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Post by castanea on May 26, 2012 21:26:47 GMT -5
In a few years it will probably be 60%. "Fifty-six percent of Americans think marijuana should be legalized and regulated like alcohol and tobacco, according to a nationwide Rasmussen poll of 1,000 likely voters. Asked earlier this month, "Would you favor or oppose legalizing marijuana and regulating it in the similar manner to the way alcohol and tobacco cigarettes are regulated today?" only 36 percent of likely voters opposed the concept and 8 percent were undecided. Neill Franklin, a retired Baltimore narcotics cop and the executive director of advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, sees the poll as a political weather vane pointing toward the future. "Polling now consistently shows that more voters support legalizing and regulating marijuana than support continuing a failed prohibition approach," he said in a statement Tuesday. "Yet far too many politicians continue to act as if marijuana policy reform is some dangerous third rail they dare not touch. If the trends in public opinion continue in the direction they are going, the day is not far away when supporting a prohibition system that causes so much crime, violence and corruption is going to be seen as a serious political liability for those seeking support from younger and independent voters. Savvy forward-looking politicians are already beginning to see which way the wind is blowing." Indeed, the Rasmussen poll is far from the first to find the majority support legalizing marijuana. Public opinion aside, the Obama administration has pursued an inter-agency crackdown on the cannabis industry, with raids on pot dispensaries, many in California operating in full compliance with state law. Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 SWAT-style raids in nine states that allow medical marijuana, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments, according to data compiled by Americans for Safe Access. While medical marijuana has been legalized by 17 states and the District of Columbia, federal law prohibits any use of marijuana." www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/legalize-marijuana-56-percent-rasmussen-poll_n_1537706.html
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Post by 12540dumont on May 26, 2012 22:19:58 GMT -5
I'll tell you what, all you need is a kid arrested for smoking pot and you will join with the 56%.
I had the rare pleasure of going with my girlfriend to pick up her son in jail. He had one half smoked joint. So the short story is they made him pay $500 to attend a drug class, $1200 in court appointed fines, do drug testing for 3 months, and join narcotics anon. (This young fella is a straight A student at SF State, an outstanding musician, and has dreadlocks...). Everyone with dreadlocks should be stopped and searched, right?
This is the kind of crap that clogs up our courts. I don't even see why they need to get involved.
Since all they want is the money, why not just give the kid a citation for $1700 and let us all get back to what we were doing. Really, the cure is worse than the disease.
I think the sentence caused more harm by the criminal proceedings than the use of the drug itself.
To wit, the kid had to get himself from San Francisco to Gilroy (about a 90 mile excursion, whenever he needed to have his pee tested). They would not let him have his tests done in SF, as then they don't make any money on the tests locally. Yes, they charged him $15 a test. They also scheduled the drug class down here, so he had to skip school to take the class and find a place to spend the night to get the bus/train back the next day. (My couch is not comfy, but he did not complain). (His mom has a job in HI for a few months, so he doesn't have a lot of choices). $1700 is a huge amount of money for a college kid who makes $7.00 an hour. But the real hit was on his time. All these wasteful trips down here. Taking the bus/train from here to there is an all day trip.
What a useless thing. What a useless waste of our court system. But there's big money to be made in classes and testing!
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 26, 2012 22:27:15 GMT -5
It occurred to me the other day that if they legalize medical marijuana, perhaps hemp could be reprieved?
Holly, sorry about your friends son. You are to right that it's a waste of resources to go after this sort of activity. Particularly when there are terrorists among us. Go figure.
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Post by castanea on May 26, 2012 22:37:35 GMT -5
I have a teenage relative who smokes occasionally, as do most of his friends. He's a good kid. There's nothing out of the ordinary about him or his lifestyle. He's getting ready for college and having angst about leaving his girlfriend. But his normal life will be destroyed if he gets caught smoking pot. And that just doesn't make any sense at all. Something like 100,000,000 Americans have smoked marijuana. Maybe we should just throw them all in jail, starting with Obama, Bush and Clinton.
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Post by bonsaioutlaw on May 26, 2012 23:37:35 GMT -5
The "Man" really does not want it to be legal. If farmers started growing it now like they did in the 1940's then "Big Oil" and "Big Pharm" would probably go under and it would make the farmers of America way too powerful and they do not care much for the ideologies of American farmers. This is from chaper two of the book "The Emporer Wears No Clothes." Take a gander at all the stuff this plant can be used for. If it sounds interesting you can go to the top of the page and click "The Book" and read it for free. Mr. Jack wanted the world to read this book so he made it free for the public. www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-two/
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Post by steev on May 26, 2012 23:41:07 GMT -5
C'mon, folks! It's not about what makes sense; it's about what makes MONEY! Legalized dope is as easy to grow as tomatoes, and as hard to sell as zucchini. Illegal dope=money to be made. Kind of makes you wonder who might be "on the take", don't it?
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Post by Drahkk on May 26, 2012 23:47:41 GMT -5
I've been saying this for years. Legalize it, tax it, regulate it, and just prosecute the people who actually endanger others while under the influence. I have no doubt it would become a booming industry. Lots of people grow their own now only because they can't get it any easier. Is tobacco difficult to grow? No. How many tobacco users grow their own? So we get less tax money going out to fund prohibition, new jobs created and more tax money coming in from the new industry. Sure, some additional people would take up the habit once it was readily available. There would also be those who didn't bother because it was no longer taboo. I doubt we would have any more true problem users than we do now. I know this is a simplified view of the issue, but to me the benefits of legalization seem to outweigh the risks by a wide margin.
