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Colorado, Washington first states to legalize recreational pot
Chicago Tribune ^ | 11/07/2012 | Keith Coffman and Nicole Neroulias

Posted on 11/07/2012 9:01:24 AM PST by SeekAndFind

DENVER/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Colorado and Washington became the first U.S. states to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use on Tuesday in defiance of federal law, setting the stage for a possible showdown with the Obama administration.

But another ballot measure to remove criminal penalties for personal possession and cultivation of recreational cannabis was defeated in Oregon, where significantly less money and campaign organization was devoted to the cause.

Supporters of a Colorado constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana were the first to declare victory, and opponents conceded defeat, after returns showed the measure garnering nearly 53 percent of the vote versus 47 percent against.

"Colorado will no longer have laws that steer people toward using alcohol, and adults will be free to use marijuana instead if that is what they prefer. And we will be better off as a society because of it," said Mason Tvert, co-director of the Colorado pro-legalization campaign.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a national advocacy group that backed the initiatives, said the outcome in Washington and Colorado reflected growing national support for liberalized pot laws, citing a Gallup poll last year that found 50 percent of Americans favored making it legal, versus 46 opposed.

Supporters of Washington state's pot legalization initiative declared victory after the Seattle Times and other media projected a win for marijuana proponents.

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


TOPICS: Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: Colorado; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: cannabis; colorado; drugs; drugwar; marijuana; pot; warondrugs; washington; wod; wodlist; wosd
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To: RinaseaofDs
Now, why would I think the possibility of a drugged-out, permanently unemployed population is impossible:

1. 99 weeks of unemployment
2. SNAP cards
3. Obamaphone
4. Obamacare
5. Section 8 housing
6. Record disability filings
7. (Not here yet, but on its way) - Student loan forgiveness

Those are no less available to users of legal alcohol than they will be to users of legal marijuana - but legal alcohol has nonetheless not led to “a nice drugged out permanently unemployed population.”

Vodka is killing Russia right now

But not the USA, despite its legality.

41 posted on 11/07/2012 1:16:29 PM PST by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Alaska wasn’t?


42 posted on 11/07/2012 1:27:28 PM PST by CodeToad (Padme: "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.")
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To: SeekAndFind
Good!

Maybe enough of those tick infested miscreants will leave California so it can go back to being the beautiful state it once was.

43 posted on 11/07/2012 1:47:11 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
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To: stuartcr
What do they do now?

Therein lies the rub. There really is no reasonably quick test to determine this. From Wikipedia I found the following:

Unlike alcohol, for which impairment can be reasonably measured using a breathalyser (and confirmed with a blood alcohol content measurement), valid detection for cannabis is time-consuming, and tests cannot determine an approximate degree of impairment. The lack of suitable tests and agreed-upon intoxication levels is an issue in the legality of cannabis debate, especially regarding intoxicated driving

This is problematic if we cannot quickly determine if someone is "under the influence". Of course this rather salient point was swept under the rug by the pro-pot folks. I will concede that if a person is arrested, then more "invasive" tests could be done to determine the level of cannabis but sometime those tests are done hours after the alleged crime has been committed.
44 posted on 11/07/2012 3:07:23 PM PST by copaliscrossing (Progressives are Socialists)
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To: SeekAndFind
Legalizing pot fits in with what society and government allows. 75% of the “pothead” group I went to HS with love their disability checks, welfare, and food stamps. One guy has emphysema at 45 and another sells it to local kids. Everybody knows this, no cop does anything about it. There are many more kids that drink alcohol then smoke pot. Not saying that's a good thing, but part of it is because alcohol is legal for adults, so they think what the heck? When Pot is legal everywhere the “stoner” culture will explode. And we think our kids are uneducated now? Try teaching a class of potheads. Personally, I think Meth gives me that added “boost” I need each morning. What's wrong with that being legal, too?/S
45 posted on 11/07/2012 4:43:29 PM PST by MacMattico
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To: Scottishlibertarian

‘Living in socialist Europe________’

Welcome to FR!

Whenever I see anything ‘Scottish,’ I investigate, because of deceased Dad emigrating as a kid from Scotland.

You probably have been here for awhile before signing up today!


46 posted on 11/07/2012 4:49:26 PM PST by USARightSide (S U P P O R T I N G OUR T R O O P S)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

Good luck arguing with people that believe they are conservative, while often being among the first to yell “there oughta be a law”. These 2 states lawyer’s will be richer than ever now.


47 posted on 11/07/2012 5:47:14 PM PST by wrencher
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To: Scottishlibertarian

What we will have is a nation of zombies, which will become the zombie apocalypse!


48 posted on 11/07/2012 7:25:57 PM PST by PMAS (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing)
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To: arbitrary.squid

I’m old and have seen long term regular/daily drug use of all kinds. All damage the person. Some are faster than others, some work on the body first, some on the personality, some on the soul.

All provide a false reward and/or an escape from reality that ultimately leads to a very unhappy life for the user and anyone who cares for them. There is a high cost to the user and to the society.


49 posted on 11/07/2012 11:45:40 PM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Yeah, man, far out!


50 posted on 11/08/2012 7:06:41 AM PST by Lexinom
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To: SeekAndFind

Good. Maybe they’ll be too blissed out next few Election Days to vote.


