Flanked by fellow legislators and drug policy reform leaders, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) held a press conference yesterday in his office on Capitol Hill to announce the details of legislation that would eliminate federal criminal sanctions for possession of marijuana.
The “Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008,” also known as H.R. 5843, would remove federal criminal penalties for personal possession of up to 100 grams of marijuana or the nonprofit transfer of up to an ounce of marijuana. It would not change the federal statutes forbidding cultivation, import, export or for-profit sale of marijuana.
If you have a problem with school officials strip searching 13-year-olds for Advil — or if you care about the government’s standards for informant use and invasive searches — you can take relief in yesterday's ruling by a full panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which ruled 6-5 that students cannot be strip-searched based on the uncorroborated word of another student who is facing disciplinary punishment.
Tomorrow, U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) will convene a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) entitled, "Illegal Drugs: Economic Impact, Societal Costs, Policy Responses." According to the committee’s media advisory, “The panel will discuss the illegal drug economy in the United States, assess the costs of U.S. policy responses to combating drug use, and address the need for policy reforms.”
After four decades of the disastrous "War on Drugs," Americans have come to expect senseless, ruthless public policies, but Congress' ban on financial aid for students with a drug conviction takes the cake.
A student who commits murder, rape, or any other serious crime may still be eligible for financial aid. Yet, thanks to the "Aid Elimination Penalty" provision slipped into the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) without debate or a recorded vote, a student convicted of any drug offense — even possessing a single joint of marijuana — automatically loses federal financial aid eligibility. To date, more than 200,000 students have been denied federal loans, grants, and work-study because of the HEA's little-known penalty. Since most states use federal financial aid guidelines to determine eligibility for state-based financial aid, the provision has also resulted in a majority of states withholding aid to students convicted of a drug law violation.
Last night's ACLU Membership Conference gala titled "Celebrating Liberty" — stepped it up a notch, from just plain inspiring to outright rousing. Although Ozomatli concluded the night by whipping the gathering into a frenzy, for me the greatest thrill was witnessing the innovative philanthropist and political activist George Soros speak about his personal history and convictions.
If you've read the news the past two weeks, you may have noticed eye-grabbing headlines with bold proclamations that marijuana use leads to increased risk of heart disease and that teens who use marijuana suffer from greater rates of depression. If you took the time to read these so-called "studies," however, you know that they are fear-mongering government propaganda pieces meant to stand in for science. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions — like David Harsanyi's column in the Denver Post — much of the media has simply parroted the government's press releases.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, legislation has been introduced in Congress that would eliminate federal criminal sanctions for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
