Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

[c1ue]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

I don't think you've read much on this issue. The legality of Marijuana is far from complete. In the states where it is legal, it is also illegal federally. This bill is designed to give the states the power to legislate whether marijuana is legal or not; a pressing issue and a far cry from a "ridiculous publicity stunt." You really should do more research about things before you dismiss them out of hand.

There are far more areas in which a state's rights vs. Federal jurisdiction can be fought besides marijuana.

[Slimprofits]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

Of course it's a ridiculous publicity stunt. There is zero, 0, i.e. NONE, no chance of this bill passing. So what else can it be, other than a ridiculous publicity stunt? If you've been paying attention to the bullhorn lately, people are talking about the anniversary of the start of the U.S. Drug War. If anything, this issue will be used to talk about reducing prison populations as a matter of budget reduction. It has nothing to do with statehouses re-gaining lost powers from the Feds.

[mooncliff]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

Of course, again, a disruptive technology appears and upends the whole ridiculous prison industrial complex business.

LEDs are becoming so cheap and they are so efficient that everyone who wants to will be able to grow a few plants under a cabinet for a few cents of electricity per day, and the market for the smuggled stuff will drop to near zero.

Of course marijuana causes problems, some severe psychiatric problems... and alcohol doesn't? With one exception, the vast majority of problems I have seen in people I know are due to alcohol. One of my friends was hiding in the women's room, hiding from monsters, in a very expensive restaurant, and it had nothing to do with marijuana and everything to do with alcohol.

[lomaxzoltor]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

Of course, again, a disruptive technology appears and upends the whole ridiculous prison industrial complex business.

LEDs are becoming so cheap and they are so efficient that everyone who wants to will be able to grow a few plants under a cabinet for a few cents of electricity per day, and the market for the smuggled stuff will drop to near zero.

Of course marijuana causes problems, some severe psychiatric problems... and alcohol doesn't? With one exception, the vast majority of problems I have seen in people I know are due to alcohol. One of my friends was hiding in the women's room, hiding from monsters, in a very expensive restaurant, and it had nothing to do with marijuana and everything to do with alcohol.

Totally agree. Alcohol v. Marijuana is simply an accident of European history, with alcohol being much more addictive and damaging on many levels.

Bottom line, government should be concerned with aiding its citizenry versus criminalizing them. We should encourage people to not use/abuse addictive substances and provide support to those who can't help themselves and at the same time make it easy and cheap for those who are addicted to get the substance they are addicted to to minimize their damage on society in general and to keep them in the net of societal influence.

In other words, the wars on drugs needs to be a war fought on a logical (and cheaper) level where the government actively discourages usage and widely advertises the horrible effects of abuse on the personal, familial and community level while at the same time taking all of the power away from cartels, mafia, and Kennedys/Calderons. Publicly discourage and advertise the devastating effects of substance abuse while at the same time make production and distribution legal through government channels while taxing and regulating to destroy illegal channels.

If you remove our hypocritical Christian/Jewish morality from the equation, it would be much cheaper to supply all the addicts in the US with drugs and therapy coupled with hardcore advertising against drug use, than it is to fight our kick-ass WAR ON DRUGS!

[flintlock]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

To me it's just about priorities. We can find the money to prosecute pot heads but can't keep child molesters and rapists in jail. Its simply not worth the cost in my opinion. I don't buy into the "Reefer Madness" idea people would all be too stoned to function. Booze is legal and we aren't all drunk all the time. Other countries have legalized use and they don't seem to have that big a problem either. There's something so prudish and hypocritical about America and what it deems a "problem". Banksters can jack us for trillions and get away with it. Even violent criminals get off with probation, or a few months in jail. I don't use it but I have no more problem with someone who does than I do with people who have a few drinks. As long as they don't bother me, or drive their car into someone's when stoned, I could care less. Some people are so uptight, they could probably use a toke now and then.

A lot of this is about maintaining the status quo. Lot of jobs tied up in the drug war. And its sometimes used as an excuse for heavy handed tactics. People are naive if they think the government only bans MJ for our benefit. If that were the case they'd ban booze and McDonalds as well.

[cjppjc]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

There is a huge social stigma and fear with marijuana. How many times have we heard "I'm no good till I've had my first cup of coffee and cigarette in the morning"?

[lektrode]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

There is a huge social stigma and fear with marijuana. How many times have we heard "I'm no good till I've had my first cup of coffee and cigarette in the morning"?

uh huh... vs how many times have we heard 'rise n shine, time to wake n bake' ;)

[mesyn191]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

LEDs are becoming so cheap and they are so efficient that everyone who wants to will be able to grow a few plants under a cabinet for a few cents of electricity per day, and the market for the smuggled stuff will drop to near zero.

Home grown weed won't take off for the same reasons why home made liqour and tobbacco haven't as well: convience and start up costs and time investment (ie. learning how to do it and then actually maintaining your still or grow, even if they're tiny cabinet affairs). People want to get drunk, high, or smoke a ciggarette fast and without hassle. Only a relative few enthusiasts will bother with doing their own micro grow.

