Bowl After Bowl

Josh Chittum of Mid-Missouri NORML ★ 023

***This episode of Bowl After Bowl was originally published February 22, 2015. The title and notes have been republished as originally written***
 
In today's episode, we sit down with Josh Chittum, president of Mid-Missouri NORML and assistant director of the "We Always Swing" Jazz Series.  We discuss our experience tabling with Show-Me Cannabis at Reagan Lincoln Days in Kansas City over the weekend and provide a brief update on Missouri's cannabis legislation. Representative Shamed Dogan has written House Bill 978 to free Jeff Mizanskey, since Governor Nixon continues to ignore his constituents by refusing to grant Jeff clemency.  As for local events, Josh recaps Mid-Missouri NORML's first monthly membership meeting and previews his Twin Peaks party.

High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal ★ 022

***This episode of Bowl After Bowl was originally published February 10, 2015. The title and notes have been republished as originally written***
 
Yesterday, Show-Me Cannabis filed four lawsuits against Missouri drug task forces in violation of the Sunshine Law. We arrived in Jefferson City, Missouri this morning after driving back from the High Times' SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino, California — just in time to take the group photo for Show-Me Cannabis' Lobby Day. Nearly 100 activists gathered together today to create change. We spoke with our representative, Kip Kendrick, about legalization in Missouri. Hear what he had to say along with highlights from Amber Langston's second Women of Cannabis event and the Cannabis Cup.

California Dreamin’ ★ 021

***This episode of Bowl After Bowl was originally published January 23, 2015. The title and notes have been republished as originally written***
We knew 2015 would be busy, but we had no clue just how busy it would be! Every day there are events related to cannabis legalization. On top of that, Laurien landed a job at GrassRoots Smoke Shop (https://grassrootssmokeshop.com). If you've never been in there before, you need to check it out. Today's episode has good news and bad news. The bad news: Murphy got hit by a car. The good news: Murphy is headed toward a full recovery and Spencer won tickets to High Times Magazine's SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino, California!

“Real leaders” recall Chadwick ★ 020

***This episode of Bowl After Bowl was originally published January 8, 2015. The title and notes have been republished as originally written***
 
Happy New Year Bowlers! Our New Year's resolution is to further the fight for cannabis freedom in 2015.One significant victory has already been achieved this year. The community worked together and made #RecallChadwick a success by gathering more than 300 valid signatures. To avoid a recall, Councilwoman Virginia Chadwick resigned last Monday. She painted a picture of herself as a good civil servant and proclaimed "real leaders" in the community had comforted her and told her that "the recall was ridiculous." When the floor was briefly opened for public comment, only one Columbia resident spoke, saying, "Don't let the door hit ya." However, the council members lavished Chadwick with praise for "representing her ward" and her leadership on Tobacco 21.Spencer drafted a petition to repeal Tobacco 21 but only had 20 days to acquire more than 3,200 signatures. That time period included the holidays, when most Columbia residents were out of town.But the fight is just beginning.Missouri Liberty Alliance (http://missourilibertyalliance.org/), a political action committee, was founded to raise money to support political change. Community members dedicating time for freedom fighting deserve compensation. Donations to MLA can be made through PayPal.Another hot city issue is the continued illegal operation of Uber within the city limits of Columbia. This flat-out disregard for the law has apparently angered the city council. Of course, the same city council let Opus skirt many city laws and legal processes when they secured permission to construct a student housing complex. Laura Nauser, who is supposedly the most libertarian member of the city council, was the first out of the gates last Monday night to call for court action against Uber.At Bowl After Bowl we have a different definition than Ginny Chadwick of what makes a "real leader." One example that comes to mind is Show-Me Cannabis (http://show-mecannabis.com/) Deputy Director Amber Langston. She will be hosting an event in Kansas City tonight that we will be attending. Recently, Langston was covered by the Kansas City Star. Here is a video of her speaking at the Joplin, Mo. Cannabis Revival 2011:http://youtu.be/_VVsz4yG02IClick here to read the feature on Amber published by the KC Star. (http://www.kansascity.com/living/article5448900.html)The article mentions Jeff Mizanskey (http://justice4jeff.com), a Sedalia man who has served more than 20 years of a life sentence without parole for non-violent cannabis offenses. Show-Me Cannabis is leading the effort to free Mizanskey. No one should be in prison for a plant.Governor Jay Nixon pardoned nine non-violent "offenders" (http://governor.mo.gov/news/archive/gov-nixon-grants-pardons-nine-non-violent-offenders) after the holidays, but it's worth noting these "offenders" had already finished serving their sentences. Pardons carry no merit unless someone really values what Governor Nixon thinks. These nine people still have criminal records because a pardon is not an expungement.Across the Missouri-Kansas border in Wichita, the group Kansas For Change has submitted 4,500 signatures for the Marijuana Reform Initiative, which would decriminalize possession of 32 grams and less of marijuana for people 21 and older. The group's first attempt to decriminalize possession of cannabis failed when they fell 46 signatures short last summer.

