Quote :

"It's true. Percentage of Americans who believe marijuana ought to be legalized: 41 percent. Percentage of Americans who approve of the Republican Party: 31 percent."

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2009/02/legalizing-marijuana-now-more-popular-republican-party

3/1/2010 11:15:48 AM

1. WOULD WEAKEN ORGANIZED CRIME
2. Would create tax dollars
3. Would reduce crime from over criminalization
4. Would be healthier to let the FDA regulate it

3/1/2010 11:18:48 AM

Obama wants to make the Republican party illegal.

3/1/2010 12:40:18 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/new-medical-marijuana-pol_n_325426.html

Quote :

"New Medical Marijuana Policy: Obama Administration Will Not Seek Arrests For People Following State Laws 10/18/09 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday. Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws. The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes. Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington."

It is a step in the right direction, but I expect any broad repeal of anti-marijuana laws will not be passed while any president is in their first term with reelection prospects ahead of them.

3/1/2010 12:50:20 PM

[Edited on March 1, 2010 at 1:15 PM. Reason : keep it on the hush.]

3/1/2010 1:09:56 PM

shh

3/1/2010 1:11:57 PM

If only Obama would try to pass legislation codifying this into law. Alas, he would never do such a thing, since he enjoys the power the DEA brings to him.

3/1/2010 1:14:51 PM

Quote :

"Percentage of Americans who believe marijuana ought to be legalized: 41 percent."

From last May:

Quote :

"Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"

Quote :

"The Zogby poll, commissioned by the conservative-leaning O'Leary Report, surveyed 3,937 voters and found 52 percent in favor of legalization. Only 37 percent opposed. A previous ABC News/Washington Post poll found 46 percent in support. In California, a Field Poll found 56 percent backing legalization. Responding to the poll at a press conference Tuesday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for an open debate on legalization."

[Edited on March 1, 2010 at 1:19 PM. Reason : ]

3/1/2010 1:18:33 PM

So what people did they ask in this survey?

3/1/2010 4:56:43 PM

you people

3/1/2010 4:57:33 PM

Quote :

" "

its me. i am both stealth red and blue options in this pie chart.

3/1/2010 5:13:01 PM

obama would be much more popular if he were able to push this legislation through than say, healthcare

3/1/2010 5:47:57 PM

If I were Obama I'd save it for 2012.

[Edited on March 1, 2010 at 5:52 PM. Reason : Or even 2016 assuming that the GOP won't find a good challenger by 2012.]

3/1/2010 5:51:30 PM

3/1/2010 6:12:55 PM

Good point. Approval rates won't change over the next 2.5 years so he might as well go ahead and blow his ace in the hole.

3/1/2010 6:17:41 PM

Quote :

"If only Obama would try to pass legislation codifying this into law"

did obama go back to the senate when i wasn't looking?

Quote :

"obama would be much more popular if he were able to push this legislation through than say, healthcare"

because pot such a more important cause than healthcare? get real.

[Edited on March 1, 2010 at 6:19 PM. Reason : .]

3/1/2010 6:18:18 PM

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/01/1282559/drug-raid-nets-50-pounds-of-marijuana.html

3/1/2010 6:19:43 PM

^^exactly!

3/1/2010 6:57:34 PM

Quote :

"because pot such a more important cause than healthcare? get real."

The real difference is that legalizing pot would increase liberty, while passing Obama-style healthcare would decrease liberty. Furthermore, any government healthcare plan that goes through is going to end up costing the consumer money, regardless of what people are saying. Legalizing pot would save money, it would create jobs, it would take people out of jails and put them back into the workforce, and it would eliminate the crime associated with the black market.

3/1/2010 7:04:07 PM

Regulating imports from China, and food quality, and drug testing also decrease liberty, and we're better off for it.

3/1/2010 7:09:53 PM

A case could be made that all of those things have actually hurt us. How many people die every year from legal drugs that the government has said are safe? How many people die every year from marijuana?

It's not consistent to support freedom in some cases but not in others. In that way, the modern progressive movement is no different than the conservative "traditional values" crowd. They disagree with how, specifically, we should be free, but not that government should have a right to take certain freedoms away. That's why I'm a libertarian. I support maximum freedom, all the time.

3/1/2010 7:17:38 PM

Quote :

"How many people die every year from legal drugs that the government has said are safe? "

That's half the question. The other half is, "How many people were dying from drugs that nobody had inspected at all?"

3/1/2010 8:40:54 PM

oh this new idea

3/1/2010 8:50:37 PM

I think we should stick to fighting terror.

