalizing cannabis
 1985 FDA approved dronabinol (synthetic THC in sesame seed oil)
 Schedule II substances, later downgraded to Schedule III because of its
safety profile
 1996-2013 Twenty states and Washington DC enact laws allowing for the
physician recommended use therapy for qualifying condition.
 November, 2011 Colorado and Washington legalize the adult possession and
use of specific quantities for nonmedical purposes.
 November, 2013 various cities across America de-penalize marijuana
possession: Gallup finds nationwide support for legalization at an all-time
high.
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Cannabis Prohibition Financially burdens taxpayers
o States in 2010 spent estimated $3.6 billion enforcing marijuana possession laws, a
30% increase from a decade earlier.
 This total included $1,747,157,206 in police time, $1,371,200,815 to
adjudicate marijuana possession cases, and $495,611,826 to incarcerate
individuals for marijuana possession.
 Nearly 13% of states inmates and just over 12% of federal inmates are
incarcerated for marijuana related drug violations.
 Cost of over $1 billion to house these inmates
 An estimated 90% of all state-level marijuana arrests are for possession only,
not cultivation, sale, or trafficking.
 74 % of all Americans busted for pot are under the age of thirty and one out of
four are 18 or younger
 “The black arrest rate for marijuana is greater than the white rate in 90% of
the countries reviewed, and more than twice the white rate in 64% of them.
Racial differences in marijuana and other drug arrests are stark, unambiguous,
and represent a serious threat to the integrity of our criminal justice system.:
(NORML)
 Black people are four times more likely than white people to be arrested for
marijuana possession nationwide. (ACLU 2013)
 Blacks were more likely than whites to be arrested for cannabis
violations in 908 of 945 countries reviewed by the ACLU.
Cannabis prohibition limits civil liberties
o Random drug testing in workplace
 US v. Von Raab (SCOTUS, 1989)
 Ross v. Ragingwire (CA Supreme Court, 2008)
o Random drug testing in public schools
 Veronia v. Acton (SCOTUS, 1995), OK Board of ED v. Earls (SCOTUS,
2002)
o Civil assets forfeiture
o Drug dog searches
 Illinois v Caballes (SCOTUS, 2005)
o Parental rights, adoption rights, etc.
Prohibition impedes addressing the plant’s full therapeutic potential
o Obama Admin. Register, July 2, 2011
 Cannabis has “high potential for abuse…no currently accepted medical use in
treatment in the United States…[and] lacks accepted safety for use under
medical supervision.”
 “There are no adequate and well-controlled studies proving marijuana’s
efficacy; the drug is not accepted by qualified experts.”
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“At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be
outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that
scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy.”
o “Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I classification is not tenable; it
is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value or that information on safety is
lacking.” (Igor Grant et al. 2012. The open neurology journal)
What are the long-term effects of cannabis?
o Cannabis and morality
 “Marijuana use in a prepaid heal care-base study cohort had little effect on
non-AIDS mortality in men and on total mortality in women.” (Sidney et al.
1937 Marijuana use and mortality. American Journal of Public Health).
 “Marijuana was by far the most commonly used illicit drug, but individuals
who use marijuana had a low prevalence of drug –related emergency
department visits.” (Perron et all. 2011. Patterns and correlates of drug related
EF visits; results from a national survey. American Journal of Emergency
Medicine)
o Cannabis and pulmonary function
 “With up to 7 join-years of lifetime exposure (e.g. 1 joint/day for 7 years of 1
joint/week for 49 years), we found no evidence that increasing exposure to
marijuana adversely affects pulmonary function.” (Pletcher et al. 2012.
Association between marijuana exposure and pulmonary function over 20
years. JAMA).
 “Long-term cannabis smoking not associated with airflow obstruction
(emphysema) or forced expiratory volume (FEV); was associated with cough,
bronchitis, phlegm, and wheezing (Tetrault et al. 2007. Effects of Marijuana
Smoking on Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Complications Review.
Archives of Internal Medicine).
o Cannabis and cancer risk
 Kaiser Permanente: 64, 855 examinees: “Marijuana use…was not associated
with tobacco-related cancers or with cancer of the following sites: colorectal,
lung, melanoma, prostate, breast, cervix…. Marijuana use and cancer were not
associated in overall analyses.” (Sidney et al. 1997. Marijuana use and cancer
incidence: California, United States. Cancer, Causes and Controls)
 Hashibe et al. 2006. Marijuana use and the risk of lung and upper
aerodigestive tract cancers: results of a population-based case-control study.
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention)
 “Cannabinoids are selective antitumor compounds, as they can kill tumor cells
without affecting their non-transformed counterparts.” (Guzman, 2003.
Cannabinoids: potential anti-cancer cells agents. Nature Reviews Cancer)
o Cannabis’ impact on cognition
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“The results of out meta-analytic study failed to reveal a substantial
systematic effect of long-term, regular cannabis consumption on the
neurocognitive function of users who were not acutely intoxicated.” (Grant et
al. 2003. Non-acute (residual) neurocognitive effects of cannabis use: A metaanalytic study. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society)
 “As hypothesized. The meta-analysis conducted on studies evaluating users
after at least 25 days of abstention found no residual effects on cognitive
performance…. These results fail to support the idea that heavy cannabis use
my result in long-term, persistent effects on the neuropsychological
functioning.” (Schreiner et al. 2012. Residual effects on neuropsychological
performance after prolonged abstinence: A meta-analysis. Experimental and
Clinical Psychopharmacology)
Are there populations at risk from cannabis use?
o Pregnant or nursing mothers
o Those with psychiatric disorders or with a family history of psychiatric disorders,
such as schizophrenia.
