Why not de-criminalize marijuana use?
Who knew that good old American capitalist competition could help defeat Mexican drug cartels? The Washington Post has a fascinating report today about American pot growers, whose illegal resourcefulness is giving the Mexican cartels a run for their heaping piles of money. Time was that Mexican and Columbian cartels controlled much of the marijuana trade, but not anymore.
Almost all of the marijuana consumed in the multibillion-dollar U.S. market once came from Mexico or Colombia. Now as much as half is produced domestically, often by small-scale operators who painstakingly tend greenhouses and indoor gardens to produce the more potent, and expensive, product that consumers now demand, according to authorities and marijuana dealers on both sides of the border.
The shifting economics of the marijuana trade have broad implications for Mexico’s war against the drug cartels, suggesting that market forces, as much as law enforcement, can extract a heavy price from criminal organizations that have used the spectacular profits generated by pot sales to fuel the violence and corruption that plague the Mexican state.
I don’t have quite the enthusiasm for de-criminalizing marijuana that popular blooger Andrew Sullivan brings to the subject, with his series of posts, “The Cannibis Closet.” But I have long believed that the war on drugs is dumb and wasteful and perpetuates the violence it supposedly abhors. It’s also futile, as the Post’s report shows clearly.
Authorities found and destroyed about 8 million marijuana plants in the United States last year, compared with about 3 million plants in 2004. Asked to estimate how much of the overall marijuana crop was being caught in his area, Wayne Hanson, who heads the marijuana unit of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, said: “I would truthfully say we’re lucky if we’re getting 1 percent.”
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106 comments Add your comment
King of All
October 7th, 2009
4:42 pm
Q. Ever heard of anyone who OD’ed on pot?
A. Nope.
Say What??
October 7th, 2009
5:08 pm
Why not de-criminalize marijuana use?
Hmm, why not de-criminalize the following:
1. gambling
2. prostitution
3. alcohol (for those under 21)
4. crack
5. cocaine
6. imbezzlement
7. voter fraud (you know, help out ACORN)
8. underage sex
………………….
Say What??
October 7th, 2009
5:10 pm
King of All
October 7th, 2009
4:42 pm
What about the deaths caused by mj use? Meaning, driving accidents, drowning (I recently read of one), screwing with weapons while high, …………..
Road Scholar
October 7th, 2009
5:14 pm
Say What @ 5:10: Same can be said with alcohol! What are your views on alcohol use?
NetBanker
October 7th, 2009
5:30 pm
Why not decriminalize marijuana and tax it just like alcohol so that we’re raising revenues instead of increasing expenses? Most people in jail for drugs are not dealers or the king pins, but non-violent offenders who were caught buying for personal consumption. Do you know how much it’s costing us to keep people like that in jail? It’s outrageous and stupid because we’re exposing those people to much harder criminals.
Say What…why not legalize prostitution and regulate it as is done in other countries? Making it illegal hasn’t stopped the practice and never will which is why it’s called the oldest profession. Criminalizing prostitution has only increase the jail population and led to organized crime running prostitutes. It also results in police spending time arresting prostitutes and their patrons for a non-violent activity between consenting adults. It just doesn’t make sense to me that sex between consenting adults is illegal simply because one party is charging/paying the other. In too many cases that is the definition of a marriage and those aren’t illegal!
Now when it comes to items 6 and 7 in your list those actions of deprive a person or a group of property or liberty so those shouldn’t be decriminalized.
El Jefe
October 7th, 2009
5:39 pm
Ms. Tucker – your right, we do not have enough lazy slackers in society, we need more.
FM
October 7th, 2009
5:40 pm
Obama is a pot-head. Dude!
Class of '98
October 7th, 2009
6:21 pm
Hell is frozen solid.
I agree with Cythina Tucker.
Class of '98
October 7th, 2009
6:24 pm
No get ready for 200 comments from people who disagree with legalization of pot…. and have never smoked it.
Comparing pot to crack shows you just how ignorant some people can be.
jconservative
October 7th, 2009
6:36 pm
We have been doing a war on drugs for, what?, 40 to 50 years?
And we are losing big time. Our butts have been kicked up one side of the country & down the other side. Why do we keep fighting a losing war?
I have no idea. Maybe because we do not like the alternative to that war?
Kevin
October 7th, 2009
6:46 pm
FINALLY something on which I agree with Cynthia!
Those of you who drag out the whole “what about crack” argument show your complete lack of understanding on the topic.
One is addictive. The other is not.
From an addiction perspective, I’d argue that alcohol is much, much worse than pot.
I’m all for regulating and taxing. It would raise an astronomical amount of tax revenue.
Chuck
October 7th, 2009
7:14 pm
As a conservative and retired police officer, I haven’t seen much I can agree with Cynthia Tucker on, but on this subject I am in complete agreement. Studies have shown that the war on drugs is a complete loser. If we spent just a fraction of the billions alloted for arrest and prosecution on rehab treatment instead, the recovery rate would skyrocket. Drug users hurt only themselves and need treatment, not incarceration. And how cool would it be to see the drug dealers put out of business and forced to get a regular job and pay taxes like the rest of us?
TnGelding
October 7th, 2009
7:58 pm
Chuck
October 7th, 2009
7:14 pm
Why won’t more active law enforcement officers state your sensible position? Do they see the current insanity as job security?
Why not decrimialize it indeed. But why not just make it legal? Farmers need a good cash crop and the taxes could pay for rehab for those that sought it. We simply can’t afford the war any longer, and really never could. Instead of being a drain on the treasury it would be a great benefit. And I’ve never even seen one, but I have smelled the smoke from co-workers. And I have never smoked or drank, and take prescription drugs only when absolutely necessary. It has always baffled me how a confessed Christian could defile their bodies with the poison.
Tom Middleton
October 7th, 2009
8:04 pm
Once again, I agree with you, Cynthia. When I first went into the Navy, they were giving Dishonarable Discharges for marijuana possession. When I got out four years later, they were giving two weeks of extra duty, and that was some years back. I’m not a smoker, but can’t we just move on with this one? Obviously, it’s not going anywhere!
Michael H. Smith
October 7th, 2009
8:41 pm
Drug users hurt only themselves and need treatment, not incarceration. And how cool would it be to see the drug dealers put out of business and forced to get a regular job and pay taxes like the rest of us?
Now the right nerve has been struck. Problem enters this picture of taxing a substance considered by many as a sinful indulgence when “Government” fails to be responsible for the injuries incurred from the legalized use of the substance that it is profiting from i.e. Alcohol and tobacco. Back to this statement: Drug users hurt only themselves and need treatment, not incarceration.
Who gets hurt or incarcerations is debatable. Treatment for the legally addicted is not an option when the “Government” is the “Pusher-man”!
The problem with using drugs remains the addictions and the government’s responsibilities in using the profits it reaps from them. Got answers?
Just throwing out something for the benefit of thought: Would it surprise anyone to find out that the “Founding Fathers” were involved -possibly very heavily, though legally of course at that time – in the use, trade and consumption of hemp and marijuana?
Oh, and this one is for Comrade Cynthia and her use of guile. Would it surprise anyone to find out that most of the drug laws in this country legislated were passed on ethnic or (for the weak minds) on RACIAL grounds?
Michael H. Smith
October 7th, 2009
8:51 pm
TnGelding
October 7th, 2009
7:58 pm
It has always baffled me how a confessed Christian could defile their bodies with the poison.
