Posted on 07/16/2014 11:04:48 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom
In reaction to a proposed amendment to block decriminalization of marijuana in D.C., the White House Office of Management and Budget took a strong stance in favor of states’ rights.
Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland introduced an amendment that would prevent the D.C. Council from using any federal funds to enact pot policy changes, calling marijuana “poison to a teenager’s brain.” The D.C. Council has also released a statement condemning interference from Congress. The current legislation adopted by the Council replaces criminal penalties for marijuana usage with fines.
The marijuana amendment in the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill is just one of the reasons that the White House has announced its intentions to veto the whole bill if it ever passes through the Senate. The administration has previously refused to engage in legal action against Colorado or Washington for their legalization proposals, despite the fact that marijuana is still illegal on a federal level.
“The Administration strongly opposes the language in the bill preventing the district from using its own local funds to carry out locally-passed marijuana policies, which again undermines the principles of States’ rights and of District home rule. Furthermore, the language poses legal challenges to the Metropolitan Police Department’s enforcement of all marijuana laws currently in force in the District,” the Office of Management and Budget stated.
Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that Rep. Andy Harris’ justification for hindering the D.C. Council’s marijuana proposals is irrelevant, as the measure does not allow for teen use of marijuana.
“Nobody wants teens using marijuana, but the measure adopted in DC does not allow for teen use. A majority of Americans think that making marijuana legal would be a better approach to preventing teen marijuana use. Prohibition has failed to prevent teens from accessing marijuana and has resulted in hundreds of thousands of responsible consumers being arrested,” Tvert told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“We certainly commend the White House for making it clear that states should have the ability to establish their own marijuana policies. They should not be forced to maintain our federal government’s failed policy of prohibition. Voters in the District of Columbia have made it clear that they support ending marijuana prohibition, and their elected officials have taken action to move in that direction. They should have every right to do so,” Tvert added.
Exactly the opposite is true: of those who have used marijuana, 9% have at some point been dependent - whereas the figure for alcohol is 15%.
The problem is that “light” marijuana use leaves a much more lasting impact on the brain than light or even heavy alcohol use. Especially the adolescent brain.
Very few people become alcohol dependent as teenagers. It usually takes a long, sustained period of use to achieve that state. Pot, on the other hand, is pretty fast, and now that it’s legal, you’re going to see that percentage soar.
Look it up.
That’s not an argument for legalization. Marijuana is much more portable than alcohol,
A half-pint bottle of liquor is quite portable and packs quite a punch.
and the kids will just have somebody else buy it for them.
They can do that now with alcohol and cigarettes - yet those legal-for-adults goods are more difficult for them to get than illegal-for-adults pot.
And if someone grows it in their closet or basement, as many people do nowadays, how are you going to stop them then? House to house searches? Swat teams kicking down doors?
Very few people become alcohol dependent as teenagers. It usually takes a long, sustained period of use to achieve that state. Pot, on the other hand, is pretty fast [...]
Look it up.
YOU made the claim, YOU look it up.
If it could be proven a net benefit to the taxpayer, I would not be opposed to doing so. There are more responsible beer drinkers than there are pot smokers, however, and buying beer doesn’t cause you to fund the Mexican cartel (whereas regulated weed inevitably funds cartels, and unregulated weed will further burden taxpayers).
Some solutions to deal with the negative effects of alcohol is to execute drunk drivers, and if that policy doesn’t work ban alcohol from being publicly consumed. I don’t think the latter option is necessary, though.
Your argument also works both ways: should we legalize heroin? Should we legalize the anti-depressants which play a major role in getting liberals to shoot up our schools?
“Kids have been reporting for years that they can get illegal-for-adults pot more easily than legal-for-adults cigarettes or beer.”
Definitely true. You can buy the illegal drugs IN SCHOOL, from someone who wants to sell them to you. For cigarettes or alcohol, you would have to go out to a store and try to fool someone who doesn’t want to sell them to you.
Still beats being poisoned by Nixon and Carter!
We got along just fine without prohibition. Prohibition gave us Capone and the Kennedys. Now we have the Sinolas in bed at the WH! But lets keep on using war machines and tactics against US Citizens, with any luck the whole thing will be over by Christmas.
In a free society, individual liberties don't have to be proven a "benefit" to be respected - they're the default position.
There are more responsible beer drinkers than there are pot smokers, however,
There are more beer drinkers than there are pot smokers, period.
and buying beer doesn’t cause you to fund the Mexican cartel (whereas regulated weed inevitably funds cartels
Nonsense - OVERregulated weed may fund cartels just as overtaxed cigarettes fund criminals.