51 posted on 11/08/2012 7:07:51 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (cat dog, cat dog, alone in the world is a little cat dog)
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To: wrencher
Good luck arguing with people that believe they are conservative, while often being among the first to yell “there oughta be a law”.

I argue with them to reach lurkers. Getting a rational response from those who actively argue in favor of the War On Drugs wouldn't be just "luck" but a miracle.

52 posted on 11/08/2012 7:33:11 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: MacMattico
75% of the “pothead” group I went to HS with love their disability checks, welfare, and food stamps.

You should have run with a better class of smokers. None of the smokers I went to HS with turned out that way.

There are many more kids that drink alcohol then smoke pot. Not saying that's a good thing, but part of it is because alcohol is legal for adults, so they think what the heck?

Actually, kids started reporting several years ago that they could get pot more easily than they could get cigarettes or beer. It appears that the most effective way to keep pot out of kids' hands is to legalize it for adults - so sellers have an incentive not to sell to kids (namely, the loss of their legal adult sales).

When Pot is legal everywhere the “stoner” culture will explode.

When alcohol became legal everywhere, did the boozer culture explode? Was the stoner culture ubiquitous the last time pot was legal everywhere?

Personally, I think Meth gives me that added “boost” I need each morning. What's wrong with that being legal, too?

Legalizing pot would leave us in that much better a position to win the war on meth. On the other hand, it's not clear that even a narrowed war on drugs would have any effect other than the current one: hyperinflating drug profits and channeling them into criminal hands, with all the ills that result.

53 posted on 11/08/2012 7:43:39 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: PMAS
What we will have is a nation of zombies

Did legalizing the mind-altering drug alcohol give us a nation of zombies?

54 posted on 11/08/2012 7:45:03 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: D-fendr
In my life, I’ve seen far more damage done by people who drink alcohol on a regular basis than those that smoke weed on a regular basis. I’ve yet to come across convincing arguments for the continuing ban on marijuana.

I’m old and have seen long term regular/daily drug use of all kinds. All damage the person. Some are faster than others, some work on the body first, some on the personality, some on the soul.

All provide a false reward and/or an escape from reality that ultimately leads to a very unhappy life for the user and anyone who cares for them. There is a high cost to the user

He didn't say illegal drugs did no damage - he said he's seen far more damage from the legal drug alcohol. Everything you've said applies to that drugs; should it be illegal?

and to the society.

Higher than the cost to society - in dollars, criminal enrichment, and violation of liberty - of the War On Drugs?

55 posted on 11/08/2012 7:50:30 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies
When alcohol became legal everywhere, did the boozer culture explode?

Well, I love the chronic as much as anyone here on FR, and I've been fighting the DW fight on FR since the dawn of man, but we have to be honest here. The "boozer" culture is very prevalent in our society.

You cannot watch NFL football, or most professional sports, without an onslaught of beer advertisements that make drinking beers seem pretty damn cool, or at least, woven inseparably into the fabric of every day life - e.g., watching or enjoying a sporting event. The cool beer drinkin' dudes are the ones who get the chicks and have the most fun.

Or movies, say. Superbad, one of the most popular comedies in recent years, and again targeted towards a youth market, was all about a quest to obtain alcohol. And there are probably thousands of others along those same lines.

Of course, much of this is because alcohol has long been a part of American culture despite the progressives' attempt to abolish its use in the 1920s. So I think it's disingenuous to suggest that "legalizing" booze didn't usher in a boozer culture - I'd say the boozer culture never left, and if anything, became even more reinforced once mass media came into play.

56 posted on 11/08/2012 8:13:00 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

Alcohol and Marajuana - two different substances, with 2 different outcomes.


57 posted on 11/08/2012 8:49:09 AM PST by PMAS (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing)
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To: Hemingway's Ghost
When Pot is legal everywhere the “stoner” culture will explode.

When alcohol became legal everywhere, did the boozer culture explode? Was the stoner culture ubiquitous the last time pot was legal everywhere?

The "boozer" culture is very prevalent in our society.

Fair enough. We seem to be handling that degree of prevalence well, and no reason has been offered why we should expect anything worse from legal marijuana.

alcohol has long been a part of American culture despite the progressives' attempt to abolish its use in the 1920s. [...] I'd say the boozer culture never left

Yes, a substance culture's prevalence seems to have little to do with the law. You've shown that to be the case for alcohol - and marijuana was less prevalent even when legal, and for a time grew in prevalence despite its illegality.

58 posted on 11/08/2012 9:03:02 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: PMAS
What we will have is a nation of zombies

Did legalizing the mind-altering drug alcohol give us a nation of zombies?

Alcohol and Marajuana - two different substances, with 2 different outcomes.

They're both mind-altering drugs; what are the differences that lead you to expect a nation of zombies from marijuana but not alcohol?

59 posted on 11/08/2012 9:08:11 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies
We seem to be handling that degree of prevalence well, and no reason has been offered why we should expect anything worse from legal marijuana.

I don't think so, either. And I'd even be somewhat cool of advertising regulations slapped on it akin to the restrictions placed on advertising hard alcohol.

It's all good. People around here who freak out over grass of all things are high-sterical.

60 posted on 11/08/2012 9:21:57 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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