What is truly baffling you is likely your misunderstanding of the term “Christian” and to whom it correctly applies. Many are the followers from afar in the Christian faith, few are “Christians”.
….Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit.
joe matarotz
October 7th, 2009
9:01 pm
Being a college student in the early 70’s, I smoked a small forest worth of pot. I can say that it is one of the few things I’ve done that I am ashamed of today. Keep it illegal. Smoking pot is NOT something to be encouraged.
Michael
October 7th, 2009
9:08 pm
Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama (I think) and VP Gore all used marijuana in the past. They have all most likely drank alcohol. Obama probably still sneaks a cigarette every now and then.
Does anybody think these people didn’t amount to anything in their lives? Disagree with policy all you want, but those are four of the most powerful men of my lifetime, and they all did drugs when younger. There are probably thousands of powerful people who recreationally use drugs and function just fine.
Our food is so loaded down with industrialized crap that I can’t imagine a moderate amount of marijuana is going to destroy society. There is no bigger waste than putting someone in prison because they got high off a drug without a powerful lobby. As Gov. Jesse Ventura said, God put it here for a reason.
godless heathen
October 7th, 2009
9:40 pm
It’s obvious from many posts here that the money spent on drug law enforcement would be better spent on drug education.
Most people that have ever been involved in the drug culture have seen first hand the corruption in the drug enforcement business. The cops always have the best dope.
420
October 7th, 2009
9:56 pm
The only reason anyone would want to continue the prohibition of cannabis at this point is to somehow continue to make lots of money from it…Every credible study that has ever been done clearly suggests that prohibition makes it EASIER for kids to get, exposes them to drug dealers with little conscience, enriches the criminal element and provides absolutely no tax benefits…Wise up people. Any person making any stupid remark about how it causes this or that or will cause this or that has clearly been drinking the koolaid. You don’t even realize how ignorant you are of the FACTS. It’s just so silly. Now, I will say that decriminalization isn’t the answer…Legalization is…Decrim continues the problem..Legalization eliminates the criminal element almost entirely from the sales and profit…Let the police focus on serious drugs like Oxycontin and Heroin…..Haven’t they shot enough old women and dogs in search of a little pot? Of course this is Georgia..and we tend to try and legislate morality..can’t buy beer on Sunday’s…you can drink it, just not buy it…silly..ignorant, really.
Barry
October 7th, 2009
9:57 pm
Our war on drugs has been almost as successful as our war on poverty.
mmm, mmm, mmm
October 7th, 2009
10:04 pm
The federal budget deficit tripled to a record $1.4 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year that ended last week, congressional analysts said Wednesday.
The Congressional Budget Office estimate, while expected, is bad news for the White House and its allies in Congress as they press ahead with health care overhaul legislation that could cost $900 billion over the next decade.
The unprecedented flood of red ink flows from several factors, including a big drop in tax revenues due to the recession, $245 billion in emergency spending on the Wall Street bailout and the takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then there is almost $200 billion in costs from President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus bill, as well as increases in programs such as unemployment benefits and food stamps.
Marc
October 7th, 2009
10:26 pm
Say What?? Do you drink? If alcohol were discovered today it would be a Class I drug. Class I means that the dangers outweigh the good. The same can’t be said about pot! Your examples are lame at best I would wager that a was involved in each and everyone of those instances. Why are the first 5 of your list illegal? 6 & 7 are forms of stealing and how could YOU even but 8 on the list. Your list is of apples, pliers and mountain ranges (couldn’t think of anything that was as outrageous as having child prostitution on that list so I went with mountain ranges).
420 Oxycontin = legal, Heroin – illegal
Sunshine
October 7th, 2009
11:51 pm
Cynthia,
Have you ever seen a pot head with a ‘to do list’ ? The answer is no. Pot heads are too lazy to do anything. The pot heads who are all for legalizing it have probably already pickled their brains and can’t see the damage it does. This country should NEVER, EVER legalize pot.
Jessica
October 8th, 2009
12:07 am
I usually don’t agree with anything on this blog, but it actually makes sense to decriminalize marijuana.
I think it’s stupid and morally wrong to use drugs recreationally, but I don’t want to pay more in taxes so that we can prosecute and incarcerate a bunch of idiot potheads. It’s just too expensive. Better to regulate the drug and slap a heavy tax on it.
I don’t think this approach can be applied to all illegal drugs; some are much more dangerous than pot and should always be illegal.
Rick
October 8th, 2009
4:58 am
If I can show by example of how “brainwashed” we are as a society. Here’s a few facts you can check yourself. #1 Marijuana was made illegal because the Dupont Chemical Company simply didn’t want hemp as a competitor for their new polyester rope. #2, at that same time in history, about 1937, making it illegal could get rid of some “undesirables” in Louisiana. This is the ONLY reason. If you don’t believe we’ve become a nation of fools, the brainwashing you’d received obviously has worked. Don’t you get fed up with the stupidity in this country? Please start thinking and use your head. We are fools. Alcohol and cigarettes are way more dangerous than a friggin weed that grows in the wild….!
CK Hall
October 8th, 2009
5:36 am
For all you “authorities” on Pot–Keep it ILLEGAL!
Ben
October 8th, 2009
6:23 am
Because if you decriminalize it soon you’ll have to decriminalize and legalize opium and cocaine. In the future, however it will be seriously considered only because of the taxation and revenue funds that it will generate to keep politicians in power.
Say What??
October 8th, 2009
6:52 am
Marc
October 7th, 2009
10:26 pm
I’m flattered you are so interested in me…..I think. No, I don’t drink. And I haven’t engaged in the other 7, so you’d lose your wager. Nice try at being cute, though.
You mentioned items 1 – 5 are illegal. Agreed. Using marijuana is illegal.
You said items 6 – 7 are forms of stealing. Agreed. Both are illegal. Of course, those ACORN hacks involved with voter fraud weren’t prosecuted, so I guess in those cases it was legal. I guess those devoted community volunteers switched their focus from voter fraud to more important things such helping people set up underage prostitution rings, which brings me to #8.
Two words about #8 – Roman Polanski. Drugged and raped a 13 year old girl, yet there is a growing number of people who want him to be able to enter the US as a free man. Many of those same people are the stoners who want to legalize pot.
I thought my list made sense and progressed in an appropriate manner. YOUR list, however, (apples, pliers and mountain ranges) is a strooooong indication that you regularly “enjoy” the benefits of pot. Sure……it has no negative impact.
Caveman
October 8th, 2009
7:01 am
Ben – that makes as much sense as saying that if you allow parents to spank their children, you’ll have to decriminalize child molestation.
The few people that think marijuana should be kept illegal prove the old saying that “some people spend many sleepless night thinking that somewhere, somehow people are enjoying themselves in a way that they don’t approve of.”
BTW: unlike booze, coffee, and tobacco, pot CANNOT be physically addictive. It can only be psychologically addictive like the internet, or television, or comic books.
Public Option Heading South
October 8th, 2009
7:08 am
Anyone who has seen a relative or close friend hit rock bottom because of drug addictions knows why marijuana should be illegal. Marijuana is the port of entry for stronger highly addictive drugs like crack cocccain, opiates, meth etc. Alcohol, while a drug that can lead to self destructive consequences isn’t any where near as addictive for most people. Someone who purports to be a former LEO commented on here that drug users only hurt themselves, not so, many turn to crime in order to support their habit.
jt
October 8th, 2009
7:14 am
Remember this nanny-state pot fear mongers.