Your argument also works both ways: should we legalize heroin?
First we should learn the lessons of pot legalization. (At that time, I think the answer will be yes - but I'm open to time proving me wrong.)
Should we legalize the anti-depressants which play a major role in getting liberals to shoot up our schools?
They're already legal.
And they have public funded nazi death squads just itching to blow you away for defying their decrees!
You've been mushroomed by the same people that gave us the ERA EPA DEA and all the other alphabets of tyranny.
Sell your reefer madness BS somewhere else please. No one here is buying it anymore!
I'd like to see ANY reports - so far all we've got is "Look it up."
Only because your Nazi drug squads will not let We the People grow their own!
Explain how someones flower garden FUNDS TERRORISTS!!!!!
Explain how prohibition prevents the WH from sharing a bedroom with the Sinolas!
Mind your own business NANNY STATER!
Have you been under a rock? We have already been there for decades. Numerous people have been no-knock raided at gunpoint simply for buying indoor gardening equipment, having bright lights or having grass that smells too much.
One former cop, Bary Cooper, even made videos where he would set up legal indoor gardens for cops in various areas. He would constantly get raided and proved they were using imaginary informants to get warrants for these fishing expeditions. Of course the cops did not like that at all, planted drugs on him and threw as many charges as they could at him.
The drug warriors will accept any loss of freedom if they think it will put a dent in “reefer madness”. Even with all these raids you can still buy pot in any city within a few hours. In NYC, it is delivered faster than a pizza. You will never stop a plant that can be grown by a child anywhere with dirt and water.
How exactly does legal marijuana fund cartels?
I looked it up:
‘A recent publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences from the Scripps Research Institute in California investigated the effects of binge alcohol consumption upon the adolescent brain. Many recent studies have already demonstrated that adolescence is a time of increased vulnerability of the brain to chemical insults. Furthermore, to make this issue even more timely, binge alcohol consumption by teenagers is increasing. The neuroscientists at Scripps discovered that binge alcohol consumption is particularly injurious to a region of the brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a critical role in learning and memory. Within the hippocampus are a group of cells that continually produce new brain cells, called neurons, throughout our life. This process of cell renewal is called “neurogenesis;” whenever this process is impaired we have trouble forming new memories and we develop the symptoms of depression, to mention just two consequences.
‘The Scripps scientists discovered that eleven months of binge alcohol consumption that produced a blood alcohol level sufficient to be considered intoxicated decreased neurogenesis by more than fifty percent! Furthermore, the decrease in neurogenesis lasted for many weeks of abstinence. You might think that alcohol binging also caused more cells to die; actually, this did not happen. That old urban myth is simply not true. The only change observed was a decrease in the production of new neurons. The authors suggested that these changes might produce a long lasting vulnerability within the hippocampus that may well predispose these young adults to neurodegeneration later in life.
‘In contrast to the effects of alcohol, a series of publications during the past few years suggest that stimulating the brain’s marijuana neurotransmitter system appears to have the exact opposite effects upon neurogenesis in the hippocampus of both young and old laboratory animals and humans, i.e. neurogenesis is increased by stimulation of our brain’s marijuana receptors.’
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-food/201012/alcohol-vs-marijuana-in-the-brain
Yes and yes.
If a pothead acknowledges that everything barack unstablebama does is in the name of harming the country, but can’t quite conclude that obama’s embrace of pot is part of his destructive plan, well then, pothead logic just fails.
Through continued government interference, of course. By legalizing possession and artificially keeping prices high, you end up increasing illegal sales.
Why illegal dealers are flourishing in Colorado:
-Cannabis is taxed 25% on the total sale price. This is on top of sales tax and countless other government taxes and fees. If cannabis was sold at true market value, such sales taxes would probably exceed the profit.
-Cannabis stores and growers are being prohibited from writing off expenses on their federal taxes. Imagine running a business and having to lose 30-40% of GROSS income! This is a gift to the cartels by the feds.
-The number of stores and growers is strictly limited by the government. The existing stores have high prices and still can’t keep product on the shelves. There is obviously room for market supply to grow and reduce prices but government restricts it.
-Legal cannabis is a novelty to many people. Since it is currently restricted to a few areas, people are flying cross country to patronize the stores. This keeps prices high for the locals and encourages them to continue buying from their old local dealer.
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