After voting, dreams of legal pot go up in smoke

Dayton Daily News ^ | 11/7/2002 | BOB KEEFE

[Roscoe]

What had been a growing movement to relax the country's marijuana laws abruptly lost its buzz this week.

With several pro-marijuana state ballot initiatives going down to defeat Tuesday and conservative Republicans now solidly in control of federal policies, pot advocates can't help but wonder if the United States will ever follow other countries in relaxing its rules on dope.

"I'm not going to try and dress up a pig," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C. group that was behind the pot proposals in Nevada, Arizona and elsewhere. "This is pretty disappointing."

In recent years, Canada and several European countries have relaxed their marijuana laws.

But Americans showed Tuesday where they are willing to draw the line on pot:

-- In Nevada, 61 percent of voters defeated a proposal that would have allowed anyone to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.

-- In Arizona, 57 percent killed a plan that would have made state law enforcement the broker for medicinal marijuana.

-- In Ohio, 67 percent of voters struck down a proposal that would have allowed nonviolent drug offenders to seek treatment instead of jail time.

[Roscoe]

"These failed initiatives represent the high-water mark of the drug legalization movement..." --John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy

[exnavy]

Sounds like a resounding, emphatic NO. Maybe we will see a lot less dingbats posting fewer pro-drug rants here on FR?

[Roscoe]

Maybe we will see a lot less dingbats posting fewer pro-drug rants here on FR?

That would be great.

[Prodigal Son]

Sounds like a resounding, emphatic NO. Maybe we will see a lot less dingbats posting fewer pro-drug rants here on FR?

Probably not. The thing I hate the most about that debate is the same old arguments over and over ad infinitum- and they pop up on the unlikeliest of threads. I would like to see them stick to this method in the future- ask the people directly (sort of like asking mom and dad ;-). They asked, the people themselves said NO. What can a person argue after that?

[DAnconia55]

Umm... perhaps you didn't notice the Yes votes? 40% in some cases, right?

This only the beginning. Momentum is our favor, not yours.

[BullDog108]

Sounds like a resounding, emphatic NO. Maybe we will see a lot less dingbats posting fewer pro-drug rants here on FR?

Only took five posts before they showed up.

[fporretto]

Brush up your arguments, Drug Warriors. The debate will not end.

Note how ardently John Walters campaigned against the legalization initiatives. One could easily conclude that, without his participation, the margins would have been smaller, or that one or more initiatives might have passed.

There's no such thing as a public-policy debate that's over for good and for all, anyway. Once upon a time, virtually anyone would have told you that the drive to legalize abortion would never get to first base in America; everyone knew it was just plain wrong.

If the Drug War continues to be the failure it's been to this point -- if it has no retardant effect on drug usage and continues to swell the coffers of criminals and their organizations, while encroaching ever more deeply on the liberty and property rights of ordinary, peaceable Americans -- we'll see more such initiatives proposed, in still more states, and they'll come closer to passing.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com

[Roscoe]

Momentum is our favor, not yours.

"I'm not going to try and dress up a pig," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C. group that was behind the pot proposals in Nevada, Arizona and elsewhere. "This is pretty disappointing."

[Roscoe]

The debate will not end.

Whined the losers.

[Roscoe]

Look for future efforts to go back to using the "medical marijuana" subterfuge.

[Whilom]

I think Walters is wrong. The legalizers, like the liberal Democrats they are, will not go away. Neither will the big drug money that supports their efforts. Watch now as their efforts increase to capture border states (particularly Texas and Arizona) to make a beachhead for an attack on the heartland.

[Roscoe]

The legalizers, like the liberal Democrats they are, will not go away.

Their scam isn't working. They'll have to come up with new ways to disguise their agenda,

[exnavy]

Yada-Yada-Yada ...