Bill HR 3939, also known as the Truth in Trials Act is a bi-partisan bill that "enables individuals facing federal prosecution for marijuana-related offenses to provide evidence during trial that the activities they were engaged in were performed in compliance with their state’s duly-enacted medical marijuana laws."
While US President Obama has stated that the FDA will not target patients who abide by state laws, this statement is not law and could change on a whim, whether a new attorney general or new president sees things differently, or whether Obama himself gets pressure to change his stance. This bill, the Truth in Trials Act will provide real protection for medical marijuana patients who abide by state laws and must defend themselves in a federal court case. Current law prohibits defendents in a federal court from even presenting evidence that they were compliant with state medical marijuana laws. That alone does not seem reasonable and lawful.
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. The ASA helped to bring this bill to the table and says the legislation:
Reaffirms States' Rights: The Truth in Trials Act is a common sense and compassionate measure that attempts to reconcile the enduring conflict between federal and state laws on a very important and private medical matter.
Preserves Existing Laws: The Truth in Trials Act defers to existing law by providing for criminal penalties if the defendant's use of cannabis is not exclusively limited to authorized medical use.
Restores Fundamental Fairness: The Truth in Trials Act promotes fundamental fairness by allowing medical marijuana defendants to introduce evidence that may be considered by the judge and jury.
Current Co-Sponsors of the bill include:
Farr, Sam (D-17 CA) Baldwin, Tammy (D-2 WI) Berkley, Shelley (D-1 NV) Berman, Howard (D-28 CA) Capps, Lois (D-23 CA) Cohen, Steve (D-9 TN) Eshoo, Anna (D-14 CA) Frank, Barney (D-4 MA) Grijalva, Raul (D-7 AZ) Hinchey, Maurice (D-22 NY) Honda, Mike (D-15 CA) Kucinich, Dennis (D-10 OH) McGovern, James (D-3 MA) Michaud, Michael (D-2 ME) Paul, Ron (R-14 TX) Polis, Jared (D-2 CO) Rohrabacher, Dana (R-46 CA) Schakowsky, Janice (D-9 IL) Stark, Pete (D-13 CA) Sherman, Brad (D-27 CA) Waxman, Henry (D-30 CA) Woolsey, Lynn (D-6 CA)
Every 18 seconds, an American is busted for drug possession, according to Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) crime statistics released Monday.
"Not only do these officers see the terrible results that their work has had on individuals' lives, but a lot of what I hear from beat officers and undercover narcotics agents is they've seen colleagues die in the line of fire trying to enforce laws that have no positive impacts," says Tom Angell, a spokesman for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) in Washington. "For a lot of them, this is about trying to keep good cops alive by repealing stupid prohibition laws."
The new statistics point to a continued emphasis on drug interdiction – otherwise known as the “war on drugs” – that more and more law enforcement officers are now questioning. While many experts hold the anti-drug campaign to be the key reason for the decline in the crime rate in the US, especially violent crime, since the 1990s, these police officers, as well as current and retired judges and prosecutors see, instead, thousands of American lives ruined for small drug infractions in a costly and possibly unwinnable “war.”
According to the latest FBI figures, 82.3 percent of all drug arrests in 2008 were for possession, and 44.3 percent of these for possession of marijuana. Arrests totalled more than 1.7 million.
“You can get over an addiction, but you will never get over a conviction, said Jack Cole, a retired undercover narcotics agent and LEAP director, in a statement Tuesday about the “collateral consequences” of the war on drugs.
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While California is going bankrupt, one business is booming. "How Weed Won the West" is the story of the growing medical cannabis / marijuana industry in the greater Los Angeles area, with over 700 dispensaries doling out the buds. As a treatment for conditions ranging from cancer and AIDS, to anxiety, ADHD, and insomnia, cannabis is quickly proving itself as a healthier natural alternative to many prescription drugs.
Following the story of Organica, a collective owned by Jeff Joseph that was raided by the DEA in August of '09, the film shows that although some things have changed with Obama in office, the War on Drugs is nowhere near over. From Kevin Booth, the producer/director of Showtime's "American Drug War", "How Weed Won the West" puts California forward as an example to the rest of the country by documenting how legalizing marijuana can help save the economy.
The documentary features: Jeff Joseph, Ethan Nadelmann, Alex Jones, Craig X Rubin, Doug Stanhope, Theresa Blaylock, Don Duncan, Bill Kroger, and more.
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This Canadian Documentary film about cannabis production and drug prohibition. Does the drug prohibition work? Have a look and think for yourself.
Follow filmmaker Adam Scorgie as he demystifies the underground market and brings to light how the marijuana industry can function while remaining illegal. Through growers, police officers, criminologists, economists, doctors, politicians and pop culture icons, Scorgie examines the cause and effect nature of the business - an industry that may be profiting more by being illegal.
"Not only do these officers see the terrible results that their work has had on individuals' lives, but a lot of what I hear from beat officers and undercover narcotics agents is they've seen colleagues die in the line of fire trying to enforce laws that have no positive impacts," says Tom Angell, a spokesman for 
