420Reform.com

by Aria Munro

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — According to Craig Rubin, the government literally spent millions of taxpayer’s dollars over the past four years trying to send Rubin to jail. This time it for selling one gram of medical marijuana to an undercover officer who entered Rubin’s licensed facility with a Doctor’s note giving the officer permission to buy cannabis in California. Rubin claims that, after running for mayor, his political enemies decided to torture him. “I almost died in their custody and now I fear for my friend Jeff Joseph’s life. He is being held on over a half a million dollar bond for running a licensed medical marijuana club. There are people accused of murder with lower bail.”

When Rubin was arrested he weighed 145 pounds and now he weighs just less than 100 pounds. “I call it the Carmen Trutanich diet,” he says. Rubin has lost some weight, but he has not lost his sense of humor. Rubin has worried about the government taking his children as they have been homeless every since the city took his money. “Unfortunately, I only see my wife and kids on Sundays when we go to church.” Rubin’s wife and children are hotel-hopping in the San Fernando Valley while Rubin and his oldest son sleep at a warehouse where they can take care of their dogs in West L.A.

Jeff Joseph and Craig Rubin are both featured in the Kevin Booth film, “How Weed Won the West,” a follow up to his hit film, “American Drug” that also featured Craig Rubin. On the Alex Jones radio show Rubin exposed that the film was partially financed by Bret Bogue, an alleged government agent working in the cannabis industry. Alex Jones and Kevin Booth were both unaware of Bogue’s connection to law enforcement, but Rubin has videos allegedly showing Bogue working with the LAPD officers who arrested him in 2006. Rubin says, “The film is still great and everyone should get a copy even though I don’t get royalty checks, but realize just like mainstream films, this documentary has government funded product placement, the product is Bogue, to build his credibility in the industry.”

Rubin has a tendency to believe in the conspiracy of a New World Order and thinks cannabis is the key to defeating a global government. Cass Sunstein, Obama’s regulation Tzar, has allegedly stated that conspiracies are dangerous and wants to ban people from even discussing certain ones. He wants to start by regulating the World Wide Web (Internet) in America the way it is done in China and Iran. Senator Jay Rockefeller mused yesterday that, “Maybe our country would be better off if the Internet had never been invented.”

Rubin claims to now be represented by Southern California’s “fastest rising star in the marijuana legal field,” Jennifer Soares.

From this experience Rubin’s 10 year old son now wants to be an attorney and wrote a paper on how proud he was of his dad’s persistence in standing up for what is right. “It is my belief,” said Craig Rubin, “that Trutanich and Cooley have a hatred of my religious establishment because they are trying to give me a ’second strike’ that could lead to me spending life in prison.” There has never been one victim or citizen complaining about Rubin. His only supposed crimes are against the State.

ABC News Video:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7137520 .

Rubin was previously convicted of running a medical marijuana club in a case where he was prohibited from mentioning medical marijuana. The D.A. indicated in court yesterday that he planned to file a motion that would prohibit Rubin from mentioning medical marijuana again. Rubin has a positive attitude — considering the jail time he is facing. “I was convicted in the first case because an officer committed perjury. We called her as a witness and we shook hands acknowledging we’re both just doing our jobs. God is good and eventually my name will be cleared.”

Additional historical news on Craig Rubin: http://profiles.send2press.com/Craig_X_Rubin.shtml .

News Source: Craig Rubin

This story was issued by Send2Press Newswire (Send2Press.com) on behalf of the news source and is Copyright © 2010 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE EDITOR: Aria C. Munro works in the book publishing industry and has been a content editor for the Neotrope News Network since 2004. Her black video iPod is most often shuffling Invader Zim episode vids and Thomas Dolby or Dead Can Dance tunez

This material is Copr. © 2010 eNewsChannels™ and Neotrope®

Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 9:52am EST

Philadelphia Business Journal – by Athena D. Merritt Staff Writer

New Jersey joined more than a dozen states on Monday in legalizing medical marijuana use with the signing of legislation into law by Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

The legislation, which is among several bills signed by Corzine on his last full day in office, allows medical marijuana to be used by those with chronic and terminal diseases. Cancer, glaucoma, positive HIV/AIDS status and chronic, debilitating diseases or medical conditions that result in wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe and persistent muscle spasms are among the medical conditions that would qualify.

“This legislation holds the promise of easing the suffering of many New Jerseyans, now and in the future, by giving them the opportunity to legally access medical marijuana,” Corzine said. “The bill has the necessary safeguards and restrictions to ensure that those suffering from chronic and terminal diseases receive relief while maintaining our state’s tough stance on recreational drug use.”

