In case you missed it, (I certainly did) comedian, UFC color commentator and outspoken cannabis legalization advocate, Joe Rogan, implied (basically stated) that he and UFC champion Ronda Rousey consumed cannabis before her first appearance on his podcast back in 2011. The host of the Joe Rogan Experience recorded a podcast at the end of August with “Rowdy” Rousey and her coach Edmond Tarverdyan, following the champion’s brutally impressive victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 in Brazil.

Rogan’s podcasts can meander from various topic to topic as everyone goes with the flow and seems to talk as if no one else is listening. Joe mentions the fact that Rousey’s mom, a former judo world champion, is an impressive person, Ronda talks about how her “intense” mom and pressure-filled household (she was once the loser of the family) prepared her for high-pressure events today, including appearing on Rogan’s podcasts. After the champ talks about being a fan of the Joe Rogan Experience and how amped up she was for her first appearance on the podcast, Rogan states that, “If I remember correctly, we might have been medicated at the time as well. Might have been some plant burning going on.” Rousey and her coach both giggle and there is no mention to deny the implication that cannabis was consumed by the two. The telling statement by Rogan occurs at 15:17 into the podcast:

The previous podcast with Rousey occurred before women were even competing in the UFC, as she was a rising star in the now-defunct Strikeforce league. Rousey’s first appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience included jiu jitsu legend Eddie Bravo as a guest, an admitted cannabis consumer who has credited cannabis with helping his creativity in developing unique jiu jitsu techniques. If you tune into that podcast, Bravo, Rousey and Rogan are all laughing at the beginning and seem to certainly be enjoying themselves.

Rousey has made headlines recently for standing up for her friend Nick Diaz, who was suspended for five years by the Nevada State Athletic Association for testing positive for marijuana. Rousey has called for an end to testing for marijuana as it isn’t performance enhancing, thus such tests are an invasion of privacy. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion is the most dominating mixed martial artist today, fueled partially by hemp seeds, and isn’t afraid to be herself and speak her mind, even as she has reached mainstream stardom.

Ronda Rousey joins the growing list of world-class athletes that have utilized cannabis, from track legend Usain Bolt to Olympic gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps. According to Joe Rogan, a majority of fighters in the UFC use marijuana, which is certainly safer than pain narcotics pushed upon our society. As the people rally around around marijuana legalization, it is only a matter of time before various athletic regulatory bodies catch up. It’s taking too long, but with world champions like Ronda Rousey speaking out, sports competitions will eventually catch up and stop treating cannabis the same as steroids.

Returning the advice she gave me at weigh-ins #DontCry #UFC190 #andSTILL

A video posted by rondarousey (@rondarousey) on Aug 3, 2015 at 3:24pm PDT

Consuming cannabis hasn’t prevented Rousey from becoming a dominating UFC champion.

Getty Images featured photo credit: John Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Federal cannabis policy is a major issue that impacts lives, jobs and budgets across the nation and actually impacts the global Drug War as well. It would only make sense for 2016 presidential candidates to address the fact that four states and our nation’s capital has legalized marijuana, with a host of states expected to end prohibition in the coming years. Colorado and Washington have already generated $200 million in new revenue from marijuana sales, with Colorado’s cannabis taxes outpacing state alcohol tax revenue.

Not only does a president’s position impact the economics of states with regulated marijuana systems, but it also demonstrates the consistency of his or her conservative or libertarian principles as well as the candidate’s law enforcement priorities. It was great to see the Republicans finally talk about marijuana in the GOP debates after completely ignoring the issue in the first debate.

Thanks to social media, the 206 GOP hopefuls were finally asked about marijuana and as, The Washington Post reports, the issue turned personal towards Jeb Bush:

“Forty years ago, I smoked marijuana. I admit,” said Bush, the former Florida governor, after Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) had called him out without naming him. “My mom’s not happy that I just did.”

Paul, who opposes strict laws punishing marijuana users, used Bush’s case to illustrate how the law treats wealthy drug users differently: “Kids who have privilege like you do don’t go to jail. But the poor kids in the inner city still go to jail.”

And then, the candidate that has become the political nemesis to the cannabis community, who he calls “diseased” chimed in:

That prompted a response from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who — while urging compassion for young drug users — also said he would use federal power to override some states’ laws to allow some marijuana possession and use. “I am against the recreational use of marijuana,” Christie, saying that drug users’ families, employers and children are victims of the use.

As the International Business Times reports, Carly Fiorina equated marijuana with more dangerous drugs, instead of the more sensible comparison to alcohol: “We are misleading young people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having beer. It’s not

Steve Bloom over at Celebstoner has extensive coverage of the Republican back-and-forth and offered up some grades of the cannabis policy exchanges:

Clearly, Paul landed the best blows. But his refusal to separate medical from recreational marijuana was disingenuous, as Christie duly noted. Speaking of disingenuous, Christie boasting that he favors medical marijuana when he did everything in his power to stall implementation and limit access was a big joke on patients in New Jersey, who weren’t laughing. With only three of the mandated six dispensaries open for business, New Jersey’s MMJ program still has a long way to go. Plus, Christie dragging out the old “gateway drug” warhorse smacked of Reefer Madness desperation.

Bush should be commended for his candor in admitting to using marijuana when he was 22. So that was the last time, right, Jeb? And Fiorina’s well-rehearsed sob story about her daughter Lori Ann’s death from alcohol and prescription drug abuse really had nothing to do with marijuana. It was sheer grandstanding.

