Posted on 10/22/2017 9:47:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
The war on drugs has been going on since 1971, and we have a winner: marijuana. Back then, possession of pot carried heavy penalties in many states -- even life imprisonment. Today, 29 states sanction medical use of cannabis, and eight allow recreational use. Legal weed has become about as controversial as Powerball.
One sign of the shift came in Wednesday's debate among the Democrats running for governor of Illinois. The state didn't get its first medical marijuana dispensary until 2015, and it decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot only last year. But most of the candidates endorsed legalization of recreational weed, and one supported "full decriminalization."
Those positions are not politically risky, in Illinois or most places. They're mainstream.
In 2016, Gallup Poll found that 60 percent of Americans supported full legalization -- up from 36 percent in 2005. Given the choice, voters generally favor it. Nine states had cannabis initiatives on the ballot last year. Medical marijuana won in four states, and recreational pot won in another four. Only Arizona's recreational pot measure failed.
Next year should further erode pot prohibition. "Campaigns are underway in at least five states to legalize either medical or recreational cannabis," reports Marijuana Business Daily. It also notes that New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont could get recreational cannabis through legislative action.
All this progress has occurred even though federal law bars possession and use -- impeding normal commerce in states that permit dispensaries. Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department chose to defer to states that allowed cannabis. But banks generally are leery of doing business with pot dispensaries, forcing many to operate on cash alone.
s a candidate, Donald Trump indicated he would follow more or less the same course as Obama. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, however, has been an implacable opponent of liberalization. He once joked -- well, I assume he was joking -- that he had no problem with the Ku Klux Klan until he "found out they smoked pot."
He appointed a task force on crime, hoping it would confirm his preposterous claim that Obama's laissez-faire policy was to blame for rising violence. But the panel report, which has not been made public, recommended sticking with that approach.
The case for full legalization becomes stronger all the time. One reason is that the disproportionate impact on African-Americans has gained more attention. Blacks are nearly four times likelier to be arrested for pot possession than whites even though there is no racial difference in usage.
Drug enforcement has been a major motive for stop-and-frisk tactics that have fostered resentment of cops among black men. Treating cannabis like beer or cigarettes would greatly curtail such encounters.
For years, opponents said legalization would lead to disaster. But as Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. noted, "A page of history is worth a volume of logic." We no longer have to rely on ominous forecasts. We now have actual experience in states that have taken the leap, and the results refute the fears.
Studies show that after Colorado permitted recreational pot, there was no increase in adolescent use or traffic fatalities. In Washington, which voted for legalization in 2012, crime rates proceeded to decline. California found that when medical dispensaries closed, neighborhood crime didn't fall; it rose.
This year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found "substantial evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain in adults." That helps explain why states that allow cannabis have far lower rates of opioid overdoses. The simple reality is that marijuana eases suffering and saves lives.
States with fiscal problems -- Illinois being a prominent example -- also stand to gain from allowing recreational pot. First, they don't have to spend so much money arresting, trying and incarcerating users and sellers. Second, they get a windfall from taxing a product that previously sold only on the black market. Washington's cannabis taxes bring in about $250 million a year.
State governments can also expect savings in Medicaid and other health care programs as some patients opt for inexpensive cannabis over pricey prescription drugs. There are also financial savings for ambulances, hospitals and morgues when fewer people overdose with opioids -- not to mention a lower toll in human misery and heartache.
It's too late to undo all the harm produced by the war on drugs. But Americans are realizing it's never too late to enjoy the benefits of peace.
I smoked long before I went into The Marines and I can assure you not once in my life did I ever run into someone violent or in a “psychosis” episode.
But I can assure you my time in The Marines and out I’ve run into numerous violent drunks under the effects of alcohol and they far outnumber any predisposed number of supposed violent pit heads
Yep, this will only work if all our global competitors’ youth become mushheads concurrently.. they can competitively idiocracy with each other.
Watching live PD avidly I say it looks as if 90 percent of violators are using marijuana.
That terrain does look familiar. If it’s not Butte or Yuba or Nevada County, it’s a darn good reasonable facsimile thereof.
Those “legal grows” are for show. The real money is in the illegal grows the cartels are spreading all through the Great State of Jefferson.
Oh you have it nailed. We have illegal grows all over our area here. They come in from out of state and buy a house/property and st up shop. Sometimes authorities find them, sometimes not. The Pot growers ahve placed on the local ballot measures to make their grows legal...five times the citizens of Butte County have voted it down. Personally, I think Butte County’s approach is very measured. It allows private citizens to grow a little bit for “personal” use. It has said NO to pot shops in the county. So if someone wants to grow for personal or medical use then they are able to do so within reason. I think that is fair to the neighbors and to the citizens that want recreational/medicinal marijuana.