3/1/2010 9:37:21 PM

Quote :

"obama would be much more popular if he were able to push this legislation through than say, healthcare"

With pot, it's much easier and cheaper to simply ignore how shitty this country is becoming.

3/2/2010 11:20:45 PM

Quote :

"The real difference is that legalizing pot would increase liberty, while passing Obama-style healthcare would decrease liberty. "

How much liberty do sick, destitute people have?

3/3/2010 6:54:50 AM

McDrama

3/3/2010 7:22:34 AM

Oh I'm sorry I should have stuck to the only liberty "libertarians" are interested in, the liberty to keep and spend all of your play money with literally no restrictions

[Edited on March 3, 2010 at 7:27 AM. Reason : .]

3/3/2010 7:27:01 AM

^
Wow, dude. You really have no fucking clue.
(Seriously, you don't. I'm not looking for an e-argument.... just... you really need to get a fucking clue, that's all.)

3/3/2010 7:34:15 AM

Or is it ... u, that has no clue ... ? Really makes u think . . .

3/3/2010 7:42:00 AM

Quote :

"you're on top of your game these days you are."

3/3/2010 7:53:04 AM

Quote :

"Oh I'm sorry I should have stuck to the only liberty "libertarians" are interested in, the liberty to keep and spend all of your play money with literally no restrictions"

rawr rawr rawr, I'm so passionate about my beliefs that I'm going to tell everyone else what they should do about it

3/3/2010 12:04:58 PM

Stop trying to constrain the definition of liberty dude, you're like, totally infringing on my liberty

3/3/2010 12:19:30 PM

In this thread, Libertarianism = Anarchism

[Edited on March 3, 2010 at 12:36 PM. Reason : ]

3/3/2010 12:36:15 PM

So the majority of the country does not believe in legalized pot, republicans, congress, Obama, and the direction of the country.

Also, more people believe in Ghosts than approve of Obama.

Yes, I too can play the pointless unrelated statistics comparison game.....

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/29/opinion/polls/main994766.shtml

[Edited on March 3, 2010 at 12:57 PM. Reason : .]

3/3/2010 12:56:22 PM

Quote :

"How much liberty do sick, destitute people have?"

Just as much as everyone else, preferably. Liberty is just being able to do what you want, without someone coming in and telling you that you can't. If your particular circumstances keep you from doing that, you aren't less free, you're just less capable. It sucks, but that's life. Forcing people at gunpoint to pay for someone that was dealt a losing card by the universe? That's anti-liberty, no doubt about it. Luckily, humans do tend to help out others. At least when their governments let them keep enough money to do so, rather than confiscating it and handing it out to various pet projects and foreign misadventures.

Quote :

"Oh I'm sorry I should have stuck to the only liberty "libertarians" are interested in, the liberty to keep and spend all of your play money with literally no restrictions"

Does any libertarian here support "literally no restrictions"? I'm sure we all support having the government help protect an individual's freedom if other individuals come in and violate those freedoms. In fact, that's supposed to be the entire point of the government, but everything the government does now has the opposite effect.

3/3/2010 1:24:51 PM

Breaking news: getting high is better than a buzz kill

3/3/2010 2:06:41 PM

Obama looks like he's been blazing down

3/3/2010 4:51:49 PM

I love marjuana.

I'd give up drinking for the rest of my life in lieu of having good buds every other day or so.

3/4/2010 8:59:45 AM

well the question is would you give up voting for weed

because that would probably get the GOP behind legalization

3/4/2010 9:02:24 AM

Quote :

"Medical marijuana gaining support in N.C. Raleigh, N.C. — State lawmakers could vote on a bill legalizing marijuana for medical purposes this spring. Rep. Nick Mackey, D-Mecklenburg, sponsored the bill and held a Thursday night rally at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to support medical marijuana. House Bill 1380 passed an initial vote last year and is now in a health committee. Joe Cullen said he suffers from a debilitating, muscular disease that has left him in a wheelchair and in constant pain. He's on painkillers, but he said smoking marijuana is the only thing that truly works to relieve his pain. "It has done a lot of wonders. It relaxes my muscles so I don't get cramps in my muscles and charley horses," Cullen said. "It reduces my pain pretty much instantly." Cullen lobbied last summer for a law to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes and said he plans to continue smoking the drug, even without such a law. "If the taxpayers would like to see me in jail, so be it," he said. Supporters say legalizing marijuana for health-related reasons would generate more than $60 million in state taxes in the first year alone. Still, some people say the proposal could have serious side-effects. "I don't think it is in the best health interest of the larger community," said Anne Doolen, executive director of the Alcohol/Drug Council of North Carolina. "Not everyone who uses it will develop an addiction, (but) there will be a percentage of the population who will. The availability makes it riskier for those (people).""

http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/7176054/

3/5/2010 8:09:41 PM

"Not everyone who uses it will develop an addiction, (but) there will be a percentage of the population who will. The availability makes it riskier for those (people)."

