Big surprise.
Posted on 09/27/2009 2:36:52 PM PDT by cakid1
Whether You Like it or Not - California Will Legalize Pot Next Year
(That seems to be the idea behind a new article out today)
According to a well known, and outspoken leader from the left it’s a good bet that the state will legalize Pot next year.
Part of the reason?
The state needs...
Big surprise.
All presidents in my lifetime have been anti-marijuana.
We lose elections when we’re no different from Democrats except for the things we want to have illegal.
You’re a statist. Perhaps you work for the prison system or the pharma industry.
Why shouldn’t we be banning transfats and taxing soda? The same arguments are used to justify both.
There are plenty of Republicans who want their preferences codified into law. (That’s you) The only difference between those Republicans and Democrats is that those Republicans and Democrats prefer different things.
Other Republicans honestly believe in a smaller federal government. You’re arguing with principled conservatives, not leftists.
Thank you :-)
you are correct indeed - that is a file photo of an older edition - don’t know the exact date of publication!
{the context was marijuana being legal in Alaska :)}
Hopefully California will be next in November 2010. I’m looking forward to it!
You misspelled “mortgage” and/or “auto loan”.
What a curious argument. Are you suggesting that going from prohibition to legalization (albeit with some taxes and regulations) is an increase in government?
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Absolutely. Legalization = taxes. Just like Prohibition made it legal for the government to profit off of booze... and look where we are today.
Imagine what the government will do if they get the chance with dope.
Rats and leftists are pushing legalized pot in California. Nice foot shot.
You’re a statist. Perhaps you work for the prison system or the pharma industry.
You're a doper. Perhaps you sell crack to avoid having to work for a living.
Because all the profit is gone and they have to do something legal for a living?
Exactly the symptoms Democrats in DC give me!
The feds can make it as illegal as they want. But if local cops are prohibited from reporting possession of substances that are legal in California to federal prosecuting officials, then Federal Law is moot with respect to individual users.
You’re a big goverment Republican, a RINO. Not a conservative.
The people who you are arguing with here on FR are conservatives who believe in smaller government.
Ronald Reagan created the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) school program and appointed the first federal drug czars.
Leftist lie. Always.
The "federal prosecuting officials" aren't prosecuting mere possession in California.
Yeah, so what Big Government statist?
Marijuana has been illegal for years. Presidents have done one thing or another for years.
You mentioned the Reagan thing before.
FDR was president in 1937 when the Marijuana Tax Act was passed. FDR was a Leftist Democrat. The Leftist Democrats made Marijuana illegal, not Conservative Republicans.
The Marijuana Tax Act hasn't been in effect for nearly 40 years. The courts held that you can't mandate a tax that you don't provide a compliance mechanism for.
Reagan signed the 1986 omnibus drug bill which appropriated $1.7 billion to fight the drug crisis and established mandatory minimum penalties for drug offenses, much to the consternation of bleeding heart leftists such as yourself.
Again, so what?
So, Marijuana was made illegal by the Marijuana Tax Act.
Then some other law replaced the Marijuana Tax Act. Marijuana did not stop being illegal when the Marijuana Tax Act stopped being in effect.
Point being, Big Government Statist, FDR and other Leftist Democrats made marijuana illegal in 1937, not small government conservatives like the ones you’re arguing with here on FR.
No, it was subjected to taxes. And you're cheering an article quoting an unnamed leftist predicting legalized pot and also quoting Willie Brown extolling the benefits of taxing it.
Poor you.
You: Idiot. 'Cuz it would be LEGAL! DUH!!!!!! Freedom isn't free, therefore I would gladly pay a tax when the other option is having a criminal record.
Uhhhhh...so you're going to tell your dealer, "Sorry, Charlie, I've decided my conscience can no longer allow me to buy my weed from you because you don't charge me sales tax."?
In the immortal words of SC Congressman Joe Wilson, YOU LIE!
No longer would we face criminal penalties for enjoying marijuana in the privacy of our own homes
If we could lock your doors from the outside so you can't get out to drive cars and operate machinery I might be more amenable to this idea.
Are you suggesting that alcohol taxes, which account for less than 3% of Federal revenue, had a significant effect on the growth of government since the end of Prohibition?
Imagine what the government will do if they get the chance with dope.
They'd have a few more dollars to throw around, perhaps. Tax officials in California estimate they could raise about $1.4 billion ...for a state that spends nearly $100 billion a year. That's about 1.5% more in revenue. Not all that drastic.
And that's not even factoring the tax dollars saved in court and jail expenses.
Is denying the government maybe 1% of extra revenue worth empowering the state to arrest and punish people over a relatively harmless substance? Not in my opinion.
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