Tobacco 21 in Columbia, MO ★ 019

***This episode of Bowl After Bowl was originally published December 20, 2014. The title and notes have been republished as originally written***
Tobacco 21On Monday, Columbia City Council passed Tobacco 21 (http://tobacco21.org/)with a landslide six-to-one vote on all three related ordinances. Thank you Laura Nauser for standing up for our personal freedoms and being the only council member to vote "no" on Tobacco 21! Unfortunately Laura's colleagues do not share her respect for the personal freedoms and rights of adults in Columbia, MO.Three changes occurred as a result of the Tobacco 21 vote:• the age to purchase tobacco and paraphernalia for tobacco use (including papers and pipes) increased from 18 to 21 within city limits• the age to purchase e-cigs increased from 18 to 21 within city limits• e-cigs were added to the city's ban on public smoking (http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Documents/article-ix-smoking.pdf), which especially targets indoor useHow can we repeal these bad laws?NOW is the time to work together and create change. Spencer wrote three petitions to counteract the ordinances passed as a result of Tobacco 21:• Petition 022311 would change the tobacco purchase age from 21 back to 18 within city limits• Petition 022312 would remove e-cigs from the indoor ban• Petition 022313 would change the e-cig purchase age from 21 back to 18 within Columbia city limitsWe need more than 3,209 signatures turned in by January 5. All signatures are to be collected and self-verified by January 4.Petitions are currently available to be signed at Aqueous Vapor (https://aqueousvapor.com/), Midwest Vapor Lounge (https://www.facebook.com/MidwestVaporLounge) and Aardvarx (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aardvarx/133479993369361?ref=ts&fref=ts). If you need to sign the petition please head to any of those locations during regular business hours! Don't forget to tell your friends to sign as well. We don't have much time, and we need all the support we can get on this campaign!Gary Nolan (http://garynolan.com/) supports the petition and is keeping his listeners informed about its progress. The repeal effort has also received coverage in the Columbia Missourian (http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/182946/petitioners-fight-to-repeal-new-tobacco-ordinances/), the Columbia Tribune (http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/petitioners-seek-to-overturn-tobacco-e-cig-regulations/article_454bbe19-7c5b-5dbc-b9e8-47df0ac00dc3.html), KOMU (http://www.komu.com/news/columbia-citizens-seek-to-repeal-tobacco-e-cig-ordinances-64070/) and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/local-news/PR121814114519787).Nebraska, Oklahoma sue Colorado for cannabis legalizationhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9BTx3ajiGkBecause cannabis remains illegal under federal law, the attorneys general of Nebraska and Oklahoma have filed a lawsuit to repeal its legalization in Colorado. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said he is tired of wasting law enforcement resources on patrolling his state's border.Spencer and Laurien offer a solution: legalize it.

