Posted on 03/25/2010 3:21:41 PM PDT by Zakeet
Supporters of the initiative collected well more than the 433,971 signatures needed for it to go before voters in the fall, again putting the state at the forefront of the nation's drug debate.
An initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed will appear on the November ballot, state election officials announced Wednesday, triggering what will probably be a much-watched campaign that once again puts California on the forefront of the nation's debate over whether to soften drug laws.
[Snip]
With polls showing that a slim majority of voters support legalization, the legalization campaign will be trying to appeal to a slice of undecided voters who are mostly mothers. "It's always easier for people to say no than to say yes for an initiative," said Mark Baldassare, the pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California.
[Oakland marijuana entrepreneur] Lee hopes to raise as much as $20 million. He will probably be able to tap a handful of wealthy advocates who have supported efforts to relax drug laws, including multibillionaire investor George Soros and George Zimmer, founder of the Men's Wearhouse. Zimmer has donated at least $20,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Your comparison is laughable.
If you add up all the money made by hit men, you would have
to multiply it by a BILLION to come up with the amount of
money made by criminal gangs in US & Mexico & S.A.
But then you need a good sense of proportion to be successful in economic life.
You are a liar to say you’re do not use. You’re defending it way too much and have a personal stake.
So you believe in the big arm of the government to force you to behave based on what you think is right?
If a person is addicted to drugs and can obtain them legally,
he/she is only hurting themselves. It has very little effect on us tax payers.
Only things which should be illegal are those which can hurt others from your behavior.
One of the biggest problems with this country now is it being full of wuss punks. That’s exactly what your pothead crap leads to. So does heroin use. It’s not ‘good’ for a society to have tons of lazy users around.
I used to watch friends get lost to it, they were decent people and then basically ended up driving pizza deliveries and dropping out of college. Basically every one that avoided it turned out somewhat ok, those that didn’t ended up in worse shape.
I knew a few that ended up in rehab and even in mental institutions a few years after they started. It happens, deal with it.
Advocating pot is almost as bad as advocating communism, and you obviously have no shame in doing so.
I am almost 70, and walk 18 holes 5 times a week at a private golf course. My blood pressure is 115/75. My resting heart rate is 60. Hardly the symptoms of a dope addict.
So do I. As someone who respects the 10th Amendment, I believe that the states should be as strict (or as lenient) as the People desire. If one state (say, Utah) chooses to give the death penalty for posession of a single joint, then that's their right. OTOH, if another state chooses to legalize, that's their choice. W/ the exception of controlling our borders or regulationg what moves across state lines, the feds should stay out of it completely.
...tffft, well, it might work, the WOD is a failure...
...Ffffttt, come to think of it I've been to public events, where someone was violent aggressive and obnoxious. Were they drunk or smoking pot? DRUNK! It's impossible to get in a fight when your stoned. “Hey buddy! Hey What? Tffft, here. Thanks man, I guess I was taking life too seriously, thffft.”(-%)
At that age, and supporting illegal drugs that get people psychologically hooked and so on? Cute or stupid, pick one. Maybe senile?
Be honest, you’re high now aren’t you?
You first. Let me know what happens...
So what is your answer to my question in post #57?
NONE whatsoever. :-)
Are you going to ask me when I stopped beating my wife?
Drugs are serious enough that I don’t believe states rights can overcome it. Similar to slavery or anything that’s national. I’d like to see it as an amendment matter though.
There’s a reason the most liberal possible places both use pot and want it legal. They go hand in hand, and the damage done is not worth it.
Have you ever had a real job, or just deal?
It’s possible to do both.
Cute, an admitted illegal drug dealer on FR.
I wish you’d be locked up, if I knew how to bust you I would. You help ruin lives and bring people down to your own level. I have no tolerance for drug dealers.
You obviously flunked comprehension in high school -or-
did not read all my posts in this thread.
I am NOT advocating use of pot/coke/alcohol/tobacco/pain pills.......anything which I know is harmful to your body.
I just want to look at reality. I see illegal drugs as a MULTI-BILLION dollar business. So obviously laws can not stop it. And who is benefiting? THE CRIMINAL GANGS.
Prohibiting any substance does not stop its use. How do you think Al Capone and Joseph Kennedy made huge fortunes?
So clearly you’d legalize all drugs? And you think that’s better than having an enforcement issue like we have now?
But making it illegal to “use” it would be ludicrous.
I believe the word “meat” use in the quoted scripture has a broader meaning. It means more than eating; it means using or consuming as well. We don't eat yeast, we use it to make bread & beverages. We don't (yet) eat wood, we build with it, though in North Korea, wood may be a taste treat, & I suspect some trees HAVE been made illegal to eat. Ruins the view!
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