Marijuana legalization debate lights up in Ohio

Board of Directors

Steve Shaff

Stephen Shaff is a community and political organizer, social entrepreneur, and the founder of Community-Vision Partners (C-VP), a community and social solutions Benefit LLC whose mission is to initiate, facilitate and agitate for the Common Good. A significant project of C-VP has been the establishment and development of the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Council (CSBC), a business-led educational and advocacy organization whose mission is to promote and expand sustainable business viability, awareness, and impact within the Chesapeake region (MD, DC and VA). Shaff’s background represents an unusually broad but interrelated series of accomplishments along with a multi-sector network of relationships and contacts. His areas of expertise include inner-city Washington, DC Affordable Housing & Real Estate Development; Community Development and Activism; Green & New Economy Advocacy; Civic & Political Advocacy Leadership and other national movement initiatives.

Steve Shaff

Secretary - People Demanding Action

Executive Director Community Vision Partners

Maryland

Executive Director

Alex Lawson is the executive director of Social Security Works, the convening member of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition— a coalition made up of over 300 national and state organizations representing over 50 million Americans. Lawson was the first employee of Social Security Works, when he served as the communications director, and has built the organization alongside the founding co-directors into a recognized leader on social insurance. Mr. Lawson is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Mr. Lawson is also the co-owner of We Act Radio an AM radio station and media production company whose studio is located in the historic Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, DC. We Act Radio is a mission driven business that is dedicated to raising up the stories and voices of those historically excluded from the media. We Act Radio is also an innovator in the use of online and social media as well as video livestreaming to cover breaking news and events. Most recently, producing video livestreaming from Ferguson, MO as the #FergusonLive project sponsored by Color of Change.

Alex Lawson

Treasurer - People Demanding Action

Social Security Works

Washington, DC

Rev. Rodney Sadler

Dr. Sadler's work in the community includes terms as a board member of the N.C. Council of Churches, Siegel Avenue Partners, and Mecklenburg Ministries, and currently he serves on the boards of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Loaves and Fishes, the Hispanic Summer Program, and the Charlotte Chapter of the NAACP. His activism includes work with the Community for Creative Non-Violence in D.C., Durham C.A.N., H.E.L.P. Charlotte, and he has worked organizing clergy with and developing theological resources for the Forward Together/Moral Monday Movement in North Carolina. Rev. Sadler is the managing editor of the African American Devotional Bible, associate editor of the Africana Bible, and the author of Can a Cushite Change His Skin? An Examination of Race, Ethnicity, and Othering in the Hebrew Bible. He has published articles in Interpretation, Ex Audito, Christian Century, the Criswell Theological Review, and the Journal of the Society of Biblical Literature and has essays and entries in True to Our Native Land, the New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, the Westminster Dictionary of Church History, Light against Darkness, and several other publications. Among his research interests are the intersection of race and Scripture, the impact of our images of Jesus for the perpetuation of racial thought in America, the development of African American biblical interpretation in slave narratives, the enactment of justice in society based on biblical imperatives, and the intersection of religion and politics.

Rev. Rodney Sadler

Co - Chair - People Demanding Action

North Carolina Forward Together/Moral Monday Movem

Radio Host: Politics of Faith - Wednesday @ 11 am

Executive Director and Executive Producer PDA Radio

Andrea Miller is the Executive Director of People Demanding Action, a multi-issue advocacy group. Andrea is both an organizer as well as a digital advocacy expert. She has appeared on the Thom Hartmann show, hosts the Progressive Round Table and is Executive Producer or PDAction Radio. As an IT professional she is also responsible for PDAction's digital strategy and customizes advocacy tools for small to medium size organizations through the Progressive Support Project. She is the former Co-Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, was the Democratic Nominee in 2008 for House of Representatives in the Virginia 4th District. Running on a Medicare for All and clean energy platform, Andrea was endorsed by PDA, California Nurses and The Sierra Club. Prior to running for office, Andrea was a part of Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s presidential campaign, first as Statewide Coordinator for Virginia and subsequently as Regional Coordinator. From 2006 until leading the VA Kucinich camppaign Andrea was MoveOn.org’s Regional Coordinator for Central, Southwest and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia and West Virginia.

