reality, did you see the pictures of Obama smoking pot when he came to his first American college, Occidental, as a foreign student? Eyelids drooped dragging on that joint. Look what we got for a President, a dope smoker. I am not too sure that he doesn’t still do it considering what he has done in the past 7 years.
Kind of makes me chuckle. I know the medical value (Pain & Anxiety relief). Going Medical across the US would be a good thing. Believe it or not agent, your wife would benefit… I know its against your belief system, but for the Fibro community, it will increase the quality of life for them folks.
FFA, my wife doesn’t have anything that Medical Marijuana would help. By the way, what starts out as Medical Marijuana for sick people quickly morphs into the recreational crowd use just like it has in Colorado. Employees get hooked on it, are not worth anything to the employer and then they head straight into Cocaine, Meth and other drugs and they are toast as a human being.
It is impossible to become physically addicted to mary and the gateway theory has been disproven time and time again. Can people become mentally addicted to mary, sure they can. People can become mentally addicted to watching Fox News, too. Do you know how many cocaine and meth addicts we’d have if what you suggest was true? Take just those millions of Americans who use it for medical purposes. Do you see them all of a sudden craving crystal meth? Get a clue, man!
Before this goes further, please stop using that old paradigm that marijuana is a “gateway” drug. Please present the evidence that backs up this assertion so that we can all be assured that this position is based on empirical data. We have demonized and then criminalized this since the 19030’s, all for political expediency, that is, the issue is too complex for most folks or at least the government thought so, that they couldn’t expect people to make an intelligent decision about marijuana. the whole marijuana issue turned into a very powerful money making enterprise when it was criminalized. When prohibition (of alcohol) was repealed, the alcohol business went legit and so organized crime EMBRACED the new “market”. and we all now know how well that worked out. I would rather we let individuals make their own decisions (sounds like a GOP meme) instead of filling jails with non-violent offenders. By the way, if marijuana is a gateway drug, then where are all the junkies and cokeheads? EVERYBODY in my generation smoked it and most still do so why haven’t they all graduate to cocaine and heroin? Let’s stop using the old slogans and start talking about what we really know about it. The dots don’t connect and law enforcement and judges all know that to be true; they have a vested interest in keeping it illegal because otherwise the police would have to concentrate on catching crooks, instead of going after the “low-hanging fruit”. Time to tell the truth about pot, don’t you think?
Stush, how about we have some truth on this blog about Marijuana use? According to a very good article published by the Foundation for a Drug Free World – On The Road to Drug Abuse, note the following.
Because a tolerance builds up, marijuana can lead users to consume more potent drugs to achieve the same high. The user may turn to stronger drugs since Marijuana no longer works. The vast majority of Cocaine users (99.9%) began by firs using the gateway drug Marijuana. One study found that youth (age 12-17) who use Marijuana are 85 times more likely to use Cocaine than kids that don’t use pot, and that 60% of the kids who smoke pot before the age of 15 move on to Cocaine. Marijuana is sometimes combined with PCP, a powerful hallucinogen. PCP is known for causing violent behavior and creating severe physical reactions including seizures, coma or even death.
Those are the facts. Now you can go back to your agenda.
That’s hilarious Agent! Did you know the “facts” you’re posting comes from a front group created by Scientologists? The Foundation for a Drug Free World was created by the Church of Scientology in order to push their wacky beliefs onto unassuming people who don’t bother to look into where they’re getting their information from.
Looks like they managed to catch another gullible person with their BS hook, line and sinker. Maybe Tom Cruise will let you jump up and down with him on Oprah’s couch.
December 23, 2015 at 11:52 am
Quote the whole article!! says:
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**********Of course, not everyone who smokes marijuana and hashish goes on to use harder drugs. Some never do. Others quit using marijuana altogether******
you deleted those sentences when you posted what that article said. nice job removing context to make the quote fit your argument.
anyway, there is no information about that study. who did they talk to? what records did they review? how did they come up with those numbers? when and where was the study done?
