Cannabis

[My name is Mudd]

All of the DEA agents, police, corrections officers and so on that would be out of work.

No, they wouldn't...DEA would still have more than enough to do thanks to crack, meth, heroin, etc and a significant number of law enforcement officials have stated that they believe resources would be freed up to deal with more serious crimes if cannabis is legalized.

Crime in general would not end by legalization...if it were that easy, I suspect that legalization would have happened a LONG time ago.

 

[Ziltoid]

Imo Drug usage falls in the crime without victims category, so does prostitution and many other things, and honestly I don't give a crap about all of those and think law enforcement should do the same. And yes I like Schur.

 

[ransombass]

No, they wouldn't...DEA would still have more than enough to do thanks to crack, meth, heroin, etc and a significant number of law enforcement officials have stated that they believe resources would be freed up to deal with more serious crimes if cannabis is legalized.

Crime in general would not end by legalization...if it were that easy, I suspect that legalization would have happened a LONG time ago.

You're right. I made a very over-reaching statement there. However, the necessity for the tens of thousands employed to do nothing other than enforce marijuana prohibition laws would be severely affected. With mandatory minimums placed on small quantity possession in most states most prisoners convicted on drug charges are casual users carrying personal use amounts of 2 oz or less. This would decrease prison populations drastically, therefore putting correction officers out of work.

 

[MatticusMania]

You're right. I made a very over-reaching statement there. However, the necessity for the tens of thousands employed to do nothing other than enforce marijuana prohibition laws would be severely affected. With mandatory minimums placed on small quantity possession in most states most prisoners convicted on drug charges are casual users carrying personal use amounts of 2 oz or less. This would decrease prison populations drastically, therefore putting correction officers out of work.

Actually, it wouldnt put corrections officers out of work. Our prison system is so overcrowded that they let people out after serving a 3rd of their sentence. My synth player was scheduled to do 72 days after getting his DUI. He was out in 10 minutes. What releasing the nonviolent drug offenders would do is open up space for the people who really belong in prison. The corrections officers would still have plenty of criminals to correct.

 

[ubado]

IMO ... I don't think I'll ever see nation wide legalization or decriminalization for cannabis in my life time.

* I find it hard to believe that a government which is trying to keep folks from smoking ... will legalize a drug that is mainly smoked.

* In the world of Post 9-11 ... it's too easy to link (no matter how loosely) monetary gains from drugs to terrorism.


... just say'n

 

[EBodious]

i just learned today that california has a prop this november for general legalization. nice work, folks. is it looking like it will pass?

 

[MatticusMania]

i just learned today that california has a prop this november for general legalization. nice work, folks. is it looking like it will pass?

One really can't tell. Thats a decision left up to the politicians and lobbyists. Its only on the ballot so that we feel we have the choice.

I havent really seen much about it going either way. Its opponents, however, still have more pull in office, so I dont think it will pass this November, though I could be wrong.

 

[elgecko]

* In the world of Post 9-11 ... it's too easy to link (no matter how loosely) monetary gains from drugs to terrorism.

Despite what they want you to believe, the Taliban isn't growing marijuana. The only reason the might be dabbling in opium is that it's illegal, hence profitable.

 

[MatticusMania]

As a Californian, and a bud smoker, I can tell you my herb has nothing to do with any terrorist organization. Its grown by our neighbors, sold to dispensaries, and then sold to me. Support your local grower!

 

[elgecko]

Can you imagine if it were suddenly legalized nation wide. All of the DEA agents, police, corrections officers and so on that would be out of work.

Well...there's one or two other drugs out there that might keep them busy.

 

[My name is Mudd]

is it looking like it will pass?

Last I heard was about a week ago, when some poll stated about a 51, maybe 52% in favor...it'll be a close one, no doubt.

It's also been suggested that this initiative may not be the way to go, in the long run...apparently, there's no real structure to it that controls/governs how to tax it or dispense it, and nothing about what to do if/when the feds step in and attempt to use federal law to trump state law. I just got my voter's info guide thingy yesterday, so maybe some of the answers are in there.

 

[elgecko]

i just learned today that california has a prop this november for general legalization. nice work, folks. is it looking like it will pass?