Grades: 

Paul: B+

Bush: C

Christie: D-

Fiorina: F

It was refreshing to see the 2016 GOP candidates discuss cannabis policy, especially hearing Rand Paul finally have an opportunity to show his libertarian foundation on criminal justice and Drug War reform. Jeb Bush wisely took a states’ rights position, but was called upon his past positions and hypocrisy. Christie and Fiorina were clearly out of touch of the mainstream on the issue. I look forward to hearing from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, his fellow outsider Ben Carson and the rest of the GOP field on the record in the next and future debates.

(Featured photo credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

I am convinced that the cannabis community eventually thinks of everything. Don’t believe me, name all of the things that marijuana smokers have used to consume cannabis, homemade or otherwise. You could probably count for days. Also, how many cannabis strains are there? Whether the strain names are accurate in any way, or meaningless, the cannabis community have thought up a lot of various strains.

Literally all forms of art have been enhanced by artists that have consumed cannabis to get the creative juices flowing. Whenever I run into the dying breed of people that think that cannabis consumers should go to prison, I request that they never listen to any of Beatles, or whatever music they may like, or watch any of their favorite movies or TV shows, as it is very likely that those artistic endeavors were aided by marijuana smokers.

Now that we are legalizing and regulating marijuana across the nation, the cannabis community is now more free to use those same creative talents in the business realm. Of course, ganja entrepreneurs will continue to devise the next cannabis extract, infused product or smoking/vaping device, but they will also branch out and combine marijuana with other business ideas.

As Marijuana Politics blogger and cannabis comic extraordinaire Ngaio Bealum often touts, marijuana tends to make everything in life better. Ngaio dreams of opening his Bud and Breakfast because staying at a bed and breakfast can be enjoyable, but if the cannabis community can also utilize marijuana there, they will appreciate the stay even more.

Enterprising Colorado entrepreneurs have taken this cannabis combo idea to the gas station as KOAA in Colorado Springs reports:

A new business model in the marijuana industry is about to open it’s doors. It’s called Gas and Grass and the stores combine a traditional gas station with a marijuana dispensary. Denver based Native Roots will open its first two Gas and Grass locations in Colorado Springs next month, one at West Uintah and 17th Street, the other Academy and Galley.

“It’s really just kind of pairing the convenience in one specific stop,” said company spokesperson Tia Mattson.

She explained the dispensary will have its own separate entrance and must follow all the same rules and restrictions that apply to all other medical marijuana stores in Colorado. The gas station, like all gas stations, will be open to the public.

While I must first offer the disclaimer that no one should drive impaired under any substance or circumstance. Next, I will offer up that I think that this is an ingenious idea. I live in Portland, Oregon, and stereotypically drive a Prius. I hardly ever have to get gas and when I do, a gas station attendant pumps the gas for me, yet I hate getting gas.

Buying gas is an inconvenience and can be time-consuming when you are in a hurry for a meeting or other event and you forgot that you are about out of gas. However, I imagine that being able to purchase some Northern Lights or Blue City Diesel may just take the sting out of the inconvenience. You can fill up, acquire cannabis and know that you aren’t just putting money into the pockets of oil executives, but also into your local economy, including your neighborhood schools. I wonder what the cannabis community and the burgeoning marijuana industry will think of next?

Featured photo credit: KOAA Channel 5

Dominating UFC Champion Ronda Rousey, who we previously noted eats hemp seeds when she is training and has stood up for a fighter punished for testing positive for marijuana in the past, has lashed out against the 5-year suspension of fellow fighter Nick Diaz (which Marijuana Politics blogger Russ Belville just covered.) The outspoken women’s bantamweight champion, who has become the highest-paid mixed martial artist in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, spoke out at a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, promoting her next championship bout against the former boxing champion Holly Holm. From MSN:

“I’m sorry, I know no one asked me anything but I have to say something,” Rousey said. “It’s so not right for (Diaz) to be suspended five years for marijuana. I’m against them testing for any weed at all. It’s not a performance-enhancing drug. It has nothing to do with athletic competition, and it’s only tested for political reasons so they say, ‘Oh, it’s only for your safety so you’re not hurting yourself when you’re out there.’ So why don’t they test for all the other things that could possibly hurt us that we could be under the influence of while we’re out there?

“There’s no reason for them to be testing for weed. In athletics, the beautiful thing about it is it separates everything from politics. It shouldn’t be involved at all.”

Rousey expressed frustration in the fact Diaz’s UFC 183 opponent Silva, who failed multiple drug tests around the event for anabolic steroids, was only handed a one-year suspension for his violation. Diaz’s repeat offender status played a role in the outcome of his case, but regardless of that, Rousey said the difference in punishments shows an obvious problem.

As MSN reported, Rousey went on to state: “I don’t think marijuana should be part of the conversation at all. I think it’s an invasion of privacy for them to test for it, and they have no right.”

While Rousey thinks that “they should free Nick Diaz” she noted that it was the Nevada State Athletic Commission who levied the unfair suspension and not the UFC. Diaz, a longtime fan favorite and former Strikeforce champion, only has a few major fights left in him. While other fighters have spoken out against this draconian suspension, which really amounts to a lifetime ban, as mma is primarily a young person’s sport that doesn’t see many fighters competing at the top levels beyond the age of 35 or so, Rousey’s star power has certainly elevated the discussion.