“It is important to point out, however, that research has not fully explained any of these effects, which are complex and likely to involve a combination of biological, social, and psychological factors.” context matters
December 23, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Agent says:
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David, I think you are in denial about the facts. Most people with a brain already knows about what Marijuana use does. By the way, it also leads to more crime. Those drug lords out there selling to the public tend to be violent people and they create more criminals who do violence against society. The worst part is the sale to minors. They are basically ruined once they get hooked and go onto more potent drugs. I have seen it over and over and have friends who brought up the kid the best they could, but the kid fell into the wrong crowd, started using and they are worthless no matter how much they are treated.
December 23, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Stush says:
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Even if your evidence and logic are suspect, at least we are having the discussion which is what was lacking for year…no one dared to propose any other solution than prohibition, which did not work with alcohol either. I just wish that the “opposition” would come up with a better argument than “just say no”. Now I don’t advocate cocaine or heroin but I also realize that there are those who will abuse substances regardless. Some folks like to huff canned air and that is surely dangerous, no matter how little is taken. But the fact is that marijuana has been used for centuries without any real link to the sky falling yet. Time to speak the truth about pot. And thanks to you all for highlighting the real problem about this: the lack of real data, and more than that, the lack of will to say the truth.
December 23, 2015 at 12:55 pm
David says:
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If the facts were on your side, you wouldn’t need to resort to getting propaganda from Scientologist front groups. And even if 99.9% of cocaine users started with marijuana, I guarantee 100% of them started with a legal drug (alcohol) first.
It’s funny that you mention drug lords. The sole reason they exist and are as powerful as they are is because drugs are illegal in the first place. There’s a huge black market for drugs and they’re making money hand over fist meeting that demand.
If drugs were legalized, people wouldn’t need to get them from some dangerous gangbanger packing a Glock on a street corner. They’d go to a legal Pot dispensary where they don’t have to worry about being robbed. Gangs and drug cartels would lose a huge source of their money and would be hard-pressed to make it up from other illegal ventures.
Want proof? Just look at the mafia. They became very powerful and made a lot of money during alcohol Prohibition. Once alcohol was re-legalized, the mafia lost a huge source of its revenue and has been fading away into becoming a non-issue ever since.
There are far more worthless alcoholics out there than drug addicts. If you’re so worried about drug addiction, then take all the billions of dollars we waste imprisoning hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders people and instead spend it on drug treatment and prevention initiatives instead. Treat people with addiction problems like human beings instead of animals that need to be locked away into a cage.
December 23, 2015 at 1:03 pm
Rosenblatt says:
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“Those drug lords out there selling to the public tend to be violent people and they create more criminals who do violence against society. The worst part is the sale to minors.”
Thank you for advocating for legalized marijuana instead of the current system which results in the concerns you laid out.
December 28, 2015 at 3:35 pm
FFA says:
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The Medical side of life does create problems. Someone has an RX, they get hurt at work and fail the drug test. What next????
The gate way argument against is valid. AMA been preaching that for years. I, personally, am in favor of the medical use. Ends up being a toss of the coin… A Pill or a Joint. Its a personal thing.
FFA, as long as you are chuckling, here is a good one for you before the Christmas break.
Picture the Democratic Convention stage in 2016. On the stage, picture Hilliary standing there in her crown and robe. They had Steve Harvey announcing. He loudly says – And the winner is – JOE BIDEN!
He must have had a joint or two prior to making that announcement. What a dufus!
Rosenblatt, thank you for posting your dufus reply. Who would believe that drug lords will magically disappear if Marijuana is legalized in this country. Apparently, you do. Of course, they will just pick up the graduates from Marijuana use straight to the Cocaine, Meth, Heroine users.
