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Pot-Smoking Patients Safe from Feds
Cancer patients should soon feel freer to toke up to ease their pain. The Justice Department is about to issue a new policy on medical marijuana emphasizing to prosecutors that it is a waste of resources to arrest people who use or sell medical marijuana, but who are in strict compliance with state law. Medical marijuana is legal in 14 states. The forthcoming memo represents a change in policy from the Bush administration, which said it would enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state rules. Not all pot-dealers or pot-users are equal, though. The memo urges prosecutors to tackle marijuana cases involving violence, illegal guns, selling pot to children, money laundering, or other crimes.
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robwriter
The DOJ is going to focus on actual crime? On CRIME, you say? Now who's gonna bust those cancer patients? Who's gonna hassle people with HIV and neurological disorders? Stop prosecuting sick people indeed! Liberal hogwash! The next thing you know, they'll want INSURANCE! Somebody call Max Baucus!
oliverckerr
I am forming a new political party: The Independent Party is my own independent idea - The Lev party will be the name of The People's Convention I am planning. On a personal level, forming this party will give me an opportunity to show the world my Vehicle for World Peace; fire it up - set the stage.
(So I admit to personal reasons - wanting a stage to present my program for world peace and food chain harmony.)
But set my giant idea aside as it is only one element. To renew our politics we need to hold a giant political convention with 200,000 delegates. 200,000 delegates X $200 delegate fee / e quills $40,000,000.00 to run the convention.
The $$$ also can cover the cost for Bono, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and so many others to provide Delegate Entertainment every night for four nights. We will also raise money for our party, and for the entertainment with pay-per-view.
This is my plan.
The delegates will be urged to write our planks. When we gather we will conventioneer for four days and four nights, ratify all the planks we read in advance and straw voted for on our web site.
Then we also need 434 potential Members of The House of Representatives to step up to the plate and declare their candidacies for office. There will be a place on the web site for the potential candidates to declare their candidacies and uploasd video.
I will prepare the basic Request for Access each of our Independent candidates will place with every PBS station in the country to give a series of three live speeches on behalf of their candidacies. On PBS the air time is free and it doesn't cost any money to listen. People will tune in.
One of your 30 minute speeches could be about this marijuana issue. Marijuana has been smoked by people world wide for thousands of years.
Fascist elements in this country decided to make a plant nurtured by Mother Nature into a punishable crime for their own fascist purpose.
Marijuana not only mitigates the side effects of chemo-therapy, easing the nausea and body pain, it is also a mild anti-anxiety agent. Is there anything wrong with that? Is there? Know there is not.
People smoke marijuana and tensions wash away. This is good. Marijuana for some people is a gateway for smoking more marijuana. Even those people, so-called "heads" are able to hold down certain jobs! People smoke marijuana have a better appetite. People find smoking marijuana extends the time element in a love making experience.
Marijuana is an expectorant. Old saying: "You don't get off until you cough."
People who are heavy tobacco smokers who also smoke marijuana are less likely to get lung cancer, because when they smoke marijuana they cough up all the toxins residing in their lungs.
People who smoke marijuana with a lung tumor put the tumor into remission from the marijuana smoke which travels in their air / oxygen stream and fights the tumor when it gets there!!!!
We can adopt the Amsterdam model, and allow shops to open where someone can purchase marijuana, also hang out, talk, listen to music, have a coffee or sweet drink. Allowing these shops to open will create one half million jobs. A lot of previously unemployable people will become taxpayers.
We can reasonably tax the marijuana and earmark those tax dollars - at least 40 billion dollars, for free medical education for Dr.'s, dentists, nurses, and all related personal, the long term solution to lowering the cost of medical delivery.
A state raises one billion in marijuana tax. That billion is spent on free medical education in that state!
Internationally we can purchase the total marijuana crop from the Afghani farmers which will provide decent income for that poor country and help put the terrorists in Afghanistan out of business.
Does the above sample plank make sense? I hold the view the majority of the American people would agree. One more consideration:
Truman fired General MacArthur for trying to make war policy. We should apply the same principal to our domestic police. The duty of the police is to enforce the law, not tell us what our social laws should be.