Rousey, who has feuded with boxer, and convicted domestic abuser, Floyd Mayweather, has seen her star soar as she has gone mainstream into Hollywood movies and the public consciousness. The conventional wisdom would be that “Rowdy” is taking a risk speaking out on the issue, but with a majority of Americans now supporting cannabis legalization, she is staking out a place on the right side of history and in a comfortable place with the Marijuana Majority. Some have argued that Rousey may go down as the greatest mixed martial artist in history and her fame doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all. I sincerely thank Ronda Rousey for speaking out so strongly as her position on cannabis will only add to the momentum for true freedom and equality for the cannabis community.

You have to have your head buried in the sand if you aren’t concerned about our environment. Arctic ice caps are melting, California is running out of water and the wildfires are raging up and down the West Coast. I am honestly very frightened for our planet. One of the reasons that I support Bernie Sanders is because I feel that we desperately need a president that will seriously address climate change and our environment. As we argued early and often during the Oregon Measure 91 campaign, there are many reasons to support cannabis legalization and S.E. Smith in Rolling Stone magazine argues that dealing with California’s drought is one reason to support legalization in the Golden State:

California’s drought is believed to be the worst in 1,200 years. The state government has mandated unprecedented cutbacks in water use even as the nation’s largest agricultural producer allows crops to lie fallow in the fields and rips out orchards of water-hungry crops like almonds, the unwitting and somewhat unfairly targeted scapegoat of water waste.

Marijuana, however, remains largely in the shadows because its illegality makes it impossible to regulate. The bulk of the state’s biggest cash crop — estimated at around $16 billion dollars — is produced in the so-called Emerald Triangle of Humbolt, Mendocino and Trinity Counties, some of which have highly ecologically vulnerable areas but also offer the shelter of miles of state forest, once-ample water supplies and places to hide grows. Many farmers seek hidden nooks and crannies of the state to cultivate their illicit crop, and aren’t conscientious about water usage or environmental regulations because they don’t need to be, with no one looking over their shoulders – at least until recently.

***

The prospect of legalization creates avenues for the state to resolve marijuana’s bizarrely nebulous status, and by extension to start regulating its water usage and environmental impacts: How do you regulate a crop that people can’t legally produce? Technically, it’s quasi-legal to produce large grows, as long as farmers can offer documentation that they’re growing plants on behalf of those with medical marijuana prescriptions. Few farmers, however, are willing to run the risk of public attention.

***

Pilot programs are providing guidelines for a brave new world of marijuana growing, which is a strong start, but legalization needs to close the loop. Until grows can move to more ecologically appropriate locations, with more closely monitored and regulated water usage, marijuana cultivation will continue to contribute to environmental degradation and drought-associated problems across the state. As wildfires swirl across Northern California, underscoring the severity of water scarcity in the tinderbox environment, the argument for pursuing any means possible to control the drought becomes more and more appealing. A better framework for marijuana policy could be an important piece of the puzzle.

Smith’s entire piece is certainly worth a read. We reported on the need for regulations for the sake of our environment in one of our very first blogs on Marijuana Politics and the need for sensible rules are still needed across our country. There is a fine balance between allowing businesses to thrive and regulations, but when it comes to our environment, we need to protect public safety and well-being. California’s water crisis impacts not just Californians, or even just United States residents as California’s economy impacts the entire world. It is imperative that our nation addresses the California drought crisis before it is too late and if cannabis regulations can help at all, let’s implement them for the sake of all of us. Protecting and improving our environment won’t occur with any one policy, but let’s take it step by step before it’s too late.

UPDATE: The California medical marijuana bills have been released. The East Bay Express has some commentary and the language of the landmark regulatory bills: AB 243, AB 266 and SB 643. Stay tuned to Marijuana Politics as we will have some more analysis about the impact of these bills, both to the existing medical program and future legalization attempts. 

California lawmakers are set to adjourn today, but apparently not before passing three last-minute medical marijuana bills that will bring standard, statewide regulations to the massive California medical cannabis industry for the first time. As of now, most in the industry have not seen the language, so they are waiting very nervously on the final text. My social media feeds have been filled with cannabis activists and entrepreneurs inquiring about the text of the bills. A few in the cannabis community have been open about welcoming regulations, but most comments that I have seen are lamenting the regulations, suspect that the state can get the rules right and worried that poor patients and mom and pop businesses will lose in the end.

From Reason.com:

Almost two decades after Californians approved the medical use of marijuana, state legislators are suddenly rushing to regulate the quasi-legal, semi-legitimate industry that emerged from that historic vote. Last night the authors of three bills that would establish state rules for growing and distributing medical marijuana announced that legislative leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown had reached agreement on a package that both houses will have to pass by the end of today.

The legislation creates a Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation within the Department of Consumer Affairs that will be charged with licensing and regulating growers, processors, and retailers. Patients will still be allowed to grow their own medicine, but dispenaries operating as patient collectives or cooperatives will be replaced by state-licensed businesses within a year after licenses become available. Cities and counties will be allowed to impose special taxes (in addition to standard sales taxes) on production and sale of medical marijuana, subject to approval by local voters. The plan includes a “seed-to-sale” monitoring system similar to those adopted by Colorado and Washington, aimed at preventing diversion to nonmedical use.