Because of the Federal governmet’s insane, ineffective and corrupt war on drugs,
it is easier for your kids to buy a few joints than a pack of cigarettes.
The money involved in trafficking and growing pot causes market satuation.
It is everywhere.
becky
October 8th, 2009
7:29 am
I agree that mj use should be decriminalized. People should be able to use it in the privacy of their home if they so desire. I think it is less detrimental to our society than alcohol, wonder what would happen if they made alchohol illegal again? Alcohol has destroyed many many families and it has done its share with me, too.
clyde
October 8th, 2009
7:31 am
Legalize marajuana and tax it heavily,a la cigarettes and alcohol.
Laverne
October 8th, 2009
7:37 am
Pot eases pain very efficiently for many chronic sufferers , including cancer and MS, and is non-narcotic. Ever seen an oxcontin addict nod off mid sentence ? Ever seen one die ? I have. Legalize pot.
neo-Carlinist
October 8th, 2009
7:42 am
you have to love a government that all but requires some citizens to use drugs as prescribed by healthcare professionals – the H1N1 vaccine comes to mind, but prohibits the recreational use of a naturally occurring substance (created by the very god who politicians cite for bestowing certain unaliable rights). my question to the politicians and the demagogues who continue to support the war on drugs; “why do you hate freedom”?
Bill Harris
October 8th, 2009
7:54 am
One need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under prosecution of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance global credibility.
The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as life is flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. Behold, it’s all good. Canadian Marc Emery sold seeds that enable American farmers to outcompete cartels with superior local herb. He’s being extradited to prison, for doing what government can’t do, reduce U.S. demand for Mexican.
Only on the authority of a clause about interstate commerce does the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) reincarnate Al Capone, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Administration fiscal policy burns tax dollars to root out the number-one cash crop in the land, instead of taxing sales. America rejected the plague of prohibition, but it mutated. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment. Father, forgive those who make it their business to know not what they do.
Nixon passed the CSA on the assurance that the Schafer Commission would justify criminalizing his enemies, but it didn’t. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA shut down research and pronounced that marijuana has no medical use, period. Drug juries don’t seat bleeding hearts.
The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership or an act of Congress to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. John Doe’s free exercise of religious liberty may include entheogen sacraments to mediate communion with his maker.
Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.
Common-law must hold that adults are the legal owners of their own bodies. The Founding Fathers undersigned that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Mortal lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.
cas
October 8th, 2009
7:56 am
The revenue generated by states taxing and regulating marijuana and prostitution alone justifies the decision to legalize. The benefits of elimination of the illegal trade for both of these would be realized immediately as would the elimination of the cost of confinement for these victim-less crimes.Foreign words, I agree with Cynthia.
TnGelding
October 8th, 2009
7:57 am
joe matarotz
October 7th, 2009
9:01 pm
Yeah, it worked so well in your case. The illegality increases the appeal in our youth.
clyde
October 8th, 2009
7:31 am
Maybe taxes on cigs could then be reduced. It’s criminal the way those addicts are being taken advantage of. And nobody hates cigs more than I.
TnGelding
October 8th, 2009
8:01 am
cas
October 8th, 2009
7:56 am
The politicians want us to believe they’re protecting us from evil. You’d think the embarrassing incidents in their own families would be enough incentive. Legalize, tax, educate, rehab.
TnGelding
October 8th, 2009
8:02 am
bob
October 8th, 2009
8:00 am
At least the first thing they want to do is not to get behind the wheel of an automobile like alcoholics.
Jimmy62
October 8th, 2009
8:08 am
Anyone who says pot is worse than alcohol is simply wrong. Anyone who drinks beer and thinks pot should be illegal is a hypocrite. Anyone who drinks caffeinated coffee and thinks pot should be illegal is a hypocrite (check brain function studies, caffeine affects you as much or more than pot). Anyone sitting in jail for a non-violent marijuana related crime should be released. And anyone who thinks potheads are all lazy and never have “to-do” lists hasn’t met me.
I’ve got alcoholic relatives who are completely worthless. On the other hand, I smoke pot daily, and have an MBA and a very good job at which I excel. I will be glad to compete against ANYONE in a memory test. I’ll do it sober, and I’ll do it high. I’ll beat you in a math test, an essay writing contest, and even a weightlifting contest. I’ll do it after smoking so much pot you would be passed out, but I’ll still crush you in any contest of the mind. So don’t tell me how pot makes people lazy and stupid, because I know otherwise from experience.
Of course, just like any drug, caffeine including, pot can be abused. And smoking enough of it can cause cancer just like smoking cigarettes.
The problem with legalization is that the war on drugs is a jobs program. End it, and suddenly half our police will be twiddling their thumbs and have nothing to do. That’s a good thing, we already have too many police to meet what we need to stop violent crime, it’s just that now they spend their energy on non-violent drug crimes. Half the prison system will be empty, so a lot of guards will lose their jobs. And don’t forget all the lawyers that won’t have drug users to defend (or prosecute). And we all know what happens when politicians try to change something that would take away jobs from lawyers…. The politicians get offered money from the trial lawyers groups, and suddenly they no longer want to change things.
When I smoke pot, I hurt no one. Why is this illegal? It’s not a moral law, and it restricts my freedom to live my life as I choose. It also creates a lot of distrust between police and citizens, and is in large part responsible for the militarization of local police forces, a trend that is inherently disruptive to a peaceful society.
Aquagirl
October 8th, 2009
8:09 am
@ Public Option, if you’ve seen someone hit bottom from smoking pot, legal restrictions are clearly not working.
The only time pot increases crime is if you try and take a bag of Cheetoes from a stoner.
Grob Hahn
October 8th, 2009
8:09 am
Saying pot isn’t addictive ignores the nature of addiction. Addiction is a condition of the mind and doesn’t require a substance to be ingested at all. Gambling addicts aren’t smoking scratch-offs. Sex addicts aren’t mainlining Astroglide. Drugs are another aspect of addiction, but they don’t actually CAUSE addiction. Physical Dependence is NOT the same thing as addiction. So just because pot doesn’t cause any serious physical dependence, it may still be the drug an addict chooses to ease their condition. And yes, equating pot with crack or heroin only proves how naive some of us can be. Thinking laws will stop addiction is even MORE naive.
Grobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
Litt
October 8th, 2009
8:44 am
I am a conservative and even I could support the legalization of marijuana with some provisions.
DWI arrest would carry a minimum 1 year in jail for 1st offense, no exceptions, you blow – you go. Subsequent DWIs would carry 2,5,10 year sentences.
Being high in public, same as being drunk in public, charged with public intoxication – off to the pokey with you.
You want to smoke week in your own house or live in you Mom’s basement for the rest of your life?
I don’t have a problem with that. Just don’t make your private peccadillos public and we can both get along just fine.
Okay, Bra?
Fred Evil
October 8th, 2009
8:45 am
Oh no! What about the greater threat cannabis posses to children? Poses a greater threat to children HOW? 26 MILLION Americans have used this stuff in the last year. It is present and prevalent in EVERY state in the union. How in the world would regulating, controlling, and demanding ID from those who would purchase it, just like alcohol, make it more dangerous to children?!
Are they saying with utmost confidence, that the Mexican Cartels have taken to checking the ID’s of their customers?