Not surprisingly you missed my point, read what you thought I was saying instead of what I really wrote, then insulted me for good measure. Next week you’ll have to tell me what trolls get for Christmas so I can get you a gift next year.
You give me the gift of word parsing on a daily basis. How about posting to someone else next year and I can search you out and post to you.
Schadenfreude!
December 23, 2015 at 2:46 pm
confused says:
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if only you kept the gift of word parsing and implemented it into your repertoire — your reading comprehension skills are still behind even those pesky millenials you chastise! oh, i’m sorry. should i have not used repertoire or chastise because those are big words like schadenfreude? irrespective of this pointless banter, merry christmas to all
December 24, 2015 at 9:07 am
Captain Planet says:
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Agent,
People do not “graduate” onto those drugs because marijuana ceases to create a high. Cocaine, meth, and heroin are completely different highs all together. People who do those drugs are seeking something else other than the high they get by puffing one down. They aren’t even in the same classes. Stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogenics.
Good idea Jayne. Both states could use a few million more of these zombies wandering the streets, living off the state. They would have to raise taxes again to take care of all of them.
I’d rather we used tax money to take care of them than waste taxpayers money arresting, prosecuting and jailing them. Better for them and actually cheaper for us: housing in jails is very expensive when you consider, after building construction, heating, water, electricity, food, healthcare there are then the salaries for those who look after the jailed population.
states that allow marijuana are clearly violating the supremacy clause of the U.S. constitution. the DEA should shut down all marijuana facilities, including medical, until the federal statutes are legally changed. ignoring a law doesn’t make it go away.
Do you know that there is a group of people that have the Federal right to smoke joints and those joints are shipped to those people each month? Google it.
If they agree to hear the case and actually side with Nebraska and Oklahoma, I think Illinois should Wisconsin and Indiana. After all, Illinois residents only have to cross the border to get their illegal 4th of July fireworks. So, it’s obvious that Indiana and Wisconsin’s actions have ‘hindered efforts to enforce anti-fireworks laws in the state,’ and that ‘combating fireworks coming across the border is a drain on their resources.’
I hope Dead Fish enjoyed his vacation in Cuba. Perhaps he can apply to be Mayor of Havana after he immigrates to them.
December 30, 2015 at 8:00 pm
FFA says:
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I havent been in Chicago for two weeks now. Not sure how things are pklaying out, but even Sharpton is calling for his head.
December 21, 2015 at 11:04 pm
2bs says:
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@BS, your fireworks example is flawed. Fireworks are not Federally banned. States can make more restrictive laws than Federal ones, but they cannot relax Federal Laws. If they choose to make a more restrictive law, then they solely incur the cost of enforcement and they have no basis for suit at a federal level for forcing other States to abide by their more restrictive law. However, if a state passes a law that is less restrictive than Federal law, then that law is indeed unconstitutional, illegal, and places undue burden on surrounding states to continue enforcing the required Federal law. Want to make it legal? Get it changed at the Federal level. Unfortunately our current Federal Administration is not interested in enforcing Federal Law and knows it doesn’t have the support required to actually do the right thing and change the Federal Law… So instead, they choose not to enforce the law, which for an elected official responsible for upholding the duties of office, which include obeying and enforcing the laws set forth, should be criminal itself.
Enforcing the law has always been the prerogative of the arresting officer so the lax enforcement of this particular federal statute in Colorado is really not surprising. There is nothing in the crimes code that says officers MUST arrest anyone for anything. If Nebraska and Oklahoma want to continue to bust folks for possession of marijuana, why should Colorado care? And how does that put an undue burden on the surrounding states? If that is how they choose to spend their resources, that is their choice; Colorado decided differently. Nothing illegal about that.
This is the type of issue that will make conservative, pro-states’ rights people’s heads explode, expose their hypocrisy, or both.
Just legalize marijuana, free every convict who is serving time for infractions due solely to marijuana being illegal, and tax it. Then watch budgets magically balance.