Andrea Miller

Board Member and Executive Director

Spotsylvania, VA

President and Executive Director

Since September 2013, Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus has served as the President of Progressive Congress. Dr. Lemus served as Senior Advisor to Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and was Director of the Office of Public Engagement from July 2009 until August 2013. Prior to her appointment, she was the first woman to hold the position of Executive Director at the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) from 2007-2009, and the first woman to chair the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) from 2008-2009. During her tenure at LCLAA, she helped co-found the National Latino Coalition on Climate Change (NLCCC) and was a Commissioner for the Commission to Engage African-Americans on Climate Change (CEAAC). She served 3-year terms on the advisory boards of both the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) from 2005-2008 and the United States Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP) from 2006-2009. In January 2013, she was confirmed by the DC Council to sit on the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia. From 2000-2007, she served as Director of Policy and Legislation at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) where she launched the LULAC Democracy Initiative - a national Hispanic civic participation campaign and founded Latinos for a Secure Retirement - a national campaign to preserve the Social Security safety net. Dr. Lemus was adjunct professor of international relations and border policy at the University of Memphis, San Diego State University, and the University of San Diego; as well as a Guest Scholar at the University of California, San Diego – Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies. Dr. Lemus has appeared in both English and Spanish language media outlets, including CNN, CNN en Español, C-SPAN, MSNBC, NBC's Hardball, Fox's Neil Cavuto, Univision and NBC-Telemundo among others. She received her doctorate in International Relations from the University of Miami in 1998.

Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus

Co - Chair - People Demanding Action

President and Executive Director

Progressive Congress

Team Leader and Climate Action Radio Host

Russell Greene has been focused on the climate crisis since 1988. He leads the Progressive Democrats of America Stop Global Warming and Environmental Issue Organizing Team, is Advisory Board Chair for iMatter, Kids vs. Global Warming, vice-chair legislation for the California Democratic Party Environmental Caucus and has been an executive in the restaurant industry for over 30 years, with a current focus on the impact of sustainability in business.