Foolishness. In a society as free as ours, it is utter futility to attempt to control a substance such as cannabis. The abject failure of alcohol’s Prohibition in the last century is a singular point of evidence that our FORTY YEAR ‘War on Drugs’ is following in its footsteps. Is there anyone who thinks the WoD is actually keeping ANYONE who wants to smoke from smoking? So what is the purpose of the $40 BILLION/year effort to control an uncontrollable substance? (how else would you describe a substance banned by law, but used by nearly 10% of the population in the last 12 months?)
Or is it controllable? Once we legalized, regulated, and TAXED alcohol again, the legends of moonshiners and rumrunners have faded. Yeah there are still those who brew there own, but it’s a niche market now, with beer brew kits available on the internet.
NO, drugs aren’t good for you, but Prohibition is WORSE. With 26 million users in this country, and only 3 million (already occupied) prison beds, what would we do with them all if we managed to ‘win’ the WoD tomorrow? And who wants to pay for their three hots and a cot? I don’t. They can work, they DO work, but they spend their lives with one eye over their shoulder.
The VAST majority of us are hard-working, tax-paying, home-owning, child-rearing American CITIZENS, who simply wish to relax with an alternate intoxicant to alcohol or cigarettes.
Alcohol KILLS 75,000 Americans/year, and addicts 15% of those who use.
Cigarettes KILL 450,000 Americans/year, and addict 30% of those who use.
Cannabis kills ZERO Americans/year (aside from drug raids/cartels and prison sentences), and can cause dependence in 10% of those who use.
So cannabis is non-lethal, AND less addictive, but its the one that’s illegal?
Nobody wants to get high and drive, or go to work (and if they do they should go to jail or be fired, just like anyone who drinks and does those things). We just want PARITY for a substance that is demonstrably less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes.
That stuff will kill you, ya know?
go to www.altshirt.com
October 8th, 2009
8:46 am
The Government will not make Pot Legal. They are making too much money by keeping illegal. Every user who is caught with POT in thier possession, will get arrested. That person then has to pay a bondsman to bail them out of jail, then they go to court where they will have to pay a fine (over a $1,000 for each offense), that person is then put on probation, where they have to pay the probation officer thier fees (on top of your fine), not to mention the 100’s of hours of community service that they have to perform. Now why would our government make pot legal when they have such a sweet deal for themselves by keeping it illegal?
Jimmy62
October 8th, 2009
8:50 am
And don’t forget civil forfeiture. The cops can arrest you for smoking a little pot, then they can steal all your money and tie it up for years, sometimes forever, just because they say it’s related to illegal drugs. Theft is theft, no matter if it’s a street thug or the local police.
ye ole hippy
October 8th, 2009
8:52 am
Keep your govt. hands off my medicare and my bong!
You Distort/We Deride
October 8th, 2009
8:56 am
I used to live in Holland, and once spoke with a shop owner whose establishment sold liquor on one side and weed on the other. In his over 20 years of ownership, he said that the local police would be called to the bar at least once a week, but he had never once had an issue that required police intervention in his coffee shop. My wife and I lived in a small village in Holland with our two young children and I can assure you, the fact that cannabis is legal there did not lead to an increase in crime or even contribute to a “slacker” environment. In truth, it is obvious to me that we have a much larger drug problem right here in Atlanta, where marijuana is illegal and everyone who smokes it – and don’t kid yourselves, folks…a LOT of people smoke it, including your doctor, your accountant and your lawyer – is a criminal in the eyes of the law. Decriminalize for God’s sake. Either that, or criminalize alcohol and cigarette usage as well. The former endangers our society much moreso than weed, and the latter leads to…well, death. You anti-weed proponents just need to turn the other cheek. This is America, dammit. As long as I don’t put you in peril with what I do behind closed doors, I deserve the freedom to act in any way I see fit.
Mutts R Stupid
October 8th, 2009
9:00 am
Legalizing pot is ok by me, let stupid people kill themselves faster, it will improve the gene pool. My mother was a night ER nurse in a small town, and I recall her telling me a tale of woe concerning young drug users. This teenage boy came into the ER with black, cold arms. It turns out he had been told that injecting peanut butter into his veins would make him high, so that is what he did. He lost both arms. The larger question is: what to do with all the jack booted, self righteous DEA goons currently kicking in doors and arresting people for growing, selling, and using pot? Most of these clowns are borderline psychopaths anyway, and would most likely turn to crime if faced with unemployment. Let’s draft them and send them to Afghanistan, a win win for us, but a lose lose for humanity in Afghanistan.
Jimmy62
October 8th, 2009
9:07 am
Mutts- What does some moron injecting peanut butter into himself have to do with smoking pot? If you are going to indict marijuana because some idiot injected peanut butter into his arm, then you have to be against ALL drugs for the same reason, or you’re a hypocrite. Aspirin is a drug, and since people inject peanut butter in their arms, aspirin is bad!
AH
October 8th, 2009
9:09 am
camel nose under the tent.
Mutts R Stupid
October 8th, 2009
9:22 am
Jimmy62 – Have you ever seen what the lungs of a long term pot smoker look like? Worse that tobacco users lungs by far. At least tobacco has some quality control, and is highly processed, and somewhat purified. Pot contains lots of junk, including pesticides, herbicides, plant toxins, molds and fungus, and other dangerous contaminants. The obvious, but unstated, conclusion to mom’s story was: “Do we now make peanut butter an illegal drug?” Druggies who cannot get their preferred fix will sniff gasoline, glue, nail polish, or just choke themselves to get high. You cannot legislated stupidity out of existence, and I contend that we are all better off if we let nature take its course with these people. In case you miss my point, the sooner the druggies die the better off the rest of us will be. Oh, but you are a supporter of National Health Care, so you expect people like me to pay to treat these self inflicted lifestyle diseases. That is a big negatory.
ADL
October 8th, 2009
9:33 am
Excess of anything is bad for you!!! Smoking pot and driving is as bad as drinking and driving. You can rest assured that if pot is ever legalized, the government will put plenty of restrictions on it.
As far as making slackers out of everyone who smokes it, I know plenty of slacker who drink alcohol and a few who have no vices at all, except they are lazy. You can eat yourself to slackerhood for that matter. None of them got that way from smoking pot.
I have been around people who drink alcohol and people who smoke pot and the drinkers are much more likely to get violent.
clyde
October 8th, 2009
9:37 am
TnGelding@8:01,
I don’t want to see the tax reduced on cigarettes.I have no use for smokers, or pot heads.I have no problem with a person taking a drink,or maybe two,but after that I have no use for them either.
I also understand that the marajuana crowd is now looking for a more potent blend than what has normally been available in the past,seems that maybe their tolerance is increasing and more is needed for the same effect.This will lead to somewhere we don’t want to go.
sd
October 8th, 2009
9:38 am
“Have you ever seen what the lungs of a long term pot smoker look like? Worse that tobacco users lungs by far”
I don’t know if that is true or not. I do know that smoking it is not the only way to ingest it. As to the comments on pesticides and what not, I am sure that if legalized that people could make organic varieties that would not include the problems you list.
As for the people who classify all users as lazy or stupid, I had my eyes opened about this a couple years ago at a convention. It shocked me to learn that many people who I view as heroic in a certain field were daily users. These people are scientists, lawyers, doctors, and other energetic people that apparently find it to be beneficial. If it weren’t illegal, I would try it.
TYC
October 8th, 2009
9:38 am
It’s really simple. If you like the system currently in place then by all means allow the drug gangs to distribute drugs to all and to receive all profits. The only other option is to
LEGALIZE, REGULATE, AND TAX.