Unless you live in a police state where the police are in charge of deciding what you can do. Those who favor the police state are in favor of the police deciding our law. Police Chiefs against the above should be fired or retired, removed from office.
michaelslevinson.com
Plantagenet
Just this morning NPR reported on the explosion of mental illness seen on college campuses. In the scientific community new research is showing how marijuana use introduces THC into the brain where the chemical can trigger trigger psychotic episodes and cause schizophrenia and other brain diseases. But the BOers are scientifically illiterate, so they are going to stand aside as pot use increases and mental illness continues to increase.
oliverckerr
Marijuana does not trigger psychotic episodes. But say that it could. Those who have a psychotic episode from ingesting marijuana were bound to become psychotic, at least, experience a psychotic episode.
What about people who drink a couple three beers and become dangerous. Are they having a 'psychotic" episode.
How coincidental - just this morning . . .
michaelslevinson.com
gak001
The Portugal model has been quite successful as well.
Utaneus
Plant you are such a dolt.
Plantagenet
utaneous --- You are such a dolt.
What is so great about reducing restrictions on a drug that is addictive and that triggers Schizophrenia?
eat5vegetables
Unfortunately (and as a side note, uncharacteristically), Plantagenet is not completely in error. MJ does cause changes that can trigger prolonged psychosis in "at-risk" individuals. There is no evidence that it will make someone without genetic loading "turn into a schizophrenic" as s/he implies. MJ is neither evil or benign; it is less toxic than alcohol but comparing it to the only drug of abuse that kills during withdrawal is not a ringing endorsement really. It is definitely less damaging than opiate abuse in a young mind, which can forever alter the reward system and reduce a young person's ability to defer reward for future gain . . . an essential ingredient to success in life.
The debate is much simpler really, and here, Plantagenet, you do simplify to the point of being irrelevant.
Here is a FACT: MJ is here to stay and no amount of law enforcement is going to change that.
Regarding the new laws, it is far better to have MJ grown and sold legally in CA then illegally. This new process allows significant increased tax revenue (sales tax, personal income tax, corporate income tax, business permit fees, rent collection from dispensaries and subsequent tax collection from landlords, etc., etc.), regulation and easy point of sale information programs. Crime reduction is also a benefit.
There is a clear benefit to society bringing a shadow economy out into the light.
Plantagenet
Hi eat5:
Your suggestion there "is a clear benefit to society bringing a shadow economy out into the light" is simplistic to the point of ridiculousness. Would you legalize dog fighting? Lots of money there...
How about illegal dumping of toxic waste by the mob....shall the state gives its approval to dumping hazardous chemicals into lakes and streams by the mob just in order to tax it?
There are many hazardous chemicals that are outlawed, even though the government could make some tax money from their sale.
Sometimes the government has to take into account issues of public health rather then first looking to make money, as you suggest.
Scientific research is now pretty clear that THC---the psychoactive element in marijuana ----attacks the same biochemical receptors in the brain that are abnoramal in people with mental illness, thereby causing brain damage and schizophrenia. Its estimated that about 1/3 of all street people are schizophrenic----how many of those people are old hippies who suffered brain damage from pot use?
Plantagenet
Here is a link to the NPR story about the rise in mental illness seen on US college campuses
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113835383
I know it isn't "politically correct" to say it, but it seems to that the government be trying to restrict the sale of drugs like Marijuana that cause schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.....
Utaneus
Plant -
You are horribly uninformed and no doubt unqualified to comment on this topic with any authority. Here's a link to an article you should be able to understand
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/09/01/2673334.htm
There is no compelling evidence to suggest a link between schizophrenia and cannabis use.
There is no compelling evidence that cannabis is physically addictive.
There is overwhelming evidence of its benefits, and of the detriments of prohibition.
But, then again, I know you've never been very interested in sound reason or scientific evidence.
Ritarita
PANTS ON FIRE PLANT!!