Russell Greene

President, People Demanding Action

President & CEO

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, is a minister, community activist and one of the most influential people in Hip Hop political life. He works tirelessly to encourage the Hip Hop generation to utilize its political and social voice.   A national leader and pacemaker within the green movement, Rev Yearwood has been successfully bridging the gap between communities of color and environmental issue advocacy for the past decade. With a diverse set of celebrity allies, Rev Yearwood raises awareness and action in communities that are often overlooked by traditional environmental campaigns. Rev Yearwood’s innovative climate and clean energy work has garnered the Hip Hop Caucus support from several environmental leaders including former Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, National Wildlife Federation, Earthjustice, Sierra Club and Bill McKibben’s 350.org. Rolling Stone deemed Rev Yearwood one of our country’s “New Green Heroes” and Huffington Post named him one of the top ten change makers in the green movement. He was also named one of the 100 most powerful African Americans by Ebony Magazine in 2010, and was also named to the Source Magazine’s Power 30, Utne Magazine’s 50 Visionaries changing the world, and the Root 100 Young Achievers and Pacesetters. Rev Yearwood is a national leader in engaging young people in electoral activism. He leads the national Respect My Vote! campaign and coalition (www.respectmyvote.com). In the 2012 Elections, numerous celebrity partners have joined the campaign to reach their fan bases, including Respect My Vote! spokesperson 2 Chainz. The Hip Hop Caucus registered and mobilized tens of thousands of young voters to the polls in 2012. In 2008, the Hip Hop Caucus set a world record of registering the most voters in one day: 32,000 people across 16 U.S. cities. This effort was part of the Hip Hop Caucus’ 2008 “Respect My Vote!” campaign with celebrity spokespeople T.I., Keyshia Cole and many other recording artists, athletes, and entertainers. Rev Yearwood entered the world of Hip Hop Politics when he served as the Political and Grassroots Director of Russell Simmons’ Hip Hop Summit Action Network in 2003 and 2004. In 2004 he also was a key architect and implementer of three other voter turnout operations – P. Diddy’s Citizen Change organization which created the “Vote Or Die!” campaign; Jay Z’s “Voice Your Choice” campaign; and, “Hip Hop Voices”, a project at the AFL-CIO. It was in 2004 that he founded the Hip Hop Caucus to bring the power of the Hip Hop Community to Washington, DC. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Rev Yearwood established the award winning Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign where he led a coalition of national and grassroots organizations to advocate for the rights of Katrina survivors. The coalition successfully stopped early rounds of illegal evictions of Katrina survivors from temporary housing, held accountable police and government entities to the injustices committed during the emergency response efforts, supported the United Nations “right to return” policies for internally displaced persons, promoted comprehensive federal recovery legislation, and campaigned against increased violence resulting from lack of schools and jobs in the years after Katrina. Rev Yearwood is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer. In the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq he began speaking out against such an invasion. He has since remained a vocal activist in opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2007 he organized a national pro-peace tour, “Make Hip Hop Not War”, which engaged urban communities in discussions and rallies about our country’s wars abroad and parallels to the structural and physical violence poor urban communities endure here at home. Rev Yearwood is a proud graduate of Howard University School of Divinity and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), both Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He served as student body president at both institutions. As a student at UDC, he organized massive student protests and sit-ins, shutting down the school for ten days straight, and achieved victory against budget cutbacks. After graduating from UDC he served as the Director of Student Life at a time when the city was attempting to relocate the school, under his leadership the city was forced to rescind its effort to marginalize and move the campus. Rev Yearwood went on to teach at the Center for Social Justice at Georgetown University, before entering the world of Hip Hop politics with Russell Simmons and civil rights activist, Dr. Benjamin Chavis. He has been featured in such media outlets as CNN, MSNBC, BET, Huffington Post, Newsweek, The Nation, MTV, AllHipHop.com, The Source Magazine, Ebony and Jet, Al Jazeera, BBC, C-Span, and Hardball with Chris Mathews and featured in the Washington Post, The New York Times and VIBE magazine. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. The first in his family to be born in the United States, his parents, aunts, and uncles, are from Trinidad and Tobago. Rev Yearwood currently lives in Washington, DC with his two sons, who are his biggest inspiration to making this world a better place.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood

Board Member

President and CEO

Hip Hop Caucus

Board Member

Marc Carr’s passion for social justice and entrepreneurship has led him to work on civil rights campaigns in the Deep South and organize community forums in the U.S. and West Africa. His professional experience includes heading the sales division of a major international corporation in West Africa, consulting for the United Nations Foundation, and working as a Social Media Analyst for McKinsey & Co. Marc is the Founder of Social Solutions, an organization devoted to crowd-sourcing tech solutions to solve intractable social problems. Social Solutions produces a monthly event series, the Capitol Innovation Forum, and the yearly Social Innovation Festival, along with a podcast series, the Capitol Justice Podcast. Social Solutions also spearheads the Capitol Justice Lab, an initiative to reduce the incarceration rate in the nation’s capital by half in five years. Marc is expecting his Master’s Degree in Social Enterprise in 2016 from the American University School of International Service.

Marc Carr

Board Member

Social Solutions

Washington, DC

Board Member

Lise received her Doctorate in Medicine in 1982 from the University of Paris. After interning at hospitals in Paris and Lome, Togo, she completed her residency in psychiatry at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. Board certified in both general and forensic psychiatry, Lise worked as a staff psychiatrist in public mental health centers in Alexandria and Fairfax, Virginia. For more than twenty years Lise has maintained a private practice in psychiatry. An Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University and an active member of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, she has worked to educate the public on mental health issues through writing in professional journals, the press and other media outlets. A frequent guest on local and national radio and television, Lise has addressed a range of issues on violence, trauma, and mental illness. Through Physicians for Human Rights, she conducts evaluations of victims of torture seeking asylum in this country and advocates on their behalf. She has served as a consultant to the CIA where she developed psychological assessments of world leaders. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti Lise provided mental health services to those traumatized by the events. In 2005, concerned about the direction the country was taking -- and believing that a background in science and human behavior would strengthen the political process -- she ran for the U.S. Senate seat in Maryland. In September, 2006, she was chosen as one of the first fifty persons to be trained in Nashville by Al Gore to educate the public about global warming. Lise is an expert on climate change and public health, with a particular interest in the psychological impacts of climate change. She frequently writes and speaks about these issues. In collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation and with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation she organized a conference held in March 2009 on the mental health and psychological impacts of climate change. Lise is on the board of The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard School of Public Health, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and the International Transformational Resilience Coalition.