Currently children can access drugs because there is no regulation. The government has taken a hands off approach. They say it’s ‘controlled’. How? They only step in to arrest and eradicate which doesn’t seem to be working. The Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol captures nearly 4,500 lbs a DAY. And they readily admit that they only get 5 – 10 %. That’s not what I call winning the drug war.
Ben
October 8th, 2009
9:40 am
I have never agreed with you, except when O’Reilly’s reporter thugs met you at your home. But, here I agree. You say the war on drugs is dumb, wasteful, and encourages violence. You should add that it is also the single biggest way for government to intrude on our lives. For example, I have heard that if you are caught with $10,000 or more in cash by law enforcement, they may confiscate due to drug laws. That’s just wrong.
sd
October 8th, 2009
9:40 am
How would someone tax it? It seems that if it were decriminalized, people would just grow it themselves. I mean, no one taxes my tomatoes. Well, the birds occassionally tax them.
Marcos
October 8th, 2009
9:53 am
Pot is no more dangerous than alcohol. In fact, compared to alcohol, it is less harmful in its long term effects. So are all of you saying you do not support legalization willing to criminalize alcohol?
Patrick
October 8th, 2009
9:55 am
The only people who comment on editorials are people that are incapable of forming their own opinions. This person’s entire job is to be “controversial” so you people will read her column and argue and fight. This so called “journalist” doesn’t care if you agree or disagree. She only cares that you read her column so she can keep her job. You people are really a very sad group.
And to clarify, I am commenting on the pathetic losers that comment on editorials, not the editorial itself. There is a difference.
Aquagirl
October 8th, 2009
10:01 am
sd, how many people grow their own tobacco?
Rick
October 8th, 2009
10:09 am
Some people are addicted to picking their nose, should we make that illegal?
Chris Broe
October 8th, 2009
10:44 am
Point of order. The cannibis closet series of posts are written by the same troll. (that’s a 100% reliability)
sd
October 8th, 2009
10:49 am
“sd, how many people grow their own tobacco?”
Thats a good point I hadn’t considered. But I still think that quite a few people would just grow it themselves. I don’t use tobacco, but I do eat vegetables. And i suppose that I do buy them and pay taxes on them a lot of the time. However, I certainly haven’t bought a tomato, green pepper, or squash during summer months in some years. Thats because those are the easiest things to grow. Now, I don’t know for sure, but something called “weed” must be REALLY easy to grow.
Jimmy62
October 8th, 2009
11:28 am
Mutts- I do NOT support national health care. In fact, I’m a staunch right-winger on most fiscal issues. And again, a daily pot smoker.
The people who bring up how much more potent weed is now than in the 60’s left logic at home. Grain alcohol is far more potent than beer, but most people still drink beer. And when they do drink gran alcohol, they drink far, far less than they would beer. Why? Because it’s more potent. Same with pot smokers. Once they get high, they are high. Few just sit around and smoke continuously beyond a certain level of intoxication. It’s got nothing to do with how much they smoked. What pot head says, “I must smoke 1/8 of an ounce this afternoon, no matter how high I get?” None. They smoke till they get high, whether that’s one hit of modern day weed, or 10 of 60’s weed.
john
October 8th, 2009
12:02 pm
Enter your comments herWhy not de-criminalize marijuana use?
Hmm, why not de-criminalize the following:
1. gambling
2. prostitution
3. alcohol (for those under 21)
4. crack
5. cocaine
6. imbezzlement
7. voter fraud (you know, help out ACORN)
8. underage sex
—————————
Using the argument that thing A should stay illegal because the legalization of thing B would bring about harm is a disingenous argument and has no basis in logic. Go back to elementary school.
Libertarian
October 8th, 2009
12:25 pm
I recall being under 18 so many years ago, and pot and other drugs were far easier to get than alcohol, hence the commercials about kids being offered freebies. Duh?
I may add that gambling is more or less legal, and appearently republicans are upset that prostitutes and pimps aren’t paying their taxes. WTF?
Libertarian
October 8th, 2009
12:33 pm
I think most pot smokers know about the “Pineapple Express” aspect of the pot industry, which is that pot is like wine, and comes in many varieties, some of which are cheap(USDEA Paraquat), and the more upscale hydro vintages such as “Sour Grapes” a 50% Sativa and 50% Indica blend with “Purple Elephant” as the mother. The Father’s name escapes me. I should point out that Fathers are not marijuana, but hemp, ie paper/rope not pot. My point? Most folks won’t grow their own, just as they don’t grow their own corn.
Mike
October 8th, 2009
12:51 pm
Some of the commenters who believe pot should be kept illegal are living in a fantasy world. In their minds, only a small number of crazy drug-fiends smoke pot. And if pot were to become decriminalized or legalized, this devil drug would start to spread to normal, civilized people.
What they don’t realize is that a large percentage of the population smokes weed. People you rely on on everyday. Your boss. Your friends. They just don’t talk about it with these people, because they are obviously uptight and closed-minded.
Sure, there are sure to be some people who want to smoke pot, but don’t because it’s illegal, and they would start if the laws were changed. But for the most part, people who want to smoke, do smoke. It’s not hard to get. The only benefit of keeping it illegal is so that they can have moral peace of mind, sweeping the REAL problem under the carpet. But I guess sitting on a moral high horse is more important than the benefits of a marijuana tax. Conservatives love paying taxes, right?
MJLegal
October 8th, 2009
2:08 pm
Sarah Palin also smoked pot and has admitted this. She said she did it “when it was legal.” Of course, it hasn’t been legal in the US under federal law since the 1930s.
wow
October 8th, 2009
2:26 pm
To the misinformed, marijuana is not heroin or cocaine. It is the flower of the cannabis plant. You pepplen are highly uneducated! Marijuana is the least addictive substance used recreational. Marijuana is a far safer substance than alcohol! Legalize, regulate, and control marijuana! It will happen someday once we get rid of our archaic marijuana laws!
Leslie Davis
October 8th, 2009
3:00 pm
“Legalize drugs. Legalize all drugs to keep them away from our children.’ That’s a quote from former N.J. State Patrol undercover officer Lt. Jack Cole. He’s a founder of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). As a Republican candidate for Governor of Minnesota, I support Lt. Cole’s position. http://www.LeslieDavis.org
informed user
October 8th, 2009
3:03 pm
This is by far one of the most retarded comments section I’ve ever seen.
- Marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. I know countless people who smoke pot all the time and never do drugs or even drink. You could take any two activities and say one is a “gateway” and dumb Americans will believe you. Hey guys, a lot of video gamers smoke pot, video games are a gateway drug, lets ban them.
- Marijuana is SAFER THAN ALCOHOL. If you don’t already know this, I feel sorry for how stupid you are and you need to do a few Google searches to inform yourself.
- Marijuana is SAFE! Look up the countless studies showing marijuana to be safer than tobacco. Also, there’s no link between marijuana and any sort of brain damage. Alcohol is much worse for your brain.
- Marijuana is NOT ADDICTIVE!!! Marijuana is not addictive at all. Your body forms no dependence for it, even if you smoke it every day. People who smoke regularly simply enjoy the feeling and can stop whenever they want. However, I suppose you could say someone is “addicted” to marijuana if they do it a lot, just the same as you could say someone is “addicted” to video games or “addicted” to using the internet.