This law is probably a publicity stunt but I do hope pot is legalized and that the War on Drugs is ended. Pot is no worse than alcohol or cigs and the War on Drugs is a total failure that has turned into a glorified pork project that wastes our money and ruins lives pointlessly.

There is a huge social stigma and fear with marijuana. How many times have we heard "I'm no good till I've had my first cup of coffee and cigarette in the morning"?

This is mostly true with older folks, 50 and over. People in their 30's tend to generally frown on drug use but don't "fear" it and people in their 20's just plain don't care at all.

Once enough of the old people die off in the next few decades pot will be legalized, but likely not before that happens.

[Starving Steve]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

Let me understand this: The law-makers introduce a bill to legalize pot.......... So what? Other than from a civil liberties standpoint, who cares?

May I stay after class and ask a few questions: How does legalized pot increase the competitiveness of North America? How does legalized pot increase exports to the world? How does legalized pot construct hydro-electric dams and atomic power plants, or develop the oil sands in Alberta, or facilitate drilling for oil on the sea-floor? How does legalized pot help to frack rocks and increase the supply of natural gas? How does legalized pot convert coal into synthetic oil? How does legalized pot lower the cost of living? How does legalized pot cut spending in government? How does legalized pot do anything more than make the drug dealers rich, and keep the Hell's Angels and their drug courier service ( for example, between Victoria and Vancouver, BC ) busy? How does legalized pot eliminate government corruption? How does legalized pot make for five dollar and five minute building permits, nor increase the supply of serviced lots, nor lower the price of homes, nor decrease rents? How does the legalized pot put the world back onto the gold standard, or even onto a commodity standard, or kilowatt-hour standard? How does legalized pot reform the school curriculum in America? How does legalized pot advance science and technology? How does legalized pot cure disease and lengthen our life span? How does legalized pot help to build interstate highways, help to construct skyscrapers, help to construct high-speed passenger rail in America, help to construct water desalinization and pumping plants, help to build more bridges, help to build more dams, or any of hundreds of vital projects that we desperately need right now? How is legalized pot going to protect us from Al Qaide or Hamas, the religious zealots in the Middle East, and protect us from nations like Iran?

Think of what food prices would be like if farmland would not only be wasted on ethanol production but farmland would actually go to pot!

I do agree that pot should be legal....... But I don't think for one moment that pot is going to solve any of the daunting problems facing us right now. In fact, legalized pot would certainly increase the rate of lung cancer in the general population. The corruption in government would be mind-boggling, just as it is now in the emerald triangle of Northern California and just as it is now in British Columbia.... Nothing would be accomplished except that the pot-heads would roam the streets like zombies and produce nothing of value for the world, more or less like they do now, up and down the entire West Coast.

[Starving Steve]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

Let me understand this: "Pot is no worse than alcohol or cigs,"??????????????????????

Maybe, but would you mind looking at what is happening right NOW in British Columbia? The government is running the senior citizens out of their homes and suspending their driver's licenses.

I don't witness the Government of British Columbia conducting a war on the illegal drug industry in BC. But I do see the Gov. of BC running the senior citizens out of BC......... I am the slow learner here, but I would call that corruption. What else would that be?

I don't see the Government of BC ( the Liberal Government allied with the NDP as their so-called, "opposition party" ) wagiing a war on the Hell's Angels. And why would that be????????????????????????

British Columbia went to hell when BC went to pot. How else can I put it??????????

No, I am no lover of the Conservatives in Canada nor the Repukes in the USA, but honestly, BC has gone to pot under the Liberals and the NDP. And I certainly do not like their eco-crap day and night, and from both parties!

A few hundred miles south of BC, it is the same story. The pot-heads and organized crime run the emerald triangle in Northern California......... I mean, let's quit the bull-ship and tell the truth about the story of pot, pot-heads, drug dealers, criminals, gangs, and what they are all about.

I was run-out of my house in BC. I was hauled down to Victoria General Hospital where they dump senior citizens. I saw plenty and what I went through was something unbelievable! That story in a while, when it is time to tell all.....

[lektrode]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

Think of what food prices would be like if farmland would not only be wasted on ethanol production but farmland would actually go to pot!

....

one thing is certain: the demand for cheetos, fritos and twinkies would EXPLODE

[mesyn191]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

Let me understand this: "Pot is no worse than alcohol or cigs,"??????????????????????

Maybe, but would you mind looking at what is happening right NOW in British Columbia? The government is running the senior citizens out of their homes and suspending their driver's licenses.

WTH does pot have to do with running old folks out of their homes? You think pot automagically corrupts politicians or something to make them do this?

There were plenty of corrupt politicians before pot was even heard of and there will be plenty after its legalized irregardless because positions of power attract the corrupt so your post is a total non sequitir any which way you look at it.

May I stay after class and ask a few questions: How does legalized pot increase the competitiveness of North America?