The legislation allows for the establishment of alternative treatment centers to dispense marijuana to registered qualified patients. To qualify, patients would have to be diagnosed by a physician whom they have an existing relationship with as having a “debilitating medical condition” and then would be issued a registry identification card by the Department of Health and Senior Services to use medical marijuana.

Olympia, WA: State lawmakers heard testimony on Wednesday in support of taxing and regulating the commercial production and distribution of marijuana for adults.
Members of the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness heard arguments in favor of House Bill 2401, which seeks to “remove all existing civil and criminal penalties for adults 21 years of age or older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana.” The hearing marked the first time that state lawmakers had ever debated the merits of regulating the use and sale of cannabis.
Lawmakers at the hearing also heard testimony in favor of HB 1177, which seeks to reduce the penalties on minor marijuana possession offenses from a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine to a monetary penalty of no more than $100.
The Committee is scheduled to vote on both measures on Wednesday, January 20, 2010.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. To read NORML’s testimony in support of HB 2401 and HB 1177, please visit: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8079. For additional information on these proposed measures, please see: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/.

Sacramento, CA: Lawmakers on the California Assembly, Committee on Public Safety, voted 4 to 3 on Tuesday in favor of Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act – which seeks to legalize the production, distribution, and personal use of marijuana for adults age 21 and older. The vote is the first time since 1913, when California became one of the first states in the nation to criminalize the use and possession of marijuana, that lawmakers have called for the repeal of cannabis prohibition.
“Today’s vote marks the first time in nearly a century that California lawmakers have reassessed this failed criminal policy,” said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. “Any risks presented by the use of marijuana by adults falls within the ambit of choice we should permit individuals in a free society. It’s time to replace the failings of marijuana prohibition with a policy of legalization, regulation and education. Today’s vote is a significant, albeit first step in this direction.”
Further Assembly votes on AB 390 are unlikely to take place this session because of legislative calendar restraints. However, the bill’s sponsor, San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, has pledged to reintroduce a similar marijuana legalization measure imminently.
Registered supporters for AB 390 include: the AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the California Public Defenders Association, among others.
Registered opponents of the bill include: the California Fraternal Order of Police, the California Narcotics Officers Association, the California Police Chiefs Association, the California State Sheriffs’ Association, the California Peace Officers’ Association, and the California District Attorneys Association.
Voting ‘yes’ in favor of SB 390 were Ammiano, Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. Voting no were Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena (Los Angeles County), Assemblyman Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford (Kings County) and Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills (San Bernardino County).
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org, or Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator at: 415-563-5858 or online at: http://www.canorml.org. Video footage of today’s hearings is archived online on the California Channel at: http://www.calchannel.com/.

By National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws , Working to Reform Marijuana Laws

#1 Obama Administration: Don’t Focus On Medical Marijuana Prosecutions
United States Deputy Attorney General David Ogden issued a memorandum?to federal prosecutors in October directing them to not “focus federal resources … on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.” The directive upheld a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, who had previously pledged that he was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue.” Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7998.

#2 Public Support For Legalizing Pot Hits All-Time High
A majority of likely voters now support legalizing marijuana, according to a national pollof 1,004 likely voters published in December by Angus Reid. The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll results echo those of separate national polls conducted this year by Gallup, Zogby, ABC News, CBS News, Rasmussen Reports, and the California Field Poll­ each of which reported greater public support for marijuana legalization than ever before. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8054.

#3 Lifetime Marijuana Use Associated With Reduced Cancer Risk
The moderate long-term use of cannabis is associated with a reduced risk of head and neck cancer, according to the results of a population-based control study published in August by the journal Cancer Prevention Research. Authors reported, “After adjusting for potential confounders (including smoking and alcohol drinking), 10 to 20 years of marijuana use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.” Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7944.

#4 AMA Calls For Review Of Marijuana’s Prohibitive Status
In November, the American Medical Association resolved that marijuana should longer be classified as a Schedule I prohibited substance. Drugs classified in Schedule I are definedas possessing “no currently accepted use in treatment in the United States.” In a separate action, the AMA also determined, “Results of short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.” Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8020.

#5 California: Lawmakers Hold Historic Hearing On Marijuana Legalization
State lawmakers heard testimony in October in support of taxing and regulating the commercial production and distribution of cannabis for adults age 21 and older. Additional hearings, as well as a vote on Assembly Bill 390: the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act, are scheduled for January 2010. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8002.