- Legalization would have COUNTLESS BENEFITS for society, including reducing enforcement costs, providing a new revenue stream for the government, and creating a whole new sector of the economy. Not to mention the proven health benefits in treating glaucoma and other conditions. Do some research if you don’t believe me. Numerous police groups support legalization of marijuana.
If you presented as a thought experiment, a drug which has no proven harmful effects, is not addictive, and has killed no-one… and a drug which has serious negative long-term effects, is addictive and ruins many peoples lives, and causes hundreds of thousands of deaths and much crime (drunk driving, rape, violent crime)… Which one should be legal?
The only thing keeping marijuana illegal is the status quo and the ignorance of the American people. Please consider the facts before you make your uninformed opinion heard or (lol) compare marijuana to crack…
DJ Florida
October 8th, 2009
3:04 pm
Wow you can always point out the brainwashed prohibitionists by reading the ignorant comments.
So let me get this straight, if someone smokes pot then they are a pothead? So that must mean that anyone who takes a drink of alcohol is a drunk!? Ahhh so if you drink coffee then you must be a drug addict!
I am so tired of ignorant people labeling marijuana consumers as lazy potheads. Newsflash, those “Lazy potheads” you speak of, are lazy when they are sober! I know many people who who smoke that maintain normal productive lives. Oh and if I hear the outdated/tired “gateway” theory one more time, I’m going to vomit!
EROCK
October 8th, 2009
3:37 pm
“If the government can’t keep drugs away from inmates who are locked in steel cages, surrounded by barbed wire, watched by armed guards, drug-tested, strip-searched, X-rayed, and videotaped – how can it possibly stop the flow of drugs to an entire nation?”
vivalaverde
October 8th, 2009
4:12 pm
i’d just like to point out that decriminalization is the answer!
cheers.
If we legalize marijuana, all i can think about is the government and their regulations. and then i think about how cigarettes have chemicals and it’s okay (even though it’s a bit of a stretch, the government approved it and now people smoke chemicals and tar and not so sweet stuff). And cool, if we do legalize it, we’ll all be able to put this to rest until someone tries to make it illegal and protests occur.
if we don’t legalize it, there are just more people going to jail for petty things like carrying it around. plus if we make it illegal, it’s another restriction we have in this free country of ours.
by decriminalizing it, you are sort of turning your head in a sense. people are able to carry a certain amount but in safe ways (if in a car, must be in trunk; if on a plane, must be in checked in bag) and only a given amount (say 1 ounce). this way we will have less innocent people taking up space in jails and more focus on other pertinent issues that affect the global world like the economy.
it’s a victimless crime. read about marijuana from all sides please and then make informed opinions–not just your personal beliefs. learn about it before making exaggerations and making yourself look like an ignorant being. i can already tell you, everyone you know does it. it’s like the world’s biggest secret.
just remember that cannabis comes from the earth. Nothing is manipulated. I mean there are some Mendelian principles that govern the plant, but that’s all plants and variation–nevertheless NATURAL! just like tea.
and i leave you with this
Annual Causes of Death in the United States
Tobacco 435,000
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity 365,000
Alcohol 85,000
Microbial Agents 75,000
Toxic Agents 55,000
Motor Vehicle Crashes 26,347
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs 32,000
Suicide 30,622
Incidents Involving Firearms 29,000
Homicide 20,308
Sexual Behaviors 20,000
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect 17,000,
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin 7,600
Marijuana 0
cheers.
vivalaverde
October 8th, 2009
4:23 pm
i’d just like to point out that decriminalization is the answer!
cheers.
and i’d like to say that some people have very VERY valid points and great arguments.
If we legalize marijuana, all i can think about is the government and their regulations. and then i think about how cigarettes have chemicals and it’s okay (even though it’s a bit of a stretch, the government approved it and now people smoke chemicals and tar and not so sweet stuff). And cool, if we do legalize it, we’ll all be able to put this to rest until someone tries to make it illegal and protests occur.
if we don’t legalize it, there are just more people going to jail for petty things like carrying it around. plus if we make it illegal, it’s another restriction we have in this free country of ours.
by decriminalizing it, you are sort of turning your head in a sense. people are able to carry a certain amount but in safe ways (if in a car, must be in trunk; if on a plane, must be in checked in bag) and only a given amount (say 1 ounce). this way we will have less innocent people taking up space in jails and more focus on other pertinent issues that affect the global world like the economy.
it’s a victimless crime. read about marijuana from all sides please and then make informed opinions–not just your personal beliefs. learn about it before making exaggerations and making yourself look like an ignorant being. i can already tell you, everyone you know does it. it’s like the world’s biggest secret.
just remember that cannabis comes from the earth. Nothing is manipulated. I mean there are some Mendelian principles that govern the plant, but that’s all plants and variation–nevertheless NATURAL! just like tea.
and i leave you with this
Annual Causes of Death in the United States
Tobacco 435,000
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity 365,000
Alcohol 85,000
Microbial Agents 75,000
Toxic Agents 55,000
Motor Vehicle Crashes 26,347
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs 32,000
Suicide 30,622
Incidents Involving Firearms 29,000
Homicide 20,308
Sexual Behaviors 20,000
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect 17,000,
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin 7,600
Marijuana 0
cheers.
NetBanker
October 8th, 2009
5:50 pm
Have you ever seen what the lungs of a long term pot smoker look like? Ever heard of space cakes? It very easy to remove the THC from pot using clarified butter. The butter can then be used on toast or in tollhouse cookies or anything. There is also the classic weed in brownies. You don’t need to smoke it to get the effect..it’s just the fastest way.
“What they don’t realize is that a large percentage of the population smokes weed. People you rely on on everyday. Your boss. Your friends.” This statement (and a few others like it) is so true. I know quite a few lawyers, doctors, and business executives who smoke pot. You’d never suspect that they do because of the types of jobs they hold. All prefer to smoke pot over drinking alcohol to relax. With pot there is no such thing as a hangover, nothing akin to alcohol poisioning, no blacking out, etc
EROCK
October 8th, 2009
6:35 pm
“Have you ever seen what the lungs of a long term pot smoker look like?”
Umm don’t you think if it existed that the Gov’t would plaster the pictures of these lungs all over their anti-pot propaganda. The gov’t can’t even prove one single death due to marijuana use, so I have to call BS on your statement.
Antony
October 8th, 2009
9:25 pm
Say What? – first of all that has got to be about the most nonsensical, illogical excuse for a knee jerk reaction I have ever heard! Do you even have a functional brain? Seriously, how do you go from legalizing pot to legalizing child sex?! THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ONE ANOTHER! people like you are why morons like Bush get elected into office.
First of all Legalizing pot would do several things:
- Requires an ID to obtain (keeps kids off of pot, as someone who just got out of school pot was more prevelant than alcohol or cigarettes by far)
- $$$$, people like it and will buy it giving our country an extra cash flow
- Reduces waste of resources. (Our police should be going after actual criminals, not pot smokers)
- De-fangs the gangs – No cash = no gang
- Removal of Hypocritical policies (Alcohol and Tobacco are okay yet they cause 80,000 and 430,000 deaths on an annual basis, pot = ZERO, overdose only)
- Creates jobs!!! Great thing for our current economic situation.
- Provides a much MUCH safer alternative to alcohol and no puking or blacking out or hangovers
- Hemp can be used to make more than 20,000 different products including one of the healthiest seed oils available.
