U.S. Marijuana Reform Project USMRP.com

Frank Introduces Bills to Prevent Federal Criminal Prosecution for Medical and Personal Marijuana Use

This Press Release is from June 19, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Barney Frank today announced that he has introduced two bills concerning the use of marijuana in the U.S.

The Marijuana Patient Protection Act (H.R. 2835) would prevent federal authorities from prosecuting pharmacies, growers and users of medical marijuana in states where the use of the substance for medical reasons is legal.  The bill has received support from members of both parties.

“There are some people who are in severe pain for whom nothing else seems to work,” said Congressman Frank.  “It is cruel to prevent them from having access to something which helps relieve their pain.  This is especially true because so many states allow it.  For the federal government to come in and supersede state law is a real mistake.”

Medical Marijuana is Attracting Entrepreneurs

Recent events lead me to believe that legalization of Medical Marijuana may be inevitable. This morning I read a Press Release from Marketwire which announced that Medical Marijuana, Inc. has signed agreements with additional Medical Marijuana Collectives in California to provide point of sale (POS) systems which "helps businesses that are dispensing medical marijuana more efficiently and securely manage the tasks of revenue and taxation collection. "

Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s "Stored Value Platform System" enables businesses to manage their sales and to pay taxes via Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions which can occur on a daily basis.

Additionally, Michigan held a medical marijuana expo last weekend which was professionally organized and attended by approximately 1,000 people seeking information about this fledgeling industry.

With current unemployment rates being the highest since the Great Depression, and interest being generated among people who are out of work the genie may be out of the bottle.

Drug Policy Alliance Network Press Release

Following is a Press Release from Drug Policy Alliance Network.

24,000 Low-Level, Nonviolent Drug Offenders Locked Up in Overcrowded State Prisons with Serious Offenders

$1.2 Billion/Year Wasted to House Petty Drug Offenders;Drug Treatment Not Available to Most Behind Bars For Immediate Release: Wednesday, August 5, 2009.Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli 213-291-4190 or Tommy McDonald 510-229-5215 SACRAMENTO – Yesterday’s federal three-judge panel ruling on prison overcrowding prompted calls from prison reform advocates to restore California’s prisons to their original purpose: to hold accountable and to rehabilitate people who have committed serious offenses, not petty ones. “It’s long past due for California to get smart on crime, and that means being more discerning about who is sent to state prison,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance in Southern California. “There are far too many low-level, nonviolent drug offenders in state prison, many of whom have treatable addictive or mental illness and who could be better managed at the county level, whether through treatment, probation, or a combination of those.” On Tuesday, a federal three-judge panel ruled that California must reduce the size of its state prison population by 40,000 inmates over two years. Matthew Cate, head of the corrections agency, told reporters yesterday that the state’s current plan would slim the population by 37,000. Legislators have promised to approve their own plan in August to cut prison spending by $1.2 billion. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, one year of incarceration costs $49,000 per inmate – or $1.2 billion for 24,000 inmates. “California’s budget and prison overcrowding crises are inextricably linked – and so are their solutions,” said Daniel Abrahamson, legal director for the Drug Policy Alliance. “We must spend our limited criminal justice resources more wisely, as experts have been recommending for decades. That means more diversion of nonviolent drug offenders, more recidivism-reduction programming, including drug treatment, and more sensible parole policies – especially for drug-addicted parolees.” The Drug Policy Alliance sponsored a November 2008 ballot measure designed to address these crises. Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, would have cut the prison and parole populations; reduced recidivism through programming, good time credits and re-entry support; and, according to the LAO, slashed prison spending by a net $2.5 billion. Prop. 5 failed after opponents spent nearly $3.5 million on advertising. Advocates called on Sacramento to revisit the expert-recommended proposals that would have become law under Prop. 5.