#6 Maine Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure;
Dispensaries Coming To Washington, D.C. In 2010
Voters in November decided in favor of a statewide measurethat allows for the state to license non-profit facilities to distribute medical cannabis to qualified patients. The vote marked the first time that citizens ever approved a statewide ballot proposal authorizing the creation of dispensaries. In June, Rhode Island lawmakers enacteda similar measure. In December, Congress liftedfederal restrictions to allow for the D.C. City Council to implement provisions of a ten-year-old medical marijuana law that would allow for the use and distribution of medicinal cannabis in the District of Columbia. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8011.

#7 Oakland: Voters Approve First-In-The-Nation Medical Marijuana Business Tax
In July 80 percent of municipal voters approved Ballot Measure F, the nation’s first ever business tax on the retail sales of cannabis. The tax, which takes effect on January 1, imposes an exclusive tax for “cannabis businesses” of $18 for every $1,000 of gross receipts. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7937.

#8 Rasmussen Poll: Majority Of Americans Say Marijuana Is Safer Than Alcohol
More than half of American adults believe that alcohol is “more dangerous” than marijuana, according to the results of a national telephone pollof 1,000 likely voters published in September by Rasmussen Reports. Fifty-one percent of respondents, including a majority of women, rated the use of marijuana to be less dangerous than alcohol. Only 19 percent of those polled said that cannabis is the more dangerous of the two substances. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7965.

#9 Many Teens See Medical Cannabis As Alternative Treatment Option
Some one-third of adolescents view their use of marijuana as therapeutic rather than recreational, according to survey data published in May by the journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy. Teens most commonly reported using cannabis therapeutically to counter symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), physical pain, and sleeplessness. In November several mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times and Good Morning America, featured stories on adolescents using marijuana as a medicine. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7864.

#10 Oregon NORML Opens ‘Cannabis Café,’ Media Frenzy Follows
In November Oregon NORML opened the state’s first café catering to state-authorized medical marijuana patients. Unlike conventional marijuana dispensaries that operate in states like California and Colorado, medical cannabis is not sold on the premises, nor is the primary function of the café to dispense marijuana. “This is not a medical marijuana dispensary with a café; this is a café for medical marijuana patients,” said Madeline Martinez, Oregon NORML Executive Director. The Associated Press, Reuters, USA Today, The New York Times, and Democracy Nowwere among the hundreds of media outlets that covered the story. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8024.

  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – With California teetering perpetually on the edge of financial ruin, marijuana activists have seized the moment, claiming that legalizing and taxing pot could help bail out the cash-strapped Golden State.But critics are slamming the proposal, saying the social costs of a free-smoking state far outweigh the money it would bring in, and that a promised windfall from taxing marijuana sales couldn’t possibly plug California’s massive budget gap.

Voters are likely to confront the issue next year. Marijuana advocates say they have collected more than enough signatures, over 680,000, to qualify for November’s ballot with a proposal to make California the first U.S. state to legalize possession and cultivation of pot for recreational use.

Passage remains far from certain, even in socially permissive California.

Fifteen years after Californians led the nation in approving the use of cannabis for medical purposes, fierce political debate is raging over a recent mushrooming of medicinal pot dispensaries in Los Angeles and other cities.

In northern California towns like Arcata and Eureka, where pot has long been part of the social fabric and local economy, illicit growers have reportedly stepped up production to meet rising demand generated by the proliferation of clinics around the state of 38 million.

‘PROHIBITION IS CHAOS’

Under the latest initiative, simple possession of an ounce (28.5 grams) or less of marijuana, currently a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $100 fine, would be legal for anyone at least 21. It also would be lawful to grow limited amounts in one’s own home for personal use.

While sales would not be legalized outright, cities and counties could pass laws permitting commercial distribution subject to local regulations and taxes. Retail sales would still be limited to an ounce for adults 21 and older.

A Field Poll in April found 56 percent of California voters favor legalizing recreational marijuana and taxing it as a new revenue source to ease the budget crunch.

The state tax board found that California could collect $1.4 billion a year in taxes from a legalization bill proposed by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat.

He backs the referendum as a prelude to his own statewide bill, saying that outlawing pot has proven a failure. 

“Prohibition is chaos, and at least with regulation you have some control,” Ammiano said.

But critics warn that the social harms of legalizing cannabis — from declines in work production and academic achievement to a rise in traffic and job accidents — would likely trump any economic benefits.