If some abuse it, become less productive, and lose their jobs, so be it. It is called freedom and liberty. We have alcoholics already, how is this different?
Ron, you’d be surprised at how many conservatives are out there who support the legalization of weed. And believe you me, there are a lot of them out there. And I happen to be one of them.
Good for you and the other true Conservatives who actually believe in personal freedom. Unfortunately, I believe you are greatly outnumbered. Just ask Agent.
Always Amazed, I apologize to you. My head has exploded and my hypocrisy exposed on every issue on this forum. I also apologize for using Agent’s moniker to try to make him look bad to others.
Whoever posted this, likely Agent, under my moniker is incredibly stupid. Why would I apologize right after I acknowledged that Always Amazed agrees with me?
Besides, I do not need to use Agent’s moniker to make him look bad. He does that well enough by himself.
Finally, whoever this is, please prove my hypocrisy by citing my posts directly. Whenever I point out that someone else is a hypocrite, I present the evidence in that same post.
Federal drug laws aren’t going to be changed any time soon by our horribly corrupt and completely dysfunctional Congress. I’m tired of waiting for them to pull their heads out of their asses and actually make some positive changes to our drug policies.
We’re wasting billions of dollars and imprisoning hundreds of thousands of people fighting a futile and downright immoral war on drugs (aka a war on the American people), and any states that attempt to alleviate some of this mess are completely justified in doing so.
This is probably going to go down the same way gay marriage did. We will continue to see state after state legalize recreational marijuana until the issue finally goes before the Supreme Court. After seeing the overwhelming change in the American people’s attitude towards marijuana, they will finally make it legal nationwide.
It’ll take longer still to legalize the “harder” drugs such as cocaine or LSD, but I see it as inevitable. We are eventually going to realize that we don’t need a nanny government telling us what we can or can not consume of our own free will. Prohibition has never worked in this country and it never will, because Americans value freedom over safety. Don’t take away my joint and I won’t take away your AR-15. Live and let live.
Two words: “Asset Forfeiture”. If we could find a way to curtail these laws, I think the law enforcement community would back decriminalization of at least marijuana. Too many departments have come to rely on the asset forfeiture take to make their budgets. I have always thought these laws anti-constitutional.
Asset forfeiture was once arguably a good idea to seize the profits of the drug trade. We then broadened the laws to include anything purchased by, or used to further, the business; aka “instrumentalities”. I think this broadening corrupted even law enforcement at the expense of our constitutional freedoms (you know, that whole “innocent until proven guilty” nonsense).
They can take your stuff and never indict you. You don’t even have to be involved – just your stuff (including your house). Even so, you have to prove that you got the money, the boat, the car, the house or whatever legally before you can get it back. That’s just not right.
Just hope that your teenager (or your au pair, boarder, etc.) didn’t leave a marijuana cigarette butt in your ashtray when you get pulled over, or sell a bag of weed out of your house without you knowing about it…kiss it all bye-bye.
Yep, civil asset forfeiture is one of the more evil aspects of the War on Drugs. It creates a situation in which you are guilty until proven innocent and its use has turned our policemen into highway bandits.
The police have the ability to steal all of the money out of your wallet as long as they have the barest suspicion that it may have come from selling drugs. And if you want it back, you have to spend thousands of dollars on hiring a lawyer to sue the police department to get it back. The poor have very little to no recourse when police take their money.
The graft has become so blatant that some police departments have used money stolen from the citizenry to pay for lavish Christmas parties and margarita machines for the precinct.
But it’s ok, the police only target “those people” and would never come sniffing around upper middle class white neighborhoods. Their cowardice prevents them from messing with people that have the resources to actually fight back.
