Posted on 09/18/2022 2:30:38 PM PDT by Libloather
Since the marijuana legalization era began in 2012, the federal government has operated under an unwritten understanding that it would not enforce marijuana laws in states where the drug is legal.
So, how is that working out?
The Los Angeles Times looked for answers in rural California and published the results in a new series this month. California legalized the recreational use of marijuana by referendum in 2016. Proponents promised that a taxable and orderly marijuana trade would be the result, a clear improvement over the violent black market trade that had preceded legalization. They promised that the legal marijuana trade would squeeze the illegal trade out of business.
The exact opposite is now happening.
In short, the consequences of federal nonenforcement and reduced state penalties for marijuana offenses are not pretty. The emergence of a regulated marijuana trade has not reduced crime in California - rather, it has spread crime out into the rural areas and turned local politics across the state into a morass of corruption.
Local politicians now take and demand huge bribes in exchange for growing licenses and legislative support for expanding the industry. According to one source quoted by the Los Angeles Times, bribe requests are typically in the low six-figures. Federal law enforcement authorities have at least been somewhat involved in running sting operations and prosecuting corrupt officials. But for every rock they turn over, there have to be dozens they miss.
And that's just the legal trade. Given the relative absence of federal drug enforcement and reduced state criminal penalties as a result of Proposition 64, illegal and completely unregulated marijuana growing operations have sprung up across California. Heavily armed camps filled with violent armed men, often tied to cartels, now dot the countryside. The neighbors are far too scared to ask questions...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Does it also describe the West and most of the world today?
How many places are there in the world that have either unfettered freedom or total servitude?
Even “communist” China doesn’t fit that model.
Most people eventually settle for some restrictions in their freedom in return for peaceful coexistence. It’s a balance that shifts back and forth around the midxle over time.
And if you believe for a microsecond that WE are the land of the FREE you’re fooling yourself. We have thousands of laws in our books and each one is a “do” or “don’t” that in some way restricts our freedoms, and, up to a certain point, that’s GOOD.
The last thing I would want is the utter chaos and terror that would result with unfettered freedom. I doubt you would want that either. Right?
If we weren’t the land of the free would either of us be sitting at a computer terminal saying what we are saying now?
To use a ‘’reactionary’’ argument, pick a better country.
“If we weren’t the land of the free would either of us be sitting at a computer terminal saying what we are saying now?”
There are dozens of countries, in fact, I would say the vast majorities of countries where you can do what we’re doing. Moreover some of our own government agencies can get access to everything we say on the internet and use it against us if we get too out of line.
Name me one of those countries.
And as I said , to use a reactionary argument, pick a better country because you don’ seem to be too enamored of this one.
“Name me one of those countries.”
Take a look at the members of freerepublic. You’ll see quite a few from other countries. I could be having this conversation with any of them, except maybe it would be a more rational one than I’m having with you.
And I’ve had many freewheeling political discussions with people from European countries just like I have with Americans... and none of them ended up in jail.
As for our freedom of speech, try saying something “offensive” where you work against blacks, homos, trans, and all the other sacred cows and see how well the “freedom of speech” protects you from losing your job.
But all this has nothing to do with what you started with - Jefferson’s useless quote. Go back and look at what I said and tell me what you disagree with.
My disagreement with you is that you’re living in a country that has a bill of rights that lets you say what ever you want and you seem to think you’re living in North Korea.
I could hardly call the wisdom a man who created a document that formed the basis of an entire democratic society that’s still in existence ‘’useless’’.
And as to ‘’speech codes’’, when you sign a contract with a company you agree to their code of conduct while you’re in their employ. So much for you’re being ‘’rational.
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