I heard that report on NPR-
You are such a LIAR !!!
DocHumboldt
One of my favorite cartoons from the counter culture publications of the 60's depicted two cops having a conversation...Cop #1 says to cop #2: "I tried smoking pot once. It made me want to rape and kill".
gak001
Jeeze, Plant - what do you have against a fellow plant? Did you get left out of the circle and now you're a bitter Plant? Why are you so against individual freedoms?
jburrey2
DEA reports that long-term marijana use is connected to several major psychological diseases.e.g. bio-polar disorders, depression, anxiety and early-onset of alzheimers. Unfortunately young people who become addicted to marijana won't be aware of the high until too late....People with cancer or terminal diseases it doesn't matter. Nobody will bust the cancer patient or anyone else unless the DA investigations prove involvment with various illegal activities. They will know where to look first.
nb-moe
A report from the DEA.....hahahahahah......no there's a worthy source.....LoL.
This just in.....A report from the cigarette manufacture's say smoking isn't harmful. Are you gonna believe that one too.
From the DEA......too funny that you would actually believe it.......A report form the DEA....I'm still freakin laughin!
nb-moe
Marijuana become illegal when William Randolf Hearst needed to protect his investments in the pul & paper industry. THAT'S IT!! The only reason. He bought Hundreds of thousands of acres (In Canada too) to supply tree pulp for his newspaper business. Other people came up with ways to manufacture pupl form hemp and was more efficent and w/o destroying thousands of trees. Mr. Hearst, along with hius politcal croonies (Mr. Aslinger...if I rememer correctly) put many propganda stories in their newspapaers to brain-wash the masses into thining Marijuane was bad. Then, it was passed into law and the rest is history.
This is true....look it up if you don't believe.
And BTW, "Reefer Madness" was also produced by Mr Hearst.
eat5vegetables
Plantagenet.
I know that you ache for a fight, so I should just leave well enough alone. But, it's truly annoying the way you equate such disparate things. An individual smoking MJ is not the equivalent of Dog Fighting or pouring toxic chemicals into a stream. Sorry. It's just not. Do you really believe that? A simple Yes or No will suffice for an answer. :-)
MJ is a vice. You are discussing crimes against the state and against individuals. Let me explain why it's not the same, in case it's not clear. See . . . toxic chemicals in the steam end up in the drinking water and then in little kids bodies . . . something most people agree shouldn't happen. The child is a victim through no fault of his own. Dog Fighting is a crime directly against animals.
In addition, regarding a tax benefit, the normal dispensation of toxic chemicals does already create income for the state in the form of taxes from job creation, permit fees and regulation, eco-tourism, etc. They also don't have to clean up toxic streams. It is the mob's attempt to avoid these costs that causes them to dump illegally.
If you are looking for an equivalent, how about this. A guy in an alley getting a minor high on MJ without his parents permission. In that case you have someone committing a crime against another individual involving MJ. That might work for you, but unfortunately I'd agree that this should be (and is) illegal.
I will agree with you that outlawing some food additives and toxic chemicals (e.g., DDT) is getting closer to approaching an equivalent, but again these laws are designed to keep one individual from harming another, not "self-harm."
The best argument you probably could have made make would be to the equivalence of Seat-belt and Helmet Laws. Had you made this argument I would happily grant you some small bit of territory. Unfortunately, it would be quickly shrunken to irrelevance by pragmatism. Laws forcing seat-belts actually work. Laws against MJ don't.
DocHumboldt
Eat 5- Don't be too hard on Plant. His brain is most likely hideously deformed (hydroencephaly) from knocking back a quart a day of Old Crow over about 50 years. He'll argue about anything and everything, all the while bing-bonging back and forth to Wikipedia to "scientifically" back his rants. He's sitting around in his Hot Pockets stained, two day old underwear, yelling at the MSNBC right now.
Never mind. Give it to him with both barrels. He deserves it. By the way, the link he provided above about college age people receiving more mental health treatment never even mentions marijuana. Plant, you're just a big, fat, liar.
