James McLynas for Sheriff of Pinellas County

RESPONSIBLY END THE WAR ON DRUGS

Marijuana Law Enforcement Cost States An Estimated $3.6 Billion In 2010: ACLU

The Brave New World of Cannabis Tourism

Opinion: Here’s what the numbers show about the impact of legal marijuana

All cannabis enforcement will end the day Sheriff McLynas takes office [READ MORE]

Cannabis tourism will be key to Pinellas County’s swift recovery from the devastating impact of Covid-19 on our local economy [READ MORE]

Ending the “war on drugs” will save Pinellas County taxpayers over $225,000,000 each year [READ MORE]

Arrests for “personal use” drugs will end and there will be no more arrests for “drug paraphernalia” [READ MORE]

Release all inmates being held at the Pinellas County jail for a cannabis, paraphernalia or other minor non-violent offenses [READ MORE]

The widespread practice by the PCSO for fabricating bogus traffic stops to initiate an unconstitutional search for drugs will be stopped [READ MORE]

Sheriff McLynas will work with local organizations, Federal grants and within the his budget to create a network of drug treatment options available to anyone in need [READ MORE]

Resources normally wasted on enforcing cannabis laws will be redirected towards criminal prosecutions for crimes with actual victims [READ MORE]

Cannabis Tax Based Economic Stimulator Versus Tourist Spending Based Stimulator [READ MORE]

AP IMPACT: After 40 years, $1 trillion, US War on Drugs has failed to meet any of its goals

Cannabis Tourism Is on the Rise

The Damage Caused to All Communities That Still Support Cannabis Prohibition

RESPONSIBLY END THE WAR ON DRUGS

All cannabis enforcement will end the day Sheriff McLynas takes office [READ MORE]

Cannabis tourism will be key to Pinellas County’s swift recovery from the devastating impact of Covid-19 on our local economy [READ MORE]

Ending the “war on drugs” will save Pinellas County taxpayers over $225,000,000 each year [READ MORE]

Arrests for “personal use” drugs will end and there will be no more arrests for “drug paraphernalia” [READ MORE]

Release all inmates being held at the Pinellas County jail for a cannabis, paraphernalia or other minor non-violent offenses [READ MORE]

The widespread practice by the PCSO for fabricating bogus traffic stops to initiate an unconstitutional search for drugs will be stopped [READ MORE]

Sheriff McLynas will work with local organizations, Federal grants and within the his budget to create a network of drug treatment options available to anyone in need [READ MORE]

Resources that would normally be wasted on enforcing cannabis laws will be redirected towards criminal prosecutions for crimes with actual victims [READ MORE]

Cannabis Tax Based Economic Stimulator Versus Tourist Spending Based Stimulator [READ MORE]

All cannabis enforcement will end the day Sheriff McLynas takes office [READ MORE]

Cannabis tourism will be key to Pinellas County’s swift recovery from the devastating impact of Covid-19 on our local economy [READ MORE]

Ending the “war on drugs” will save Pinellas County taxpayers over $225,000,000 each year [READ MORE]

Arrests for “personal use” drugs will end and there will be no more arrests for “drug paraphernalia” [READ MORE]

Release all inmates being held at the Pinellas County jail for a cannabis, paraphernalia or other minor non-violent offenses [READ MORE]

The widespread practice by the PCSO for fabricating bogus traffic stops to initiate an unconstitutional search for drugs will be stopped [READ MORE]

Sheriff McLynas will work with local organizations, Federal grants and within the his budget to create a network of drug treatment options available to anyone in need [READ MORE]

Resources normally be wasted enforcing cannabis laws redirected towards criminal prosecutions for crimes with actual victims [READ MORE]

Cannabis Tax Based Economic Stimulator Versus Tourist Spending Based Stimulator [READ MORE]

Marijuana Law Enforcement Cost States An Estimated $3.6 Billion In 2010: ACLU

Cannabis Tourism Is on the Rise

AP IMPACT: After 40 years, $1 trillion, US War on Drugs has failed to meet any of its goals

The Damage Caused to All Communities That Still Support Cannabis Prohibition

The Brave New World of Cannabis Tourism

Opinion: Here’s what the numbers show about the impact of legal marijuana

Release Anyone Held on Marijuana Charges

AS SHERIFF OF PINELLAS COUNTY IN 2020, i WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO RELEASE EVERYONE AND ANYONE HELD ON ONLY A MARIJUANA CHARGE IN PINELLAS COUNTY

80 YEARS OF MARIJUANA PROHIBITION AND ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD HAS COME FROM IT

I wrote the article included below in 2018. I still feel the same way. With all of the jails letting non-violent offenders out, every single person with a marijuana conviction or arrest should have been first on the list.

