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Welcome to the Kalamazoo Coalition for Pragmatic Cannabis Laws official website. Here you can stay updated on the progress of the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority aimed towards personal marijuana possession in the city limits. Registration is fast and easy. You will need to provide a username, email address, full name, county, city, and zip code. We encourage you to provide accurate information. Join us now

Kalamazoo Charter Amendment Petition Form and Language

Submitted by Louis Stocking on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 03:59

Kalamazoo Charter Amendment Petition Language for:

SECTION 198 "LAW ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES"

Definitions

a. “Adult” means an individual who is 21 years of age or older.

b. “City of Kalamazoo Law enforcement officer” means a member of the City of Kalamazoo Police Department or any other city agency or department that engages in law enforcement activity.

c. “Lowest law enforcement priority policy” means a priority such that all customary law enforcement activities related to marijuana offenses where 1 ounce or less of usable marijuana was either possessed or consumed by adults, shall be a lower priority than all other customary law enforcement activities not relating to marijuana offenses where 1 ounce or less of usable marijuana was either possessed or consumed by adults

d. "Marijuana" means that term as defined in section 7106 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.7106. [this is how the MMM Act defines the term]

e. "Usable marijuana" means the dried leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant, and any mixture or preparation thereof, but does not include the seeds, stalks, and roots of the plant. [this is how the MMM Act defines the term]

AMA Chages It's Position on Marijuana

Submitted by Louis Stocking on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 09:11

The largest group representing physicians in the country is the American Medical Association (AMA), which has over 250,000 members. Traditionally, they have accepted without question the government's position on marijuana, and have always supported the idea that marijuana should continue to be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance (like heroin or LSD).

Of course, this is a ludicrous stance since marijuana is non-habit forming and far less dangerous than many legal drugs. Now it looks like the AMA is starting to come to their senses -- sort of. At least they've taken the first step toward sanity.

On Tuesday, the AMA asked the federal government to reconsider their classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical use. Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, said, "Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis, insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product."

The Associated Press would not post this story to their website.

Submitted by Louis Stocking on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 12:04

At a time when we Americans may abandon health care reform because it supposedly is "too expensive," how is it that we can afford to imprison people like Curtis Wilkerson? Wilkerson is serving a life sentence in California - for stealing a $2.50 pair of socks. As The Economist noted recently, he already had two offenses on his record (both for abetting robbery at age 19), and so the "three strikes" law resulted in a life sentence.

This is unjust, of course. But considering that California spends almost $49,000 annually per prison inmate, it's also an extraordinary waste of money.

Astonishingly, many politicians seem to think that we should lead the world in prisons, not in health care or education. The United States is anomalous among industrialized countries in the high proportion of people we incarcerate; likewise, we stand out in the high proportion of people who have no medical care - and partly as a result, our health care outcomes such as life expectancy and infant mortality are unusually poor.

New Article: Pro-marijuana group plans to petition

Submitted by Louis Stocking on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 00:06

KALAMAZOO -- A group that seeks to curtail the enforcement of marijuana-possession laws in Kalamazoo expects to begin circulating petitions in the next several weeks in effort to force a public vote on the issue.

The Kalamazoo Coalition for Pragmatic Cannabis Laws aims to amend the city charter to add language making the possession of small amounts of marijuana "the lowest priority for law enforcement."

Group members say they hope to put the measure on the ballot in November. To do so, the group must collect nearly 2,900 signatures from registered city voters.

Louis Cloise Stocking, 21, the organization's founder, said law enforcement agencies are committing too many resources to arresting people who use small amounts of marijuana on private property.

He also said that arrests for marijuana use in situations where no other crime is committed create unnecessary roadblocks to employment and higher-education financial aid.

Local Encounter: Deceptive Tactics

Submitted by Louis Stocking on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 23:35

The reason I (he) wasn't convicted every-time is because of plea deals involving other charges. Both of these cases were in the city limits of Kalamazoo. The first time the marijuana charge was dropped when I agreed to plea to a greater charge CCW. And most recently (2006) I was facing charges for manufacturing mj, r&c stolen property, and domestic violence - when I knew that I could fight (and win) all charges against me except for the manufacturing charge, I couldn't because if convicted I'd be charged as a habitual offender (for all of my prior marijuana convictions) and that would've meant mandatory prison time. So I was forced to take a plea deal pleading no contest to the r&c charge (which I was innocent of) to avoid a harsher penalty (prison) with a mandatory minimum involving the marijuana charge. All other charges were dropped and I got probation and restitution fees.
So my case here was all to do with marijuana but in the end, my conviction was for another crime that I didn't even commit. Now I have that scar on my record that makes me look like a thief, when all I really am is a hippie at heart.

Why Marijuana Legalization is Gaining Momentum

Submitted by Louis Stocking on Thu, 04/09/2009 - 06:54

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The peak time for pot usage occurs at or about age 20 -- a period known to most of us as "college" -- before declining fairly rapidly throughout one's 20s and then plateauing from roughly age 30 through age 50.

More important to the policy debate, however, may be the fraction of adults who have used marijuana at any point in their lifetimes. This is a dual-peaked distribution, with one peak occurring among adults who are roughly age 50 now, and would have come of age in the 1970s, and another among adults in their early 20s. Generation X, meanwhile, in spite of its reputation for slackertude, were somewhat less eager consumers of pot than the generations either immediately preceding or proceeding them.

The key feature of this distribution is how rapidly lifetime usage rates decline after about age 55 or so. About half of 55-year-olds have used marijuana at some point in their lives, but only about 20 percent of 65-year-olds have.

Are you a Veteran?
"Founded by a local Kalamazooian, Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access (VMMA) is the only organization in the United States that advocates for veterans' rights to access medical marijuana for therapeutic purposes. VMMA also works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana use, which many veterans believe to be conviction and incarceration."
www.veteransformedicalmarijuana.org

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