https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2018/6/26/17506548/oklahoma-medical-marijuana-legalization-question-788
Nexus 5X
Louisiana passed medicinal use a year or two ago. But you can only use the oil extracted from the cannabis, no smoking. Is that why the map in the article shows LA as "illegal" instead of medicinal?
I only use it medicinally. Of course, I've always believed in preventative medicine.
Didn't realize there were still parts of the country without at least medical marijuana. Is it at least decriminalized to posses less than a certain amount?
Quote from: jakeroot on June 30, 2018, 12:44:38 PMDidn't realize there were still parts of the country without at least medical marijuana. Is it at least decriminalized to possess less than a certain amount?
Marijuana, for either medicinal or recreational purposes, is still illegal in Kansas, and a decriminalization initiative in Wichita ($50 fine for first-time possession) failed because it was ruled to conflict with state law.
I don't think this will change soon. At the state level, Republicans tend to be against legalization while Democrats support it, and the former have a two-to-one registration advantage over the latter. It is an open question whether a national anti-Trump wave, if it materializes, will affect Kansas. However, gubernatorial candidates have reported that they are asked about marijuana much more often on the campaign trail than in the past.
In Wichita there was a recent high-profile case where a jury acquitted a woman of endangering her one-year-old child despite her videotaped admission to police that she had smoked marijuana before driving the baby to an Olive Garden for dinner. I regard this as a sign that juries are no longer willing to accept marijuana consumption, in and of itself, as evidence of criminality. (The defendant in this case was later found to have put the body of her five-year-old stepson in a culvert and reported him missing. A few weeks after she gave in to psychological pressure and led a private detective to the body, she fatally shot herself with a rifle.)
Quote from: J N Winkler on June 30, 2018, 01:12:07 PM
I don't think this will change soon. At the state level, Republicans tend to be against legalization while Democrats support it, and the former have a two-to-one registration advantage over the latter. It is an open question whether a national anti-Trump wave, if it materializes, will affect Kansas. However, gubernatorial candidates have reported that they are asked about marijuana much more often on the campaign trail than in the past.
Kansas may be different, but in Oklahoma, the medical marijuana initiative passed with bipartisan support. Democrats like medical marijuana for quality-of-life reasons, while libertarian Republicans relish the opportunity to kill off another regulation.
Quote from: jakeroot on June 30, 2018, 12:44:38 PM
Didn't realize there were still parts of the country without at least medical marijuana. Is it at least decriminalized to posses less than a certain amount?
Marijuana is still a Schedule I drug at the federal level, which means it is technically illegal in all fifty states. However, since effective enforcement of the law depends on the cooperation of the states, it is legal in a practical sense where states have legalized it. But, if Jeff Sessions wanted, he could fly into Denver with a squad of FBI agents and start arresting people. He doesn't because it would be political suicide.
Quote from: cjk374 on June 30, 2018, 08:32:26 AM
Louisiana passed medicinal use a year or two ago. But you can only use the oil extracted from the cannabis, no smoking. Is that why the map in the article shows LA as "illegal" instead of medicinal?
Minnesota does the same, with the law basically written by anti-legalization interests so it's widely considered the most restrictive in the country.
Quote from: J N Winkler on June 30, 2018, 01:12:07 PM
In Wichita there was a recent high-profile case where a jury acquitted a woman of endangering her one-year-old child despite her videotaped admission to police that she had smoked marijuana before driving the baby to an Olive Garden for dinner.
Wonder what the verdict would have been if she had consumed alcoholic beverages prior to getting behind the wheel?
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 30, 2018, 02:53:30 PMKansas may be different, but in Oklahoma, the medical marijuana initiative passed with bipartisan support. Democrats like medical marijuana for quality-of-life reasons, while libertarian Republicans relish the opportunity to kill off another regulation.
There is one Republican candidate for governor--Barnett--who is not unsupportive of at least some form of legalization. But it isn't just a matter of how the governor feels; Republican members of the legislature are suspicious of marijuana. Kansas, which had alcohol prohibition from 1871 to 1947 (a lot longer than the US at large) and did not create a county liquor-by-the-drink option until 1986, is not a state one would expect to lead on drug liberalization of any kind.
Quote from: hbelkins on June 30, 2018, 07:39:10 PMQuote from: J N Winkler on June 30, 2018, 01:12:07 PM
In Wichita there was a recent high-profile case where a jury acquitted a woman of endangering her one-year-old child despite her videotaped admission to police that she had smoked marijuana before driving the baby to an Olive Garden for dinner.
Wonder what the verdict would have been if she had consumed alcoholic beverages prior to getting behind the wheel?
It is hard to say. Her defense lawyer hammered the police witnesses heavily for not obtaining blood or hair follicle tests for independent confirmation of the marijuana use. I think that if the admission had been to alcohol consumption, rather than marijuana,
and involved drinking to a level almost certainly in excess of the 0.08 BAC threshold for DUI in Kansas, then the jury would have been marginally more likely to convict in the absence of corroborating breath or blood evidence.
I always said that Oklahoma would be the last state to legalize but I was wrong. Now there is a push to legalize recreational marijuana. There is a chance that it might pass because as Scott said, many Republicans voted for SQ 788.
Nexus 5X
Red states with a libertarian bent will be more likely to decriminalize pot in some form. Red states where evangelicals hold sway, not so much.
Since Texas is now surrounded by states with medical, I expect it to follow suit soon, but you never know (see casino gaming).
The Republican Senate Majority Floor Leader has taken the initiative to ensure that the will of the voters is implemented. Oklahoma's system is one of the best and most progressive medical marijuana programs in the country. I still never thought I'd see it this soon.
Nexus 5X