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n--Y--morecowbellRitarita
And his posts
Are dogpies too.
jburrey2
The Marijana stores are big business.....too bad the pot heads who indulge eventually can't hold a job, don't care and will eventually turn to crime if they can't find someone else to support them and their addiction, or the local prision. I think the DA should focus on crime of the addicts and will know where to look first. Also the Max Baucus insurance bill will cost people 20% of their income...so much for lower costs everyone is required to enroll because the IRS will be checking you out at tax time.
DeliaK
YES, there are cancer patients who are unable to survive without this drug. It's a waste of valuable resources (local and federal) to continue to go after individuals who must use marijuana for a legitimate purpose. Progress!
ThinkAgain
All those people hanging out in the public parks in Ca are cancer patients I guess? The stink so bad you can't enjoy the parks. It's a total joke. I saw people being interviewed about it and they said they just avoided those areas and streets where it was so bad.
But if that's ok with them, it's fine with me since I don't live there. It should be left up to the states.
djanimaequeen
Okay you admit you don't live in CA so why is your comment relevent? I do live in CA (have all of my life) been to every major metropolitan area in my home state several times as well as a crap load of parks and have never been in a park that's so full of potheads that you are unable to enjoy it. That's total BS. The worst I've seen is an occasional homeless person walking down the street tokin on a doobie in San Francisco. The only place I can see that ever happening is maybe in Mendocino and Humboldt which if you live there and are not a pothead, you are the extreme minority and should consider another place to live if you don't like it. Get over it. It's not like it's hurting anyone.
ThinkAgain
It's relevant because the article is about a Federal policy. It's relevant because I pointed out why I wouldn't like it in my state but as I said I have no problem with you all having it. Get over your judgemental self. I have just as much right and reasoning to be against it as you do to be for it.
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n--Y--grumpyguyPlantagenet
The ignorant claim that marijuna isnt "hurting anyone" is sad.
New scientific research shows that Marijuana use can cause schizophrenia. The next time you see a nutty street person smoking on a doobie, consider the fact that there is a good chance that smoking doobies is what caused the street person to become a schizophrenic nut in the first place.
retired-army-1SG
I just recently found out I have cancer. Looks like I will do ok with radiation, but if it were to go bad for me, and I thought for a minute that smoking a little rope would make my remaining days better than enduring the debilitating effects of chemo - spending my final days puking myself to death - I wouldn't hesitate to do so. Nor, would I give a tinker's damn if the state or federal government cared. What are they gonna do - shave my head and send me back to Vietnam?
djanimaequeen
Thinkagain no one questioning your right to an opinion. What I am questioning is that your reasoning is based on outright lies. You don't don't live in CA therefore your conjectures make you sound like a stupid hick from the sticks. And your comment makes no mention of federal policy just what you saw on TV about them thar hippies n stuff. So again I ask how is your comment relevant?
ThinkAgain
djanimaequeen - I've visited Ca many many times. I was in San Fran for over a year working on a project. La. even longer and San Diego about the same.
You dont' have to live there to smell the stink. People in the nice hotels comment about it all the time. Go hang out in the lobbies of a few if you don't believe me. I'm sure there are parks where you don't smell it, but I didn't stumble on one.
ThinkAgain
retired - Would it make any difference if it were weed or cocaine or heroin? I'm sure there's all sorts of drugs that will take you away from your pain. Do you think they should all be legalized?
djanimaequeen
Oh plant how I missed ripping you a new one. I am completely suspect of the crap scientific research of how pot causes schizophrenia for the following.
1. Have they been able to prove that the test subjects do not have other factors that contribute to schizophrenia like...oh..I don't know... FAMILY HISTORY??
2. Are they able to identify that these test subjects did not have schizophrenia before they started smoking pot?
3. Are they able to positively rule out any other drug usage?
Unlike you veg head, I am able to think critically and rule out bogus information when I see it. Since you are so up on research, why don't you look up the real reason my pot was outlawed. Maybe you'll learn something. Doubt it.
