marijuana

Marijuana Push In Closing Days Of Session In Albany

Karen DeWitt — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:06:00 +0000

Members of the New York state legislature’s Black and Hispanic caucus and their allies made a last-minute push for a bill to decriminalize the public possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying current laws unfairly target young black and Latino men.

Assemblyman Karim Camara, who chairs the caucus, says the bill to decriminalize public possession of small amounts of marijuana is needed partly to fix an ongoing problem with the New York City Police Department’s Stop and Frisk policy. He and other supporters gathered outside the Senate chamber, to call for a vote.

5/21/13 - Panel

Joe Donahue — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Today's panelists are WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Dr. Jennifer Michaels of The Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and University at Albany Journalism Professor and Investigative Reporter, Rosemary Armao.

Topics include:
Mental Illness in the Family
Generation Rx
Marijuana: Panacea, Pleasure or Plague

Law Enforcement to Lobby Against Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

Pat Bradley — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Law enforcement officers opposed to a proposal that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana will be at the Vermont statehouse Thursday asking legislators to reject the measure.

ACLU Challenges Commonwealth's View on Sharing Pot

Lucas Willard — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:22:04 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts is speaking out against the Commonwealth’s persecution of those who share marijuana, despite a ballot measure in 2008 that decriminalized the drug. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

New England Lawmakers Seeking to Legalize Pot

Lucas Willard — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Lawmakers in Rhode Island and Maine are promising to push legislation to legalize marijuana in their states after voters in Colorado and Washington removed legal penalties for pot use.

Rhode Island state Rep. Edith Ajello and Maine state Rep. Diane Russell say public support for marijuana legalization is growing. They say regulated sales of marijuana would eliminate the criminal black market while raising badly needed revenue for governments.

Similar proposals are expected in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Karen O'Keefe - The Marijuana Policy Project

Patrick Donges — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 17:40:00 +0000

Last week, the states of Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize the possession and use of marijuana for recreational use.

In our region, Massachusetts voters widely supported a referendum legalizing the prescription of marijuana for medicinal use.

For more on what these developments mean for the future of marijuana policy in New York State and across the country, WAMC’s Patrick Donges spoke with Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project.

Vox Pop : Sport and Illegal Substances : 8/7/12

Patrick Donges — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:00:00 +0000

This week local judo fighter Nick Delpopolo became the first Olympic athlete to be disqualified from competing after an in-competition drug test. It wasn’t steroids or human growth hormone that got him kicked off the American squad, it was a positive test for marijuana, which was added to the International Olympic Committee’s banned substances list following a positive test in 1998.

NYS Marijuana Bill Appears Dead

Karen Dewitt — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:08:19 +0000

A bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana appears dead for the legislative session , now that Republicans in the Senate say they won’t be acting on the bill. Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…

Governor Cuomo says it’s “highly unlikely” that his bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana will be taken up by the Senate before the legislative session ends on Thursday, and Senate Leader Dean Skelos confirms that.

Massachusetts Legislators Seek Legalization of Marijuana

Lucas Willard — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:23:55 +0000

As a pending ballot initiative for November aims to legalize the sale medical marijuana in the state, a bill filed by State Representative Ellen Story seeks to allow Massachusetts residents over 21 to legally purchase or grow marijuana for personal use. Representative Story says the bill represents the opinion of her district…

Bid to Pass Marijuana Decriminalization Fails in VT

Pat Bradley — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:46:21 +0000

Backers of marijuana decriminalization have failed in their effort to bring the measure to the full Vermont House for a vote. WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports…

The measure had been held up in the House Judiciary Committee, with House Speaker Shap Smith opposed to it.

On Tuesday, Representative Oliver Olsen, a Jamaica Republican, called for a vote in the House to pull the bill out of committee and bring it to the floor for debate. That motion failed on a vote of 119 to 21.