Posted on 08/20/2004 10:08:59 AM PDT by TKDietz
ANCHORAGE, Alaska The last frontier just may become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana completely. Backers of a controversial ballot initiative want pot to be treated just like alcohol. If voters pass the measure, it would be legal to grow, smoke and sell any amount of marijuana so long as one is 21 years of age. The state would regulate the cannabis industry just like it licenses booze and cigarettes. "Alaskans are independent and I think Alaskans believe people should have the maximum freedom of choice," said Ken Jacobus, a pro-marijuana attorney. "Adults can choose cigarettes, they can choose alcohol." But state Attorney General Gregg Renkes said he opposes the initiative. "It's going to lead to a higher rate of addiction for marijuana and other drugs, it will increase the burden on the state and I think it's really a disservice to our young people," Renkes said. Alaskans can currently possess small amounts of pot for use in their homes and medical marijuana is allowed. But the state has the highest drug addiction in the country and is among the nation's leaders in unemployment, child abuse and domestic violence.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Alaskans are already free to grow their own. Personally, I think it should be left at that.
That's the problem with camels and tents, Wolfie.
Seniors' Drugs of Choice are LEGAL and SUBSIDIZED by the Federal Leviathan...MUD
Shouldn't America--the Land of the FRee--err on the side of promoting MORE Personal FReedom, not less?
FReegards...MUD
Nahh...there's no excuse for not being reasonable.
"Reasonable" as defined by whom?!
FReegards...MUD
Why is it legal to brew your own beer or make your own wine but it is illegal to make your own liquor?
That is a good question. There has been a hugh amount of work done on the idea over the past 2-3 centuries. It starts more or less with Kant's work, but nobody can read that stuff, so Hegel, Fichte, and Schilling are a better starting point. Then you can jump a century to Heidegger and Husserl. We could develop the whole thing from scratch again, of course.
It's tax revenues behind that. The gov't must have its cut.
Ashcroft SUX...MUD
So, there are additional taxes on liquor that are not on beer and wine. Well, I feel stupid. It's always the money isn't it? No wonder they don't let folks grow pot.
Uh oh. I just looked at the box my sludge protector came in. It says 'surge.' I'm doomed. ;)
I've seen many a PotLegalization thread that takes just such a course...in all seriousness, I believe the WarOnSomeDrugs will never be successful without attacking the Demand side of the equation, and that can only be accomplished via increased random drug testing. In exchange fer this testing, I believe it would be reasonable to de-criminalize marijuana usage and growth and sale. Compared to heroine and crack cocaine and the really bad drugs, it's sorta silly to have pot mixed in there anyway.
To accomplish this, though, you gotta overcome the objections of BigBeer, BigLiquor, and the pharmaceutical industry. Think about it, if you could just grow yer buzz in the backyard garden, it's conceivable that you'd drink a lot less.
FReegards...MUD
I smell the faint odor of ozone....LOL!!
FReegards...MUD
Using the argument, "Alaskans are independent and I think Alaskans believe people should have the maximum freedom of choice", why stop with marijuana?
But hey, not to worry. The other 49 states are there to help with their federal tax dollars to pay for Alaska's hospitals, drug treatment centers, methadone clinics, welfare assistance, etc.
The state specific tables are for dependence. The age demographic tables were to show the huge drop off in the numbers of people who have tried drugs and those who use them starting with people born around 1950 and dropping off precipitously for those born before then. People born before them are much less likely to use drugs or even to have ever tried them. People born in the late fifties and beyond have more likely than not tried drugs and some of the older ones still use them. Note that 7.5% of those between 45 and 49 in 2002 reported using illicit drugs in the month before the 2002 survey, while less than one percent of those 65% and older reported using illicit drugs in that time period. Only 9.2% of those 65 and older had ever tried drugs while over 60% of the 45 - 49 years olds had. The statistics may not be addiction specific but I'd say it's a fairly safe bet that the 90% of seniors who had never even tried illicit drugs were not addicted to them.
LOL! Hype much?
Well, let's end this UN-American Abuse of Constitutional Authority then...we shouldn't allow Federal Leviathan excesses to be our justification fer more Federal Leviathan Excess!!
FReegards...MUD
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