independentsforkerry.org

In Montana, where voters overwhelmingly approved a measure legalizing medical marijuana back in 2004, the winds of change are blowing.

A few days ago the Montana House took a trip into local politics, voting by a 3-1 margin to pass a bill out of committee that would repeal a Missoula initiative instructing local law enforcement to make marijuana laws its lowest priority.

The Montana House has already voted by a wide margin to overturn the state’s medical marijuana laws.

The Senate will take the matter up soon, but in the Senate there are competing bills, with some legislators favoring additional regulation instead of outright appeal.

Some Democrats in the Legislature say it wouldn’t be right to outlaw the medicine outright legislatively, considering it was passed by voters. Republicans, though, tend to take the stance that the voters were duped and that people are using medical marijuana recreationally.

In Missoula, recent debate has centered on the economic impact of repeal, which could be large, putting people out of work and causing commercial real estate to take a nose dive.

From a University of Montana newspaper:

Dave Stephens, owner of Better Life Montana, said that if the repeal is passed, he predicts the loss of thousands of jobs, lost city revenue from business taxes and many more people relying on food stamps.

“It’s a bad idea all the way around,” Stephens said.

Stephens owns and runs Better Life on his own and said he had hoped to hire employees in the next year. However, if House Bill 161 is passed, Stephens said, “We’d be out of business.”

He is hopeful that the bill will not be approved by the state Legislature and isn’t actively anticipating having to close down his business.

“I feel like the governor will veto it if it comes down to it,” he said.

The governor, Brian Schweitzer, is a Democrat.

In Colorado, where the right to medical marijuana is guaranteed by the constitution, the Legislature cannot ban the medicine outright, but can only craft laws by which to regulate that right.

That hardly seems to make the matter less contentious, however, as evidenced by a recent fracas in the Capitol that pitted medical marijuana advocates against a legislator who was trying to take their side in the debate.

Colorado Independent

PSLweb.org:

By: Abel Macias

Say no to detentions and deportations!

On Nov. 5, as workers were coming home from work, they came across a rally of over 150 students, youth and workers who were demanding an end to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in their community.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation had called for the rally after a young student shared her experience at a PSL class on socialism.

She told the PSL members the story of how federal ICE agents, under the direction of Homeland Security and the Obama administration, came to her home and took away members of her family after having raided her father’s workplace. Over 40 workers were arrested, including the owner of the bakery who was able to post bail a few days later. As of this writing, the father was still in custody and facing federal charges. (signonsandiego.com)

The corporate media failed to cover the aftermath of this raid. Fortunately, the daughter of the detained worker shared with PSL members how the ICE raids had torn her family apart and left them without any source of income.

The recently established San Diego branch of PSL was able to quickly respond to the ICE raid and called for a rally. PSL members reached out to other progressive organizations in the area and, in a matter of days, pulled together a rally to demand an end to the deportation and detentions of undocumented workers.

Under capitalism, the ruling class seeks to isolate undocumented workers from the rest of the working class in the United States. The PSL recognizes this divide-and-conquer tactic and works diligently to build solidarity across all sectors of the working class, not allowing race, sexual orientation, citizenship or gender to divide our power.

A young, multinational crowd turned out for the rally. The success of this rally illustrates the power of an organized and disciplined working-class party in fighting back against racist, ruling-class oppression.

The workers’ struggle knows no borders!

Independent Political Report