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Why marijuana's moment has arrived
CNN ^ | August 11, 2014 | Julian Zelizer

Posted on 08/13/2014 11:13:55 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom

A few decades ago, marijuana was a topic that relatively few people, mostly counterculture musicians and comedians, spoke about in public. The comedy team of Cheech and Chong made films such as "Up in Smoke" that extolled the pleasures of smoking pot at a time the subject was still taboo.

"When trouble times begin to bother me," they sang, "I take a toke and all my cares go up in smoke." On the fringes of American society, it was usually possible to find activists who wanted to legalize it, as the reggae artist Peter Tosh famously sang. Efforts to legalize the substance in the mid-1970s failed.

Now marijuana has gone mainstream. Twenty three states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. Colorado and Washington have legalized pot for recreational use. The media has featured lively debate over the issue.

Joining other media outlets that have run articles supporting this cause, The New York Times editorial page published a number of high-profile pieces that call for making pot legal at the national level and outline specific steps that should be taken to ensure that the industry evolves in a safe manner.

How did we reach this point? How have we come to the brink of ending the national prohibition against a drug that has been roundly condemned for years as a grave danger to health and a gateway to drugs that can be devastating over time?

Here are eight reasons: [...]

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cannabis; liberalutopia; libertarianagenda; libertarianutopia; marijuana; moralabsolutes; pot; potheads; utopia; wod
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To: ConservingFreedom

An pro-weedweakling article from unstablecrat cnn?

Makes sense.


101 posted on 08/13/2014 1:07:06 PM PDT by Vision Thing (obama wants his suicidal worshipers to become suicidal bombers.)
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To: discostu; DJ MacWoW

” Maybe you should it less crap”

Hmmmmmm...two people stoned on the same thread?

Resist we must! Al Sharpton


102 posted on 08/13/2014 1:09:07 PM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (The only people in the world who fear Obama are American citizens. KILL THE BILL!)
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To: stephenjohnbanker; discostu; DJ MacWoW
Typo flames - devastating.
103 posted on 08/13/2014 1:10:12 PM PDT by ConservingFreedom (A goverrnment strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.)
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To: discostu
Drugs do their thing and wear off

The damage is permanent.

104 posted on 08/13/2014 1:11:43 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: stephenjohnbanker

You must be talking you and him. Not stoned here. Just because somebody understands a certain set of laws are dumb doesn’t mean one intends to directly benefit from their end... though it will be really nice to be able to buy non-prescription allergy medicine without having to show an ID and worrying about violating my federally mandated monthly limit.


105 posted on 08/13/2014 1:11:45 PM PDT by discostu (Villains always blink their eyes.)
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To: ConservingFreedom; Reeses; GeronL; DJ MacWoW; wagglebee

” I never said you said that. Read much? “

You used it as an argument against my position, and you darned well know it. Dishonesty becomes you.


106 posted on 08/13/2014 1:12:24 PM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (The only people in the world who fear Obama are American citizens. KILL THE BILL!)
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To: stephenjohnbanker

This is just getting to be too funny! LOLOL!!


107 posted on 08/13/2014 1:13:10 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: DJ MacWoW

Depends on the drug. Most don’t actually do any damage to the brain, they simply inhibit or enhance certain receptors for a time. Now the liver and pancreas tend to get beat up a bit, but again as American we beat the hell out of them on a regular basis (tylenol, advil, aleve)


108 posted on 08/13/2014 1:13:40 PM PDT by discostu (Villains always blink their eyes.)
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To: discostu
Drugs don’t ruin people. People ruin themselves, sometimes drugs are the tool they use, but that’s like the article today blaming guns for suicide, it ain’t the tool’s fault.

Picking up a gun does not make you kill yourself. For far too many people, picking up a drug does.

109 posted on 08/13/2014 1:13:50 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp (Partus Sequitur Patrem)
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To: discostu; stephenjohnbanker
Not stoned here.

I told you the damage was permanent.

110 posted on 08/13/2014 1:15:03 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: stephenjohnbanker; Reeses; GeronL; DJ MacWoW; wagglebee
I never said you said that. Read much?

You used it as an argument against my position

I guess that answers my question. I used it to re-establish the context in which I posted the DEA's drug-user employment figure.

111 posted on 08/13/2014 1:15:51 PM PDT by ConservingFreedom (A goverrnment strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.)
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To: DiogenesLamp

Amen but ours is not a popular position.


112 posted on 08/13/2014 1:16:19 PM PDT by Salamander (He ain't heavy, he's my Boa.)
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To: ConservingFreedom

Just when US government education has dumbed down average people to the point they can barely deal with reality already, of course “marijuana’s moment has arrived”.


113 posted on 08/13/2014 1:16:24 PM PDT by Rashputin (Jesus Christ doesn't evacuate His troops, He leads them to victory.)
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To: DJ MacWoW

LOL!


114 posted on 08/13/2014 1:16:30 PM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (The only people in the world who fear Obama are American citizens. KILL THE BILL!)
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To: discostu

Talking to the pharmacist recently while handing over my ID to purchase the generic version of zyrtec D, I noted that it was easier for my under 18 year old daughter to pick up a prescription for oxycontin that it is for me to purchase this product.


115 posted on 08/13/2014 1:17:44 PM PDT by dmz
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To: DiogenesLamp

Nope, they were already on path. They have addictive personalities, even addictive genetics (interesting little chunk of the gene pool there, it both enhances one’s ability to do drugs without ODing AND make you more susceptible to addiction), or they’re just losers. They’re going to be a mess one way or the other. Having to explain this one to my in-laws lately, they keep hoping he’ll get off drugs and get it together, completely ignoring the fact that the only way he had to get enough money to do enough drugs to be an addict was by lying and scamming and stealing. With or without drugs he’s a scumbag. That’s really how it works for most addicts, they were already on a path with no good ending, then found drugs made the trip more interesting.


116 posted on 08/13/2014 1:18:23 PM PDT by discostu (Villains always blink their eyes.)
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To: Jewbacca

>> But we lost the drug war.

It’s a managed industry that pays for pensions, health care, puts food on the table and kids through college. What loss are you referring to? A financial loss to the taxpayer?


117 posted on 08/13/2014 1:19:11 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: dmz

Wow. Definite sign of how weird things have gotten.


118 posted on 08/13/2014 1:19:27 PM PDT by discostu (Villains always blink their eyes.)
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To: discostu
Depends on the drug.

Not really.

119 posted on 08/13/2014 1:19:31 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: DJ MacWoW

“I told you the damage was permanent.”

lol!

The same can be said about the mark you left on him with this most excellent retort.


120 posted on 08/13/2014 1:19:32 PM PDT by Vision Thing (obama wants his suicidal worshipers to become suicidal bombers.)
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