Although California was the first state to pass a medical marijuana ballot initiative, back in 1996, it has never managed to specify where and how patients can obtain their medicine if they are not up to growing it themselves and cannot find a “primary caregiver” who is willing and able to do it for them. As other states began regulating medical marijuana growers and distributors, California’s dispensaries continued to operate in a legal gray area, inviting local and federal crackdowns.

San Jose Mercury News adds:

The bills preserve the rights of cities and counties to ban medical marijuana businesses and the ability of individuals with doctor’s recommendations to use medical marijuana to grow limited amounts themselves.

They also seek to address the growing outrage over environmental damage caused by illegal marijuana cultivation by treating marijuana as an agricultural product subject to pesticide and water use restrictions.

The office charged with overseeing the new standards will be housed within the California Department of Consumer Affairs. But the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Public Health will have prominent roles in their implementation and enforcement, according to Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, a co-sponsor of the main assembly bill.

I definitely understand the angst of the California cannabis community as they wait for passage of these bills. It must be nerve-wracking to have very little idea how your livelihood or medicine will be impacted by last-minute political compromises and maneuvering. Additionally, I know that some organizations looking to lead a 2016 legalization drive have put their plans on hold until they see the new medical laws as those regulations will greatly impact in 2016 initiative effort.

Judging by Oregon’s experience on this issue, I imagine that the new California regulations will set up a series of rulemaking hearings by the various government agencies involved, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to weigh in, but rulemaking hearings are more administrative, so the regulators tend to be more or less immune to political lobbying. Unfortunately, many of the bureaucrats making the ultimate decision won’t have much experience with cannabis; hopefully advisory committees will be formed, giving the cannabis industry some time to educate those that will be regulating cannabis production, processing and dispensing.

As a veteran of several legislative and political battles, along with a couple of rulemaking efforts, I certainly don’t envy my California comrades. I hope that everything shakes out so that the Golden State provides a level playing field that doesn’t squeeze out small businesses or price out sick and disabled patients. I look forward to discussing the regulations with some California advocates in town for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference this weekend and we will certainly be addressing the new regulations at the International Cannabis Business Conference in San Francisco next February.  I urge the California community to stay vigilant, but to take into account the big picture, as no matter what happens, the state will have one of the best medical cannabis laws in the country and should still be in a good position to legalize marijuana for all adults in 2016.

UPDATE: A new Reuters poll shows that the CNN survey is not an outlier, as Reuters has Sanders within single digits.

The conventional wisdom was that the the Hillary Clinton campaign machine would steam roll Bernie Sanders and any other Democratic presidential candidate in her path. Pundits thought, and some still do, that Bernie Sanders simply didn’t stand a chance, let alone a late-arriving Joe Biden, as Secretary Clinton’s name recognition, national standing and campaign war chest would prove too formidable for any insurgent challenger. However, recent polls have stunned even Senator Sanders himself, who says that the Clinton campaign must be nervous.

Even as Bernie Sanders surged ahead in both Iowa and New Hampshire, political pundits would point to national polls showing Clinton with huge leads among registered Democratic voters. Fortunately, for cannabis law reform advocates and Drug War reformers, Senator Sanders has even surged nationally, according to the latest CNN poll:

The new poll finds Clinton with 37% support among Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, down 10 points since August, followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 27% and Vice President Joe Biden at 20%. Sanders’ support is about the same as it was in August, making Biden the only candidate to post significant gains in the last month. His support is up 6 points in the last month as he weighs making a run for the presidency.

While overall the poll is good news for the anti-establishment campaign of Sanders and drug law reform activists who support a candidate that is willing to consider federal marijuana legalization and is proposing the abolishment of private prisons, not all of the news is great. For Sanders, 30% of registered Democrats would be unsatisfied with his nomination. For Drug War reformers, the unsettling news could be the increased likelihood that Joe Biden, who has been a supporter of the War on Drugs, will become the next occupant of the White House  as Vice-President Biden matches up very well against Republican challengers (who have also gained or even surged past Secretary Clinton):

With Biden’s consideration of a run for the White House gaining attention, the poll finds he outperforms Clinton in these hypothetical general election matchups, topping Bush and Trump while falling just slightly behind Carson. Biden tops Trump by 10 points (54% to 44% among registered voters), leads Bush by 8 points (52% to 44%) and is 3 points behind Carson (50% Carson to 47% Biden). Biden’s advantages against Bush and Trump rest on the same kind of gender gap that Clinton appears to have lost: Biden leads Bush by 16 points among women while tying him among men, he tops Trump by 26 points among women while trailing him by 7 among men, and he leads Carson by 5 among women while trailing by 10 among men.

The latest poll numbers, despite not being perfect, certainly add to the momentum to the Bernie Sanders campaign and the progressive activists that support him across the country. The 30% or so of Democrats that would be upset currently by the nomination of Bernie Sanders may not know him or his platform very well as most voters really aren’t paying much attention to the presidential race at the moment. In Iowa and New Hampshire, two states with some very engaged voters, Democratic voters have grown to favor Bernie Sanders the more that they get to know him, his history and his agenda.

While Joe Biden’s polling numbers have also increased, he will get more scrutiny if he enters the race and there is a good chance that Biden and Clinton share the same establishment voters, providing Sanders’ progressive base an increased chance of carrying the Vermont insurgent candidate to victory. Granted, these polling numbers are way to early to be definitive by any means, as the 2016 election is just now getting started, but it is a great sign for Drug War reformers that a candidate with sensible views on criminal justice reform is doing so well against Democratic heavyweights.