“War on Drugs” is really a misnomer, isn’t it? It should be changed to the “War on Some Drugs” these days. This is a society that encourages drug use – by everybody. The sanctioned pushers advertise through the media now. You can’t pick up a magazine anymore without pages of drug ads and the TV advertises drugs at least 3 times an hour. Many for mental health afflictions I don’t quite understand, usually followed by class-action lawsuit ads. (Look at the number of our kids that are on this “licit” stuff in one form or another!) Not to mention the glamorous, young dope peddlers (aka: drug reps) with their sample cases and inducements I frequently run into at the doctor’s office.
The only compelling difference between all of them and the candy-man standing on the street corner under the shoes is the amount of profit. “War on Drugs” indeed.
-Keep the faith!Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
“Duuuuude. I am SO voting for O’Bama when he runs again”.
Do you think the Dog Catcher position will be open on Oahu?
I think they should outlaw all of it except MJ brownies.
Why? The edibles are the most potent, and the hardest for a person to regulate dosage with.
reality, did you see the pictures of Obama smoking pot when he came to his first American college, Occidental, as a foreign student? Eyelids drooped dragging on that joint. Look what we got for a President, a dope smoker. I am not too sure that he doesn’t still do it considering what he has done in the past 7 years.
and look what we got for a president when we voted in a cokehead before Obama took office
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Kind of makes me chuckle. I know the medical value (Pain & Anxiety relief). Going Medical across the US would be a good thing. Believe it or not agent, your wife would benefit… I know its against your belief system, but for the Fibro community, it will increase the quality of life for them folks.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
It is impossible to become physically addicted to mary and the gateway theory has been disproven time and time again. Can people become mentally addicted to mary, sure they can. People can become mentally addicted to watching Fox News, too. Do you know how many cocaine and meth addicts we’d have if what you suggest was true? Take just those millions of Americans who use it for medical purposes. Do you see them all of a sudden craving crystal meth? Get a clue, man!
Planet, you lost your credibility when you cyber stalked Agent and started putting his name out here. IJ should block you right out of here.
Before this goes further, please stop using that old paradigm that marijuana is a “gateway” drug. Please present the evidence that backs up this assertion so that we can all be assured that this position is based on empirical data. We have demonized and then criminalized this since the 19030’s, all for political expediency, that is, the issue is too complex for most folks or at least the government thought so, that they couldn’t expect people to make an intelligent decision about marijuana. the whole marijuana issue turned into a very powerful money making enterprise when it was criminalized. When prohibition (of alcohol) was repealed, the alcohol business went legit and so organized crime EMBRACED the new “market”. and we all now know how well that worked out. I would rather we let individuals make their own decisions (sounds like a GOP meme) instead of filling jails with non-violent offenders. By the way, if marijuana is a gateway drug, then where are all the junkies and cokeheads? EVERYBODY in my generation smoked it and most still do so why haven’t they all graduate to cocaine and heroin? Let’s stop using the old slogans and start talking about what we really know about it. The dots don’t connect and law enforcement and judges all know that to be true; they have a vested interest in keeping it illegal because otherwise the police would have to concentrate on catching crooks, instead of going after the “low-hanging fruit”. Time to tell the truth about pot, don’t you think?
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
That’s hilarious Agent! Did you know the “facts” you’re posting comes from a front group created by Scientologists? The Foundation for a Drug Free World was created by the Church of Scientology in order to push their wacky beliefs onto unassuming people who don’t bother to look into where they’re getting their information from.
Looks like they managed to catch another gullible person with their BS hook, line and sinker. Maybe Tom Cruise will let you jump up and down with him on Oprah’s couch.
**********Of course, not everyone who smokes marijuana and hashish goes on to use harder drugs. Some never do. Others quit using marijuana altogether******
you deleted those sentences when you posted what that article said. nice job removing context to make the quote fit your argument.
anyway, there is no information about that study. who did they talk to? what records did they review? how did they come up with those numbers? when and where was the study done?
