Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Alaska Becomes Fourth State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Huffington Post ^ | 11/05/2014

Posted on 11/05/2014 3:58:55 AM PST by Wolfie

Alaska Becomes Fourth State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana

In yet another major pushback against the war on drugs, Alaska legalized recreational marijuana joining Oregon and Washington, D.C. -- both of which legalized cannabis only hours before on election day.

Alaska becomes the fourth state in the U.S. to legalize retail marijuana, along with Oregon, Colorado and Washington state.

Voters approved Measure 2, which legalizes the possession, use and sale of recreational marijuana. Adults, age 21 and older, may possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants (with no more than three being mature) for personal use. The measure also legalizes the manufacture, sale and possession of marijuana paraphernalia, such as devices used for smoking or storing the plant.

Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement early Wednesday morning: “The folks trying to keep marijuana illegal are relying on the same scare tactics today that they have relied on for decades, but voters just aren’t falling for it anymore. The results are particularly encouraging since voter turnout during a midterm election is typically smaller, older, and more conservative. Clearly, support for ending marijuana prohibition spans the political and ideological spectrums."

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Politics/Elections; US: Alaska
KEYWORDS: alaska; cannabis; marijuana; pot; wod
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last

1 posted on 11/05/2014 3:58:55 AM PST by Wolfie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Wolfie

Didn’t pass in Florida, though; so it’s not a wave of pot acceptance.


2 posted on 11/05/2014 4:12:15 AM PST by Arm_Bears (Rope. Tree. Politician. Some assembly required.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arm_Bears

It’s a religion for some of the supporters.


3 posted on 11/05/2014 4:17:01 AM PST by elhombrelibre (Against Obama. Against Putin. Pro-freedom. Pro-US Constitution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Wolfie

Good. Now the “personal libertarians” can get legally stoned and be too high to vote in future elections with their distorted thinking.


4 posted on 11/05/2014 4:19:27 AM PST by House Atreides (ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN FOR CHILDERS 2014 .... Don't reward bad GOPe behavior.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: House Atreides

You should get over yourself. Spice is way, way, way, way, way, way, way, more dangerous.


5 posted on 11/05/2014 4:29:05 AM PST by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: House Atreides
Good. Now the “personal libertarians” can get legally stoned and be too high to vote in future elections with their distorted thinking.

Ha. Maybe that is part of the formula. Gardner did out perform in Colorado! Didn't Washington state get a new GOP State Senate, too?

6 posted on 11/05/2014 4:30:38 AM PST by ilgipper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Wolfie

Hmmm. In a state where there are many bush / floatplane pilots.


7 posted on 11/05/2014 4:32:42 AM PST by Does so (SCOTUS Newbies Imperil USA...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arm_Bears

Is the price of legal MJ now cheaper than illegal MJ in Colorado?


8 posted on 11/05/2014 4:33:05 AM PST by umgud (I couldn't understand why the ball kept getting bigger......... then it hit me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: elhombrelibre

It was also supposed to get “Good-time” Charlie Crist elected in Florida—The assumption being that people who voted for Amendment 2 would also vote for Charlie (and vice-versa).

Happily, both went down.


9 posted on 11/05/2014 4:34:36 AM PST by Arm_Bears (Rope. Tree. Politician. Some assembly required.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Does so

It’s already legal for personal cultivation and use under the State’s Constitution (Ravin v. State). This really just legalizes commercial sales.


10 posted on 11/05/2014 4:38:49 AM PST by Wolfie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Arm_Bears

Florida needed 60% to pass a constitutional amendment. They got 57%. That’s pretty darn close.

And, for many people, this isn’t about pot acceptance. This is about pushing back the failed War on Drugs and accepting personal liberty.

We need to stop treating users like criminals and treat this as a public health issue. Put the money that we’re spending on the WOD into humane rehabilitation.

Right now, in Texas, it’s easier for kids to get a hold of meth or pot than it is for them to get beer.

We’re doing something very wrong.


