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Legalized marijuana spreads to two more states and D.C. Next up, California
The Chrisitan Science Monitor ^ | 11/05/2014 | Daniel Wood

Posted on 11/05/2014 11:51:33 PM PST by BurningOak

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I am kind of mixed on the issue. On one hand I hate potheads and all other social parasites that contribute nothing to society. On the other hand it is not nearly as dangerous as alcohol, tobacco, or fast food. Certainly nobody should go to jail just for smoking this garbage. I say leave it to the states, if people want to legalize it so be it, but you still should not smoke it even if it is mostly harmless.
1 posted on 11/05/2014 11:51:34 PM PST by BurningOak
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To: BurningOak

Congress could just decriminalize it at the federal level, while still criminalizing the importation of it, and let states decide the rest. While this isn’t my issue, it may be a good first step towards swinging back towards a strong tenth amendment.


2 posted on 11/05/2014 11:55:37 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
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To: BurningOak

From Daily Kos, Dems intend to get this on as many state ballots as they can for 2016, because it draws out the uninformed non-voter, who will mark the Dem ballot.

They likely aren’t going to have a black candidate in 2016, so this, and ginned-up Hispanic “racial tension”, is how they intend to bring out the stupid to vote.


3 posted on 11/05/2014 11:59:04 PM PST by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: tcrlaf

Kind of like the reverse of the marriage ballots in 2004...

Still, I think that atleast in purple states where it makes a difference, only a narrow majority of pot smokers are liberals. I know atleast two people who smoke weed and fly confederate flags, I doubt this strategy will win them any states. That said, whoever is the GOP nominee should not center his campaign on this one issue, as it is about the only thing we lost last night.


4 posted on 11/06/2014 12:05:03 AM PST by BurningOak (Live Free or Die)
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To: BurningOak
Actually it is as dangerous but it's fine to leave it to the states.

What about employers that have zero tolerance? Now you have a bunch of unemployed potheads.

What about driving? What is the limit for under the influence? What jurisdictions have the ability to test for that?

2 recent cases here in Smalltown,USA where drivers were under the influence of pot only killed someone, one victim a mother pushing her twins in a stroller.

A large majority of arresstees for violent and property crimes have THC in their systems.

Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin were frequent users and had THC in their systems at the time they committed assault.

5 posted on 11/06/2014 12:05:36 AM PST by Eagles6 (Valley Forge Redux. If not now, when? If not here, where? If not us then who?)
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To: tcrlaf
"From Daily Kos, Dems intend to get this on as many state ballots as they can for 2016, because it draws out the uninformed non-voter, who will mark the Dem ballot."


Interesting strategy by which to attract the same type of "novelty" voter that opted for Barack Hussein Obama in 2008.
Market to a bunch of kids just out of high school with very little else going on in their lives.
Or even more insidious, seeking to keep a large segment of society in a state of unmotivated dependence...and beholden to government.

6 posted on 11/06/2014 12:10:09 AM PST by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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To: Eagles6

Good questions. Like I said I am not a legalization advocate, just kind of meh on the issue.

Employees have a right to fire potheads and legalization does not change this. No illegal is not the same as a civil right. Driving: is there any way to test for pot intoxication? It stays in your system for like a month from what I understand so a positive urine test is pretty meaningless. But yes, driving high is like driving drunk.

As for the association with criminals, I think it is a case of correlation not meaning causation. Potheads are generally harmless while high, they just sit there, babble nonsense, and stare at their hands. It is just that the kind of people who commit crimes are also the kind that often smoke weed.


7 posted on 11/06/2014 12:15:18 AM PST by BurningOak (Live Free or Die)
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To: BurningOak
I think we're kind of misinformed about potheads being harmless. Very prevalent use by violent gangs here, Mexico and CA.

Heavily used by mohammadens in Afcrapistan and ME and everywhere in the violent regions of Africa.

8 posted on 11/06/2014 12:31:23 AM PST by Eagles6 (Valley Forge Redux. If not now, when? If not here, where? If not us then who?)
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To: BurningOak
I don't think lives should be ruined over weed but I hate the thought of condoning drug addiction amongst a population that is already largely incapable of competing in the market place. This is a recipe for making more useless liberal democrats.

Also, I like the idea of taking this revenue stream away from the cartels but we have to know that they will recover that lost revenue by increasing/improving their heroin/meth/coke trade. Unintended consequences and all.

On the other hand, our enforcement agencies will be able to focus more resources on the more dangerous drugs which is good.

9 posted on 11/06/2014 12:41:26 AM PST by RC one (Militarized law enforcement is just a nice way of saying martial law enforcement.)
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To: BurningOak

On the other hand it is not nearly as dangerous as alcohol, tobacco, or fast food.”

Tobacco and fast food are more dangerous than pot? Surely you jest. When was the last time someone smoked a cigarette and ate a hamburger from Mickey D’s and then was driving a car which was involved in an auto accident in which someone was injured or killed?


