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Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper Upbeat on Marijuana Legalization
Phoenix New Times ^ | September 10, 2015 | Ray Stern

Posted on 09/11/2015 9:58:28 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom

[...] Hickenlooper, founder of a beer brewery and a former mayor of Denver, opposed the historic 2012 measure that legalized pot for adults 21 and older. But in the interview published on Wednesday in Westword, he says legalization hasn't been so bad, after all.

"Now I look at how far we've come, and I think there's a real possibility that we'll have a system that works... if you eliminate the black market, make it harder for kids to get marijuana. We can put more money into education for kids," he says. "The sky isn't falling. People thought it was the end of civilization as they know it. It wasn't: The sky is mostly still up there with the stars and the clouds."

Twenty-one months after the roll out of recreational-marijuana stores in Colorado, the one thing Hickenlooper wants everyone in or out of Colorado to know about ending marijuana prohibition is: "Most people who were not smoking marijuana before it was legalized still don't."

In Arizona, between 400,000 and 500,000 people already are occasional or regular consumers of marijuana. But except for the 80,000 medical-marijuana patients, most buy it from unregulated dealers. With the proposal offered by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which plans to put a ballot initiative before Arizona voters in November 2016, most of those consumers would obtain their marijuana from licensed stores and pay a tax that benefits schools. According to a recent report by Arizona State University's News21, legal marijuana now supplies more than half of Colorado's estimated demand. [...]

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Arizona; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: cannabis; hickenlooper; marijuana; pot; potheads; wod
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To: ConservingFreedom

Ban alcohol for idiots by locking them up and throwing away the key.

Same with potheads.

And the pothead who worked on my car’s brakes and forgot to insert the springs in the proper direction, I’ll take him out on my own.


21 posted on 09/11/2015 11:16:03 AM PDT by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: Hostage
Ban alcohol for idiots by locking them up and throwing away the key.

Same with potheads.

So, ban pot for idiots? How do we distinguish idiots from non-idiots?

22 posted on 09/11/2015 11:19:26 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom (a "guest worker" is a stateless person with no ties to any community, only to his paymaster)
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To: ConservingFreedom
"...We can put more money into education for kids," he says.

More money to stuff those addled brains. (Ever hear of a contact buzz, Governor?)

"The sky isn't falling.

Tell that to the "Climate Change people.

People thought it was the end of civilization as they know it. It wasn't

I think the jury is still out on that one.

: The sky is mostly still up there with the stars and the clouds."

Thank you, Captain Obvious. I assume it is night and partly cloudy where you are.

23 posted on 09/11/2015 11:20:44 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: ConservingFreedom
The difference is that much less of the money spent on pot goes to criminals.

No, it goes to politicians instead.

huh?

24 posted on 09/11/2015 11:22:21 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Hostage

Good post. I like it. I don’t understand why FR has so many drug addicts. Why do they insist upon posting here?


25 posted on 09/11/2015 11:22:54 AM PDT by LouAvul (Freedom without responsibility is anarchy.)
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To: ConservingFreedom

You forgot to add the mindless texters should be banned from the roads too.


26 posted on 09/11/2015 11:23:02 AM PDT by shotgun
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To: LouAvul

Because it frees our minds.


27 posted on 09/11/2015 11:25:02 AM PDT by shotgun
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To: dware; ConservingFreedom; beaversmom
Thank You For the ping!

And thank you for the post!

28 posted on 09/11/2015 11:26:02 AM PDT by KC_Lion (This Millennial is for Cruz!)
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To: LouAvul
I am no fan of the way the "War on Drugs" has been used as an excuse to attack the Fourth Amendment, and the Second Amendment.

A tremendous amount of blood and treasure has been spent to keep that war going, and the more obvious answers to the worst of it are ignored (Secure the border, for starters).

If nearly half of Colorado's demand for pot is supplied by illegal sources,there is a lot of money flowing into criminal hands yet. That money won't be spent on education, or for that matter, anything else beneficial to the state.