Dr. Lise Van Susteren

Board Member

Moral Action on Climate

Maryland

Monday, 02 February 2015 00:00

Marijuana legalization debate lights up in Ohio

Written by Michael D. Pitman and Vivienne Machi | Journal News

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Marijuana legalization debate lights up in Ohio

Supporters for marijuana legalization say that the city of Hamilton’s proposal to ban medical marijuana sales throughout its limits ahead of any potential statewide vote is premature, and city residents began to voice their dissent against the change in zoning ordinances late last week.

“It’s not like it’s a toxic site that’s really doing harm to people,” said pro-marijuana attorney Bob Fitrakis. “But in this case, it should be no different than a pharmacy … we’ve been through all of this stuff through alcohol.”

The debate over marijuana legalization in Ohio has picked up steam locally and statewide in recent weeks as several groups are working to get the issue on November’s ballot, and Hamilton has proposed zoning changes to keep medical marijuana sales out of town before any vote has been cast.

“They’re totally premature in making this kind of thing without examining the issue in depth,” said Rob Ryan, president of the NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) Ohio chapter.

The Journal-News reported Wednesday that city officials are considering preemptively banning medical marijuana sales in all zoning districts ahead of any possible statewide legislation in November. Senior planner John Creech said the proposed change stemmed from comments received at several public input meetings in late 2013 concerning zoning changes of all types.

A caucus report included in Hamilton’s City Council Jan. 28 meeting agenda stated, “Due to concerns expressed at public input meetings held last year on permitted and conditional land uses in business zoning districts and by City Council, the attached zoning amendment will preemptively ban Medical Marijuana sales in all zoning districts of the City of Hamilton.”

As of now, medical marijuana is currently legal in 23 states, as well as the District of Columbia.

Hamilton resident Anthony Weisenberger, 29, spoke against the proposed zoning change during the audience of citizens section of the Jan. 28 meeting.

Introducing himself as “a veteran, a patient and a parent,” Weisenberger spoke of the benefits medical marijuana sales could bring to the city, including freeing up law enforcement resources to focus on “harder” crimes and following other states such as Colorado and Washington who have received tax revenue after legalizing marijuana.

He called on the city to see what the residents of Hamilton truly wanted.

“Put a poll out to the city … let the people decide before you take something from them that they never even had,” he said.

Mayor Pat Moeller, a member of the city’s planning commission, said that the caucus report was “the first in a number of steps.”

“We’ll do our homework to address it, listen to public hearing comments if there are any, and wait for the meeting in February,” he said. A public hearing and first reading of the ordinance are scheduled for the February 11 City Council meeting, with a second reading and vote currently scheduled for the Feb. 25 City Council meeting.

A pro-marijuana legalization attorney from Columbus, Fitrakis said Hamilton’s proposed zoning changes are “clearly symbolic” because not only are selling, buying, growing and using marijuana already illegal, but if it is legalized in some form “the constitutional amendment is going to trump local zoning laws.”

“It depends on how specific the zoning laws are,” he said. “They don’t have the power to zone it out of existence if it is in the constitution. Constitutional law always trumps local ordinances.”

“Future changes in state law may or may not affect local laws,” Hamilton Law Director Heather Sanderson Lewis wrote in an email to the Journal-News. “If Council approves amendments to the zoning ordinance, and if state law changes in the future, the City will evaluate what effect, if any, the state law has on local zoning ordinances.”

It also depends on if the proposed laws allow dispensaries in certain cities or areas within the state, possibly similar to the casino laws where casinos were only permitted to be built in certain areas of the state. Fitrakis said ResponsibleOhio is planning to submit a request to the Ohio Ballot Board on Monday a pro-marijuana ballot issue.

