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Measure to legalize marijuana will be on California's November ballot (Dude)
Los Angeles Times ^ | March 24, 2010

Posted on 03/25/2010 3:21:41 PM PDT by Zakeet

Supporters of the initiative collected well more than the 433,971 signatures needed for it to go before voters in the fall, again putting the state at the forefront of the nation's drug debate.

An initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed will appear on the November ballot, state election officials announced Wednesday, triggering what will probably be a much-watched campaign that once again puts California on the forefront of the nation's debate over whether to soften drug laws.

[Snip]

With polls showing that a slim majority of voters support legalization, the legalization campaign will be trying to appeal to a slice of undecided voters who are mostly mothers. "It's always easier for people to say no than to say yes for an initiative," said Mark Baldassare, the pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California.

[Oakland marijuana entrepreneur] Lee hopes to raise as much as $20 million. He will probably be able to tap a handful of wealthy advocates who have supported efforts to relax drug laws, including multibillionaire investor George Soros and George Zimmer, founder of the Men's Wearhouse. Zimmer has donated at least $20,000.

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: 2010election; ballotinitiative; bongbrigade; ca2010; california; marijuana; potheads; weed
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To: ajay_kumar

The reason illegal drugs is a multi-Billion dollar business is, there is a lot of demand.

The reason alcohol is a multi-Billion dollar business is, there is a lot of demand.

So, what is the difference between alcohol and drugs?

1. It is possible to have a small to medium amount of alcohol and not get altered. It is not possible to just have a little weed and not get altered.

2. Marijuana has been proven, statistically, to be a gateway drug. That is, is has been proven that those who regularly use (not just try) marijuana go on to harder drugs far more often than those who regularly use (not just try) alcohol.

3. Moderate, consistent use of alcohol does not induce psychosis. Moderate, consistent us of marijuana frequently does.

If we all lived on our separate islands, I would not have as much of a stake in it. We don’t, though. Our society depends on a majority of sane, sober, rational adults.


101 posted on 03/25/2010 6:46:43 PM PDT by Persevero (Ask yourself: "What does the Left want me to do?" Then go do the opposite.)
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To: Tolsti2
“Quibbling is bring up the bible in the first place when it comes to illegal drugs. When something that stupid happens, I tend to go with it.”

I can certainly believe that last part!

The idea that the Bible plays no part in a discussion of freedom & human rights is ignorant, un-American, & straight out of the Liberal/Marxist play book. Thank God that our founding fathers were wiser than you.

Save the gibberish for someone else! GOOD NIGHT!

102 posted on 03/25/2010 6:47:14 PM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: Drew68
It demonstrates that your opinion is quickly becoming the minority one on both sides of the political spectrum.

If it is legalized, the consequences will be so disastrous that it won't be long before marijuana is criminalized. That is precisely what happened when marijuana was decriminalized in California in the mid-1970s.

Just like with socialism, idiotic ideas have been implemented every few decades to expose how foolish they are.

In the meantime, I hope those high on marijuana are driving the opposite side of the road from you when your on the highway. It's people like you that deserve to have your life endangered.

103 posted on 03/25/2010 7:11:25 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: GeezerConservative
You sound like a DEA agent.

And, you sound like Barney Frank and Joycelyn Elders.

There isn't any question marijuana is a gateway drug:

http://www.marijuanaaddictiontreatment.org/statistics-facts.html

Cocaine: 62 percent of adults who had used marijuana before the age of 15 have used cocaine at some point during their lives. For those who had never used marijuana, that number is 0.6 percent.

Heroin: Those who use marijuana in youth are more likely to use heroin. That number is 9 percent as compared to 0.1 percent for those who had never used marijuana.

Psychotherapeutic drugs: 53.9 percent of those who used marijuana before the age of 15 report that they have also tried to use psychotherapeutic drugs for non-medical uses. The rate for those who have not used marijuana is 5.1 percent.

104 posted on 03/25/2010 7:17:44 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: Ken H
Do you support the State's prerogative under the Tenth Amendment to do so without fedgov interference?

California does have the right to legalize marijuana unless an Constitutional amendment is passed banning marijuana use.

That doesn't mean it is a good idea. Only state with as many liberal idiots in it as California would do such a thing.

105 posted on 03/25/2010 7:20:12 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: Ol' Sparky
If it is legalized, the consequences will be so disastrous that it won't be long before marijuana is criminalized. That is precisely what happened when marijuana was decriminalized in California in the mid-1970s.

The same arguments were made during alcohol prohibition.

When drugs were legal, we never had the same problems that we have today. The war on drugs is big government on steroids.

106 posted on 03/25/2010 7:23:30 PM PDT by grand wazoo
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep
Yeah, and it makes white women have sex with negro jazz musicians!

No, it does this:

ONE in four people carries genes that increases vulnerability to psychotic illnesses if he or she smokes cannabis as a teenager, scientists have found.

The study, led by Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Moffitt, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, offers the best explanation yet for the way that cannabis has a devastating psychiatric impact on some users but leaves most unharmed. Scientists had suspected that genetic factors were responsible for this divide, but a gene had not been pinpointed.

107 posted on 03/25/2010 7:24:49 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: Mister Da
It is obvious you favor the idea that gov’t can tell you what you may consume, & what you may not.

