Posted on 09/28/2010 10:13:17 AM PDT by americanophile
It's the land of hippies, Humboldt County and Cheech and Chong. But in the state more closely associated with marijuana than any other, the ballot measure to legalize pot has exposed California's conflicted relationship with the drug.
Pot growers have opposed it. Some police have favored it. Polls show the public is deeply divided. Only politicians have lined up as expected: Nearly all major party candidates oppose the measure.
Meanwhile, hanging over the whole debate: the federal law banning marijuana, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled still applies regardless of how Californians vote.
As the Nov. 2 election nears, Proposition 19 has become about much more than the pros and cons of the drug itself. The campaigns for and against have framed the vote as a referendum on everything from jobs and taxes to crime and the environment.
The measure gained ground in a Field Poll released Sunday, pulling ahead 49 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. The poll also found that Californians have become steadily more permissive toward the drug since pollsters began quizzing state residents about their attitudes 40 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbclosangeles.com ...
It’s for the children of course.
It’s not enough that we have to contend with drunks and idiots texting while driving. Now we’ll have to add more potheads on the road.
California is broke. It’s time to cut our losses and free up room in our prisons and jail for real criminals.
Or the same amount, only now they’re not paranoid.
I am buying stock in Jack in the Box!
But not that much more...
Why do you think they call it dope?
“Anyone who is inclined to get high is already getting high.”
Anyone who accepts the potential for severe legal hassles, maybe. There might be one or two people in California who’d give MJ a try if the legal problems were much less severe.
There won't be any more pot heads on the road than there is now. Legalizing it doesn't legitimize it. People who want to smoke pot already smoke it. If Prop 19 passes they will simply be more open about it. I have two or three "medical" MJ users living near me and they all grow their 5 bushes allowed under the law, but the number of pot heads around here stays static. The best thing about legalizing it is the fact if you take the money out of something you take the crime out of it. Unless CA taxes the crap out of it they way they do cigs, prop 19 will take the demand out of MJ grown in Mexico and shipped here, and the crime associated with it will drop also. Since Meth and other drugs will still be illegal those gangs will keep doing business.
I am constantly amazed at the number of people on FR who never seem to grasp the concept of the prohibition era and the lessons to be learned from it and instead let their moralistic attitudes and liberal like attitudes of "live like I want you to live" override common sense.
It’s an interesting point...
This won’t change the total number of potheads. But it will mean an exodus of lefty idiot dopers from other States to California. Purple States will become red again as the morons head for the Land of Munchies.
California is a lost cause anyhow. This could be a great benefit for the whole nation as millions of wacko lefties head for the coast and leave the decent people alone. Maybe the San Andreas Fault will even break off.
There is much room for optimism here.
I think there are many, many people who would begin to use it - at least try it - if it were decriminalized.
There is no legitimate medical need. Botanicals were eliminated from practice by 1960 (except digitalis leaf, which survived until about 1975), and for good reason.
100% of these "prescriptions" are fraudulent.
Now, I believe all Federal drug laws are unconstitutional, and I believe if you want to get high, that's more or less your business (as long as you are responsible for what happens).
Perverting medical prescription practice to get there is a step too far for me.
Good news for everyone except native Californians who also happen to be ‘good people.’ California used to be the Golden State in every sense of the word, but after more than a half century of every other state sending their fruits and nuts here, things have degenrated into what you see before you.
Interesting...expand on your theory if you will.
” prop 19 will take the demand out of MJ grown in Mexico and shipped here, and the crime associated with it will drop also. Since Meth and other drugs will still be illegal those gangs will keep doing business.
I am constantly amazed at the number of people on FR who never seem to grasp the concept of the prohibition era and the lessons to be learned from it and instead let their moralistic attitudes and liberal like attitudes of “live like I want you to live” override common sense. “
It will also help keep the armed Mexican drug cartels our of our national forests, one of which they burned last year of 87,000 acres and another this year.
Deer Hunters Warned About Pot Growers
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2596509/posts?q=1&;page=51
“Medicinal marijuana” is just another word for “legalized alternative drug use”.
About two decades ago I watched a program on PBS featuring the original author of “legalize marijuana”. I don’t recall the mans name, but he was in Amsterdam at the time visiting a coffee/drug house. He flippantly talked about the fact that this “legalize marijuana” idea is just a guise to introduce an effort to legalize illicit drugs.
I’m sure all those illegal immigrants living out in the desert and growing pot are going to be producing a whole lot more for the market under this “prop”(the words says it all). And the government will make a nice profit off of the taxes as well.
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