The Ban the Box, or Fair Chance, movement is sweeping the nation as civil rights advocates fight for the right of people that have paid their debt to society, but have a difficult time supporting themselves because their conviction. Unfortunately, people of color and poor people from all walks of life, are unfairly harmed by their criminal record. Of course, the Drug War is a huge culprit in keeping people of color, and poor people in general, mired in the system and in poverty. Oregon’s Ban the Box law takes effect on January 1, 2016, and I was so happy to see that my congressman, Earl Blumenauer was joining forces with other prominent legislators to take the fight national, to the Halls of Congress:

I encourage everyone to contact their federal representatives to urge them to join this important fight. Also, if you can urge your local and state legislators to pass similar legislation if they haven’t already. Everyone should be judged on their merits and not discounted immediately because of their criminal conviction, especially if it is a nonviolent drug offense that didn’t hurt anyone. Employers are still free to conduct background checks, but Ban the Box legislation allows everyone to be considered for the job and not discounted immediately. We are all better off if everyone has an opportunity to rise out of poverty.  So please, join the national campaign and make your voice heard.  ‪

It is understandable that ticket sales for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference (OMMBC) have been brisk as the state is about to start recreational sales to adults on October 1st through existing medical cannabis dispensaries and the latest draft rules to the state Rules Advisory Committee for the 2016 full recreational system have just been released. You can get tickets now at www.ommbc.com. If you do so by midnight this Friday, you will save yourself $100.

OMMBC presenters will provide the latest information on both medical and recreational systems, both locally and statewide. Oregon State Representative Ann Lininger and Senator Floyd Prozanski will be on hand to provide a recap of past legislation as well as a preview of potential future legislation. With Congressman Blumenauer providing a federal update, the OMMBC provided cannabis entrepreneurs and those wanting to join the industry, all of the info needed to be successful in the burgeoning Oregon marijuana market. And with fun, networking events including music and comedy, the OMMBC is the premiere Oregon marijuana conference and attendees are sure to get their moneys worth.

The downtown Portland Hilton is a great venue with amenities sure to please. Some rooms are still available, but you will need to hurry. Marijuana Politics will surely be there in force with our staff and bloggers, so we look forward to seeing you there.

In a rather shocking development, even for those that have long been supporters and of Bernie Sanders, the latest Qunnipiac poll has the Vermont Senator edging out Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton 41% to 40%. While this poll is clearly within the statistical margin of error, the most amazing development is the huge turnaround that the progressive Sanders has made in the polls in just a couple of months. Just in July, Secretary Clinton was leading 52% to 33%. In May, Clinton was beating Sanders  60% to 15%. Even the most die-hard Clinton supporter has to acknowledge that Sanders has the momentum in the Hawkeye State.

Probably most troubling for the Clinton campaign is that likely Iowa caucus goers are losing trust in Clinton and voters believe that Sanders cares more about the issues impacting them. I think that Hillary Clinton missed an opportunity to connect with voters on a more personal level when she was confronted by a desperate mother pleading for federal medical marijuana legislation. While Clinton’s aides got the contact info of the mother, it is hard for voters to feel that Clinton is on the right side of the issue, calling for more research and supporting basically a states’ rights position, when even Donald Trump is willing to proclaim that he supports medical marijuana 100%.

As PJMedia.com reports, the more that Iowa voters have learned about Bernie Sanders, the more they like him, at the same time Clinton’s favorability has taken a hit in Iowa:

“The more people in Iowa get to know about Bernie the more they like him and what he stands for,” said Stephanie Schwinn, Bremer County Democratic chair, in a statement released by the Sanders’ campaign. “His ideas for rebuilding the American middle class and taking on the billionaire class are resonating here in Iowa and across the country.”

Eighty-six percent in the poll said Bernie was honest and trustworthy, and 85 percent felt he cares. Only 64 percent said Hillary is honest and 78 percent felt she cares.

The polling trends in Iowa don’t look good for Hillary Clinton and it looks like Sanders has a great opportunity to upset the Clinton Machine, just as Barack Obama did in 2008. The Vermont progressive then has a much better chance of winning New Hampshire than Obama, as Sanders is already leading in the polls in the Granite State. While Sanders has to make inroads with people of color to compete in the long-run, his attention to racial justice, his plan to abolish private prisons and reform the criminal justice system and his platform to improve income inequality will likely start to resonate with minority communities once they learn more about him, especially if he wins both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sanders has a series of events in South Carolina with civil rights activist and professor Dr. Cornel West that will only help educate voters on Sanders’ agenda. Sanders has garnered the backing of many Drug War reformers, based upon his history and presidential platform, and recent polls in Iowa, New Hampshire and now South Carolina, show that early presidential primary voters want the federal government to respect state law. Bernie Sanders’ progressive agenda is clearly catching fire and more and more voters are starting to #FeelTheBern.

