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Local Medical Marijuana Advocates Lament Los Angeles Decision (banning dispensaries)
kcoy. ^ | By Keith Carls

Posted on 07/26/2012 5:26:05 AM PDT by dennisw

Los Angeles has become the latest big city in California to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. Now concern is mounting that those who need medical cannabis to treat legitimate ailments will be forced back to the black market and the danger that goes with it.

Medical marijuana advocates on the Central Coast are warning of the law of unintended consequences in the ongoing crackdown of dispensaries in California.

They say the proposed benefit law enforcement is advocating in shutting down the pot shops will ultimately do more harm than good to our communities.

At the Santa Barbara offices of Canamed, which evaluates patients with a variety of ailments and prescribes medical marijuana as part of a treatment, the decision by the L.A. City Council to ban pot dispensaries is being called troubling.

Now that the L.A. City Council has voted to shut dispensaries within its city limits, concerned medical practitioners like Dr. Bernard Smyle say his patients will have to resort to the more dangerous black market.

"Unfortunately driving the whole trade underground", Dr. Smyle says, "making patients with legitimate needs seeking potentially unsavory sources to get treatment that really helps them."

I'm told all of the medical marijuana dispensaries in Santa Barbara were closed earlier this year under threat of federal property forfeiture laws related to illegal marijuana search and seizures.

With more and more dispensaries closing, Central Coast News has learned there are several well known and popular delivery services that link local medical marijuana patients with dispensaries either in the L.A.-area or elsewhere that operate legally with little or no additional fee.

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


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cannabis; drugs; drugwar; marijuana; medicalmarijuana; medpot; potheads; warondrugs; wod; wodlist; wosd
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To: Persevero
Prohibition made ALL alcohol consumption illegal (except sacramental, I think).

And current drug laws make ALL consumption of banned drugs illegal. Do you support that?

Yes, I do. You don’t have a right to make yourself nuts, whether a little nuts or a lot nuts.

So why would you oppose a return to Prohibition (I ask again)?

I oppose legal GETTING HIGH. [...]

Drink if you like. Don’t get drunk. There are laws against public drunkenness. I support them.

So do I. Should private drunkenness remain legal? If so, why not private high-ness?

Private consumption can theoretically work, but there you are again, trusting someone who has screwed up their brain to keep some sort of rules.

So should private drunkenness remain legal (I ask again)?

21 posted on 07/27/2012 7:17:07 AM PDT by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

“So should private drunkenness remain legal (I ask again)? “

That depends on what you mean by “private.”

If you are sitting at home getting sloshed all by yourself, it’s not really possible to arrest you for it. There’d be no probable cause. So I’d say, that could be legal. As far as I know, it is. I don’t hear of anyone being arrested for private drunkenness.

But if you have a dependent in the home, no.


22 posted on 07/27/2012 8:26:05 AM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: Persevero
Private consumption can theoretically work, but there you are again, trusting someone who has screwed up their brain to keep some sort of rules.

So should private drunkenness remain legal (I ask again)?

If you are sitting at home getting sloshed all by yourself, it’s not really possible to arrest you for it. There’d be no probable cause. So I’d say, that could be legal. As far as I know, it is.

So why shouldn't private consumption of other drugs also be legal?

23 posted on 07/27/2012 8:57:20 AM PDT by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

“So why shouldn’t private consumption of other drugs also be legal? “

No. Even if you really only use them in private, they in some cases with one use (a high enough dose of acid) or with a few weeks’ use (meth) or with prolonged use (pot) make you crazy, irrational, paranoid, mentally ill, mentally unstable, or incoherent.

You may believe it is your right to make yourself that way. I don’t.

Are you a threat to me if you sit in your apartment and smoke PCP? Yes you are. Because it makes you so nuts, you do crazy, violent, dangerous things. And I don’t want to wait for you to actually jump off the roof onto my head, set my car on fire, eat my face off or rape me before you are put away.

Will everyone who uses drugs do that? No. But they are far more likely to, almost completely more likely to, than a sober person.

Even Mr. Joker had to take his vicodin before he could do his mass murder. Inhibitions need to be lowered. The crazy needs to be fed, before most people can do their thing.

And before you ask, yes, I am against prescription drug abuse, too, and like to see it prosecuted as well. I am aware that prescription drugs can be abused, but not willing to ban them all together, because I think they do more good than harm.


24 posted on 07/27/2012 9:05:46 AM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: Persevero
So should private drunkenness remain legal (I ask again)?

If you are sitting at home getting sloshed all by yourself, it’s not really possible to arrest you for it. There’d be no probable cause. So I’d say, that could be legal. As far as I know, it is.

So why shouldn't private consumption of other drugs also be legal?

Even if you really only use them in private, they in some cases with one use (a high enough dose of acid) or with a few weeks’ use (meth) or with prolonged use (pot) make you crazy, irrational, paranoid, mentally ill, mentally unstable, or incoherent.

One use of a high enough dose of the drug alcohol can make you crazy, irrational, paranoid, mentally ill, mentally unstable, or incoherent - and yet you say that drug should nonetheless remain legal. Why?

25 posted on 07/27/2012 10:54:17 AM PDT by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

“One use of a high enough dose of the drug alcohol can make you crazy, irrational, paranoid, mentally ill, mentally unstable, or incoherent - and yet you say that drug should nonetheless remain legal. Why? “

I say that public drunkenness with that drug (alcohol) should remain illegal.