We are very tired of out of area pot heads coming to Butte County and bringing crime and what not to the area. We have our own pot heads thank you... That and the homeless problems. One of the big fires this summer was caused supposedly caused by a homeless campfire. Other big fires around us started on properties that had illegal grows because of arguements between various “grow partners.” Tired of it all.
Ping for your interest.
Our homeless potheads live along the Yuba and Feather Rivers. What we call the Riverbottoms.
Until the near failure of The Oroville Dam back in February. they stayed on the inside of levees. Since then, they've moved to the outside.
The guy who owns the warehouse I was working in thought he'd be a nice guy and hook up a water hose to spigot and ran it through the fence when the first camp moved in. Every day I went to work, there'd be a new camp and each camp would connect a hose to the camp next to it until there were about 20 camp sites.
The owner finally had enough and cut off the water. That night when I got off work at midnight, the potheads were yelling at me and my co-workers to turn the water back on. We tried to tell them we don't have the authority to do that, they started calling us asshole and m-fers threatening to kill us and all kinds of crazy shit.
Luckily, I found another warehouse job after a couple of weeks so I don't have to deal with those losers anymore but it seems like there are more and more derelicts roaming around even out here in the sticks where I live and work.
And, somehow, I'M the one causing the problem???
Idiots. Or, should I say, FRidiots.
I’m hoping President Trump will address this AG/DOJ lack-luster performance blemish on his administration, - and the sooner the better.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the fires in the foothills weren’t started by the cartels themselves to make more room for their grows. I’m sure those damn trees and horses and cattle and who knows what other wildlife were proving to be nuisance.
Besides white trash having grows around here, there are the Hmongs. As for Cartels here in Butte County...possible in the outlying areas. You know if pot was like when I was a kid...kinda like having several beers at once, then I could get behind it. But now, from what I understand, as I haven’t smoked pot since the mid 70s, is that its pretty strong and hallucengenic and zone out. Why do I want to sit in a corner and drool? I would rather be buzzed and have some fun...but since I am an old coot now, coffee and chocolate is my means of enjoyment. And the docs at the VA tell me to stay away from the sugar. Jeez...
We have a friend on the fair circuit that has horrible leg/knee problems due to rhumetoid arthritis and after using all the opiods has settled on laced gummy bears as the medication of choice. One gummy bear and able to walk. So for that person its a medicinal choice and would never have smoked pot normally. Then I know another pot smoker that is huffing all day then smokes before bed to “relax.” Relax from what we ask...you have been relaxing all day. So there are the two ends of the spectrum.
If it helps someone medicinally I have no problem and quite frankly if someone wants to smoke recreationally...moderation is the key isn’t it?
Before it was legal no one smoked it.
/s
...aren’t supposed to talk about whether marijuana or other drugs have any dangers
The fight has shifted from legalization, to now where recreational stores are located. So, if its going to be legal, at least don't sell it here. I have to say I'm a proud nimbyist in MA. The law allows towns to "opt out".
These stores will ALL be "cash" businesses. Since it is still a federal offense, no bank will service a store - thus they CANNOT obtain the ability to take credit cards. People will only pay in cold cash - going to have nasty repercussions.
I note that recreational comes in many forms, as we know from the CO experience - cotton candy, candy bars, etc. Imagine a store near a school! They'd do "well".
“Despite the propaganda that claims that marijuana is completely safe, the evidence is otherwise.”
If this were true prohibitionists would be sharing actual evidence to validate their claims.
As for the "medicinal" part, go into your local Juvenile Hall and ask the kids how many of them have a 215 card. If everyone one of their hands don't go up, I'll buy you a baggie.
“I stopped debating with potheads long ago. Momma always said don’t fight with the retards.”
I stopped debating with prohibitionists long ago. My Momma said to pray for them instead.
Legalize it and tax it. Weed is less harmful than alcohol, it’s everywhere and it has been for years. We spent decades locking up and ruining the lives of otherwise harmless knuckle-head American kids who bought weed. Enough already.
Thanks for the ping.
The FUD prohibitionists have been pushing for decades has failed. Miserably so.
The FUD prohibitionists pushed in recent years has fallen on deaf ears as more & more voters are voting for medical marijuana & full out recreational cannabis.
As a medical marijuana patient in the state of Florida I’m thankful to God Almighty to have legal access to this (for me) wonderful medicine.
Do they even sell “baggies” anymore. I flip folks out when I say I stopped smoking when it quit being $10 a “lid.” They are paying $20 for a joint these days. What a crock.
Minors should not ever be able to get a Medical Card for dope. I don’t know how that happens. What horrible ailments do these kiddies suffer from? Hangnails? Blisters from minor work?
Don’t get me wrong here. While I do agree that marijuana should be legal on a state level, I do not neccessarily condone marijuana consumption. Just like alcohol. It’s legal, but I don’t partake.
Took this photo in north Denver a few days before the 4th of July this year.
This is me bugging out of Denver a few months ago. 
Got a couple smiles but also got nearly driven off the road a couple times too.
Never coming back.
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