“The carnage in this country due to alcohol and tobacco use is enormous,” said Joel Hay, professor of pharmaceutical economics and policy at the University of Southern California. “Why we would want to increase the use of another product that creates this kind of damage is hard to fathom.”

Hay questions the accuracy of revenue projections for Ammiano’s bill, based largely on a 2006 Harvard University study that valued California’s annual marijuana crop of an estimated 8.6 million pounds (3.9 million kg) at $13.8 billion a year.

‘DEALING WITH CONSEQUENCES’

“I don’t know that their numbers are correct. But whether it’s a billion or a half billion (dollars in revenue), that number will be swamped by the cost to the state of dealing with all the consequences,” Hay said. 

The tax board’s estimate assumes marijuana’s street price would drop by half if legalized but that demand would rise.

Still, the $1.4 billion in revenues projected for the Ammiano bill would make only a small dent in California’s budget shortfall, estimated at $21 billion for 2009-10.

Supporters say many of the benefits of legalizing pot are harder to quantify. They argue that ending prosecutions of marijuana possession would free up strained law enforcement resources and strike a blow against drug cartels, much as repealing prohibition of alcohol in the 1930s crushed bootlegging by organized crime.

Stephen Gutwillig, California head of the Drug Policy Alliance, said current law “makes criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens.”

State figures show misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests topped 61,400 in California last year, he said, up 127 percent from 1990, while arrests for all other crimes fell 40 percent.

The ballot measure’s leading advocate, Richard Lee, owner of several marijuana-related businesses in Oakland, also said legalization could be for California what gambling long was for Nevada — an added tourist attraction. 

Lee argued that if alcohol, which he calls “a more dangerous drug” than marijuana, can be taxed and regulated by the government, “we can surely do it with cannabis.”

But veteran political consultant Steve Smith said Lee’s measure had an uphill fight.

“What you like to have going in is 60 percent support, because the high point of a proponent’s campaign generally is when they start,” he said. “If they’re in the mid-50s, they have a chance of passage but it won’t be easy.”

(Editing by Mary Milliken and Eric Walsh)

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — A ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in California has received enough signatures to place it before voters next year, organizers said.

The “Tax, Regulate and Control Cannabis Act of 2010” has garnered 680,000 signatures, more than the 433,971 required to be placed on the state’s ballot, said Salwa Ibrahim, a spokeswoman for the measure’s sponsor, Oaksterdam University in Oakland, which bills itself as “America’s first cannabis college.”

“We’re going to keep collecting signatures until we have to turn it in,” before the February deadline, Ibrahim said in an interview today. “They’re from all over the state of California.”

The measure, which must be certified by the secretary of state before it can officially be placed on the ballot, would allow adults 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and cultivate 25 square feet (2.3 square meters) for personal consumption, Ibrahim said. Cities and counties can decide how and if to tax commercial sales and cultivation.

“So for instance, in a Danville or Alamo, if they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we do not want dispensaries or any of that in our communities,’ that’s fine, they don’t have to have it,” she said. “But a place like Oakland, where we desperately need the revenue, it would be a perfect fit.”

A Field Poll conducted in April showed that 56 percent of registered voters in California supported legalizing and taxing marijuana.

Health Reasons

California is one of 14 states allowing some marijuana use for health reasons, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Oakland voters this year approved a measure making their city the first in the U.S. to tax it.

In October, the state assembly’s Public Safety Commission discussed the social, fiscal and legal implications of legalizing and regulating the drug like alcohol. It was the first time the issue had been considered by the Legislature since the ban on marijuana use went into effect in 1913.

California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a separate marijuana legalization bill in February, that, if passed, would add $1.34 billion to California’s annual revenue based on sales tax and a $50-an-ounce excise levy, according to the state’s tax administrator, the Board of Equalization. The bill will have its first policy hearing in January.

Obama’s Policy

Nationally, President Barack Obama’s Justice Department told federal prosecutors on Oct. 19 not to seek criminal charges against those who use or supply the drug for medical purposes in accordance with state laws, reversing the previous Bush administration approach.

The federal guidelines don’t legalize marijuana. The Justice Department will focus its resources on “serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local laws,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

The Bush administration had said it would pursue charges in medical marijuana cases, even in those states.

Marijuana, produced from the cannabis plant, can be smoked or ingested. Its recreational use is illegal in the U.S.

The signatures collected will be sent to county election officials to count and verify, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. The measure would then be certified and placed on the ballot.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 15, 2009 17:11 EST