Posted on 10/26/2010 6:28:08 PM PDT by prairiebreeze
Our marijuana laws are clearly doing more harm than good. The criminalization of marijuana did not prevent marijuana from becoming the most widely used illegal substance in the United States and many other countries. But it did result in extensive costs and negative consequences.
Law enforcement agencies today spend many billions of taxpayer dollars annually trying to enforce this unenforceable prohibition. The roughly 750,000 arrests they make each year for possession of small amounts of marijuana represent more than 40% of all drug arrests.
Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars in revenue annually. It also would reduce the crime, violence and corruption associated with drug markets, and the violations of civil liberties and human rights that occur when large numbers of otherwise law-abiding citizens are subject to arrest. Police could focus on serious crime instead.
The racial inequities that are part and parcel of marijuana enforcement policies cannot be ignored. African-Americans are no more likely than other Americans to use marijuana but they are three, five or even 10 times more likely—depending on the city—to be arrested for possessing marijuana. I agree with Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, when she says that being caught up in the criminal justice system does more harm to young people than marijuana itself. Giving millions of young Americans a permanent drug arrest record that may follow them for life serves no one's interests.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“As far as pot...we really need to legalize another vice. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Prostitution is probably next.”
Good point. Legalization would remove the violence, health dangers, and exploitation from prostitution as well. There is no reason why a boxer or professional athlete or dancer should be able to make money with their bodies and yet women are barred from doing that.
Using any drug, including alcohol is stupid and probably damaging. Maybe one can find health benefits to drinking small amounts of wine or beer but strong liquor, cocaine and marijuana are simply drugs and no one benefits from their use.
That said, I have no standing to make these choices for other adults. I wish the government saw it the same way.
Just one more thing I disagree with Soros on, this will drag America down further
REgardless of how one feels about legalizing pot or anything else, we don’t make them criminals. They decide whether or not to break the law. Your logic sounds a lot like the one used by illegal aliens who say they did not cross the border, it crossed them.
Yes, for somebody ostensibly so concerned for his children and grandchildren, he wants to legalize another powerful drug. To create docile voters, as others on the thread have observed.
Overall, marijuana does not benefit greater society especially children, IMO.
LOL what does one have to do with the other?
I HOPE you are being sarcastic.
If not.... Enjoy your (brief)time here. ;^p
but on you way out of town... pay your taxes....
You’re right. Abortion on demand and open borders are something we just have live with because it simply won’t work to close the borders or to deny abortions.
Never be legalized, imo. The jail system is big, big business and pot busts are a major vehicle to filling up the jails. Lot of income and cop jobs in the “war on drugs”.
Brilliant inapropriate response!
I agree that all drugs should be legal and minimally taxed, no more tax than the equivalent alcohol drinker would pay. High taxes would just cause a black market and reintroduce the violence that legalization would otherwise remove. We should have learned this lesson 75 years ago with Prohibition and the later Repeal of it.
Soros’ race-baiting arguments aside, I’d have to agree with him on this point.
That said, both MJ smoke and tobacco cigarette smoke give me a headache — even a little secondhand smoke from 50 feet away. I don’t think smoking should be allowed in any public place, not even on restaurant outdoor patios, unless powerful ventilation is used to pull that smoke up and away.
I think it is so odd how demorats vilify cigarettes and how now they are trying to make smoking dope legal. (It’s called dope for a reason.) It is odd....my sister who is a nurse says there are so many toxins in the smoke and they lie about the damage it does.
When they try to eliminate cigarettes, why in the same breath are they glorifying something more toxic?
Actually, I know why—one more nail in the coffin of our society and the government will make money at the expense of damage to childrens brains. We will even become MORE DEPENDENT on government to take care of us.
These people don’t support drug legalization for the greater good of society. They support it for greater control of society.
http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/jobsfunding/grants/otheropps/
I myself don’t smoke anymore and am fine with realistic decriminalization. That said I will oppose ANYTHING that comes from Soros or his kind till the day I die.
Wonder when someone is going to summon the Kitties....
BJS found that marijuana was involved in the conviction of only 2.7 percent of all state inmates and about 1.6 percent of the state prison population were held for offenses involving just marijuana, while just 0.7 percent were incarcerated with marijuana possession as the only charge.
http://thehive.modbee.com/node/20998
Posted on October 25, 2010 8:21:07 PM PDT by Michael2000
Hi Freepers,
My friend posted this and I wanted all of you to see it in case you missed it yesterday. Also Frank Pastore made a great point today on his show that if we legalize marijuana then the people who are making illegal marijuana money will most likely move on to selling harder drugs. This is not good for our kids.
How To Decide in Less Than A Minute on How to Vote on Proposition 19
For those of you in a hurry, here is a quick question to ask yourself. Do you want marijuana smoke in your house or apartment?
If the answer is “no”, then VOTE NO on Proposition 19. It’s as simple as that. Proposition 19 strips away your rights to stop marijuana smoke from entering your home.
Things I Found Out About Proposition 19
•Proposition 19 has no protections for the public from exposure airborne marijuana, either vaporized or burned. There isn’t a word in there about this. A vote for Proposition 19 is a vote to strip yourself of your right not to be exposed to marijuana smoke. You can’t just call the police when you are smoked out.
•Proposition 19 creates a new protected class of people in California, marijuana users. It has anti-discrimination language with protections similar to those you might find for disabled people. It’s amazing what’s in Proposition 19.
•Proposition 19 has fewer controls on usage than even alcohol. For instance, California law prohibits open containers of alcohol in a moving vehicle, and consumption by anyone in the vehicle. Not so with marijuana and Proposition 19. Marijuana can be present in the passenger compartment, and passengers can consume marijuana on the road. There is not even a limitation on smoking it with the windows closed, so the driver ends up with a “contact high”.
•Proposition 19 will make California companies ineligible, and in violation of Federal contract requirements for a Drug Free workplace. Thousands of Californians who are employed under Federal contracts would have to move or be let go.
(Excerpt) Read more at CAProp19Info.com ...
I’m neutral on legalization, I think anything Soros is for he has a bad reason for. I also think people throw around a lot of misinformation in the name of their pet project.
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