Posted on 09/24/2012 4:49:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
I hate to start something here with a trite phrase. But sometimes you read about things that make you wonder what some people are smoking.
In Colorado this year a cabal of known associates is getting together to try to legalize the sale, cultivation and possession of marijuana under what’s known as Amendment 64.
Their pitch says that by state regulation and control of dope deals, the consequent revenue collected can benefit K-12 education in the state, now under tight budget constraints.
Yeah, you heard that right: Make pot legal and build schools with the first $40 million in proceeds.
The Colorado Education Association, Democrat Governor John Hickenlooper and any other liberal who doesn’t want to commit political suicide has registered their token opposition to the amendment.
Some of their allies haven’t been that smart.
A score of Democrat parties, including the Colorado Democrat Party, county Democrats in Denver, Boulder, Pueblo, El Paso and Douglas counties- some of the largest populations in the state- have endorsed the measure. They are joined by their allies at the ACLU, ProgressNow, the NAACP and of course, my favorite: Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies.
Because when you are really trying to improve student outcomes, the first place you want to stop is the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies.
While the adults have offered thoughtful ideas on education reform like improved curricula, longer school days, more education choices, vouchers and options like STEM schools, Lefties go back to their roots: dope.
The pro-pot side says that by legalizing and regulating marijuana teen use will actually go down. That sounds like one of those arguments someone comes up when they are used to waking and baking every day.
“According to the latest report from the federal government, marijuana use by Colorado high school students has dropped since our state and its localities began regulating medical marijuana in 2009,” says the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. “This bucks the national trend of increasing teen marijuana use over the past several years. Nationwide, past-30-day marijuana use among high school students climbed from 20.8 percent in 2009, to 23.1 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, in Colorado, it dropped from 24.8 percent to 22 percent.”
Yeah, but before you break out the bongs to celebrate, two years isn’t really long enough for all the unintended consequences of bad policy to manifest themselves. I mean even as housing was collapsing in the country, the people who designed the house of cards where cutting a new deck.
Most worrying is that media reports have indicated that this amendment to the Colorado constitution could pass.
From the Denver Post:
A new poll shows Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, with majority support among likely voters – the first time that’s happened in the campaign. Opponents of the measure are responding by blasting the initiative from every angle, while a proponent stresses that no vote will be taken for granted.
The poll, conducted by the Denver Post, found that 51 percent of likely voters surveyed support Amendment 64, while 40 percent oppose it. Here’s a graphic displaying the breakdown:
The forces opposing the amendment however point out that there is a big difference between asking voters to decriminalize marijuana possession and asking voters to legalize it and socialize it.
More worrying is the long-term implications of trying recreational drug use to education funding. To say the least, this seems like a really bad idea.
Pot has been linked to the development of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. While the literature is not conclusive, there is enough evidence to take the link seriously.
“Repeatedly, studies have found that people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke pot as those who are unaffected,” writes Time. “Conversely, data suggest that those who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as nonsmokers. One widely publicized 2007 review of the research even concluded that trying marijuana just once was associated with a 40% increase in risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.”
And then there is the moral question: Do we really want the government in the drug business? Isn’t this the same government that sued the tobacco companies?
So we are for drugs when they help education bureaucracy, but against them when they result in private profits that can be taxed.
This seems like the logical extension of liberal policies in other areas too.
But in this case, at least we know what they are smoking.
Are you a dealer or user?.
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I use only caffeine , you sound like a small minded “war oon drugs” type. What arm of LAWR Enfarcement do you belong to? Being a conservative means looking at FACTS and drawing logical conclusions. You should try it sometime.
And what stops the government from stealing the school money from the pot tax?
Lottery money in Colorado goes to outdoor projects. Orginigally it went to outdoor projects, secondary education and prisons. Years ago an environmentalist group put an issue on the ballot that restricted use to outdoor stuff and it passed. So now we have gold plated bike paths but the public universities in the state are scraping for every penny. And before you say that education has plenty of money, that’s not true with higher ed in CO. K-12 has enjoyed a run of increases (thanks to another ballot issue) but our higher ed institutions are almost at the point of not being public any more.
I hope you wrote this as sarcasm.
What pot tax?
No, this is not 'as a society'. It is the state of Colorado exercising its proper authority under the Tenth Amendment to make such decisions.
Do you support CO's authority to make the decision that is under discussion?
Suppose Amendment 64 passes. Which do you support - Obama and the feds, or CO and the Tenth Amendment?
I don’t care what dopes in CO do to their state, my comment was that instead of finding new and more creative ways to prop-up failing schools by raising funds from gambling (lottery) and pot, give vouchers. And yes, it is a decision as a society to fund education with revenue from pot.
“war on drugs”
Yes be very careful.
Indeed the younger the greater the sales.
Fair enough. It sounds like your position is to honor the Tenth Amendment
And yes, it is a decision as a society to fund education with revenue from pot.
No it's not. It's a decision by the state of CO under the CO Constitution and the Tenth Amendment.
“allow people to use it in less harmful (less efficient) ways”
I can’t think of one logical reason why one would use anything mind altering.
“Are you a dealer or user?”
If they are low on money, it's because they've spread it around like it was fairy dust. Mesa state- now Colorado Mesa University- has built 10 new dorms that look more like high-dollar resort hotels, then jacked up student fees to pay for them.
Tuition used to be about $1500/semester now it's 3500 and goes up every year.They continuously build gold-plated parking garages, underground soccer fields, pools, new buildings, ice rinks and you name it, the construction never stops.
They don't give a crap about how much tuition goes up to fund it all, they just tell the kids to get student loans. They give $100,000 of dollars to local groups- $100,000 donation to a local ice rink group !!!!
They have forgotten their mission- to provide a low cost college education, and now think they are some sort of gift to the community- a community- where the average per capita income is $18,000.00.
Screw them and their whining.They've priced thousands of local young people, including my own kids, out of a college education chasing their delusions of granduer and I look forward to the day the college bubble collapses.
It kind of makes sense - smoke an illegal drug and build little junior state prisons with the proceeds...
Legislation is a reflection of the desires of society they represent. The people that elect those who pass laws constitute “society”.. but maybe after I take a few drags, I’ll come up with a better answer.
I can’t think of one logical reason why one would use anything mind altering.
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You don’t listen to soothing music or have a glass of wine on occasion?
No don’t need it.
The Feds will win, regardless of who I support.
I kinda like those kind of taxes, as long they can’t buy tickets with EBTs...
Go Mavericks!
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