It amazes me that you do not share the same outrage at those who abuse alcohol and kill innocent people DAILY or cigarette smokers for that matter who cause OTHERS to contract cancer, asthsma, and other lung related diseases through second hand smoke. As usual you are out of touch with reality. Is it because of the big fat doobie you just smoked?
djanimaequeen
So thinkagain, first it was that you saw people interviewed, then it's that you have visited extensively. Again, sounds like a bunch of crap. I am a native 2nd generation Californian so I think my opinion of CA trumps yours. Nanner nanner.
Utaneus
ThinkAgain - you are absolutely ignorant. First off, I've lived in Cali nearly all my life, and there has never been a stink so bad in public parks that you couldn't enjoy them, that's just plain ludicrous. Furthermore, our weed here smells great, so stink isn't the right word. Not to mention, to comply with state laws you can't smoke in public places so your point isn't relevant to this article at all. AND WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU GETTING AT ANYWAY? THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE PUTTING PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR A LITTLE GRASS?
Hey Plant,
Those pot-schizo link is pretty flimsy, and the link is only really seen in people with a strong family history of mental illness. There were a lot of flaws in the original study's conclusion.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/09/01/2673334.htm
check that out
pclayton
I suppose parks are for dog poop, cigarette smokers and alcoholics drinking out of brown paper bags.
Plantagenet
Lets see now.......
1. New medical research shows that the chemical THC found in dope triggers psychosis and brain damage, including incurable schizophrenia.
2. New medical research shows that dope is addictive.
3. New medical research shows that dope today has higher levels of THC, and so is more likely to cause Schizophrenia.
4. Schools and cities report large increases in psychotic students and street people.
5. Liberals want the rules loosened so more people can get access to dope.
Wouldn't rational people want to completely outlaw marijuana, now that scientific research has demonstrated that it causes schizophrenia?
Utaneus
I don't see you citing any studies. I'm a biomedical researcher at a major research university with a special (albeit private) interest in marijuana and I keep up on new developments in the field, your posts are uninformed and sophomoric.
DocHumboldt
Let's see now...
1. I'll invent some new bullshit to support my argument.
2. I'll keep repeating it so people think it's true.
3. I'll cite bogus, ten and twenty year "scientific studies" to support my claims.
4. If all that fails, I'll pull out my litany of Faux Noise insults and call people that disagree with me "pinheads" and "leftie loons".
5. I'll go sit around in my underwear and drink cheap booze while swearing at the T.V..
ThinkAgain
djanimaequeen - I mentioned the people being interviewed to explain that the locals had a different view of it than I did. You really think I was there for a over a year and didn't see any locals discuss this?
Why are you so damn sensitive? Do you really think that visitors don't or can't have an opinion? If I add all my time in Ca, it's a good five years, just none of it more than one year in one place. It was more than enough time to know that I don't want to reside permanently in a state where it's commonly used in proximity to me.
Imonlyhere2hateU
"The memo urges prosecutors to tackle marijuana cases involving violence, illegal guns, selling pot to children, money laundering, or other crimes."
About f***ing time!!!!
melpol
Iron fisted drug laws will remain as the government takes a more flexible approach to medical marijuana. But they will never give up the social control illegal drugs provides. One million police informers are in every corner of the nation. Most of them are illegal drug users. Their ears are wide open for law breakers and enemies of the state.
pclayton
The operative words are "social control," melpol; that's exactly what marijuana laws are about. There are people out there who still hate "those filthy '60s hippies" and for that reason alone can't accept legalizing pot. There are also people out there who just don't want anyone to be happier (even if stoned) than they are--we are all supposed to wallow in misery with them.
hichief
Marijuana is a drug, but a relatively harmless one. There are FAR more dangerous drugs being trafficked around. Marijuana is the very least of our worries. It should be decriminalized for this point alone.
djanimaequeen
Agreed. Especially when there are legal drugs that are far more dangerous.
nb-moe
I smoked it everyday in college.....Graduated with a 89% average in MEchanical Engineering Technology.
My spouse did everyday too.....graduated with 4.1 grade point average.