Um, I favor the government stopping negligent behavior that endangers other people's lives. That includes losers that like to get high.

That is proper function of government. Liberaltarian can't grasp that, though.

108 posted on 03/25/2010 7:26:25 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: Ol' Sparky

Except the study also says, “This study could not establish whether adolescent cannabis use was a consequence of pre-existing psychotic symptoms rather than a cause”


109 posted on 03/25/2010 7:34:14 PM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: Ken H
Amsterdam had a murder rate of about 3.6/100,000 in 2007.¹ San Jose, one of the safest cities in the US with a population over 500,000, had a murder rate of 3.5 in 2007². Overall, the murder rate in the US is nearly 4X the Dutch rate.³

In the Netherlands:

http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/bevolking/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2005/2005-1666-wm.htm<

Between 1911 and 1930 the number of victims of murder or manslaughter was on average nearly 20 a year. Between 1940 and 1970 it was around 40 a year. It rose subsequently to around 200 a year at the end of the nineties.

Marijuana legalization and lax drug laws were primary reason for increase.

110 posted on 03/25/2010 7:34:41 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: ChrisInAR
There are a heck of a lot more conservatives who enjoy smoking marijuana

Are you one of those people?

111 posted on 03/25/2010 7:36:14 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: truth_seeker
So you place little value on personal freedom, a cornerstone of our country’s founding?

Getting high on drugs in negligent behavior and a danger to other people. That is a crime, not a right.

The country was founded by potheads and on right to get on drugs.

112 posted on 03/25/2010 7:37:40 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: grand wazoo
The same arguments were made during alcohol prohibition.

You can't see difference legalizing something that has been illegal and criminalizing something that was legal?

And, more citizens have died due to drunk driving than due to murder over the past 30 years. So, why do we need more legal ways for citizens become intoxicated? How many more lives are you willing to see lost per year so losers can smoke pot?

113 posted on 03/25/2010 7:41:58 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/18722

Young adults who reported a longer duration since first exposure to marijuana had a two- to fourfold greater prevalence of three different psychosis-related outcomes, John McGrath, MD, PhD, of the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research in Wacol, and colleagues concluded in an article published online in Archives of General Psychiatry.

114 posted on 03/25/2010 7:43:12 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: Ol' Sparky
You can't see difference legalizing something that has been illegal and criminalizing something that was legal?

Marijuana was legal prior to 1937.

And, more citizens have died due to drunk driving than due to murder over the past 30 years. So, why do we need more legal ways for citizens become intoxicated? How many more lives are you willing to see lost per year so losers can smoke pot?

For the same reasons that alcohol is legal, marijuana should be legal. The criminalization of marijuana creates far more problems than it solves. More violence from drug gangs, more prisoners, more court costs, more police enforcement. Like I said, big government on steroids.

Live and let live. Leave the pot smokers alone, they aren't hurting anyone.

I also saw your posts about psychotic episodes and the purported link to marijuana use. It is a desperate attempt to scare people away from marijuana use. Almost everyone today tries marijuana at some point. When they do, the scare tactics no longer work.

115 posted on 03/25/2010 7:55:42 PM PDT by grand wazoo
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To: Drew68
It demonstrates that your opinion is quickly becoming the minority one on both sides of the political spectrum.

No, it doesn't. Only 27% of conservatives support marijuana legalization compared 72% of liberals. That is because it is liberal and as dumb as most liberal ideas.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/123728/u.s.-support-legalizing-marijuana-reaches-new-high.aspx

116 posted on 03/25/2010 7:57:52 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: mstar
One does not have to take the word “meat” literally. Obviously, God knew trees & fruits were not meat. But his words are CLEAR that EVERY plant & animal are for our use & it is “very good”.

God expects us to use common sense, our brains, & PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY when deciding how to use those things given us.

I don't need to gov’t to tell me not to eat opium. Neither do I need them to tell me when I may get morphine to ease my pain. If the gov’t wants to give me fair warning about potentially dangerous substances, that seems reasonable to me. But to criminalize someone for consuming ANYTHING is absurd. This is pure nanny state tyranny.

117 posted on 03/25/2010 8:02:19 PM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: grand wazoo
For the same reasons that alcohol is legal, marijuana should be legal.

We lose citizens due to drunk driving alone than to murder. So how many more are you willing to see die so LOSERS can legally smoke pot?

It's absurd for anyone to claim citizens have a right to engage in behavior harmful to others. Getting high is a danger to others.

118 posted on 03/25/2010 8:02:52 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky (Liberal Republicans are the greater of two evils)
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To: Ol' Sparky
No, it doesn't. Only 27% of conservatives support marijuana legalization compared 72% of liberals.

I guess you failed to see that these numbers have been steadily rising among all demographics.

119 posted on 03/25/2010 8:26:32 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Ol' Sparky
I also “favor the government stopping negligent behavior that endangers other people's lives.” Anybody weaving down the road in a car or causing a public disturbance needs to be arrested. But, like someone having a drink in their home, I do not consider private consumption of recreational drugs to be negligent behavior. This is a gross intrusion into our private lives & opens the door to innumerable mandates & prohibitions on individuals. Pure tyranny.
120 posted on 03/25/2010 8:31:54 PM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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