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Next president might be gentler on pot clubs
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | May 12, 2008 | Bob Egelko

Posted on 05/12/2008 4:43:29 AM PDT by Aristotelian

Ever since California voters became the first in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, the state has faced unyielding opposition from the federal government, which insists it has the power to prohibit a drug it considers useless and dangerous.

That could all change with the next presidential election.

As the candidates prepare for a May 20 primary in Oregon, one of 12 states with a California-style law, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has become an increasingly firm advocate of ending federal intervention and letting states make their own rules when it comes to medical marijuana.

His Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, is less explicit, recently softening a pledge she made early in the campaign to halt federal raids in states with medical marijuana laws. But she has expressed none of the hostility that marked the response of her husband's administration to California's initiative, Proposition 215.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, has gone back and forth on the issue - promising a medical marijuana patient at one campaign stop that seriously ill patients would never face arrest under a McCain administration, but ultimately endorsing the Bush administration's policy of federal raids and prosecutions.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: ca2008; issues; obama; obamatruthfile; pothead; potheads
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What I find most interesting about this story is what it tells us about the next four years -- namely, we don't know what we're in for. No matter who becomes president, we can expect the worst federal governance since Jimmy Carter. It's a frightening prospect -- and there's nothing we can do about. It's unstoppable. Egads!
1 posted on 05/12/2008 4:43:29 AM PDT by Aristotelian
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To: Aristotelian

While they may end federal intervention on pot clubs, look for more federal intervention on guns and conservative speech.


2 posted on 05/12/2008 4:46:27 AM PDT by Sender ("Why is it that I can't just eat my waffle?" - Barack Hussein Obama)
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To: Aristotelian

Who can say? Even Bush said he’d back mediical marijuana for any State that wanted it.


3 posted on 05/12/2008 4:58:00 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Aristotelian
he was "concerned about folks just kind of growing their own and saying it's for medicinal purposes."

Isn't Barack amazing? You just can't get anything past this guy.
4 posted on 05/12/2008 4:58:15 AM PDT by Thrownatbirth (.....Iraq Invasion fan since '91.)
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To: Aristotelian

Of all the things in the world to worry about a few pot clubs in Kalif are near the bottom of my list. Since pot makes people lethergic most of them don’t bother to vote. Since we are talking about Than Franthithco liberals here this is a good thing.


5 posted on 05/12/2008 5:01:01 AM PDT by Seruzawa (A skeleton walks into a bar and asks for a beer and a mop.)
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To: Aristotelian

When I start to get really overwhelmed w/ the thought of DOOM because of the way things are going in the USA politically, I read and reread this (particularly the last verse where it says he HOLDS all things together):

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.


6 posted on 05/12/2008 5:04:22 AM PDT by spacejunkie01
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To: Aristotelian

No way. Obama might be as bad as Carter, but not McCain. The thing to do is to vote for McCain.


7 posted on 05/12/2008 5:08:28 AM PDT by Huck ("Real" conservatives support OBAMA in 08 (that's how you know Im not a real conservative))
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To: Aristotelian
"Ever since California voters became the first in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 ..."

Uh huh. And how is that working out for them -- anyone bother to ask?

"Medical" pot is being sold to "patients" at higher than black market prices -- something not authorized by California law. "Doctors" are recommending pot without even seeing "patients". (Actually, it's more like validating the existing use than recommending a treatment.)

The citizens are starting to object at the number of pot "clinics" popping up -- the latest being the one at Fisherman's Wharf, a popular tourist attraction.

Californians need to re-evaluate their own situation before asking the candidates to support what looks like a failed experiment, given the rampant abuses.

8 posted on 05/12/2008 5:51:36 AM PDT by vincentfreeman
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To: Aristotelian

Does the unknown really have to be frightening?


9 posted on 05/12/2008 5:59:11 AM PDT by stuartcr (Election year.....Who we gonna hate, in '08?)
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To: Aristotelian

All three of them would be stopping the prosecution of pot clubs for exactly the wrong reasons.

I would love a president who said “The marijuana is grown and sold within the state, so there is no federal authority to regulate it.”


10 posted on 05/12/2008 9:23:53 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: Aristotelian; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ...


Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
11 posted on 05/12/2008 6:15:55 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: vincentfreeman
"Medical" pot is being sold to "patients" at higher than black market prices -- something not authorized by California law. "Doctors" are recommending pot without even seeing "patients". (Actually, it's more like validating the existing use than recommending a treatment.) The citizens are starting to object at the number of pot "clinics" popping up -- the latest being the one at Fisherman's Wharf, a popular tourist attraction. Californians need to re-evaluate their own situation before asking the candidates to support what looks like a failed experiment, given the rampant abuses.

You mean, people don't have to deal with criminals in order to get a product that doesn't harm anyone else? How is that a failed experiment? I see it as a success.

12 posted on 05/12/2008 6:18:08 PM PDT by Ron Jeremy
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To: spacejunkie01
When I start to get really overwhelmed w/ the thought of DOOM because of the way things are going in the USA politically, I read and reread this (particularly the last verse where it says he HOLDS all things together): Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

I wouldn't count on God saving us, it hasn't worked for millions murdered over the years by Nazi's, communists, etc.

13 posted on 05/12/2008 6:19:59 PM PDT by Ron Jeremy
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To: Ron Jeremy
I wouldn't count on God saving us, it hasn't worked for millions murdered over the years by Nazi's, communists, etc.

,abortionist,...

14 posted on 05/12/2008 6:21:31 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (The women got the vote and the Nation got Harding.)
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To: Aristotelian

Doooood !!!

Barak is way cool, man!

//sarc


15 posted on 05/12/2008 6:24:12 PM PDT by RachelFaith (Doing NOTHING... about the illegals already here IS Amnesty !!)
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To: vincentfreeman

We’re wasting much less money perusing harmless stoners. Cops are able to focus on real crime.

Sound like a successful experiment.

Sure you can find A citizen that objects. Not many.

Finally at the end of the list of conditions listed in prop 215 that can be treated with pot....stress. The citizens of California knew exactly what they were voting for. You just don’t like it.


16 posted on 05/12/2008 6:24:40 PM PDT by Dinsdale
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To: spacejunkie01

Thank you. That’s a help. Much appreciated.


17 posted on 05/12/2008 6:25:54 PM PDT by Aristotelian ("Sock it to me!" Judy Carne)
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To: vincentfreeman

It must just pain you to go to bed at night knowing that someone, somewhere, is getting stoned and you don’t have the power to imprison him.


18 posted on 05/12/2008 6:26:58 PM PDT by Ron Jeremy
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To: Huck
The thing to do is to vote for McCain.

So three quarters of an abomination is better than a full abomination. Wow, what a comfort, I can't wait to possibly continue to get my face slapped on a regular basis by this RINO clown.

In his own way McCain is as big a joke as Clinton and Obama are. Bottom line, not a damn one of any of them should be leader of the free world and That's the truth.

19 posted on 05/12/2008 6:56:30 PM PDT by prairiebreeze (I didn't leave the republicans, they left me.)
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To: prairiebreeze
So three quarters of an abomination is better than a full abomination.

In my book it is, yes. 3 is less than 4, isn't it? Especially if--and I realize it's not guaranteed--that 1/4 non-obamination (get it?) is in the area of judicial appointments. Judicial appointments have an incredibly long impact, beyond even the long tenure of the judges on the bench. Their decisions become etched in stone, via stare decesis.

I say never quit, never give up. That means even if there's only one little sliver of upside in a situation, you gotta roll the dice and go for it. What's the alternative?

Those who refuse to vote for either candidate are kidding themselves. All they do is surrender the battlefield and let someone else choose them.

Ok, fine, so we're only fighting for a few things--conservative judges, honor for our military, pro-life policies--isn't that enough? In my view, it ought to be.

Bottom line, not a damn one of any of them should be leader of the free world and That's the truth.

Politics is a scummy business. It's not supposed to be pretty. It's only supposed to be superior to anarchy,and in my view it still is. If we don't fill the vaccuum with someone/something, some other criminal will come along. It's one of those human problems no one has a solution for, as far as I can tell.

Thanks for writing. Hope you don't mind the longwindedness.

20 posted on 05/12/2008 7:28:23 PM PDT by Huck ("Real" conservatives support OBAMA in 08 (that's how you know Im not a real conservative))
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