Howevr, it can hold you back. We alsways waited until our work done at the end of the day.
Plantagenet
Dope only "held you up" but in other people it triggers incurable schizophrenia.
Ritarita
Incurable schizophrenia?
As opposed to the curable kind?
Plant you really are
Sophomoric.
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n--Y--morecowbellJJewell
YA THINK?!?
Finally, an administration able to see past the hype!
Pandering to children SHOULD be a crime.
The rest of this nonsense should have gone the way
of all the rest of the mmbo-jumbo and crystal ball-reading along time ago.
(PSSST! Anybody notice how thw "War On Drugs" is faring?) Yeah. Go bust a bad guy.
Medical patients alraedy have all the burdens they need.
The DEA look like a bunch of cowards and half-wits as it is.-
Maybe the DOJ can separate themselves from that bunch
of losers next?
Now... THERE is a tax-dollar-saving idea...
SandraZ8122
I have to say, I hope I never have to smoke MJ for medical reasons, the stuff makes me vomit violently, just the smell of it makes me sick and nauseated.
So I really can't relate to it at all. Just what people tell me.
pclayton
Alcohol makes me sick and vomit, too, but it's perfectly legal for you and anyone else to have it and use it.
djanimaequeen
Good point pclayton. Cigarette smoke makes me nauseous to the point of wanting to vomit plus the second hand smoke can give me cancer. But it's perfectly legal for some schmuck to sit next to me in a park and pollute my lungs with his filthy disgusting smoke. It's about time the government got it's head out of it's ass on that one.
DocHumboldt
Not to mention that alcohol kills more people that ANY other drug in the world, both directly and indirectly.
Charlemagne712
it makes you vomit violently? really, the anti-nausiant?
theBUSHdemocrat
I think they meant the smell; the smell makes me vomit too LOL!
I am so glad the Fed is going to recognize the States. It is scary territory when the Feds can prosecute something the States deem legal. I mean what's next? We get another Republican president and start arresting people involved in state-legal gay marraiges?
I also find it ironic that a self-proclaimed Conservative didn't recognize the State's rights. Isn't power to the states a Conservative tenant?
DeliaK
Ironically, the use for cancer patients is to help them want to eat and keep it down. I also hope that no one uses it unless they have to. I do feel, however, that it should be part of our choices. Obviously, alcohol is a choice and it's even more detrimental!
AnthonyTaurus
The problem that I have with this policy is that it's nonsense. Think about this. If a murder occurred, would the local police need to involve a federal agency to help them. What about robberies? rape? traffic tickets? No to all of them. However, when it comes to local marijuana crimes, the DEA, for some reason, has to be called in on it.
The problem is that local police (esp in Cali) are playing "federal agent" as though the people of California don't pay their wages or they aren't supposed to uphold the will of those people.
Just as the local police don't need to call a federal agency for other crimes that happen within the state, they do not have to call in the DEA for crimes pertaining to marijuana use that happen within the state.
This policy means nothing if local police continue to disregard the will of the people by calling in the DEA for crimes that, if they do exist, can be handled internally. Otherwise, why do you need local police?
Until marijuana is treated appropriately by the federal government, Obama's policy means nothing. What's going to happen when a new administration is set up? Does that mean the marijuana industry developed across 14 states will be ignored. Will local cops then be able to call in the DEA again?
We can not jump for joy over a policy change while the laws remain as concrete and draconian as the day they were passed. If the DOJ wanted to pursue petty marijuana cases, what's going to stop them - a memo from Obama? I don't think so. Holder said the same thing at a press conference earlier in the year. Nothing has changed. What's this memo going to do exactly?
Charlemagne712
the problem was cali police didnt call in the DEA, the DEA came in on orders from the DoJ because cali police were not enforcing federal laws. buy anyways the 10th amendment give states the authority to write its own drug laws and that the federal govt has no superceeding authority to push drug laws on a state. therefore in cases where the MJ originated, was sold, and used all in california, the fed has no authority. it was only the first time bush ignored the constitution
VagrantPhilosopher
Hopefully it will cut off the DEA's dick, if they're no longer willing to bust legitimate MM shops, then who is johnny local cop going to call? Personally i think they should just take marijuana off theyre scheduled drugs list and be dont with it, end this madness.
