Posted on 09/24/2012 4:49:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
I hate to start something here with a trite phrase. But sometimes you read about things that make you wonder what some people are smoking.
In Colorado this year a cabal of known associates is getting together to try to legalize the sale, cultivation and possession of marijuana under whats known as Amendment 64.
Their pitch says that by state regulation and control of dope deals, the consequent revenue collected can benefit K-12 education in the state, now under tight budget constraints.
Yeah, you heard that right: Make pot legal and build schools with the first $40 million in proceeds.
The Colorado Education Association, Democrat Governor John Hickenlooper and any other liberal who doesnt want to commit political suicide has registered their token opposition to the amendment.
Some of their allies havent been that smart.
A score of Democrat parties, including the Colorado Democrat Party, county Democrats in Denver, Boulder, Pueblo, El Paso and Douglas counties- some of the largest populations in the state- have endorsed the measure. They are joined by their allies at the ACLU, ProgressNow, the NAACP and of course, my favorite: Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies.
Because when you are really trying to improve student outcomes, the first place you want to stop is the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies.
While the adults have offered thoughtful ideas on education reform like improved curricula, longer school days, more education choices, vouchers and options like STEM schools, Lefties go back to their roots: dope.
The pro-pot side says that by legalizing and regulating marijuana teen use will actually go down. That sounds like one of those arguments someone comes up when they are used to waking and baking every day.
According to the latest report from the federal government, marijuana use by Colorado high school students has dropped since our state and its localities began regulating medical marijuana in 2009, says the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. This bucks the national trend of increasing teen marijuana use over the past several years. Nationwide, past-30-day marijuana use among high school students climbed from 20.8 percent in 2009, to 23.1 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, in Colorado, it dropped from 24.8 percent to 22 percent.
Yeah, but before you break out the bongs to celebrate, two years isnt really long enough for all the unintended consequences of bad policy to manifest themselves. I mean even as housing was collapsing in the country, the people who designed the house of cards where cutting a new deck.
Most worrying is that media reports have indicated that this amendment to the Colorado constitution could pass.
From the Denver Post:
A new poll shows Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, with majority support among likely voters the first time thats happened in the campaign. Opponents of the measure are responding by blasting the initiative from every angle, while a proponent stresses that no vote will be taken for granted.
The poll, conducted by the Denver Post, found that 51 percent of likely voters surveyed support Amendment 64, while 40 percent oppose it. Heres a graphic displaying the breakdown:
The forces opposing the amendment however point out that there is a big difference between asking voters to decriminalize marijuana possession and asking voters to legalize it and socialize it.
More worrying is the long-term implications of trying recreational drug use to education funding. To say the least, this seems like a really bad idea.
Pot has been linked to the development of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. While the literature is not conclusive, there is enough evidence to take the link seriously.
Repeatedly, studies have found that people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke pot as those who are unaffected, writes Time. Conversely, data suggest that those who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as nonsmokers. One widely publicized 2007 review of the research even concluded that trying marijuana just once was associated with a 40% increase in risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.
And then there is the moral question: Do we really want the government in the drug business? Isnt this the same government that sued the tobacco companies?
So we are for drugs when they help education bureaucracy, but against them when they result in private profits that can be taxed.
This seems like the logical extension of liberal policies in other areas too.
But in this case, at least we know what they are smoking.
Are you a dealer or user?
Neither. I am simply a deeply concerned citizen who knows how things work behind the scenes. I am a successful engineer, travel the world and am very politically active. I know many law enforcement personnel, politicians, researchers and doctors. I spent much of my youth in the streets of Brooklyn and also know many users, dealers and growers of practically everything.
The WOD is one of the main tools the corrupt government uses to take our personal freedom, financial liberty and the fruits of our labor. Anyone found today with a tiny palmable object can instantly be locked away without any other evidence. Planting such easy evidence on people is condoned at the highest levels of law enforcement: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095772/Cowboy-cop-Jason-Arbeeny-planted-crack-couples-car-seat-escapes-jail.html Show me a single cop was ever truly punished for locking up innocent people. Do you know what happens these days if a cop pulls you over and finds a large amount of cash without anything else? GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2925007/posts
I dont abuse anything illegal. Not because of laws or danger but because I simply dont have the time to not be sober. Its 100% a personal decision because one can easily buy cannabis or any other drug by simply dressing well and going out to a nice bar/club in any major city. Dealers constantly give out cards or even pamphlets. Each of them have their own police-designated work area and pay the cops accordingly. I can call one of these police-protected dealers and one of their messengers will deliver anything I want faster than a pizza. Many even take CREDIT CARDS now. The WOD is a complete joke and does NOTHING to stop people from using or buying drugs. It only changes the price and who gets paid. Do you know ANYONE who doesnt use drugs because of the law?