10 posted on 11/06/2014 12:45:06 AM PST by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: Grams A

Tobacco and fast food kill hundreds of thousands every year through diseases (cardiac disease, diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema). All car accidents kill 30,000 a year total, of these a tiny fraction involve pot. So yes, cigarettes and MacDonalds are bigger killers.


11 posted on 11/06/2014 12:56:30 AM PST by BurningOak (Live Free or Die)
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To: BurningOak

I saw a news story last week touting a phone poll of Colorado pot retail store owners and they said they were supporting Gardner over Udall 78%

Surprising to many here I’m sure


12 posted on 11/06/2014 12:58:32 AM PST by wardaddy (todays republicans are worse than reconstruction era.....and that takes effort)
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To: Eagles6
>"Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin were frequent users and had THC in their systems at the time they committed assault. "

Thanks to prohibition they weren't able to get enough to sedate themselves! If they had lived in a sane society they could have supplied all they needed in their garden. They would be alive today.

13 posted on 11/06/2014 1:03:56 AM PST by rawcatslyentist (Jeremiah 50:32 "The arrogant one will stumble and fall ; / ?)
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To: BurningOak
Why does this necessarily have to "spread." That inevitability seems to be the assumption. But why?
14 posted on 11/06/2014 1:33:11 AM PST by fwdude (The last time the GOP ran an "extremist," Reagan won 44 states.)
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To: BurningOak

Leave as a states issue. I think it’s kind of nice having homeless Texans making career moves to Colorado because they can legally smoke pot there.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/pot-draws-homeless-texans-to-colorado/28186888


15 posted on 11/06/2014 1:36:10 AM PST by MulberryDraw (Repeal it.)
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To: Vince Ferrer

I have to agree with you on this one 100%. It’s not a federal issue it’s a states issue. It would free up prison space that is for sure.

Since I do a lot of research on my health conditions I get to read about MMJ usage.

Cannaboids which don’t have the bad element that gets you high, is finding a home in the medical field. But it is a lengthy process to distill it down to that point. 1 gram is like $80 bucks. To me it’s not been studied enough to be a proven medical use yet. More research needs to happen. And can it be mixed to target specific medical needs?

I have FMS (fibromyalgia) 30 yrs of severe muscle pain and stiffness. Their drugs are worst than the FMS. And most in the FMS community are swearing by the pain relief MMJ brings. Cancer patients are also lobbying for it to treat the severe nausea that drugs don’t work well on. Then you have those of us with digestive disorders. There again they swear by the pain relief in MMJ. But most are smoking it, and getting high, which to me is just putting them into La La Land where you don’t care about the pain. And leaves them with the lung cancer causing agents. Which is not worth it.

I watched my parents die of lung cancer from cig smoking. But I have NO right to tell a person they can’t do it, as this is still a free country, if we can keep it. I can restrict it’s use in my car or home as that is personal property/space. I think places that ban cigs should have to provide a place that is weather controlled for those they ban from their buildings as it is only the right thing to do. Eventually they will tax it out of reach or people will wise up and learn the dangers of it. Probation didn’t work and was a waste of prison space and money better spent elsewhere.

We don’t need a Nanny State.


16 posted on 11/06/2014 1:38:59 AM PST by GailA (IF you fail to keep your promises to the Military, you won't keep them to Citizens!)
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To: BurningOak


17 posted on 11/06/2014 2:25:13 AM PST by Iron Munro (4)
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To: BurningOak

Weed is dangerous, but f the research is to be believed. Additionally, the impairment effects can be as deadly as alcohol. The issue I have is our socialist society. If somebody wants to destroy thier life with drugs, our social programs try to save him or her via my tax dollars. Eliminating the WOD will never save our country money; on the contrary, the funds will be shifted to take care of junkies.


18 posted on 11/06/2014 3:35:18 AM PST by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: BurningOak

You say people who smoke it contribute nothing to society but then say it’s mostly harmless. I don’t see it as harmless then. And what kind of military might will we be in years to come if our soldiers are stoned and slow to react? I don’t think we should give this supposedly “harmless” drug the green light. It’s going to open up a pandora’s box, I don’t care what anyone says. If we were like Native American’s of old living off the land and trading or farming to make living fine, but it won’t be good for a modern industrial society.


19 posted on 11/06/2014 3:38:34 AM PST by kelly4c (http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=2900389%2C41#help)
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To: BurningOak

BS I smoked for 22 years and my lungs and heart are fine. I eat McDonald’s a few times a week and my cholesterol and heart and weight is good. I don’t smoke pot but in my youth when I did I felt pretty F’d up. Plus it was laced once with PCP and my girlfriend and I got paranoid and almost did some crazy stuff. POT is a drug that can make one paranoid, hallucinate, kills brain cells, slows reaction time, etc. Tell me the former two substances can do that.


20 posted on 11/06/2014 3:43:05 AM PST by kelly4c (http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=2900389%2C41#help)
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