“It is important to point out, however, that research has not fully explained any of these effects, which are complex and likely to involve a combination of biological, social, and psychological factors.” context matters
David, I think you are in denial about the facts. Most people with a brain already knows about what Marijuana use does. By the way, it also leads to more crime. Those drug lords out there selling to the public tend to be violent people and they create more criminals who do violence against society. The worst part is the sale to minors. They are basically ruined once they get hooked and go onto more potent drugs. I have seen it over and over and have friends who brought up the kid the best they could, but the kid fell into the wrong crowd, started using and they are worthless no matter how much they are treated.
Even if your evidence and logic are suspect, at least we are having the discussion which is what was lacking for year…no one dared to propose any other solution than prohibition, which did not work with alcohol either. I just wish that the “opposition” would come up with a better argument than “just say no”. Now I don’t advocate cocaine or heroin but I also realize that there are those who will abuse substances regardless. Some folks like to huff canned air and that is surely dangerous, no matter how little is taken. But the fact is that marijuana has been used for centuries without any real link to the sky falling yet. Time to speak the truth about pot. And thanks to you all for highlighting the real problem about this: the lack of real data, and more than that, the lack of will to say the truth.
If the facts were on your side, you wouldn’t need to resort to getting propaganda from Scientologist front groups. And even if 99.9% of cocaine users started with marijuana, I guarantee 100% of them started with a legal drug (alcohol) first.
It’s funny that you mention drug lords. The sole reason they exist and are as powerful as they are is because drugs are illegal in the first place. There’s a huge black market for drugs and they’re making money hand over fist meeting that demand.
If drugs were legalized, people wouldn’t need to get them from some dangerous gangbanger packing a Glock on a street corner. They’d go to a legal Pot dispensary where they don’t have to worry about being robbed. Gangs and drug cartels would lose a huge source of their money and would be hard-pressed to make it up from other illegal ventures.
Want proof? Just look at the mafia. They became very powerful and made a lot of money during alcohol Prohibition. Once alcohol was re-legalized, the mafia lost a huge source of its revenue and has been fading away into becoming a non-issue ever since.
There are far more worthless alcoholics out there than drug addicts. If you’re so worried about drug addiction, then take all the billions of dollars we waste imprisoning hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders people and instead spend it on drug treatment and prevention initiatives instead. Treat people with addiction problems like human beings instead of animals that need to be locked away into a cage.
“Those drug lords out there selling to the public tend to be violent people and they create more criminals who do violence against society. The worst part is the sale to minors.”
Thank you for advocating for legalized marijuana instead of the current system which results in the concerns you laid out.
The Medical side of life does create problems. Someone has an RX, they get hurt at work and fail the drug test. What next????
The gate way argument against is valid. AMA been preaching that for years. I, personally, am in favor of the medical use. Ends up being a toss of the coin… A Pill or a Joint. Its a personal thing.
FFA, as long as you are chuckling, here is a good one for you before the Christmas break.
Picture the Democratic Convention stage in 2016. On the stage, picture Hilliary standing there in her crown and robe. They had Steve Harvey announcing. He loudly says – And the winner is – JOE BIDEN!
He must have had a joint or two prior to making that announcement. What a dufus!
Rosenblatt, thank you for posting your dufus reply. Who would believe that drug lords will magically disappear if Marijuana is legalized in this country. Apparently, you do. Of course, they will just pick up the graduates from Marijuana use straight to the Cocaine, Meth, Heroine users.
Not surprisingly you missed my point, read what you thought I was saying instead of what I really wrote, then insulted me for good measure. Next week you’ll have to tell me what trolls get for Christmas so I can get you a gift next year.
You give me the gift of word parsing on a daily basis. How about posting to someone else next year and I can search you out and post to you.
Schadenfreude!
if only you kept the gift of word parsing and implemented it into your repertoire — your reading comprehension skills are still behind even those pesky millenials you chastise! oh, i’m sorry. should i have not used repertoire or chastise because those are big words like schadenfreude? irrespective of this pointless banter, merry christmas to all
Agent,
People do not “graduate” onto those drugs because marijuana ceases to create a high. Cocaine, meth, and heroin are completely different highs all together. People who do those drugs are seeking something else other than the high they get by puffing one down. They aren’t even in the same classes. Stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogenics.
