A measure to legalize marijuana in California has enough signatures to qualify for the November 2010 ballot, advocates say.
The Tax and Regulate Initiative has far more than the nearly 434,000 signatures needed to make the statewide ballot, said Richard Lee, well-known Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur and the initiative’s main backer. Campaign organizers say they will submit more than 650,000 signatures of registered voters next month.

“People were eager to sign,” Lee told the Chronicle. “We heard they were ripping the petitions out of people’s hands to do it.
“We’ll keep our organizers on the street to keep the momentum going strong, but today we’re declaring an overwhelming victory.”

The proposal would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Residents could cultivate marijuana gardens up to 25 square feet. City and county governments would determine whether to permit and tax marijuana sales within their boundaries.

County election officials across the state now must validate and count the signatures before the California Secretary of State puts the measure on the ballot .

Lee’s group has collected more than 680,000 signatures, about 57% more than the number needed. That should be plenty — as a rule of thumb, about 30% of signatures on petitions can be expected to be invalidated, according to Steve Smith, a political consultant who has run many California initiative campaigns.

“I’d be very surprised if they don’t qualify,” Smith told the Los Angeles Times.

A Field Poll conducted in April found that 56 percent of California residents supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help bridge the state budget deficit. Still, pro-legalization advocates are divided over whether the ballot measure is being pushed too soon.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law. But some legal scholars have argued the U.S. government could do little to make California enforce the federal ban if the drug became legal under state law.
Oakland is ground zero for marijuana legalization in the U.S. It became the first city in the country to pass a cannabis tax during a special election in July. The city is expected generate nearly $300,000 a year from taxes on medical cannabis clubs. Other California cities considering taxing medical marijuana are San Jose, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
Lee owns a handful of Oakland businesses, including Coffeeshop Blue Sky and the famed Oaksterdam University, where students can enroll in classes for “entering the budding cannabis job field.” Lee’s company has spent $1.1 million on the effort already, and expects a full campaign to cost between $7 million and $20 million.

“Medical marijuana in California has been accepted as legalization in some ways by a lot of the population,” Lee told the Times. “To me this is codifying what is happening.”

A resolution before US Congress that would decriminalize marijuana possession and use for responsible adults now has six co-sponsors, including crucial support from members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.

US Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), sponsor of HR 5843, held a press conference July 30, 2008, in Washington, D.C., with fellow lawmakers and advocates from organizations working to reform U.S. drug laws, in order to speak on the legislation.

The co-sponsors are US Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Ron Paul (R-TX).

On a side note: A July 30, 2008, online CNN poll found that 76 percent of respondents favor the legalization of marijuana as opposed to 24 percent against. The Washington Examiner, in a July 31 online poll, found that 75 percent favor legalization, versus 25 percent who are against it.

So, why is something that 24% of people are opposed to illegal exactly?

Fort Collins couple to sue city over $200000 worth of dead …
The Coloradoan, CO

A Fort Collins couple is planning to sue the city and Larimer County for more than $200,000 after police officers destroyed their 39 marijuana plants two years ago.
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Last year in court, James and Lisa Masters successfully showed that city police illegally seized their plants following a raid at their home on Aug. 2, 2006. Judge James Hiatt in December ordered the city to return the seized pot plants, which by then were dead.

The Masters say they use the marijuana for medicinal reasons, growing some for their personal use, and dispensing the rest to other people registered under the state’s medical marijuana law.

And they say that state law, enshrined in the state Constitution as Amendment 20, required the government to maintain their plants.

“The Masters suffer from debilitating medical conditions that were made worse by the stress of this lengthy case,” their lawyer, Rob Corry Jr., wrote in a letter to the city and county declaring plans to sue. “Their valuable medical marijuana was taken away and killed in violation of Colorado law.”

City and county officials say federal law requires them to destroy the plants, or at the very least not care for them.

How to obtain a medical marijuana card
PR CannaZine

The difference with a medical marijuana prescription is that there is no need for the state to approve of your individual use of medical marijuana. Rather, the medical marijuana laws allow doctors to prescribe the use of medical marijuana for certain illnesses. This is, in fact, much better news for marijuana users than if the state issued licenses.

The government can’t take away your right to use a medicine that a doctor determines you would benefit from (As long as the medication is approved by the government).

Medical marijuana is basically just like any other prescription medication as far as the law is concerned with regards to its intended use.

The only thing that differs is the method of obtaining the medication. You can’t, after all, just go down to your local pharmacy and get a prescription filled for an ounce of the best hydroponically grown buds available.

What you can do, however, is go to any one of the increasing number of medical marijuana co-ops and cannabis clubs around the state and buy the best marijuana, hash, cookies, brownies and anything else they have that contains marijuana.