Time To Get Aboard Legal Cannabis Movement?

[greenbuddha]

US NM: Column: Time To Get Aboard Legal Pot Movement

 

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URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n593/a03.html

Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm

Votes: 0

Pubdate: Sat, 17 Nov 2012

Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)

Copyright: 2012 Albuquerque Journal

Contact: opinion@abqjournal.com

Website: http://www.abqjournal.com/

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10

Author: Diane Dimond

Page: A11

 

 

TIME TO GET ABOARD LEGAL POT MOVEMENT

 

The new laws to legalize, regulate and tax the weed are expected to save or generate multiple millions of dollars for these states.

 

I'm going to make a bold prediction. America's War on Drugs is now officially over.

 

Oh, no one in Washington is going to make any sort of announcement to confirm this, but take it from me - our four-decades-old drug war strategy is now formally kaput. To be entirely honest, it has been sputtering along for years now, accomplishing little and costing us upward of a trillion dollars.

 

Citizens in two states - Washington and Colorado - sealed the deal. They voted that marijuana should be legalized, no prescription or medical excuse needed. And not only is recreational pot smoking by adults legal in those two places now, but medicinal use of marijuana is already the will of the people in 18 other states and the District of Columbia. Sure looks like a trend to me. President Obama's Justice Department still considers marijuana to be an illegal substance, and in the past Attorney General Eric Holder has moved to shut down legally mandated medicinal clinics and to penalize those who use marijuana for health care. But in advance of this November's pro-pot votes, Holder issued none of the usual dire warnings about enforcement. Hmmm. I wonder why not? Perhaps Washington has quietly decided to join with what a majority of Americans think - that marijuana should be legalized. The president is clearly driving this bus.

 

An article this past July in GQ magazine reported that Obama had a plan for his second term to move away from military wars and to "pivot to the drug war" here at home. The magazine said since his days as a state senator in Illinois, "Obama has considered the drug war to be a failure."

 

As soon as the newly passed laws are certified, it will be legal In Colorado for an adult to grow up to six pot plants and smoke it in the comfort of their own home or any other private location. In Washington, consumers will be able to buy marijuana from state-licensed providers.

 

Most important? The new laws to legalize, regulate and tax the weed are expected to either save or generate multiple millions of dollars for these states.

 

Once that happens, how long do you think it will take other cash-strapped states to follow this lead? That's right, probably not long at all. Marijuana money will go a long way toward helping states pay the bills.

 

Washington and Colorado will soon see their police officers become unburdened from making picayune pot possession arrests. Their costly jail and prison populations will begin to dwindle. Their courts and prosecutors will finally get out from under the massive numbers of small-time drug bust cases that are so expensive and clog the dockets.

 

Everyone will be freed up to focus on much more serious crime and justice matters. The budget balancing rewards of legalizing recreational pot will simply be too tempting for other states to ignore.

 

If you doubt the new pot laws will have much of a financial impact, consider these facts:

 

Every 42 seconds, police make a marijuana arrest somewhere in America. That's according to Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of police officers, judges, prosecutors and other criminal justice professionals who advocate the legalization of pot.

 

A recent FBI report concluded that 750,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana laws last year, almost 90 percent for mere possession of pot. With that many arrests, can you imagine how many more Americans smoke pot and just haven't been arrested?

 

The National Geographic Channel reports that at least 15 million U.S. citizens use marijuana at least once a month.

 

Once the positive economic reality of regulating and taxing marijuana becomes evident, how long do you think it will be before we start hearing serious talk about legalizing all street drugs? That's right, not long at all.

 

It is so logical, yet, I can just hear the knee-jerk protest from those spouting tired laments.

 

But teenagers will get their hands on marijuana!

 

People high on pot will get behind the wheel and drive!

 

Smoking marijuana can kill brain cells and cause other health problems!

 

Let's not kid ourselves. Those things are already happening, and we've dealt with it. When pot is legalized it doesn't mean existing laws are tossed out. There will still be statutes against smoking in public, illegal underage sales and use and driving under the influence.

 

As for the health issues marijuana might cause? Well, I don't think the government should be in the business of regulating personal choice about what someone puts in their body - not sugary drinks and certainly not some weed that so many citizens have voted should be legal to smoke.

 

I understand there is still the argument that smoking marijuana leads users to harder drugs like cocaine, meth or heroin. People prone to abuse their bodies with cigarettes and alcohol have been known to turn to other addictive substances. But, the fact is, there are no conclusive scientific studies proving marijuana is a gateway drug. One more point. If America - no, I'll say when America - legalizes marijuana, think of what that will do to the profit margin of the vicious drug cartels. The money made by criminal enterprises in foreign countries could stay right here in America if we just got our playbook straight.

 

What's lacking is definitive leadership from Washington.

 

That's a shame, because this legalization train is moving down the tracks with or without the politicians.

MAP posted-by: Matt

[bobandtorey]

Thats is some great points for sure and I do think that Michigan will be next

People here in this State are ready and we can do it

But I still think that we should fight for what we have now and that's nothing

So far just ask me or Torey and Mr. King and I just don't think we are getting the support that is needed to win

We need $$$ to pay are Lawyers they have not ask for any money but we all know that's what it takes to win

[Herb Cannabis]

Folks, we must become actively involved by joining groups like the 3MA who has been advocating for the MMJ patients since the beginning. MINORML is/has been working hard for the reform of marijuana laws in this state. We need to pay our dues so that they can complete there jobs. If you don't belong, join right now, if you don't want to belong, send them an anonymous donation of how ever much you can afford. Get active folks, sitting on our collective rumps will not get the job done. Patients are being slaughtered out here and need our help. We need to collect over a million dollars from what I've read in order to get an initiative on the ballot to legalize marijuana in Michigan, please help out with a generous donation if you can find it in your budgets.

 

I apologize in advance for the MINORML plug and will understand if this post is deleted. Thanks mods.

[SFC]

Who wrote that? Sounds familiar....