Private use in the home, since it can’t very well be regulated without cops knocking on every other door, is not practical.

Be honest with yourself.

Scenario: You have a two year old and need a babysitter. Who do you hire?

1. Your cousin, the meth addict.

2. Your neighbor, who smokes a bowl every morning and every night.

3. Your old volleyball coach, who likes to party on crack.

4. Your friend, who has a glass of wine every night with dinner.

If you are a decent person and being honest, you’d say, there is no way 1-3 would be a candidate, whereas #4 is no problem. Why? ‘Cause a glass of wine with dinner does not impact her sanity. It may actually improve it!

Now, your friend probably buys that wine by the box. Am I advocating that neighborhood watch knock on her door nightly to make sure she isn’t drinking the whole box in one night? I am not. The negatives of having nightly sobriety checks outweigh any benefits.

However, I am advocating the total abolition, illegality, whatever you like to call it, of pot, crack, coke, LSD, speed, ‘shrooms, you name it, there is no benefit to these mind altering concoctions and there is harm in even small doses, so there.

Leave your kid with the neighborhood crackhead if you think it’s all the same difference.


26 posted on 07/27/2012 11:15:49 AM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: Persevero
You have a two year old and need a babysitter.

Utterly irrelevant to the question of what should be legal for adults who are not caring for minors.

2. Your neighbor, who smokes a bowl every morning and every night. [...]

4. Your friend, who has a glass of wine every night with dinner.

I notice you had to cook the books there. My friend who drinks every morning won't get my 2 year old either.

I am advocating the total abolition, illegality, whatever you like to call it, of pot, crack, coke, LSD, speed, ‘shrooms, you name it, there is no benefit to these mind altering concoctions

In a free society the burden is not on adults to prove that their activities are "beneficial." I see no benefit to the WWF or wearing one's cap backward, but I don't call for banning them.

and there is harm in even small doses

Evidence?

And why are you moving the goal posts from "making you crazy, irrational, paranoid, mentally ill, mentally unstable, or incoherent" (which you admitted only prolonged use of pot does) to "harm"?

27 posted on 07/27/2012 11:51:20 AM PDT by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

I am pointing out that there is a serious deficit in the behavior of those who use drugs. You can pretend there is not if you like. But you are living in a fantasy land.

I am not moving any goalposts.

You are trying to make drinking a couple of whiskey sours equivalent to dropping acid. It is beyond ridiculous. Case in point, you’d leave a kid with Uncle Ben if he has a couple of whiskey sours. You wouldn’t if he dropped acid.

At least I hope you wouldn’t. Because you know the two drugs are not in the least bit equivalent.


28 posted on 07/27/2012 8:39:19 PM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: Persevero
I am pointing out that there is a serious deficit in the behavior of those who use drugs.

There is a serious deficit in the behavior of many of those who use drugs - including the legal drug alcohol. You can pretend there is not if you like. But you are living in a fantasy land.

And why are you moving the goal posts from "making you crazy, irrational, paranoid, mentally ill, mentally unstable, or incoherent" (which you admitted only prolonged use of pot does) to "harm"?

I am not moving any goalposts.

Of course you were - your distinctly different criteria, which I quoted above, speak for themselves.

You are trying to make drinking a couple of whiskey sours equivalent to dropping acid.

No, I never said nor implied that. Your argument against legal drugs was, "You don’t have a right to make yourself nuts, whether a little nuts or a lot nuts." A couple of whiskey sours is enough to make many people a little nuts.

"Of all psychoactive substances, alcohol is the only one whose consumption has been shown to commonly increase aggression. [...] Marijuana and opiates temporarily inhibit violent behavior"
- "Psychoactive Substances and Violence", Department of Justice National Criminal Justice Reference Service

29 posted on 07/28/2012 11:40:37 AM PDT by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

Hey, alcohol = nicotine = crack = speed = psilocybin.

Just use it all, see how you turn out in ten years. Leave your kids with users. Have Grandma stay home with one. Do business with one, drive next to one, have one for a neighbor.

Have fun.


30 posted on 07/28/2012 1:24:27 PM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: Persevero
Hey, alcohol = nicotine = crack = speed = psilocybin.

That's all you've got - ignore everything I say and impute to me an argument I explicitly disavowed?

Have fun with your lies and intellectual cowardice.

31 posted on 07/28/2012 2:22:32 PM PDT by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: Persevero
Oh, and if my mom had a glass of wine with breakfast AND with dinner, I’d still have her babysit my kid. No problem. You know why? Because alcohol can be used in moderation without screwing up your head

1. Drinking in the morning is not moderation.
2. You posted this in the wrong thread ... what's screwing up your head?

What does the time of day have to do with it if it is a small quantity?

A friend of mine is from Italy. When she was a kid they drank wine instead of milk because milk was so expensive.

Moving the goalposts again - from your mom to Italian children.

The Hills Treatment Center
Alcoholism Quiz
4. Do you drink in the morning?

32 posted on 07/28/2012 6:22:13 PM PDT by JustSayNoToNannies (A free society's default policy: it's none of government's business.)
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To: JustSayNoToNannies

“A friend of mine is from Italy. When she was a kid they drank wine instead of milk because milk was so expensive.

Moving the goalposts again - from your mom to Italian children.

The Hills Treatment Center
Alcoholism Quiz
4. Do you drink in the morning? “

I didn’t post this. Nothing is “screwing up my head.” Please respond to the appropriate person.


33 posted on 07/28/2012 11:06:47 PM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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