o Adolescents
o Those who will be driving following their consumption of cannabis (particularly
when used in combination with alcohol)
o Naïve users
o Those with a history of heart disease or stroke
o Those subjects with a history of drug dependence
After 70+ years of federal prohibition, the public finally gets it
o America is at a tipping point
 Never in modern history have a greater percentage of Americans supported
ending marijuana criminalization and enacting re-legalization
 55% of Colorado and Washington voters decide at the ballot box in favor of
legalization (November 2012)
o 85% of voter nationwide support medicalization (Fox, 2013)
o 58% of voters support legalization (PPP, 2012 Gallup 2013)
 Fewer than 40% oppose
o 66% say legalization will happen within the next 10 years (Angus Reid, 2012)
o Only 32% of Americans say that marijuana smoking is morally wrong. This is down
from 50% in 2006 (Pew, 2013)
o Super-majority of Americans want the federal government to butt out of marijuana
law enforcement
 64% of Americans say that the feds should not “take steps to enforce federal
anti-marijuana laws” in states that have legalized it (Gallup, 2012)
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More than four out of ten respondents who oppose legalizing cannabis
nonetheless believe that the Administration should respect state laws
allowing for its legal possession, use, and sale.
o 72% of Americans believe the feds should not enforce prohibition in states that have
legalized it (Princeton, 2013).
o 70% of Americans say: “government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than
they are worth” (Per, 2013).
o Arizona: 56% of residents support “legalizing the possession of small amounts of
marijuana” (Rocky Mountain poll, 2013)
o California: 65% of voters support “legalizing, taxing, and regulating” marijuana
(ACLU, 2013)
o Louisiana: 53% of voters support regulating and taxing marijuana for those age 21 or
older (ACLU, 2013)
 A second offense in Louisiana is a sentence of 20 years.
o Maryland: 53% support legalization (ACLU, 2013)
o New Hampshire: 51% of voters support legalizing “recreational marijuana” (WMUR
Granite State Pol, 2013)
o Texas: 58% of voters support “changing Texas law to regulate and tax marijuana
similarly to alcohol” (PPP, 2013)
 Texas has had decriminalization bills in office for the last 10 years.
o In Oklahoma, the cultivation of one plant is a life sentence.
o Florida has the lowest threshold [for a felony], as the possession of 20 or more grams
is a felony.
Addressing poll gaps
o Voters 65 and older
 33% (+11% since 2010); overall support among all other age groups: 57%
(Pew, 2013)
o Self-identified Republicans
 34% (+13% since 2010)
o Those who have never tried marijuana
 35% (+10 since 2010)
o Women
 Female voters’ support typically lags 9% behind men
 Particularly women between 30-45 years of age
 Women without children say yes
 Women with grown children say yes
 Women with young children, or children still at home say no
 Out of fear
2013 State Legislation
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o Lawmakers in 11 states: Alabama, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont- introduced
legislation to legalize adult, non-medical cannabis consumption.
o Lawmakers enacted 19 marijuana law reform measure in 12 states
 Vermont decriminalizes marijuana possession (15 states total)
 Illinois and New Hampshire legalize medical marijuana (20 states total)
 Oregon and Nevada legalize dispensaries (12 states total)
Pending Federal Legislation
o HR 525/S 359: The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013
 Excludes hemp from the federal definition of marijuana
 Permits states to regulate commercial hemp cultivation and productions
 28 House co-sponsors: 3 Senate co-sponsors, including Rand Paul and Mitch
McConnell
o HR 689: States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act
 Reschedules cannabis under CSA
 “No provision of the Controlled Substances Act shall prohibit of otherwise
restrict in a State in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a
physician for the medical use under applicable State law.”
o HR 1523: The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act
 Protects state authorized patron and businesses that are in compliance with
their state marijuana laws
o HR 499: The Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013
 Removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act
 De-federalizes marijuana policy and creates a framework for the retail
cannabis production and sale in the states that allow it
 Mimics the repeal of federal alcohol prohibition
 Each state will be left to decide its own policy regarding marijuana
laws based on the cultural morals of its region.
Pending State Initiatives
o Likely 2014 ballot initiatives
 Alaska: tax and regulate
 Arkansas: medical cannabis
 Florida: medical cannabis
 Oregon: tax and regulate
o Likely 2016 ballot initiatives
 Arizona: tax and regulate
 California: tax and regulate
 Maine: tax and regulate
 Massachusetts: tax and regulate
 Montana: tax and regulate
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Nevada: tax and regulate
Florida
o Polling
 70% support a constitutional amendment to allow physician supervised use of
marijuana (PUFFM, February 2013)
 62% for, 26% opposed (PPP, October 2013)
o John Morgan/ 2014 Initiative
 PUFFM now United for Care (www.unitedforcare.org)
 Constitutional amendment requires 60% for passage
 AG Pam Bondi, House Speaker Will Weatherford, Senate President Dob
Gaetz challenging the measure, Supreme Court to hear oral arguments on
December 5th.
 200,000 signs gathered (110,000 verified), campaign needs 683,149 by
February 1, 2014
 Campaigns cost money
 Petitioning should be done through a paid petitioning service with
trained petitioners because the signed petitions need to be perfect in
order to be verified.
Questions:
Q: Is the initiative in Florida premature?
A: No, the public is ready and that is when you are supposed to strike; however, one of two
people in the government can derail an initiative. Challenging the language of the initiative is
going to be the easiest way for those opposed to attempt to derail the initiative. Usually, showing
the government polls and threatening to take the initiative public and write our own laws gets the
government moving, but we do not have this option. We are doing what we should be doing:
petitioning and writing to our legislators!