Posted on 05/11/2014 8:29:01 PM PDT by mgist
How The One Percent Will Legalize Marijuana BY MIKE ADAMS · FRI FEB 21, 2014
The federal government, along with anti-drug groups, would like to paint a portrait for the American public that stoned supporters of the legalized marijuana movement are all saggy-pant thugs and unemployed hippies -- nothing could be further from the truth.
The fact is there are some very wealthy and influential people out there are working the system in an effort to legalize the leaf. People with LOTS of money have swooped in like stoner superheroes and written fat checks so that America can finally be rid of this pesky prohibition business.
One of the largest financial supporters of the marijuana legalization movement is George Soros, the billionaire pro-pot advocate who has donated millions of dollars to ensure weed enthusiast can chief the reefer without being harassed by the police.
“Our marijuana laws are clearly doing more harm than good… 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,” Soros wrote in a 2010 opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal.
Google billionaire Paul Buchheit has supported some of the same campaigns as Soros, donating more than $100,000 to California’s failed Proposition 19 back in 2010. Facebook forefathers Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz, along with Men’s Wearhouse founder George Zimmer also contributed green to legalize weed in California, donating $170,000 and $2 million, respectively.
The Marijuana Policy Project, whose board consists of a laundry list of celebrities like comedian Bill Maher, punk rock legend Jello Biafra, actor Jack Black, and comedian Tommy Chong, were responsible for funding 36 percent of the organization’s funding in 2012, according to the MMP’s financial report. Those donations accounted for 1,312,500 of the foundation’s total 2012 revenue of $3,569,899.
Another organization proving the influence behind the strength of marijuana reform is NORML, a 40-year-old outfit dedicated to changing public opinions of marijuana and legalizing it across the nation. Recently, the group organized a boycott against Kellogg’s when the company decided to sever their endorsement with Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps after photos of the swimmer smoking marijuana came into the public eye. NORML was able to twist the arm of the billion-dollar company and get them to reinstate sponsorships.
Recent reports show that many political candidates are receiving support from weed-friendly contributors. In fact, an article published on OpenSecrets notes that the Marijuana Policy Project “is also the top organization lobbying on the issue, with more than 72 marijuana mentions in filings since 2006,” supporting four senatorial campaigns in 2010 and several Democratic House races.
Your turn! It takes a lot of money to finance a successful campaign, and small donations made to your local pot-friendly political candidates are very important. In fact, just this week, I donated a whopping $4.20 to Bill Levin for Indiana State Representative District 96 in 2014. The figure seemed appropriate.
” I just don’t think it makes any sense to add additional methods of getting ‘high’ to the legal list.”
We want a legal system we can respect, which means it must strive for justice and logical consistency. It must pass the reasonable man test.
In the eyes of many, perhaps most, marijuana prohibition does not meet the criterion of logical consistency.
Alcohol is stronger and far more dangerous. It can kill you quickly and suddenly, as happens to a couple of frat pledges every year (Well, maybe not *every* year, but certainly every now and then.). It is strongly addictive, much more so than pot, and that can be fatal over a period of years or decades.
There are counter-arguments. Good ones, maybe even convincing ones, but many remain convinced by the “alcohol is stronger” argument.
“Alcohol is stronger and far more dangerous”
Being ill informed does not make your argument correct. The modern marijuana is NOTHING like the weak stuff of the 60s. You apparently have not kept up with the latest research.
I don’t really give a rat’s behind what many think. That is not the basis for my principles. If it is for you more’s the shame
Some people lie the war on drugs, especially it’s impact n police procedures.
Many will never learn from how prohibition enriched gangsters and practically founded the mafia commission and subsequent gang activity.The crips, the columbians, the mexican cartels have all benefited by drugs being illegal.
lie=like thanx auto-text
Fixed it.
-PJ
Do you see any gangland murders and territorial wars over the distribution of alcohol? Oh, that's right: Prohibition was recognized to be a failed experiment, and summarily revoked. And if tobacco were suddenly declared a Schedule I narcotic, you can bet that a lively trade in illegal cigarettes would soon be claiming hundreds of lives per year.
[...] drugs which have the distinct honor of being tied [...] Yes, those drugs tied to extensive social problems are the ones which have been arbitrarily made illegal, making a) it profitable for organized crime to get involved; b) raising prices; c) thus "forcing" users into criminality to fund their addiction; d) thus justifying a "war on (some) drugs;" etc.
Regards,
40 years of the war on some drugs and this is the result. Pot is cheaper, more potent and much easier to get. We can have drugs, crime and government corruption, or just drugs.
How very libertarian of you....
That is not the only set of choices.....
Legalizing drugs does NOTHING to get rid of crime, drugs , and government corruption.
Again you missed my point about Needle Park in Zurich.....Plenty of places have tried legalizing drugs. They then pull back from that because it leads to even worse social degradation
“Being ill informed does not make your argument correct. The modern marijuana is NOTHING like the weak stuff of the 60s. You apparently have not kept up with the latest research.”
Actually, I have, and no matter how strong marijuana may be, it will not kill you. Alcohol will.
And you are misinformed.
“And you are misinformed.”
You really believe that a THC overdose can be fatal in the same way that an alcohol overdose can?
“Pot is cheaper”
As I recall, the going rate for an ounce of “Columbian” was $30 when I was in college.
If you went to college the same time I did, thirty bucks would buy a hundred gallons of gas. In 1980 a new Toyota Tercel was about two thousand bucks.
Shhh! You're destroying the narrative those with a ve$ted intere$t in keeping marijuana illegal have written.
Now go the state store & buy yourself some booze!
I dont demand government knock down civilians doors. I think they should stop this crap from getting in, instead of helping the cartels and providing cover. Heroin turned China into a slave nation, and that is what they want here. They need to be exposed for what they are. Power hungry criminals.
Why is the NSA is too busy recording law abiding citizens conversations and keystrokes, and obsessing over Angela Merkel, to bother themselves with terrorist cartels all over the hemisphere?. Americans are living a lie. Our government is beholden to the Muslim Brotherhood who are a simply heroin cartel. The Fat Cats are profiting big time and your children are the vicitms.
My only point is to expose our government for the drug dealers they are. partners in crime.
We are in complete agreement on this. If I misread your position, or accused you of supporting something you do not support, I offer my apologies.
My battle for legalization is based on the 4th amendment violations. I want the Constitutional protections back. IMHO states can ban drugs, the feds cannot. Colorado, and soon Washington, will serve as laboratories. Just like the Founders intended.
If we made a mistake it will be limited to one or two states. Time and the facts will tell.
If drugs were so good for you, maybe so much of Hollywood would spend less time in rehab.
Make all the arguments you want. You won't convince me that complete legalization of addictive substances is a good thing. I have seen the effects of those substances on people I love, and that has had effects on my own life as well, even though I wasn't using the drugs.
If you haven't seen someone you love lose their youth and beauty and wreck their life despite trying to get them to stop, if you haven't picked up the pieces from the collateral damage of their addiction, you are just spewing theory and bullshit, anyway, or you are seriously in denial about the destruction that these substances cause on a very personal level.
Multiply those effects by hundreds of people and towns start rotting from the inside, by millions, a nation does.
Maybe you just don't want to see that for personal reasons, maybe you just haven't looked.
I wrote it.
Yes, it is. Enough of the propaganda-addled seniors are finally dying off for common sense to take over.
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