- Medicinal properties are irrefutable
- and more
To say that pot makes you lazy is also nonsensical, there are plenty of wealthy and successful people who prefer a joint to a martini. The real thing is that if someone is going to be lazy, they don’t need pot. They will do it all on their own (I have a full time job and full time school and a 3.68 GPA) And I take offense to the lazy stigma.
And you can’t enforce morality as morality is different from person to person. It’s NOT the governments’ job. If you want to use it then by all means and if you don’t, Then don’t use it, but leave us who do alone. Please understand that the whole reefer madness thing has been long since found to have been a lie by the government to scare people into compliance.
*Sigh* rant over now.
Derrick
October 9th, 2009
12:17 am
ok ms. cynthia….i mean this in no offence, but have you ever studied marijuana? From the sounds of things your making accusations according to nothing more than a vague picture and a bad 80’s movie. My uncle smokes marijuana every single day. I can honestly say (as someone who DOEs NOT smoke marijuana, just supports this country) that he is one of the smartest men i have ever known.Words to live by actually by him “2+2=nothing if you cant count” in other words if you dont know anything about something how can you discuss it. Short and simple, marijuana is scientifically proven to be safer than almost any other “drug” out there. Go online tonight and compare alcohol to marijuana……i think u can put “2 and 2″ together.
Dr Reaper
October 9th, 2009
2:10 am
Pot isn’t illegal because you can smoke it and get high. That is the argument to keep it illegal. You can drink and get high. It’s illegal because the powers that be don’t want the American people to grow industrial hemp. Industrial hemp has twenty five thousand uses and would reduce our imports on a massive scale. Thomas Jefferson said “Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country.” If we ever want to be free again in this country will never elect another person to office that doesn’t support industrial hemp.
travis Hunter
October 9th, 2009
3:07 am
so how about the over 53,000 people killed by tobacco every year? or the zero people that marijuana has killed…how about CNN reporting that Marijuana is the most economically and enviornmentally sound paper source, this making it so that we dont have to lay forrest after forest down…and the over 25,000 different uses you can get out of also marijuana has the most usable protien of any plant in the world without the use of any fertilizers..
now a little facts from another person that has actually used some journalism skills to look into what he was writting about!
Marijuana was outlawed as a result of a massive public relations and lobbying campaign sponsored by chemical, logging and cotton companies that were becoming obsolete when it was discovered that hemp could produce the very same things they did, only better.Natural health researcher Karen Railey reported that if hemp cultivation were legal, it would greatly reduce our imports of petroleum, textiles and clothes. It would save entire forests from logging and would be incredibly beneficial to the U.S. economy.
By enforcing the ineffective prohibition on marijuana, we lose $33 billion in untaxed revenue, according to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron. That is in addition to the $44 billion the government currently spends on prohibition. Until the government realizes that the money should be put to better use, drug cartels will continue to generate billions of untaxed income from this simple plant.
Prohibition did not work with alcohol. Instead it created the most notorious underground crime era in American history. Now we have managed to do the same thing with marijuana.
Alex S. Turner is a freshman political science major from Dallas.
Russell Barth
October 9th, 2009
7:08 am
de-criminalize is s non-word meaning a non-thing. something is either legal, or it isn’t. what we need is legalized regulation. what we have is non-regulated black market.
grow up.
Craig
October 9th, 2009
10:04 am
It seems like the arguments FOR are always fact-based while the arguments AGAINST are either false government propaganda or anecdotal (I didn’t use it respectfully, so no one else should have access).
To me, this is clearly an issue of personal freedom and when it is put forth on an initiative, I will vote for legalization or decriminalization and will encourage my friends and family to do the same.
Rational Citizen
October 9th, 2009
10:27 am
Reading over some of these comments would be hilarious if it didn’t illustrate the fact that, by definition, half the population is of below average intelligence. I’m talking to you “Say What??”, “joe matarotz”, “Sunshine” and the rest of you idiots who are either speaking with no experience on the subject, or are projecting your own inabilities to control yourselves on the general population.
Suggesting that everyone who smokes marijuana is a pothead is like saying that everyone who drinks even a little alcohol is raging alcoholic. Or that anyone who ever has sex is a sex-addict. Your hyperbole thinly masks your ignorance of the subject. Comparing marijuana to crack or heroin, or claiming that marijuana use causes people to then turn to such harder drugs, is a flat out lie. The truth is, marijuana is less addictive that caffeine. And it in no way encourages people to then use harder drugs. People do heroin and crack because they want to do heroin or crack, not because they tried marijuana and fell down the slippery slope to hard core drug dependence. This idea is laughable.
Marijuana should be decriminalized and treated exactly the same as alcohol, with restrictions on its sale and use. Nobody wants children to use it, but by keeping it illegal we’re actually making it more accessible to children because we allow a black market to flourish. We also send a horrible message to children that somehow, because they’re all illegal, marijuana must be similar to heroin and cocaine, when this couldn’t be furhther from the truth. Marijuana is not going to kill you. It is physically IMPOSSIBLE to overdose on marijuana. When kids find this out they’re far more likely to then be open to trying harder drugs which can in fact kill them.
As a nation, we’re broke. I’d be willing to bet a good amount of money that the same people that are fearmongering on this blog post are the same right-wing zealots whose hair starts falling out everytime they talk about taxes. If you want to keep billions of new tax revenues out of state coffers then it’s time to put up or shut up. We’re broke. Either we start figuring out how to start raising new revenues through business creation, or we start taxing your country bumpkin asses more to pay for things.
You have a very simple choice: are you for the creation of American jobs, or are you for funding Mexican narco-terrorists? It’s your decision.
Finn McCool
October 9th, 2009
10:33 am
There is way too much money involved to legalize it. The prison/penitentiary system relies heavily on petty marijuana “crimes”.
If you legalize pot you might as well close half our prisons!
I’m not even going to go into the money that goes to weapons and other “tool” contractors. Much like the military contractors rely on new enemies to keep them awash in work and cash, so too do the contractors for law enforcement.
permanentilt
October 9th, 2009
10:49 am
MUTTS,
“…so you expect people like me to pay to treat these self inflicted lifestyle diseases. That is a big negatory.”
NEWS FLASH
YOU ALREADY DO SUPPORT THEM! However you are paying WAAAAAAAY too much to incarcerate them, and doing nothing to ensure that they won’t leave prison as addicted as they walked in. Meaning when they get out they will be on the road to re-incarceration, costing you EVEN MORE!
You could have save soooooo much money by remitting them to treatment and actually getting them un-addicted. This is proven, it works. If you are tired of spending money on drug addicts, LEGALIZE!
You prohibitionists blow my mind
October 9th, 2009
12:09 pm
From the FBI’s uniform crime report: 49.8% of total drug arrests were marijuana violations. Approximately 89% were possession. Good job getting the king pins.
All you prohibitionists need a lesson in economics as well as drug policy. Not only are you ignorant of marijuana, but you ignore the fact that distribution will never cease as long as there is such a tidy profit to be made. No amount of effort exerted by us will reduce the number of people willing to take the chance to get a portion of that unregulated, untaxed income. Its a simple concept that all capitalists understand in legal marketplaces but many of you ignore in black marketplaces: If there is a demand for a product, and people are willing to pay, some entrepreneur will take a business risk to fill that demand. The greater the risk, the higher a return on investment he will require. Thusly, illegal cartels (businesses) traffic greater amounts of illicit products into out marketplaces because people will buy it (Supply and Demand); additionally, they will require more money in return because of the risk they take, which they will then invest into their business (in the form of underground tunnels, guerrilla grow operations in our National and State Parks, and weapons to fight of small armies, not to mention local police).