Let’s just pass the hat, fund a massive move for all who want to puff the stuff, and relocate them to Colorado & Washington state.
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Good idea Jayne. Both states could use a few million more of these zombies wandering the streets, living off the state. They would have to raise taxes again to take care of all of them.
I’d rather we used tax money to take care of them than waste taxpayers money arresting, prosecuting and jailing them. Better for them and actually cheaper for us: housing in jails is very expensive when you consider, after building construction, heating, water, electricity, food, healthcare there are then the salaries for those who look after the jailed population.
states that allow marijuana are clearly violating the supremacy clause of the U.S. constitution. the DEA should shut down all marijuana facilities, including medical, until the federal statutes are legally changed. ignoring a law doesn’t make it go away.
Do you know that there is a group of people that have the Federal right to smoke joints and those joints are shipped to those people each month? Google it.
Supremacy Clause – sounds so Facist.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
If they agree to hear the case and actually side with Nebraska and Oklahoma, I think Illinois should Wisconsin and Indiana. After all, Illinois residents only have to cross the border to get their illegal 4th of July fireworks. So, it’s obvious that Indiana and Wisconsin’s actions have ‘hindered efforts to enforce anti-fireworks laws in the state,’ and that ‘combating fireworks coming across the border is a drain on their resources.’
/sarcasm
Thats a real good point BS…. Even Sparklers are illegal in IL. All the criminal activity by the IL law makers and my gr son cant light up a sparkler.
FFA, makes as much sense as their gun control laws. Have those laws helped make Chicago safer? Do they not lead the nation in gun deaths and crime?
Gonna cost some people their Jobs. McCarthy was the first head to roll. Whos next? ofnBamas pat Rahm?
I hope Dead Fish enjoyed his vacation in Cuba. Perhaps he can apply to be Mayor of Havana after he immigrates to them.
I havent been in Chicago for two weeks now. Not sure how things are pklaying out, but even Sharpton is calling for his head.
@BS, your fireworks example is flawed. Fireworks are not Federally banned. States can make more restrictive laws than Federal ones, but they cannot relax Federal Laws. If they choose to make a more restrictive law, then they solely incur the cost of enforcement and they have no basis for suit at a federal level for forcing other States to abide by their more restrictive law. However, if a state passes a law that is less restrictive than Federal law, then that law is indeed unconstitutional, illegal, and places undue burden on surrounding states to continue enforcing the required Federal law. Want to make it legal? Get it changed at the Federal level. Unfortunately our current Federal Administration is not interested in enforcing Federal Law and knows it doesn’t have the support required to actually do the right thing and change the Federal Law… So instead, they choose not to enforce the law, which for an elected official responsible for upholding the duties of office, which include obeying and enforcing the laws set forth, should be criminal itself.
Enforcing the law has always been the prerogative of the arresting officer so the lax enforcement of this particular federal statute in Colorado is really not surprising. There is nothing in the crimes code that says officers MUST arrest anyone for anything. If Nebraska and Oklahoma want to continue to bust folks for possession of marijuana, why should Colorado care? And how does that put an undue burden on the surrounding states? If that is how they choose to spend their resources, that is their choice; Colorado decided differently. Nothing illegal about that.
This is the type of issue that will make conservative, pro-states’ rights people’s heads explode, expose their hypocrisy, or both.
Just legalize marijuana, free every convict who is serving time for infractions due solely to marijuana being illegal, and tax it. Then watch budgets magically balance.
If some abuse it, become less productive, and lose their jobs, so be it. It is called freedom and liberty. We have alcoholics already, how is this different?