Omnibus Spending Bill ★ 018

***This episode of Bowl After Bowl was originally published December 20, 2014. The title and notes have been republished as originally written***
Show-Me Cannabis hosts Repeal Day Party in St. LouisLast Friday, Spencer and Laurien attended the Show-Me Cannabis Repeal Day party (http://show-mecannabis.com/2014/12/repeal-day-celebration-enjoyed-by-over-100-attendees/) in St. Louis. The party was hosted at the Mad Art Gallery (http://www.madart.com/), an old police station turned into a picturesque joint with plenty of photo opportunities.More than 100 people attended the event  including 420 POW (https://www.facebook.com/POW420) creator Adela Falk, who has created and maintains a state-by-state list of all inmates currently locked up for cannabis (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Aow-cJlOJUTNdFpDYWpYeS1nSXZZeEFjZ3Rtc2ZqU3c&gid=1). Falk encourages everyone to write to these inmates and brought greeting cards for the Repeal Day party attendees to sign. She believes no one deserves jail time over a plant.Another notable guest was Mike Adams, a certified badass-motherfucker who writes for High Times, Playboy and Hustler. You can follow him on Twitter @adamssoup (https://twitter.com/adamssoup). He attended the event to get a feel for the legalization movement in Missouri and wrote about the event for High Times in an article that featured Spencer, Laurien and Bowl After Bowl (https://web.archive.org/web/20150406021812/https://hightimes.com/read/show-me-cannabis-celebrates-repeal-prohibition).There's one bucket-list item to check off:BE IN HIGH TIMES ✔ Also, Bowl After Bowl has also been submitted to iTunes and is awaiting approval!In this episode, Spencer and Laurien give a quick re-cap of the Journalism & Democracy capstone seminar entitled #CoverYourGap. The live stream video will be available on YouTube sometime around December 19.Native Americans can now grow and sell cannabisThe Department of Justice is now allowing Native American tribes to grow and sell cannabis on their sovereign land, as long as they abide the federal guidelines laid out in the "Cole Memo."  (http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf) This information was released in a memo published yesterday (http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/tribal/pages/attachments/2014/12/11/policystatementregardingmarijuanaissuesinindiancountry2.pdf), although the memo was dated "Oct. 28, 2014."In short, there are eight triggers for federal law enforcement involvement:I. Distribution to minorsII. Revenue for criminal enterpriseIII. Transferring cannabis from legal to illegal statesIV. Selling substances other than cannabisV. Violent crime related to cultivation or distributionVI. Drugged drivingVII. Growing cannabis on public landsVIII. Possession or use of cannabis on federal propertyOf course, these aren't the only reasons for cannabis-related investigations conducted by federal law enforcement.How does the Omnibus Spending Bill affect cannabis?Laurien and Spencer also discuss what the Omnibus Spending Bill means for cannabis. This fiscal year, the bill plans for $1.1 trillion dollars in spending.Written out, that number looks like this:$1,100,000,000,000You can read the full text of the Omnibus Spending Bill here (%20http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/CPRT-113-HPRT-RU00-HR83sa.xml) — all 1,600+ pages of it. Let's refresh ourselves on some American government terminology, shall we?Omnibus spending bill — a type of bill in the United States that encompasses many smaller appropriations bills into on single, large bill that can be passed with only one vote in each house.Appropriations bill — a legislative motion authorizing the government to spend money. This bill sets aside money for specific spending during the federal fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the following year.

Repeal Day ★ 017

***This episode of Bowl After Bowl was originally published December 5, 2014. The title and notes have been republished as originally written***
 
Today we celebrate Repeal Day in commemoration of the 81st anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition in the United States. In celebration, we bring you a special episode of Bowl After Bowl where we take a look at alcohol prohibition and its similarities with drug prohibition in the United States today.

Aaron Malin, Show-Me Cannabis Researcher ★ 016

Today we sat down with Aaron Malin, Director of Research for Show-Me Cannabis. We discuss his experience covering protests in Ferguson, MO for Reason Magazine. Aaron told us he was troubled by the tactics the police were using during protests following the non-indictment of Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Aaron said that, among other things, he saw police attention focused on groups of loud but relatively peaceful protesters as looters ransacked businesses and destroyed property just a short distance away. He also talks about the incredible displays of force by police and National Guard personnel.Aaron also told us about his research work with Show-Me Cannabis, a Missouri group that aims to legalize cannabis in 2016. Aaron has recently been focused on researching the various Drug Task Forces in the state of Missouri. Another of his projects is to identify if and when taxpayer funds have been used to illegally campaign against cannabis reform efforts and to ensure the practice stops. Aaron does most of his research using data he obtains via open records requests. Under the Missouri Sunshine Law, information about taxpayer-funded agencies must be made available upon request. Aaron walks us through the process of how to submit a Sunshine Law request in Missouri and shares a few of the more interesting things he's found in his research.