Announcements

INTERNATIONAL DRUG  POLICY REFORM CONFERENCE
November 2009 WWW.DRUGPOLICY.ORG

Notes by Gail Karr, Santa Fe

The conference was in Albuquerque and attracted people from all over the U.S. and abroad.

Here are just a few highlights from which our group can decide what we are interested in exploring and what is feasible for us to do.  I think for a start that we should start referring it as "ending the prohibition" vs. legalization.  A much more positive connotation and historically correct. Also I believe for the Green Party it will allow us to expand as a political party, bring in students and younger people with more energy and changing our image to bring in more people who would want to then register to vote and believe that change can be possible.

The Opening Plenary and welcome ended with Ethan Nadelmann, the Executive Director for the Drug Policy Alliance.  It was absolutely inspirational, like going to some sort of religious or political speech that just fired everyone up and put them on the same page and full of hope with the progress that has been made in different sectors all over the world. That includes lobbyists in the US in Washington, D.C.

The first Session I went to was entitled "Marijuana Decriminalization and the State Legislative Process"

Panelists were:

• Alison Holcomb, Drug Policy Director, ACLU of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Lorenzo Jones, Exec. Dir., A Better Way Foundation, Hartford, CT
• Whitney Taylor, Exec. Dir., New England Policy Advocates
• Mason Tvert, Exec. Dir., SAFER, Denver, Co.

They spoke about the legalization, decriminalization and legislation proposed in different states.  Fines vs. arrest, tax and regulate schemes, etc. What will the future look like after things have changed/what changes can be effective and what do we need to consider when making those laws if any. States to now look at besides Colorado are Connecticut, Montana, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington, Rhoda Island.

My next session was called" Imagining Victory: Make Your Own Marijuana Regulation Model:

Panelists:

• Dale Gieringer,Dir., Ca., NORML, Berkeley, Ca.
• Steve DeAngelo,Exec. Dir., Harborside Health Center, Oakland, Ca.
• Jeff Jones,Exec. Dir.,Patient ID Cener, Oakland, Ca.
• Bruce Livingston, Exec. Dir., Marin Institute, San Rafael, Ca.
• Dave Schwartz,Nevada Campaign Manager, Marijuana Policy Project,LasVegas,
• Kirk Tousaw, Exec.Dir., Beyond Prohibition Foundation, Vancouver, Canada

The last full meeting I went to was "Medical Marijuana Production and Distribution Systems: Patients' Rights and Access."

Panelists were:

• Steve Jenison, Medical Director, Infectious Disease Bureau, NM Dept. of Health, Santa Fe, NM*
• Don Duncan,Director,LA Patients and Caregivers Group, LA, CA
• Allen Hopper,Dir. of Litigation ACLU Drug Law Reform Project, Santa Cruz, CA
• Karen O'Keefe,Dir. of State Policies, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, DC
• Brian Vicents,Exec.Dir., Sensible Colorado, Denver, Co.

States with medical marijuana laws have adopted a variety of systems aimed at both avoiding federal interference and ensuring that medical marijuana patients have uninterrupted access to high quality medical marijuana. It varies from grow your own to purchasing it on the black market, to highly sophisticated stores and vaporizer lounges, with labelling,etc.  How successful is each at meeting the needs of the consumers? Another biggie.  Taxation, regulation, how, by whom, separation of medical vs. recreation.  To control or not to control it. Age limits. Driving under the influence, etc. Control of personal cultivation, retail distribution, advertising and corporate involvement. Some of these are already on the drawing boards...

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