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Ron, you’d be surprised at how many conservatives are out there who support the legalization of weed. And believe you me, there are a lot of them out there. And I happen to be one of them.
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Always Amazed, I apologize to you. My head has exploded and my hypocrisy exposed on every issue on this forum. I also apologize for using Agent’s moniker to try to make him look bad to others.
I’m not Ron either, but I know that last post wasn’t Ron!
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
federal law is federal law. either enforce it, or change it. but don’t ignore it.
Federal drug laws aren’t going to be changed any time soon by our horribly corrupt and completely dysfunctional Congress. I’m tired of waiting for them to pull their heads out of their asses and actually make some positive changes to our drug policies.
We’re wasting billions of dollars and imprisoning hundreds of thousands of people fighting a futile and downright immoral war on drugs (aka a war on the American people), and any states that attempt to alleviate some of this mess are completely justified in doing so.
This is probably going to go down the same way gay marriage did. We will continue to see state after state legalize recreational marijuana until the issue finally goes before the Supreme Court. After seeing the overwhelming change in the American people’s attitude towards marijuana, they will finally make it legal nationwide.
It’ll take longer still to legalize the “harder” drugs such as cocaine or LSD, but I see it as inevitable. We are eventually going to realize that we don’t need a nanny government telling us what we can or can not consume of our own free will. Prohibition has never worked in this country and it never will, because Americans value freedom over safety. Don’t take away my joint and I won’t take away your AR-15. Live and let live.
Two words: “Asset Forfeiture”. If we could find a way to curtail these laws, I think the law enforcement community would back decriminalization of at least marijuana. Too many departments have come to rely on the asset forfeiture take to make their budgets. I have always thought these laws anti-constitutional.
Asset forfeiture was once arguably a good idea to seize the profits of the drug trade. We then broadened the laws to include anything purchased by, or used to further, the business; aka “instrumentalities”. I think this broadening corrupted even law enforcement at the expense of our constitutional freedoms (you know, that whole “innocent until proven guilty” nonsense).
They can take your stuff and never indict you. You don’t even have to be involved – just your stuff (including your house). Even so, you have to prove that you got the money, the boat, the car, the house or whatever legally before you can get it back. That’s just not right.
Just hope that your teenager (or your au pair, boarder, etc.) didn’t leave a marijuana cigarette butt in your ashtray when you get pulled over, or sell a bag of weed out of your house without you knowing about it…kiss it all bye-bye.
Yep, civil asset forfeiture is one of the more evil aspects of the War on Drugs. It creates a situation in which you are guilty until proven innocent and its use has turned our policemen into highway bandits.
The police have the ability to steal all of the money out of your wallet as long as they have the barest suspicion that it may have come from selling drugs. And if you want it back, you have to spend thousands of dollars on hiring a lawyer to sue the police department to get it back. The poor have very little to no recourse when police take their money.
The graft has become so blatant that some police departments have used money stolen from the citizenry to pay for lavish Christmas parties and margarita machines for the precinct.
But it’s ok, the police only target “those people” and would never come sniffing around upper middle class white neighborhoods. Their cowardice prevents them from messing with people that have the resources to actually fight back.
“War on Drugs” is really a misnomer, isn’t it? It should be changed to the “War on Some Drugs” these days. This is a society that encourages drug use – by everybody. The sanctioned pushers advertise through the media now. You can’t pick up a magazine anymore without pages of drug ads and the TV advertises drugs at least 3 times an hour. Many for mental health afflictions I don’t quite understand, usually followed by class-action lawsuit ads. (Look at the number of our kids that are on this “licit” stuff in one form or another!) Not to mention the glamorous, young dope peddlers (aka: drug reps) with their sample cases and inducements I frequently run into at the doctor’s office.
The only compelling difference between all of them and the candy-man standing on the street corner under the shoes is the amount of profit. “War on Drugs” indeed.
-Keep the faith!Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
-nomes
(PS-I need a Xanax and a brandy now)