Charlemagne712
actually, thanks to nixon, the power to change the schedule level of a drug lies entirely with the president. there doenst have to be any congressional approval, all he has to do is send a memo to the justice dept that says, "were moving drug a from schedule x to schedule y" and its done
VagrantPhilosopher
Unfortunately its my conclusion that Obama is in the pocket of the Pharma lobby (without whom, his chances of passing his healthcare bill dwindle) and its in the pharmaceuticals company interest to keep marijuana illegal, so i really doubt we'll see any action by Obama on that front.
pclayton
How can a substance be okay in one state but criminal in another? Are we one country or are we not? I can't imagine how many people are in jail for possession of a few grams of something that grows wild, while there are hordes of people with arsenals of illegal weapons in their cellars? This country doesn't address crime adequately--real crime, you know, when there is a victim--all because in America the prisons are full of people who just smoked a little marijuana rather than guzzled down a pint of Jack.
We have our priorities skewed here; however, if the government were to legalize marijuana for anyone who needs it or wants it (we let people have cigarettes, despite the fact that we know they cause cancer) a whole new slew of legislation would follow: first, taxes (the lawmakers would never agree to legalize it without government making money on it), regulation of its strength/potency because, goodness knows, the price would have to be established according to something, and more cops (as if we don't have a glut of them aleady in most towns) to make sure no one is soliciting it to kids or making too much profit on its sale (tax, again), scalping, resale, you name it.
The best idea is to leave people alone. Do people really feel "safer" because marijuana is illegal? It's out there all over the place and will be until we become totally Fascist about enforcing those antiquated laws that are filling the jails with benign people so that the real dangerous criminals can threaten us all.
slmpirate
Well said!
Charlemagne712
like i said in the above post, the fed is not given the authority to write drug laws. that falls to state government. the reason we have so many that are similar is because the fed can enforce interstate commerce. however it is a state right, not a federal right, to draft laws concerning drug/alcohol/gun policies, via the 10th amendment
FatFreddy
The Federal Government is bound by UN Treaty.
http://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1961_en.pdf
Charlemagne712
let me assure you, the US govt is not bound by ANY UN treaty.
pclayton
Where else, but in the government, would you see drugs, alcohol and guns lumped together as a group? Time to disentangle these subjects as one amendment does not fit all.
ThinkAgain
The whole idea of states rights is to allow people to live the way they want. Someone in Ca shouldn't be poking their nose into the day to day lifestyle of someone across the country and vice versa. If people in Virginia would rather have the smell of jasmine drifting on the breeze in their backyard instead of their neighbors pot, they should have that right. It's none of the people of Ca's business.
pclayton
So, it's all about who likes what smell? I don't like the smell of tobacco burning but it's legal in 50 states. Come on.
ThinkAgain
That's what it's all about for me. Quality of life. If they pass some laws requiring people to keep the stink of it away from those who don't like it, they can legalize it. Tobacco smell doesn't carry as far.
DocHumboldt
Oh. Kind of like how the gay marriage issue in California was none of the Mormon Church's (i.e., most of the state of Utah's) business? I got ya'.
PhilMcRoin
the really good stuff does smell like a dead skunk.. and lets face it, if they legalized it.. we would have the best in the world.. america #1
BartBurz
And it took the new administration nine months to come up with a memo stating the patently obvious?
Talk about gestating ideas....
Faster!
devilsadvocate
My thoughts exactly. What took them so long?
sonofloud
They were waiting until the "pajama wearing, internet left fringe" started fighting back.
JohnConnughton
The most truly evil weed is tobacco.
sonofloud
Hear, Hear.....nothing beneficial about tobacco.