You need to use your critical thinking skills people. Use your brain for something other than a hat rack. This is such a simple concept: “If I sell drugs to the Americans I can become richer than my wildest imagination,so therefor I sell drugs. If i get busted, someone will replace me because they want access to the wealth that I have. ” Open opportunities always get filled. This is what market economies do. It’s so easy to understand you wonder why conspiracy theories abound and why we think you are complicit. YOU ARE COMPLICIT.
The fact is that cannabis was used for innumerable industrial purposes for generations in our country until a number of other industries saw the negative impact it would have on their own enterprises. In the most obscene form of trade protectionism I know in a country that glorifies “free markets,” business men that saw their empires threatened by a better product didn’t try to innovate or improve their own business models, rather they buried the competition through cronyism in political circles. Ever heard of the paper magnate named William Randolph Hearst? If you have, you probably already know how instrumental he was in publishing many fabricated stories about “reefer madness” promulgated by Harry Anslinger (ironically, the head of the Bureau of Prohibition). It just so happens that Hearst also owned a number of timber forests and paper mills and had a vested interest in wood pulp being the standard used in production. With his support, we successfully criminalized cannabis plants and increase the practice of cutting down large trees to make paper, rather than the annually renewable crop we had been using for centuries–cannabis.
Ever read about Henry Ford’s car that ran on renewable hemp oil? Probably not.
Use your brains, sheeple. You are being manipulated and you don’t even realize it. People are preying on some “moral indignation” by making you believe that marijuana is bad and therefore people like myself deserve to go to jail for it. WAKE UP! Don’t just repeat the ignorant dribble you hear news talk celebrities and congressional hacks spout. Educate yourselves. Free one of the most incredible natural resources on the planet. And all you Christians, didn’t god put plants and animals here for us to use? Or is cannabis the modern incarnation of the forbidden fruit?
“And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.”
—Genesis 1:29 (RSV)
I’m not a biblical scholar, but if you believe in a literal interpretation of the bible the I guess my continued use is condoned by the man upstairs.
You prohibitionists blow my mind
October 9th, 2009
12:21 pm
Rational Citizen,
You hit the nail on the head. I first smoked pot at 15. I first drank at 15. You know what was harder to get? You already said it—alcohol. You don’t have to make a fake ID and convince some adult that you’re really a 21 year old with a baby face when you buy street drugs. They don’t care how old you are, they want to make money off you.
Either you all are stupid, or you are gaining something from the status quo. Perhaps you are secretly the King Pins of narco-terrorist organizations and that’s why we haven’t caught any of you yet…
For some reason I’m reminded of all the religious organizations preaching about morality that are secretly sexually abusing children; or maybe the Judge in Mobile, Al that is determining the fate of other people while allegedly sodomizing them in the back room for leniency. I.E. HYPOCRITS
Police yourselves and your own families, but don’t use the guns of the government to police me.
Angie
October 9th, 2009
12:43 pm
El Jefe has it completely right!
Where would we be without lazy slackers in our society like:
Carl Sagan
Paul Allen
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Michael Bloomberg
Arnold Swartzenager
The first issue of the medical journal, the Lancet included the assessment from Queen Victoria’s personal physician, Sir Russell Reynolds, who prescribed cannabis for menstrual cramps and non-psychoactive cannabis lotions for skin inflammation that “When pure and administered carefully, cannabis is one of the of the most valuable medicines we possess.”
You know what would be really funny? If they took something with such proven benefits as marijuana and told people they couldn’t use it, even though it could mean that some people might die. Can you imagine how pissed off people would get? There’d be riots at town hall meetings and stuff.
Boy, that could get pretty nasty.
“Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night.
Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people,
does not suppress medical research,
does not peek in bedroom windows.
Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation
of the prohibitionists at face value,
marijuana prohibition has done far more harm
to far more people than marijuana ever could.”
William F Buckley Jr
NetBanker
October 9th, 2009
12:56 pm
“There is way too much money involved to legalize it.” Finn makes an excellent point. Sadly while prisons may close and weapons manufacterers may suffer what would happen is that the money would shift to farmers and growers, distributors, retail outlets, etc. These groups don’t have lobbyists or the same powerful connections as the law enforcement/weaspons people do.
As serveral people here have pointed out it was a group of cronies who got not only cannibis, but hemp banned. (Note that while related it’s not possible to get high smoking the flowers of the hemp plant). Once again our government will do what is good for them or their cronies instead of what is utlimately good for the people…which is to keep the marijuana status quo which ruins lives, wastes money, contributes to crime, etc.
malcolm kyle
October 9th, 2009
1:03 pm
Anybody who still thinks drug prohibition is a good idea is either profiting from it or is simply mentally deficient.
If you support prohibition then you’ve helped trigger the worst crime wave in this nation’s history.
If you support prohibition you’ve a helped create a black market with massive incentives to hook both adults and children alike.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped to make these dangerous substances available in schools and prisons.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped raise gang warfare to a level not seen in this country since the days of alcohol bootlegging.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped remove many important civil liberties from those citizens you falsely claim to represent.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped put previously unknown and contaminated drugs on the streets.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped to escalate Theft, Muggings and Burglaries.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped to divert scarce law-enforcement resources away from protecting your fellow citizens from the ever escalating violence against their person or property.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped overcrowd the courts and prisons, thus making it increasingly impossible to curtail the people who are hurting and terrorizing others.
LOL @ Patrick
October 9th, 2009
7:02 pm
“I’m not commenting on the editorial I’m commenting on the comments, and y’all are losers for commenting. But I’m not, because my comment is about you people commenting on the editorial not the editorial itself”
HAHAHAHA. I think people call that rationalizing. And to clarify, if we’re pathetic losers, you’re at the top of the class.
What a joke. have folks laughed at you all your life? They weren’t laughing with you, man.
Richard Steeb
October 9th, 2009
11:50 pm
Please allow me to boil it ALL down.
To keep cannabis illegal while tobacco and alcohol are dispensed freely is *MURDEROUSLY STUPID*.
No controversy.
[San Jose California]
Richard Steeb
October 9th, 2009
11:51 pm
Google “Tashkin”
malcolm kyle
October 10th, 2009
9:21 am
Like it or not, there has never been and nor will there be a drug-free society. The use of addictive or recreational drugs is a natural part of human society. Nobody here is claiming that any substance is beneficial for either the individual or society. It is true however that certain substances help the soul heal and relieve pain, while others provide short-term relief from a monotonous existence at the risk of possible long-term health problems.
An important aspect of Individual freedom is the right to do with yourself as you please, as long as your actions cause no unreasonable or unnecessary suffering or direct harm to others. Many among us may disagree with this, and they should be free to belief what they wish, but the moment they are willing to use force to impose their will on the rest of us, is the exact same moment that the petty criminals/dealers, the Mafia, drug barons, terrorists and corrupt government officials/agencies enter the equation. The problems created by self harm then rapidly pale into insignificance as society spirals downwards into a dark abyss, while the most shady characters and ‘black-market corporate entities’ exponentially enrich themselves in a feeding frenzy likened to that of piranhas on bath-tub meth.
macbags
October 11th, 2009
6:10 am
As was predicted back in the old days during the pot festivals, these
wealthy people are stupid. Only kidding, they keep it going to keep as
divided I think is what one guy was explaining. I’ll never forget that.
Thats how they keep power in a democracy besides paying of the races.