Instead of blowing billions on drug enforcement and the WoD, both of which are failures both from a social and economic standpoint, that money could be plowed back into the economy to improve infrastructure. You would also be able to greatly reduce prison populations which saves heaps of money for the states and government. Finally it'd be another source of tax income for the government. Legal pot that is heavily taxed would still be cheaper than illegal tax free pot and it wouldn't carry any risk of imprisonment or misdemeanor like it currently does so people would stop giving money to the cartels and would spend it on local businesses who would be selling it.

How does legalized pot eliminate government corruption?

No one said it would but it'd certainly reduce the pork barrel spending for the useless WoD. Nothing will ever eliminate gov. corruption so to bring this up at all is laughable as is most of the rest of your post.

Think of what food prices would be like if farmland would not only be wasted on ethanol production but farmland would actually go to pot!

Pot is trivial to grow, its a goddamn weed that isn't land or water intensive. The amount of farmland "wasted" on it would be hardly anything since it'll grow in areas where corn won't.

[Starving Steve]

Re: Lawmakers to introduce bill to legalize marijuana

I see to-day, June 27th, that the Government of British Columbia is now moving to allow senior citizens to remain in their homes, and with the help of the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA).

Good! Thank you to our new Premier, Christy Clark.

Now, one more very important issue: How about letting senior citizens drive their cars, and to stop suspending their driving licenses..... Understood, the roads might be safer if some senior citizens would not be permitted to drive, but this is a civil rights and civil liberties issue. This is all about FREEDOM. And I think the Solicitor General of Motor Vehicles in BC has vastly overstepped his authority to suspend driving licenses of senior citizens who have a perfect ( unblemished ) driving record.

In my case, I can not keep my home in East Sooke unless I can drive my car to get groceries and other necessities of living.
Also, in my case, my license was suspended in a secret hearing without me even being present--- in fact, not even notified until after the hearing was held! I was also held in hospital involuntarily, with the other senior citizens that I was with.

Oh yes, this is quite a story! And the police barge into my house, no warrant, no cause, no nothing, and they gave me injections which blocked my anti-convulsive medications. Then they continued to torment me the next day when they still wouldn't tell me what was going-on. And then the fun really began.........

Well, I am glad that the Govn't of BC is now finally helping senior citizens to remain in their homes as long as possible. Thank you, Christy. But how about re-instating my driving license for a full five years since I passed a full road-test down in California just last summer????? And how about re-instating the driving licenses of the other senior citizens in British Columbia?

Understood, the Solicitor General of Motor Vehicles has the power to suspend licenses and do whatever he wants to do, but the question remains: SHOULD THE SOLICITOR GENERAL OF MOTOR VEHICLES IN B.C. DO WHATEVER HE WANTS TO DO TO SENIOR CITIZENS, JUST BECAUSE HE CAN DO IT UNDER THE LAW?

In my case, I lose my "privilege to drive" as well as lose my house in East Sooke. And in my case this is the result of a supposed brain seizure that happened because of the police barging into my house, explaining nothing to me, drug testing me, giving me some kind of drug to have me pee on command, finding nothing, refusing to explain anything to me, and then the next day dumping me into Victoria General Hospital for an involuntary 30-day stay. What happened to me there was even more unimaginable, but that story later.......

The bright-side of this story is that I got to meet other senior citizens on the 6th floor who had something like this happen to them, too. Their lives were turned upside-down. And they weren't told anything. They had no rights, etc........

Why the media in Canada is not onto this story, I don't know? How long has this been going-on? Why has the Government of BC heretofore ignored court rulings about the right of a senior citizen to live and stay in their own home? And why this war on senior citizens driving in BC???????? Day after day, the suspensions go out, and against people with perfect driving records!

If you are thinking about retiring, there might be better places to retire than British Columbia the way it is now.

Starving Steve is Stephen Jacobs. My telephone number while I am at my mother and brother's house down in California is 831-726-3422. My mother is age 84, and she has to do my driving for me now, at least until I get my "driving privilege" restored to me in BC. This is quite a burden on my mother!

But the first step in reform in BC is that the Office of the Premier is now moving forward on this issue. Good! But much more has to be done....

[dropthatcash]

It's a human rights issue.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-i...225335489.html

It's a human rights issue. If a person doesn't have the right to treat ones own body and life as they see fit, they haven't even the most basic of human rights. I don't advocate for the use of drugs, just for the right to self determination.

[brent217]

Re: It's a human rights issue.

I am in favor of complete decriminalization of drugs ONLY if this is accompanied by two government programs, one to grow, make, and dispense said drugs for free (this will stop the violent behaviors of those trying to control a piece of the market) and the second to educate the citizenry on the dangers of drug use (same type of program we currently have to reduce smoking, which seems to be working).

In general, I would copy the Swiss approach. I believe they call it "Harm Reduction" except they use a down arrow instead of the word reduction, which makes searching for the program on google somewhat problematic. Or maybe that was the point, lol.