While you can have reasonable zoning to restrict adult entertainment businesses to certain areas, it wouldn’t be reasonable to restrict a medical marijuana dispensary. There would be rules and regulations set up by a proposed nine-member Ohio Commission of Cannabis Control, according to Ohio Rights Group’s proposal, which has collected about 150,000 signatures of Ohioans since January 2012.

Fitrakis said in medical marijuana “there are strains that don’t make you high at all,” and that this type of proposed zoning is unheard of.

“Particularly if it’s passed as medical marijuana…I don’t know how you could in fact be doing the equivalent of preventing people from getting insulin or other medical supplies,” he said.

The Ohio Rights Group has one of three constitutional amendment issues aiming for November’s ballot legalizing the use of medical marijuana. Member John Pardee said he’ll only have a problem with the proposed zoning law changes in Hamilton is if they impose or infringe on an individual’s rights, comparing the issue to dry versus wet counties when it comes to alcohol.

The Ohio Rights Group received their OK from the Ohio Ballot Board in 2012 to have the right to place a constitutional amendment on a ballot. Next, the issue is submitted to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for approval, and then certified as a single issue by the Ohio Secretary of State. Then 10 percent of the last gubernatorial election is required, and because of the anemic voter turnout in November 2014, the group only has to have 306,000 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters.

Pardee said they have about 150,000 raw signatures and have signatures from 30 counties. They must also collect signatures from 44 of the state’s 88 counties, with all signatures due by July 1 in order to qualify for the November 2015 ballot.

“The beauty of our amendment that it’s a rights-based amendment,” which gives every Ohioan the right to sell, buy and grow cannabis, Pardee added.

After talking with political consultants, the group may push for a 2016 ballot issue – which is a presidential election year and a higher turnout. There may also be competing issues coming up in this year’s general election, and “we want to make sure the rights of the citizens of Ohio are taken into account.”

Ryan said he’s never heard of a preemptive ban of medical marijuana and believes “it’s premature” to enact such laws. He added he’ll be at the Feb. 11 meeting where proposed zoning legislation will be introduced.

“There are a number of citizens that I know directly that have been negatively affected by marijuana prohibition, either due to their medical condition or their legal entanglement,” he said. “And quite frankly it’s time to get past the refer madness.”

Ryan said the laws against marijuana exist because of the criminals who abuse it.

In the Ohio Revised Code, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, just like heroin or methamphetamine, “even though it’s nowhere near that danger level,” said Ryan.

Ryan, a three-time cancer survivor, said he is “highly allergic” to strong opiate medications, and his oncologist supported the use of marijuana for pain management.

“Marijuana has therapeutic purposes and benefits, and it’s not as addictive, deadly and without medical use as Ohio currently defines it to be,” he said.

Responsible Ohio, which is campaigning for a constitutional amendment, on Friday disclosed the following partial list of its financial backers, which included former and current pro-athletes — such as Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati Royals fame and Frostee Tucker, former Cincinnati Bengals player who currently plays defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals — and real estate developers, a fashion designer and a sports agent.

The group said it expects to release proposed ballot language in February. Investors backing the campaign, which is expected to cost more than $25 million, will control the 10 growing sites for legal marijuana, if the ballot issue passes.

Four Republican statewide leaders came out strongly against legalizing marijuana in Ohio and took shots at ResponsibleOhio’s amendment.

Attorney General Mike DeWine called it a “stupid idea” and Treasurer Josh Mandel said while it might lead to increased Girl Scout cookie sales, it’s a bad idea.

Secretary of State Jon Husted said that it is “offensive” that Ohioans will be asked to grant a business monopoly through an amendment to the Ohio Constitution.

State Auditor Dave Yost said Ohio should have a constitutional amendment that prohibits any future amendments that carve out business monopolies, referencing the 2009 constitutional amendment approved by voters that named for specific casino sites. Yost asked if creating a monopoly for whorehouses might be next.

Gov. John Kasich is also on the record opposing legalizing marijuana in Ohio.

Staff writer Laura Bischoff contributed to this report.

Link to original article from the Journal News

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