There's a Poll section on the Prop 19 wiki page. The majority of the polls seem to be in favor of.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed])

 

[elgecko]

You're right. I made a very over-reaching statement there. However, the necessity for the tens of thousands employed to do nothing other than enforce marijuana prohibition laws would be severely affected. With mandatory minimums placed on small quantity possession in most states most prisoners convicted on drug charges are casual users carrying personal use amounts of 2 oz or less. This would decrease prison populations drastically, therefore putting correction officers out of work.

I've never been to Tulsa but I find it inconceivably difficult to believe that if the system there were suddenly unable to charge people with possession, the whole bottom would fall out. Don't you have types of crime in Tulsa?

Furthermore, I can't quite figure out of this is propaganda from the anti side or "passive aggressive" propaganda from the pro side.

 

[OOZMAN]

I think it should be legalized or at least decriminalized, but I realize that will never happen due to the amount of people that are currently employed in the prohibition war against it. Can you imagine if it were suddenly legalized nation wide. All of the DEA agents, police, corrections officers and so on that would be out of work. Not to mention all of the people who would be released from prison early because of time already served. It would be an unemployment and economic Armageddon.

I don't smoke the ganja. Not because I'm against it or don't want to, but because I run the risk of being fired if I do. Even if it were legal my employer could fire me or refuse to renew my contract because he is personally against it and I live in a "At will" state.

IMO ... I don't think I'll ever see nation wide legalization or decriminalization for cannabis in my life time.

* I find it hard to believe that a government which is trying to keep folks from smoking ... will legalize a drug that is mainly smoked.

* In the world of Post 9-11 ... it's too easy to link (no matter how loosely) monetary gains from drugs to terrorism.


... just say'n

Is cannabis completely criminalised in the US? In Oz if you have under a certain amount (I think the amount is actually quite a lot, like a pound or so) it's decrimanalised. But the fine is pretty epic.

 

[KarateKid25]

It is decriminalized in some Australian states as long as it is only a 'small quantity' and not bagged up individually with an intent to deal. In the states that still class it as illegal, the penalty is usually just to attend a rehab meeting rather than face a criminal charge as such.

 

[My name is Mudd]

Is cannabis completely criminalised in the US?

Depends on where you are...here in California, possession of of an ounce or less was down-graded to a minor misdemeanor earlier this week (and for the second time), essentially a traffic ticket. Other states vary, but some still consider 'personal' possession a felony.

 

[superfunk47]

What's that saying, given the number of lives alcohol has devastated? And I don't mean just the drinkers ... also their families, employers, victims, taxpayers, insurance companies, what-have-you.

What it's saying is that there's a glaring hypocrisy at work in America, and that we're keeping a relatively benign (often quite helpful, as a matter of fact) plant illegal while something as monstrously harmful as alcohol remains a basic part of our culture. Big tobacco, which kills hundreds of thousands of people every year in the States alone, gets government subsidies.

I honestly would be pretty happy if they would even just legalize industrial hemp - a plant which doesn't produce a psychoactive product (you can't get high from it) but which produces some 50,000 other products, if my memory serves me. Renewable biofuel, a more efficient protein than soy, plastics, stronger and softer fiber than cotton, the list goes on.

 

[bigblondeafro87]

I can't for the life of me figure out why industrial hemp is still illegal. Maybe because its called hemp people associate with marijuana? I dont know, but by keeping it illegal we are losing out on so many potential monetary and environmental gains.

 

[Skitch it!]

A friend told me of his experience walking through fields full of industrial hemp cultivated in the South of France, it's forward thinking for the uses it has imo.

 

[Disraeli Gears]

Is cannabis completely criminalised in the US? In Oz if you have under a certain amount (I think the amount is actually quite a lot, like a pound or so) it's decrimanalised. But the fine is pretty epic.

It's completely criminalized at the federal level, however some states have chosen to decriminalize for small quantities, such as California who has decriminalized posession of up to an ounce. Technically, in these states, federal agents could still bust you for personal posession, but I haven't heard of that happening. That said, a lot of states still have complete criminalization at the state level as well.