As for drugs, we have enough problems with the recreational use of alcohol, a drug that has been wildly popular for thousands of years. Do we really need to assimilate another intoxicant into the culture? --especially one which is difficult to quantify levels of intoxication? which lingers in the body long after consumption, making the effects difficult to assess?

At least we understand the physiology of alcohol, elimination rates, long term effects, etc.

While the law may not be enough to stop the abuse of drugs, nor eliminate demand, it is a starting point. The "war" part needs to be toned down, though.

29 posted on 09/11/2015 11:32:55 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: LouAvul

It’s not that they’re addicts, it’s that their stance is a natural conclusion of their “get the government out of our lives as much as possible” and “you’re free to be stupid; we’ll punish you only if you hurt someone” axioms.


30 posted on 09/11/2015 11:33:31 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (The world map will be quite different come 20 January 2017.)
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To: ConservingFreedom
The difference is that much less of the money spent on pot goes to criminals.

That was a selling point, but if it was a true major goal, they should have proposed less regulation and taxes (I didn't say none).

31 posted on 09/11/2015 11:35:43 AM PDT by umgud
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To: ConservingFreedom

> “How do we distinguish idiots from non-idiots? “

As a pothead you can’t distinguish. You’re too f*cking stoned.


32 posted on 09/11/2015 11:37:52 AM PDT by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: Hostage

Well said.


33 posted on 09/11/2015 11:38:41 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: LouAvul

As someone who uses cannabis (ingested) to cope with horrible withdrawal symptoms after decades of prescribed anti-depressant use with great success—I’m just here to smile at you. Peace :)


34 posted on 09/11/2015 11:43:18 AM PDT by TheStickman
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To: LouAvul

> “Why do they insist upon posting here?”

On their little pot blogs, they get bored with themselves and their stupid arguments for frying their brain cells.

So they pick a target where they can try out their stupid arguments and that would be conservative sites because conservatives by and large don’t give a sh*t for their cause.

Their day in the Sun is coming to an end as Americans have had it with all the social deceit on many levels.


35 posted on 09/11/2015 11:45:52 AM PDT by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: Hostage
How do we distinguish idiots from non-idiots?

As a pothead you can’t distinguish. You’re too f*cking stoned.

I haven't used pot in two decades - but for the sake of getting back to the actual issue: How would YOU have the law distinguish idiots from non-idiots?

36 posted on 09/11/2015 11:54:07 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom (a "guest worker" is a stateless person with no ties to any community, only to his paymaster)
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To: LouAvul
Good post. I like it.

The mods didn't.

I don’t understand why FR has so many drug addicts. Why do they insist upon posting here?

Who are the drug addicts posting here, and how do you know they're drug addicts?

37 posted on 09/11/2015 11:56:30 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom (a "guest worker" is a stateless person with no ties to any community, only to his paymaster)
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To: ConservingFreedom

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper Upbeat on Marijuana


38 posted on 09/11/2015 11:56:32 AM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: ZULU
He can stoned before...

Looks like someone else has been hitting the bong. Or, the bottle... ;) LOL!

39 posted on 09/11/2015 12:02:14 PM PDT by Ol' Dan Tucker (People should not be afraid of the government. Government should be afraid of the people)
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To: Smokin' Joe
If nearly half of Colorado's demand for pot is supplied by illegal sources,there is a lot of money flowing into criminal hands yet.

Much less than before legalization - which is a win in my book.

As for drugs, we have enough problems with the recreational use of alcohol, a drug that has been wildly popular for thousands of years. Do we really need to assimilate another intoxicant into the culture?

By that logic, do we not need to remove the intoxicant alcohol from the culture? Have you heard how our last attempt to do so turned out?

--especially one which is difficult to quantify levels of intoxication? which lingers in the body long after consumption, making the effects difficult to assess?

What lingers in the body is inactive metabolic byproducts, and THC stored in fat cells (so not affecting brain or nerves) that leaches back into the bloodstream so slowly as to have no measurable or detectable effect.

40 posted on 09/11/2015 12:03:51 PM PDT by ConservingFreedom (a "guest worker" is a stateless person with no ties to any community, only to his paymaster)
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