Thanks to the internet, most people are now aware of this Big Lie. The remaining people that still support the WOD are ignorant, make money from it or want more government control for some other purpose. So which one are you?
Quit being a weasel and answer the question put to you.
Or what?
Or else continue to be a weasel.
No dont need it.
*****************************
What a dull person you must be , everything affects your mood and can be called “mood altering” , getting stuck behind a slow car in traffic affects your mood , hearing a familiar song affects your mood , being with your partner definately affects your mood.. Are you sure nothing affects you? I might have to pronounce you DEAD. Is this Mr Spock?
I am not familiar with the situation at Mesa State. I can tell you that CU has cut and cut until there is no where to cut anymore. Professors are teaching sections that they are not being paid to teach to try and maintain curriculum. We are either last or next to last in the country in state funding. It is a joke. I do not feel this way about K-12. They have been well funded and are bloated bureaucracies in my opinion. They are passing kids from grade to grade without any proof that the material has been learned. It is pathetic.
“I cant think of one logical reason why one would use anything mind altering.”
Not everything comes down to logic unless you are a Vulcan.
There is no logical reason to have sex unless you intend to cause a pregnancy. Yet millions of people do it every day. It is highly illogical but that isn’t going to stop anybody.
There is no logical reason to listen to music. There is no logical reason to look at “art”.
There is no logical reason for a lot of things. But they are still legitimate human activities.
And no, I am not encouraging the use of mind altering substances and I don’t support full legalization of all drugs.
However I do think marijuana users are are harmless for the most part and so should be left to do their thing in peace.
Even though what they are doing is indeed illogical.
You can’t tell by looking around anymore but this was supposed to be a free country.
The Feds sold off the Mustang Ranch in several auctions, but at a financial loss. The Feds could not make a profit in the prostitution business!
Bureau of Land Management sold off the bordello's paintings, furniture, and appointments in 2002. BLM conducted the final auction on eBay in 2003 and Lance Gilman purchased the Mustang Ranch buildings for $145,100. Gilman paid 10 cents on the dollar, and moved the buildings five miles down the road to his Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa. The additional buildings were back in business by 2005. [In December 2006, a federal court awarded Gilman exclusive use of the Mustang Ranch name.] The Mustang Ranch Brothel [Sparks, NV near Reno] has been quite profitable in private hands ever since.
Now, do we want state government to push drugs for profit and finance education? Have certain folks in Colorado lost their minds? The War on Drugs is stupid, but the state wanting to become the drug dealer of choice “for the children” is total lunacy. Colorado bureaucrats can barely run the DMV and there are those who think they can pedal dope at a profit?
And ya come back for more?
Amazing.
Do you support states’ authority under the Tenth Amendment to regulate intrastate mj? Or do you support fedgov shutting them down?
Neither. I don’t think that the feds or state are competent to war on drugs or make a profit from dealing drugs. I think that government employees are hopeless incompetents.
If dopers want to self-destruct, that’s OK with me. Personally, I say give dopers all the premium drugs they want at 100% purity for free and let them stroke out from overdoses. Clean out the gene pool through attrition — DNR. Giving the dopers free drugs cuts the drug cartels out because they cannot compete with free dope.
Suppose CO passes the measure. Do you support fedgov intervention to shut it down?
States can do as they please (per 10th A), Feds have no business in their affairs. I’d be happy if the states sent these Federal numb skulls packing.
No Sale
Still in the fog are we?.
mood altering = crutch
I’m sure all the dead people in Mexico know all about NOTHING can stop people from using or buying drugs.
And users pretend to think nobody gets hurt by their actions.
FREEDOM AND PRIVACY MUST BE COMPLETELY DEAD before any laws can forcibly stop people from getting intoxicated. Is that really what you want?