11 posted on 11/05/2014 4:39:24 AM PST by Marie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Marie

“We need to stop treating users like criminals and treat this as a public health issue. “

We need to prosecute them for the crimes they commit and stop the plea-down dealing to mj offenses.


12 posted on 11/05/2014 4:44:04 AM PST by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

In Saudi Arabia, they behead druggies. Behead them.

They are NOT soft on crime and yet they never run out of people to behead.

We have more people in prison, per capita, than ANY other country on earth. More than China. More than Cuba. More than North freaking Korea.

How the heck are we soft on drug crimes?

We are *paying* for this. We pay to maintain our Goliath prison system. We all personally pay with the loss of liberty and the anti-American practice of Civil Forfeiture. We pay for the prisoners released who then have a lifetime of not being able to find gainful employment. We pay in loss of life of our children.

We have NO CONTROL over the drug trade.

And we will never stop it.

Again, in Saudi Arabia, they chop off the heads of drug dealers, yet they never run out of drug dealers.


13 posted on 11/05/2014 4:54:23 AM PST by Marie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Arm_Bears

Florida was just for medical marijuana, not recreational. I was surprised it didn’t pass.


14 posted on 11/05/2014 4:59:07 AM PST by floridavoter2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Marie

I see from your post that you are a frequent visitor to the pro-drug sites.


15 posted on 11/05/2014 5:04:06 AM PST by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Marie

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

It is a Leftist idea to support their failures with, “This isn’t working. We must do *more* of it!”

We are not Leftists. We are smarter than that. We can see that a tactic isn’t working, reevaluate, look at history and change our approach.

I am not a Leftist and I can see that the WOD isn’t working. We’re not getting the results that we want. It’s time to try something else and undo the damage that the WOD has caused our society.

Make no mistake, it’s the War on Drugs that’s caused more damage than the drugs themselves.


16 posted on 11/05/2014 5:08:14 AM PST by Marie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Arm_Bears
Didn’t pass in Florida, though

The vote here in FL was 58-42 for "medical" marijuana. It didn't pass because the threshold necessary was 60%, but it will happen, because the supporters won't quit until it happens.

(Full disclosure: I was part of the 42%, and my county had a majority against the measure.)

17 posted on 11/05/2014 5:09:56 AM PST by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

I’m a frequent visitor to FR, not pro-drug sites. The only anti-WOD site that I visit regularly is LEAP. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)

It’s here at FR that I saw the loss of our civil liberties at the hands of the Drug Warriors. It’s here that I realized that I, a drug warrior, was part of the problem.

I am not ‘pro-drug’. I am anti-WOD. I am pro-regulation. I am pro-rehabilitation. I am pro-Constitution. I am anti-Civil Forfeiture.

I am many things, but I am not pro-drug. And, no - I don’t hang out with stoners.


18 posted on 11/05/2014 5:13:00 AM PST by Marie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Marie
Make no mistake, it’s the War on Drugs that’s caused more damage than the drugs themselves.

The WOD is just a symptom. The problem is the unconstitutional abuse of the Commerce Clause that has usurped state powers and handed them over to unelected bureaucrats in the DC.

The majority opinion correctly applies our decision in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), and I join it in full. I write separately only to express my view that the very notion of a “substantial effects” test under the Commerce Clause is inconsistent with the original understanding of Congress’ powers and with this Court’s early Commerce Clause cases. By continuing to apply this rootless and malleable standard, however circumscribed, the Court has encouraged the Federal Government to persist in its view that the Commerce Clause has virtually no limits. Until this Court replaces its existing Commerce Clause jurisprudence with a standard more consistent with the original understanding, we will continue to see Congress appropriating state police powers under the guise of regulating commerce. - Justice Clarence Thomas

19 posted on 11/05/2014 5:20:10 AM PST by tacticalogic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Marie

“The only anti-WOD site that I visit regularly is LEAP. “

LEAP wants our drug policies to be decided by the U.N.


20 posted on 11/05/2014 5:23:27 AM PST by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson