Elections américaines (04/11/04 09:06)
Diverses infos :
Mauvaises :
- Bush "4 more years"
- L'Oregon a rejeté une mesure qui aurait grandement facilité l'accès au cannabis thérapeutique en augmentant la quantité légale que les patients auraient pu détenir, et en créant des "dispensaires" de drogues réglementés par l'Etat. 65 % des électeurs ont voté cette mesure 33 : 42 % pour, 58 % contre (490.300 contre 667.600).
- Alaska : la légalisation du cannabis semble être rejetée. On en parle ici :
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0 ... 571,0.html
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/monde/article ... 9565.shtml
Bonnes :
- Au Missouri, 69 % de votants (contre 31 %) ont accepté la Proposition 1 rendant légales la possession et la consommation de cannabis pour des malades, avec prescription médicale. Les médecins prescripteurs de cannabis ne seront plus poursuivis ni arrêtés.
La Proposition 2 est passée avec 60% de oui. Cette initiative pro-décriminalisation qui stipule que les cas de délits liés au cannabis ("misdemeanor marijuana cases"), détention et usage je suppose, doivent être jugés par le Tribunal Municipal et punis par une amende maximum de 250 $.
Pubdate: Tue, 02 Nov 2004
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2004 Associated Press
Cited: Measure 33 http://www.yeson33.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Measure+33
OREGON VOTERS REJECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Oregon voters rejected a ballot measure Tuesday that
would have greatly eased access to medical marijuana by raising the amount
patients could legally possess, and creating state-regulated dispensaries
for the drug.
With 65 percent of the statewide vote counted, Measure 33 trailed 42
percent to 58 percent -- with 667,647 voters rejecting the measure and
490,301 voting for it.
In the other health-related proposal on the ballot, a measure to cap
so-called pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice lawsuits was too
close to call with 65 percent of the vote counted. Measure 35 would put a
half-million dollar lid on non-economic damages, while allowing juries to
fully award compensation for lost wages and medical costs.
Returns posted shortly after 10 p.m. showed 575,492 voters had rejected
Measure 35, and 573,425 had approved it, or a 50 percent to 50 percent tie.
Oregon's Measure 33 was one of three on marijuana policy on ballots in
Western states Tuesday, including a potentially history-making proposal to
decriminalize marijuana in Alaska.
Critics of Oregon's measure said it was aiming toward the same goal of
legalization, although through the backdoor of easing rules on medical
marijuana.
"The failure of Measure 33 simply confirms my belief in the ability of
Oregon's voters to spot a wolf in sheep's clothing," Benton County District
Attorney Scott Heiser said.
"Measure 33 was nothing more than an attempt to legalize recreational drug
use under the guise of helping the suffering," he said. "Obviously, the DAs
of Oregon are very pleased to see the voters soundly rejecting this
disingenuous measure."
Longtime medical marijuana advocate John Sajo, director of Voter Power, the
group that sponsored Oregon's original 1998 medical marijuana law and led
the Measure 33 effort, said the campaign failed because it was underfunded.
"We were trying to make some relatively big changes with a small budget,"
he said.
The measure would have required the state to buy the drug for low-income
patients, and would have allowed the commercial sale of pot to people with
medical marijuana cards.
"Our opponents did a good job distorting what the measure would do,
painting it as legalization, which it was not...Marijuana is medicine, and
patients need to get it," Sajo said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake
==================================================================
Pubdate: Wed, 03 Nov 2004
Source: Columbia Missourian (MO)
Copyright: 2004 Columbia Missourian
Contact: editor@|columbiamissourian.com
Website: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2282
Author: Luke DiStefano
Cited: NORML http://www.norml.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Higher+Education+Act
BOTH POT PROPOSITIONS PASS BY A LARGE MARGIN
With a Doctor's Consent, Chronically Ill Patients Can Legally Use Marijuana.
With the passage of two marijuana-related initiatives Tuesday, Columbia
voters have placed the city on the progressive edge of drug-law reform in
the United States.
With more than half the ballots tallied, voters were approving Proposition
1 69 percent to 31 percent as of press time. The measure makes it legal for
chronically ill patients to possess and use marijuana with a doctor's
consent. Physicians who prescribe marijuana to patients will no longer face
arrest and prosecution.
Supporters of the measure were elated with the results, which represent a
landmark in Missouri.
"This result shows that these issues aren't partisan; people recognize that
these laws affect all of us," said Amber Langston, campaign manager for the
Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education, one of the initiative's sponsors.
The ordinance that will now go into effect, however, does not include a way
for patients to lawfully acquire marijuana, meaning they will still be
forced to purchase the drug on the street. Proponents are hoping to
introduce a bill in the General Assembly that would allow patients who have
been prescribed marijuana by a doctor to obtain the drug legally.
"Hopefully, a statewide medical initiative would be the next step," said
Jim Bob Schell, a member of the MU chapter of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "It's nice that people in Columbia want this,
but we need to keep it going."
Proponents were optimistic that legislators would be supportive.
"I'm hopeful that people are compassionate to the seriously ill," said the
organization's president, Amanda Broz.
Proposition 2, a decriminalization initiative stipulating that misdemeanor
marijuana cases be tried in Municipal Court and punishable by a maximum
fine of $250, was passing 60 percent to 40 percent.
Schell hailed its passage as a victory in the war against what some see as
unfair drug laws.
"What (its passage) says is that people of Columbia believe possession
shouldn't be a jailable offense," Schell said. "And it certainly shouldn't
minimize somebody's ability to go to college."
Proposition 2 was drafted in response to the Higher Education Act, a 1998
law that revokes federal education funding for anyone convicted of a
drug-related charge.
Voters turned out in droves to support the medical initiative. Guy Marsh
brought a uniquely personal angle to the polls.
"I used to have to sneak my mother some pot when she was in chemotherapy to
help with her nausea," he said after casting a "yes" vote for Proposition 1.
Wes Wingate, who voted for both of the initiatives, was one of those
affectedby the Higher Education Act.
"I actually lost my financial aid, and that was a big part of it for me,"
Wingate said. "Columbia can be the first to have more reasonable laws. That
says a lot about our town."