The dead people in Mexico and elsewhere are dead BECAUSE of prohibition giving such money and power to the criminals. The ONLY way reduce drug abuse is to take the incredible profit out of it and target the problems that cause people to abuse substances in the first place. Forcibly attempting to stop people from using and dealing only ensures this unstoppable market stays incredibly profitable, underground and in the hands of violent criminals. Read about the countless similar machine gun massacres that happened during alcohol prohibition. Read about entire families like the Kennedys that became filthy rich from alcohol. Todays prohibition creates similar results: incredible violence and drug kingpins making the Forbes 500! When was the last time you heard of turf wars, gun battles or kingpins arising from alcohol? During PROHIBITION, of course!
Allow me to explain from the beginning. I discussed these topics in more detail before and have linked to those posts. I hope you and many others can read and understand:
Chemically altering ones mood is an older phenomenon than humanity itself. Many animals purposely consume wild alcohol, mushrooms, molds, etc. In fact, animals under stress will consume even more of these substances: http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/03/11662/deprived-sex-jilted-flies-drink-more-alcohol
It is IMPOSSIBLE to stop such a natural, ingrained phenomenon as long as people have even a few minutes of freedom/privacy. Even in prisons and police states, people still abuse drugs. Because of the demand, there will ALWAYS be a supplier because people are willing to pay as much (or more) for these easily-made chemicals as gold! Since there is no victim to report the crime, 99% of drug transactions go completely unreported and most dealers are never caught. Iran very publically executes 400+ drug dealers every year and they have not made a dent in their addiction rates. In North Korea, synthetic drugs are often easier to get than food. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2855733/posts#20
You cant magically seal the border to prevent imports. Remember, hundreds of thousands worth of product can be moved inside small remote controlled subs, drones, stratospheric balloons, etc. Tens of thousands in product can be concealed inside someones stomach! During alcohol prohibition, the runners had to move an entire truck to make that much profit and they STILL got away with it.
Even if you did somehow seal the border and keep out every intoxicating plant substance, people would simply grow the plants indoors for an even higher price(more profit) or simply create new synthetics to take their place. Many of these synthetics are created with not much more than kitchen utensils. They keep federally banning synthetic drugs but new replacements are secretly sold on GROCERY STORE SHELVES before the law is even signed. There are potentially an infinite number of compounds that will bend people's minds. Many have proven to be worse than even the most destructive old drugs and we have no clue what they do to people. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2934368/posts?page=33#33
The government knows any real drug control is IMPOSSIBLE so they do what they do best and never let a crisis go to waste. They simply manage the trade and have certain people/groups reap incredible profits from this natural, ingrained phenomenon. They also use these pointless laws to increase fear and hysteria. A fearful and hysteric people are more open to more government control, intrusion and taxation.
There are countless innocent US citizens in prison for having drugs planted on them. Many for political and personal reasons. There are laws that automatically make possessing a tiny palmable object a felony with no other necessary evidence. In some places all of your property will be seized by the state if the right package and materials find their way into your possession. Such a package can easily be hidden in a cops pocket. How is this BARN DOOR FOR GOVERNMENT ABUSE not obvious to everyone?
The biggest dope dealers in the world are the major drug makers that ship entire warehouses of product around the world. Just one class of their drugs (synthetic opiods) kill more people than every illegal drug COMBINED. The legal drug industry propaganda is quite good - Think about how many people out there would jail someone for growing a pot plant yet ignore the drug companies pushing for laws that FORCIBLY DRUG OUR YOUNG CHILDREN in schools with amphetamines and make them future addicts for LIFE. Think about how many people who have problems in their lives are simply prescribed addictive, mood-altering antidepressant or anti-anxiety pills for life to cover it up. Think about how many ghost-white shaking addicts stand in front of pharmacies every morning waiting for that legal high. As long as “insurance” pays for the pills to maintain these addicts for life, nobody cares. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2912457/posts?page=79#79
Our own Federal government has been caught “managing” the drug trade in foreign nations since at least the 1980s. The reporter that first uncovered this was found dead of a “suicide” with two gunshots to the head.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2927379/posts?page=8#8
A compound found in marijuana may be the key to stopping cancer growth.
A compound found in marijuana may be the key to stopping cancer growth.
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