BULLSHIT!!!!

3/8/2010 12:28:03 PM

let me go ahead and say this shit is never going to be legalized in this country

3/8/2010 12:42:42 PM

^
Let me go ahead and say you're wrong. (I'd gladly bet any amount on this.)


^^
I know, right?
Since when in pot unavailable?

Most of the things opponents of drug legalization say and apparently believe about drugs are among the best examples of "textbook" definitions of ignorance.

3/8/2010 12:44:36 PM

everybody was so sure it was going to be legalized in the 60s

then everybody was so sure it was going to be legalized in the 70s

then, everybody was POSITIVE it was going to be legalized in the 80s

then, it was CERTAIN to be legalized in the 90s

then in the 00s, it was definitely going to happen

sorry, i dont see it...but if you can determine a particular date by which you think it will be legalized, i will happily bet you

not that i dont want it to happen, i just dont think it will ever be federally legal, like say alcohol is

3/8/2010 12:49:53 PM

Quote :

" Gallup Poll. Oct. 1-4, 2009. Adults nationwide. "Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal, or not?" N=488 (Form A), MoE ± 5 Should Should Not Unsure % % % 10/1-4/09 44 54 2 10/13-16/05 36 60 4 11/10-12/03 34 64 2 8/3-5/01 34 62 4 8/29 - 9/5/00 31 64 5 8/28-30/95 25 73 2 10/2-7/69 12 84 4 "

[Edited on March 8, 2010 at 12:58 PM. Reason : ]

3/8/2010 12:55:37 PM

I doubt those numbers have changed much over the last 50 years

Yet its still illegal

3/8/2010 1:00:51 PM

^

Quote :

"I doubt those numbers have changed much over the last 50 years Yet its still illegal"

Did you even read the post?
Do you not see right there where it shows that "those numbers have changed much over the last 50 years"?

3/8/2010 1:10:07 PM

Quote :

"Californians to vote on legal weed It's official: Californians will decide whether legal marijuana should be used to plug the state's $20 billion budget gap. California residents are expected to vote this year on whether legalization should be approved to raise nearly $1.4 billion in state revenue. That's based on an estimate from the State Board of Equalization, a tax administration agency. "It would be another source of revenue for the state," said Anita Gore, spokeswoman for the board. The board has not issued an opinion on legalization as a means of easing the state's budget crisis, she added. California Secretary Debra Brown confirmed on Wednesday that enough signatures had been collected to put AB 390, a marijuana legalization bill, on the ballot for Nov. 2. A press release from the secretary said that legalization proponents submitted 694,248 petition signatures for the bill, easily surpassing the required 433,791. "The momentum for reform has grown exponentially since we introduced the bill last year," said Quitin Mecke, spokesman for Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, the lead sponsor of the bill. "We're excited about the prospect to reform drug laws again." Mecke noted that California was the first state to pass legislation allowing medicinal marijuana, 14 years ago. Unlike prior legislation that has passed in California and other states, this form of legalization is not restricted to medicinal use of marijuana. The bill proposes that marijuana be regulated and taxed in a similar way to alcohol. According to the bill, people would have to be 21 years or older "to possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use." Californians would not be permitted to use the drug in public or within the presence of minors, and would not be allowed to possess it on school grounds. Most importantly, as far as the budget gap is concerned, the bill stipulates that the drug would be subject to a sales tax. An additional retail fee of $50 would be imposed on every ounce that's sold. The State Board of Equalization estimates that the state could raise $1.382 billion in annual tax revenues from legal marijuana. The figure is based on estimated revenue of $990 million from the retail fees and $392 million from sales taxes. "With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense," Ammiano said in a press release when he first proposed the bill last year. Also, Mecke said that legalization could prompt the state to "reallocate" more than $300 million in law enforcement spending away from non-violent drug activity to address violent crimes."

http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/25/news/economy/marijuana_legalization_tax/index.htm

3/25/2010 5:31:37 PM

don't get too excited about that

we're talking about the state that passed prop 8

3/25/2010 8:00:23 PM