The city of Riverside's medical marijuana initiative will enrich shady criminal pot peddlers at the expense of public safety and kids. Or the June 2 ballot measure will bring much-needed regulation to some businesses that have been operating in a legal gray area for years. It really just depends on whom you ask. Language is everything. Turns out, Riverside residents don't object to legalization in theory. But when confronted with specific policy proposals, voters start getting a bit skittish. [continues 660 words]
Public opinion is rich with ironies and contradictions. We're a people who detest Congress, but love our congressman. We think public education is a catastrophe, but our kids' elementary school is pretty darn good. And depending on how a pollster frames a question, a voter could disapprove of a policy proposal, but approve of the same idea with a different word or two in the very same poll. So it appears to be the case with a Riverside ballot measure to legalize a limited number of medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits. The Riverside Medical Marijuana Restriction and Limitation Act a clever name for an initiative that would in fact loosen restrictions and limitations would allow up to 10 dispensaries to open in certain locations around the city, away from residential neighborhoods, parks and schools. It would also permit home deliveries. [continues 627 words]
First, 20 states and the District of Columbia passed laws legalizing marijuana for medical use. Then in 2012, voters in Washington state and Colorado approved measures legalizing the sale and possession of marijuana for non-medical use, with state oversight. Now at least a half-dozen states from Alaska to Maine are considering following suit. Marijuana still remains a federally controlled substance, but Attorney General Eric Holder in January said the U.S. Justice Department would soon issue regulations to let state-sanctioned marijuana businesses have access to banking and credit. Can full legalization be far behind? Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, try to answer the question. [continues 508 words]
First, 20 states and the District of Columbia passed laws legalizing marijuana for medical use. Then in 2012, voters in Washington state and Colorado approved measures legalizing the sale and possession of marijuana for non-medical use, with state oversight. Now at least a half-dozen states from Alaska to Maine are considering following suit. Marijuana still remains a federally controlled substance, but Attorney General Eric Holder in January said the U.S. Justice Department would soon issue regulations to let state sanctioned marijuana businesses have access to banking and credit. [continues 719 words]