I remember hearing or reading somewhere (sorry, can't seem to place the source) that the main thing keeping marijuana legalization from happening is that all the other major drugs put together do not generate enough offenses to justify continuing to fund the fight against them if all the marijuana offenders are removed from the equation. Dunno if that's entirely accurate or not, but you can be sure it's about money somewhere along the line.
MB
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Post by castanea on May 27, 2012 0:25:42 GMT -5
That's an interesting point about growing your own. Even though cannabis is easy to grow, most people really don't want to go to the trouble of doing so. We have so many secret growers now because their choices are limited. I don't use it, but I'd like to grow it if it were legal. I always prefer growing plants that are easy to those that are difficult. Corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, and cannabis are all easy to grow. I love greens and brussels sprouts but I'm going to let someone else grow them for me.
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Post by richardw on May 27, 2012 1:02:43 GMT -5
We have similar laws to most of the US states and i'm sure there would have to be a about the same percentage of people in favour of legalizing. At the end of the day the costs of maintaining the current laws far out way the costs associated if the stuff was legal,besides that of just a useless waste of our court system there's so many other factors also,cops could be out there actually fighting real crime,imagine the amount of saving there in terms of less insurance payouts along,....but really i could go on for ever about benefits of legalizing.
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 27, 2012 6:34:39 GMT -5
I'm with Steev, it's not about cents, it's about dollars. When money clouds the mind all purpose, meaning, value, etc. fly out the window. I would get upset about it... but... well... greed can culminate into a means to an end. =o/
As for growing the stuff, I don't like marijuana. Just like I don't like vodka. Never have, never will. Now HEMP on the other hand, that's more my kind of plant. Just like rum. LOVE the stuff! Always have, always will. =o)
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Post by cortona on May 27, 2012 8:57:23 GMT -5
i'm a fortunate ex pot smokers/grower(one year with greath and really easy result) i'm fortunate because no cops find me under dope, neverhad a problem, but if it was legal again i will restart just because it is a beautifull plant, it can be really usefull, and it will be a good found source, aniway in italy is more diffused the use of hash, that i can't really manage to use for is side effects,and i'm with the others here that are for the legalization of the things here too is a so crazy situation that young people smoke a joint and have to stai in jail....no classes, jail....that is crazy, aniway hemp too...is if possible more useful than pot....if somebody can really find a greath difference in the two(excluded the modern ibrid that come from holland the real thingh is really really near to hemp)
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Post by bunkie on May 27, 2012 11:07:17 GMT -5
back in my hay days, people were arrested for having 3 seeds in their coat pocket. i thought it hd improved by now, but from holly's experience, it soulds like it's gotten worse. what a waste.
as for growing it, i would if it became legal. here we have helicopters that fly over our fields on and off, taking pics. i think they also have infrared cameras.
i'm with you jo about making hemp legal, too!
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Post by castanea on May 27, 2012 11:40:25 GMT -5
We have similar laws to most of the US states and i'm sure there would have to be a about the same percentage of people in favour of legalizing. At the end of the day the costs of maintaining the current laws far out way the costs associated if the stuff was legal,besides that of just a useless waste of our court system there's so many other factors also,cops could be out there actually fighting real crime,imagine the amount of saving there in terms of less insurance payouts along,....but really i could go on for ever about benefits of legalizing. "Drug addiction psychiatrists say prohibition of cannabis use has failed in New Zealand and it is time to talk about adopting another strategy." www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/106798/new-cannabis-strategy-needed,-say-psychiatrists
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 28, 2012 3:31:31 GMT -5
There are so many issues that are so much more pressing... Like Steev said, money, not "best for the community" is the base issue. However, I'm not sure how keeping marijuana and hemp illegal is benefiting politicians fiscally?
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Post by castanea on May 28, 2012 10:34:49 GMT -5
There are so many issues that are so much more pressing... Like Steev said, money, not "best for the community" is the base issue. However, I'm not sure how keeping marijuana and hemp illegal is benefiting politicians fiscally? It is all about money. Alcohol companies (especially some of the the big beer producers) sponsor a large national organization to "fight drugs" (that is, to keep marijuana illegal). They also make sure through their relationships with professional sports (especially aseball, football, basketball NASCAR, etc) that those groups keep painting marijuana use as evil. The NFL freaks out whenever any player is caught with marijuana. Why, since it doesn't enhance performance? NASCAR freaks out if any driver smokes pot but is much less concerned about drinking alcohol. In one of the medical marijuana states (Colorado?) DUIs have gone down since the introduction of medical marijuana. The probable reason? People who smoke pot drink less alcohol. Alcohol companies make huge political contributions to politicians. Large pharmaceutical companies have a long history of fighting against any form of medical treatment, any OTC supplement, or any herb that might decrease pharmaceutical sales. In California, many medical marijuana patients have stopped using prescription drugs in favor of marijuana which works better for many problems than many prescription drugs, with far fewer side effects. Pharmaceutical companies pay vast sums of money to politcians. Huge numbers of law enforcement employees across the country make their living dealing with marijuna issues. They generally support politicians who will keep marijuana ilegal so they can keep their jobs. Hemp has vast potential as a money crop since hemp can be used in so many different ways. Thus you have numerous industries that don't want hemp to be legal including petrochemicals, forestry etc. You don't have to cut down a tree to make paper. You can cut down a hemp plant but that doesn't sound like a good idea to the large forestry companies. The list of people and companies that would lose money if cannabis were legal is huge. All of those companies know exactly what to do to protect their interests, which is to buy off politciians. Luckily for the companies, that's very easy to do.
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