VagrantPhilosopher
Actually tobacco has been shown to help fight parkinsons, as well as stopping blood from clotting, and has several other medical benefits.
http://www.amazon.com/Benefits-Tobacco-William-Campbell-Douglass/dp/9962 636450
DeliaK
.... and it was certainly beneficial for many companies. Hence, the really long time it took to research all of the cancers it causes (lung, mouth, etc.).
sonofloud
I have a hard time buying the idea that tobacco fights parkinsons, at the very most it could help ease symptoms.....we have drugs that stop blood from clotting.
The thing with marijuana is that it treats symptoms that cannot otherwise be treated.
And if tobacco really does have properties that help certain symptoms then I have no problem with people growing their own, like one of the bills in CA does with marijuana.
slmpirate
The War on Drugs is such a BS means of usurping individual freedoms that it is insane. Has anyone ever seen a study that suggest that the cost of this rediculous unconstitutional government intrusion has actually benefited the american people?
We have spent billions if not trillions creating a new boogie man (the pot head) from the anectodal studies in the 70's claiming they were a drain on the workforce because of missed work, in order to expand government.
This War has not only put pretty harmless people in prison, but also decimated their immediate families as the spouses are left with raising and providing for the now the single parent family. Moved limited tax dollars toward law enforcement, prisons and supporting dictatorial regimes that enforce our laws in their own countries.
I have read all of the "warnings" of the potential harm that might exist with the chronic abuse of Marijuana. However these warnings pale next to what the warnings are with the use of prescription drugs..Liver damage, Kidney damage, Agressive behavior, Urinary Tract infection, Should not operate a vehicle while using, women who are pregnant... And this is just for the drug for anxious leg syndrome..
Charlemagne712
i saw something really interesting a while back, and id like to share
War on Drugs vs War on Terror
Both are intended to instill fear
Both allow govt to exceed the boundaries of its power
Both have been used to further the political careers of those involved
Both harm the careers of those opposed (do you want the terrorists to win?)
Both were put into place by a president who believed himself above the law
Both have been used to justify military action in foreign countries
Both have cost tax payers billions with little to no reward/justification
Both have lined the pockets of people connected to policy makers (Haliburton)
Neither have a defined physical target
Neither have a country or nation or group of people to target
Neither has a unified opponent, only a series of unorganized factions
Neither can be won by a show of force.
VagrantPhilosopher
Score one for libertarians, sick people, and pot heads everywhere! The next step should be outright legalization, how many more people is the government going to harass and arrest before they realize that it does absolutely dick? Except to destroy people's lives and careers?
Charlemagne712
"Prohibition is the only reason for the existence of a black market" ~ Albert Einstein
connie47
Truth.
Legalize it and get some tax revenue from it.
nb-moe
You got it....Just imagine how much more a Drug Dealer can charge when it's highly illegal. "If I get caught selling this to you, I'lll go to jail for life"......that's what they say! The longer they may potentially go to jail, they more money they will make.
The last thing drug dealers want is for drugs to be leagalized! Then, they might have to get a job.....pay taxes....contribute to society.
hithere3
I'm amazed. Virtually every comment here is pro-legalization. Liberals and libertarians unite, I guess?
VagrantPhilosopher
Politics make strange bed fellows, now pass the lube and prepare for the Gs.
VagrantPhilosopher
I can really, get behind you on this ;)
nyuck nyuck nyuck
hithere3
if you are able to get behind yourself, vagrant, why then... that's quite the prehensile tool you've got there.
VagrantPhilosopher
Hithere
Quite prehensile indeed
You'll love it.
hithere3
be gentle
it's my first time
slmpirate
I suspect that I am just like many other americans, and am not sure how to define my political persuasion..I have been called Liberal/Progressive when it comes to drug laws, Consrvative when it comes to our foreign policies and the size of government and a nut case when it comes to my strong respect for our constitution.
VagrantPhilosopher
You sound like a libertarian.
hithere3
slmpirate what may distinguish you as a liberal or libertarian is whether or not you believe government should provide some sort of safety net (welfare, job retraining/relocation, etc.) to those who are... let's say... unlucky.
barrett
Well finally. Here's some progress.
Thank you.
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