Photo credit: Charlie Riedel / AP

Jeff Mizanskey’s story is simply amazing. It is a story of tragedy, despair, hope, triumph and a new hope for cannabis law reformers. The tragedy of a man spending more than two decades locked in a cage for selling cannabis hurts the soul of everyone with a soul. The despair of a man sentenced to die behind bars for marijuana as a legislative bill designed to free him dies in a state legislature. The hope of freedom after thousands of people urged a Midwestern governor to do the right thing. The triumph of a man, sentenced unjustly, smile the biggest possible smile upon emerging free from prison into the loving arms of family, friends and supporters. The stranger than fiction story then evolves into a new hope for freedom, as a man wrongly caged immediately becomes an advocate to prevent anyone else from suffering the same unjust fate.

Mianskey’s plight captivated people around the globe; his release viewed more than 6 million times on Facebook alone:

The Riverfront Times, one of the first (if not the first) media outlets to publicize Jeff’s case, has a great rundown of the man’s long, strange trip. I recommend that everyone read the entire piece as it really captures the emotion and hard work that went into securing Jeff’s release.

From Jeff’s fight with the prison roaches:

“I put some baby oil in a paper cup and stuck a little piece of food, something sweet, in the middle,” Mizanskey says. “And I placed that cup on a shelf and roaches would go in it, but then got stuck. When it was full, I put them in the toilet. I’d say about three or four hundred roaches a day.”

To his battle against becoming a “drug mule” that culminated in dealers beating him because he wouldn’t smuggle any drugs for them. Following the beating, Jeff was punished because he wouldn’t finger the attackers:

“I didn’t snitch, so the guys who beat me up knew I was OK, but they still wanted me to do their drug-muling thing,” says Mizanskey. He again declined the invitation — not only did he risk more time in solitary if he was caught, but, at the time, he still figured that he had to somehow have some chance at parole. He couldn’t jeopardize that. (Emphasis mine)

Cruelly sentenced to life in prison, Jeff didn’t want to ruin a potential chance of parole, I can’t say for certain that I would have managed the same hopefulness. How easy it would have been to give into the despair, to wallow in the utter unfairness of his situation. Then Jeff would suffer even more despair when politicians let him down, but then he was granted parole and he finally triumphed, emerging from prison, finally, a free man:

At the front of the crowd was Chris Mizanskey, the inmate’s 37-year-old son, who had become the de facto family spokesman over the past two years. Mizanskey walked through the metal detector, no longer a prisoner, and hugged him. Both men cried as family and supporters applauded. And more family members held their arms open for Mizanskey: his older son Robbie, his brother Mike and many more.

To show the true heart of the man, and the new hope he helps represent for Drug War reformers, Mizanskey immediately talked about the need to end cannabis prohibition and implement prison reform. KMBC.com reported:

He said he plans to focus on issues like prison reform and legalizing marijuana in Missouri.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to get this legalized. Nobody deserves to be in there for marijuana,” he said. “I’ll be going around talking to a lot of people. I don’t know if I’ll always be politically correct, but I know that it’ll be coming from my heart.”

He said there’s a lot of people in prison serving long sentences for what he feels are lesser crimes, while he sees child molesters get released.

After 15 years in the Drug War reform movement, I have certainly learned to appreciate victories of all sizes and important events that can help us convey the harms prohibition has brought upon good, nonviolent people. Even from afar in Oregon, I haven’t appreciated any victory any greater than the release of Jeff Mizanskey in my birth state of Missouri, it ranks right along with electoral victories that legalized cannabis in states across our nation. Jeff’s case personifies the failure of the War on Drugs and I am confident that his story will help us educate average voters about the need to legalize and regulate cannabis across the country.

My sincere thanks to Jeff’s family, his attorney Dan Viets, Show-Me Cannabis and everyone that worked for his release. With this type of dedication, along with our movement’s momentum, hopefully the Show-Me State will continue showing the rest of the country that regulating marijuana is a much better policy than prohibition by legalizing marijuana as soon as 2016.

Jeff’s family has set up a GoFundMe page, overseen by his lawyer Dan Viets, to ensure that every dollar goes to Jeff. Please consider a donation. Every dollar makes a difference.

Featured photo credit: Sedalia Democrat 

As Marijuana Politics blogger Romain Bonilla recently posted, Hillary Clinton has strong financial ties to the private prison industry. These ties with the prison-industrial complex, mainly through common lobbyists, have been reported by a few blogs and rightfully make Drug War reformers suspicious of Clinton’s commitment to ending the use of private prisons. In all fairness to the Democratic frontrunner, the amount of money that she has received from the private prison industry is dwarfed by the sums donated to Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio and the money that Clinton has received already from fossil fuel lobbyists.

Since opposing marijuana decriminalization in 2008, Clinton has evolved in her Drug War rhetoric, stating that she basically has a states’ rights position on cannabis legalization and she has criticized our current criminal justice system that disproportionately imprisons people of color. However, as a blog over at the Daily Kos notes, Hillary Clinton hasn’t mentioned abolishing the private prison system in any of her speeches yet.

Bernie Sanders, in comparison to Clinton, is tackling the prison-industrial complex head on, announcing a bold bill to abolish the private prison industry. The Hill reports:

“My legislation will eliminate federal, state and local contracts for privately run prisons within 2 years. It will reinstate the federal parole system. It will increase oversight and eliminate the overcharging of prisoners by private companies for banking and other services,” Sanders, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said in a statement on Tuesday.

He added that it would “end the mandatory quota of immigrants detained. It will require ICE to improve the monitoring of detention facilities and eliminate private detention centers within 2 years.”