Here in Pinellas County, Sheriff Robert Gualtieri is still holding inmates with marijuana charges behind bars as the C19 virus is poised to decimate the PCSO jail.

Shame on you Gualtieri. Their deaths will be on your hands and I will publish each and every inmate that you hold behind bars to be executed by C19.

On October 8, 1937, the first of forty + million people to be incarcerated for marijuana entered prison. That is literally like putting every single person in the state of California in jail. Or putting everybody in New York AND Florida in jail. Thats is insane. Over a plant that has never killed a single person and has now been shown to have some pretty incredible medicinal purposes.

For thousands of years before that, marijuana was legal. the Hemp industry flourished, people were left alone and not a single person was killed by pot. Not only that, but there was also no “illegal drug trade” surrounding pot, no gang activity or pot dealers murdering pot dealers until the United States government created the market that causes these entities to exist and then thrive.

This all started when in 1937, Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Denver City police arrested Moses Baca for possession and Samuel Caldwell for dealing. Baca and Caldwell’s arrest made them the first marijuana convictions under U.S. federal law, for not paying the marijuana tax that had been passed by Congress on October 1st. Even THEN it was really only about the government getting it’s “cut”.

Judge Foster Symes sentenced Baca to eighteen months and Caldwell to four years in Leavenworth Penitentiary. This unconstitutional law was overturned in 1969. In 1970 Congress passed the equally unconstitutional Controlled Substances Act, still in effect to this day.

Since then countless lives have been ruined, families decimated and the voting rights of millions of Americans have been stolen. And for what? What have we gained as a society?

As me wove into 2019, we see that the people in America are rapidly walking up to this government sham to steal money and control the population. But the governments, Federal. State, County and City are fighting the will of the people end this American travesty by doing everything in their power to protect this war on a plant and the people.

Even in the face of massive public demand for change, medical marijuana passage in many states and recreational marijuana legalization in others, pot arrests continue to increase as cops refuse to weaken their grip on this cash cow for government revenue. After all, that’s all it really is, a money grab.

I AM THE ONLY CANDIDATE OFFERING A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO RESTORE PINELLAS TOURISM

While Sheriff Gualtieri continues to overfill the Pinellas County jail with marijuana arrests, I propose doing the complete opposite to help restore the massive losses to our economy and tourism industries by ending ALL cannabis enforcement.

Study: Teen Use of Marijuana Drops in States Where It Is Legal

In States With Legal Medical Pot, Teen Use Is Down

THURSDAY, Feb. 14, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Marijuana legalization has been sweeping across the United States, raising concerns that more teens will start toking as pot smoking gains in legitimacy.

A new study suggests that’s not the case.

Most teens report using marijuana less often after legalization

Only one group of teenagers used marijuana more often after retail sales were legalized in Washington than they did before — high school seniors who work 11 or more hours per week, according to new research led by a WSU College of Nursing professor.

Following marijuana legalization, teen drug use is down in Colorado

Following legalization, the rate of adolescent marijuana use in Colorado has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a decade, according to new federal survey data.

Legalizing pot tied to less teen marijuana use

Marijuana legalization laws don’t appear to increase teen pot use and instead may have the opposite effect, a U.S. study suggests.

Early Evidence on Recreational Marijuana Legalization and Traffic Fatalities

We find that states that legalized marijuana have not experienced significantly different
rates of marijuana- or alcohol-related traffic fatalities relative to their synthetic controls…

…We find the synthetic control groups
saw similar increases despite not legalizing marijuana. Moreover, the p-values suggest that
the deviations Colorado and Washington did show from their synthetic counterparts are well…

DOES MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION INCREASE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS?

There are few convincing conclusions to be drawn concerning the risk of traffic accident
fatalities from marijuana legalization. Studies looking at the prevalence of drivers impaired
by THC are prone to overestimate crash risk because of other risk factors, such as age and
the great difficulty of measuring impairment from THC.

Vote McLynas to FREE Pinellas County