According to Sanders’s campaign, more than 8 percent of those incarcerated in state and federal prisons are in facilities that are privately owned, and most of those detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are being held in private facilities.

The Vermont Senator stated his case on Twitter:

We need to end the disgraceful practice of corporations profiting from the incarceration of Americans. pic.twitter.com/avETOIUJHj

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 9, 2015

Along with many Drug War reformers, I look forward to seeing the text of Sanders’ bill and hope that Clinton and potentially even Joe Biden, evolve on the War on Drugs and move to a more sensible position on private prisons and broader criminal justice reforms. While many cannabis law reform advocates and Drug War reformers are pulling for Senator Sanders to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency, he has already done a great service by bringing private prisons and the need to reform the failed War on Drugs to the forefront of the Democratic debate.

The Bernie Sanders’ campaign press release on ending private prisons:

Sanders: Our Criminal Justice System is Broken, Ending Private Prisons is a Good First Step Forward

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders stated today that the United States needs major reforms to our broken criminal justice system, and that a good step forward would be to end the practice of prisons in America being run by private corporations. He will soon introduce legislation to do just that.

Of the nearly 1.6 million people in federal and state prisons in 2013, 133,044 (8.4 percent) were in private prisons. That included 41,150 federal inmates in private facilities (19.1 percent of all federal prisoners) and 91,885 state prisoners in private facilities (6.8 percent of total state inmates). Most of the individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement also are in private detention facilities.

“It is clear to most Americans that we need major reforms in our broken criminal justice system,” Sanders said. “We need to end the tragic reality that the United States has more people in jail than any other country on earth, and that the people being incarcerated are disproportionately black and Hispanic. We need to take a hard look at why the rate of recidivism in this country is so high and why we are not developing successful paths back to civil society for those who serve prison time. Further we need to end, once and for all, the disgraceful practice of corporations profiting from the incarceration of Americans.

“As a nation, our goal must be to do everything we can to create the conditions that prevent mass incarceration. At a time when we are spending $50 billion a year on our correctional system, it makes a lot more sense to me to be investing in jobs and education for our young people than in more and more jails. Not only can we prevent thousands of lives from being destroyed, we can save billions of taxpayer dollars. Locking people up is a lot more expensive than schools,” Sanders said.

“Overall, we need bold change in our criminal justice system. A good first step forward is to start treating prisoners as human beings, not profiting from their incarceration. Our emphasis must be on rehabilitation, not incarceration and longer prison sentences. The basic decisions regarding criminal justice and public safety are, without a doubt, the responsibility of the citizens of our country and not the investors in private corporations.

“My legislation will eliminate federal, state and local contracts for privately run prisons within 2 years. It will reinstate the federal parole system. It will increase oversight and eliminate the overcharging of prisoners by private companies for banking and other services. It will end the mandatory quota of immigrants detained. It will require ICE to improve the monitoring of detention facilities and eliminate private detention centers within 2 years.”

Sanders will be introducing this bill next week.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer has been leading efforts to sensibly reform our marijuana laws for decades. As a young state legislator, he helped Oregon become the first state to decriminalize marijuana and he hasn’t slowed down one bit. Now in Washington, D.C., the Portland representative works across the political divide to convince more and more elected officials to support practical cannabis law reform.

Blumenauer understands the issue and is continually learning and staying abreast of the latest developments and no one in Congress knows where national representatives are currently and where federal law is headed. Cannabis business owners and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to hear from Congressman Blumenauer this weekend as he will talk about federal law at the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference.

As the Portland Press Herald reported, Congressman Blumenauer was in Maine recently, where he predicted that the federal government would end marijuana prohibition within five years, leaving regulations to the state, just as our country has done with alcohol:

“I think that’s an appropriate resolution,” Blumenauer told the group gathered at the Urban Farm Fermentory. “If Colorado wants it and Utah doesn’t, so be it. But the federal government shouldn’t be in the way. And we should be able to move past a failed system of prohibition and a serious flawed application of criminal justice which is hopelessly unfair and racially discriminatory.”

***

The Oregon Democrat came to Maine less than two months after his home state made recreational use of marijuana legal in private settings.

“So far the sky has not fallen, and no big cracks have developed in the earth,” Blumenauer said. “We have not had problems in terms of young people being corrupted and we’ve watched law enforcement dial it back a bit.”

Cannabis industry participants are rightfully concerned about banking regulations that outlaw financial services to state-regulated marijuana businesses. Congressman Blumenauer has done a tremendous job explaining this critical issue to federal officials, helping bring Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden to the cause. The ridiculous 280e IRS tax code that prevents marijuana businesses from deducting normal business expenses also plagues cannabis entrepreneurs and Blumenauer has worked to bring conservative officials and even activists like Grover Norquist to his side of the issue. Fittingly, Blumenauer has joined forces with Colorado’s Jared Polis to introduce a federal legalization bill. The cannabis community doesn’t have a greater ally in Congress nor a better resource to discuss the present and future of federal marijuana law.

Tickets to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference are still available, but get yours soon before the event sells out. In addition to Congressman Blumenauer, the OMMBC provides attendees the opportunity to learn from, and network with, some of the top cannabis industry participants and experts. Attendees will learn about changes in the state’s medical laws as well as latest developments in the upcoming recreational market. 

Bernie Sanders has increased his lead on Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire according to the latest NBC/Marist poll. The progressive insurgent candidate that many cannabis law reform advocates have rallied around, has been the target of criticism from Clinton surrogates in recent day. Sanders responded that Clinton’s campaign must be “nervous” if they are taking shots at him.

According to the NBC/Marist poll, the Vermont Senator leads the former Secretary of State, by 9 points in the first primary state of New Hampshire. NBC reports:

Bernie Sanders has jumped out to a nine-point lead over front-runner Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, and he’s gained ground on her among Iowa voters in the Democratic presidential race, according to a pair of brand-new NBC News/Marist polls.

In New Hampshire, the Vermont senator gets the support of 41 percent of Democratic voters, Clinton gets 32 percent and Vice President Joe Biden gets 16 percent. No other Democratic candidate receives more than 1 percent.

Back in July’s NBC/Marist poll, Clinton was ahead of Sanders in the Granite State by 10 points, 42 percent to 32 percent, with Biden at 12 percent.

These polling results are good news for Sanders and the cannabis law reform advocates that support him. Sanders’ proposed bill to abolish private prisons and willingness to legalize marijuana at the federal level have drawn cannabis activists to his cause. Clinton has not been in line with the Democratic base, or the independents that are likely to vote Democrat, on sensible cannabis laws, even opposing decriminalization in 2008. Fortunately, like many candidates, Clinton seems to have moderated her view; cannabis advocates will certainly continue pushing her to evolve her cannabis policy, aided by Sander’s surge. With the fate of four states’ legalization laws on the line, not to mention the twenty-plus medical states and the new states that will liberalize their marijuana laws in 2016, this presidential election is vitally important to the cannabi community. Recent polls, both on presidential candidates and marijuana law in general  demonstrate good news for the cannabis community and our momentum shows no signs of slowing down at this point.

When crafting a marijuana legalization measure, it is necessary to balance several objectives, including: personal freedom and public safety; tax revenue and responsible use; free speech and advertising restrictions designed to keep marijuana out of the hands of minors; and out-of-state competition vs. protecting in-state mom and pops. When drafting Measure 91, we co-authors carefully considered these various interests and felt that we had developed a sensible law that would stake a moderate middle on these issues and move the state of Oregon forward with a cannabis industry that would follow in the footsteps of our successful microbrewery and winery industries, while most importantly ending the arrest and citation of thousands of people for marijuana offenses. Apparently, voters agreed, supporting Measure 91 with more than 56% of the vote.

To balance the need to bring in out-of-state capital and protect Oregon’s homegrown industry, we concluded that the best way to balance these interests was to provide for a low, barrier to entry and provide for transparency. With a $1,250 license fee for growers, producers and retailers, Oregon entrepreneurs could be vertically-integrated for just $3,750 and market themselves as true Oregon small businesses.

We didn’t include a residency requirement so Oregonians could bring in the resources from other states and Oregonians could compete effectively, just as Oregon’s world-class craft brewers and wineries have done. Unfortunately, the Oregon Legislature changed the taxing and funding mechanism for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), who now regulated adult cannabis commerce in the state, increasing licensing fees to more than $4,000,hurting the ability of mom and pops to vertically integrate, and imposed a residency requirement, making it harder to bring in out-of-state investors. The OLCC took the residency requirement passed by legislators to conclude that only businesses with a 51% Oregon owner could get a license.

The Oregonian Editorial Board believes that the strict residency proposal goes too far:

Oregon should not hobble itself by limiting out-of-state investment and involvement, which could bring innovation and operational efficiency as well as cash to a new agricultural/retail sector that OLCC projects will generate $130 million in retail sales in 2017. (That projection runs comparatively low, meanwhile, as the economist Beau Whitney of Greenpoint Oregon, in legislative testimony from June, scaled the likely marijuana market here to be far larger.)

The best new businesses are those capable of responding to market conditions adroitly and to their advantage: If it takes an out-of-stater with a financial position in the firm to manage an Oregon-based pot operation – from increasingly sophisticated grow fields to supervised distribution to the retail sales counter – let it be so. Jobs to Oregonians won’t be lost if such a business succeeds. Jobs could be fewer if such a business were to limp along or fail.

Prosperity for Oregonians comes first and foremost. It would be shortsighted if a promising new marijuana market, cleared at last by the passage of Measure 91, were to suffer growth constraints because of errant, if good-willed, provincialism.

If the OLCC prevents businesses with out-of-state ownership from obtaining marijuana business licenses, there could be lawsuits that could distract the agency, or even lead to an injunction that delays the issuance of licenses. The OLCC could consider grandfathering in existing out-of-state businesses, but then those businesses would have an unfair advantage against Oregon’s mom and pops, not having to worry about any other outside competition.

The best policy is to adhere as closely to the text of Measure 91 as closely as possible, as the voters intended. A majority of Oregonians want to regulate marijuana like beer and wine, and neither of those industries prohibit out-of-state businesses. Oregon craft brewers like Ninkasi and HUB can compete just fine with Busch and PBR, thank you. In time, Oregonians will support Oregon-grown marijuana businesses. Let’s not be fearful of competition, let’s let the cream rise to the top and I’m confident that the Oregon cannabis businesses and entrepreneurs are up to the task.

Shameless plug: I’ll touch on the text of Measure 91, how it has been altered by the Oregon Legislature and the latest regulations proposed by the state at the upcoming Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference (OMMBC) on September 12-13 in Portland.