I’ve been writing a lot about marijuana news recently, but it’s because a lot has been happening. There’s an increased focus in the media on the absurdity of the current prohibition that feels more intense than ever. I’m not sure it has only one reason, but either way, I welcome the increased spotlight and hope that it triggers even more debate. Here’s the roundup:
– There are two television specials to check out before the weekend. Tonight, CNBC is airing Marijuana, Inc, which takes a look at the economics behind the current growers of the plant in northern California. And tomorrow night on Dateline NBC, they’ll be covering the case of Rachel Hoffman, the young woman in Florida who was killed by drug dealers after she’d been pressured into becoming an informant rather than face jail time for selling pot to her friends.
– Scott Morgan has posted on some breaking news from the Lake Tahoe area this evening, where DEA agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary. President Obama vowed to end these raids, so it will be interesting to see what he does in response.
– Nina Shapiro writes in the Seattle Weekly about the coalition of legislators, the Governor and other public officials who are moving towards ways to reduce the amount of money spent to lock up non-violent drug offenders. This part knocked me for a loop:
Faced with a $5 million budget cut to his office, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg in October started kicking felony cases involving less than three grams of narcotics down to District Court, where they are prosecuted as misdemeanors. He says the move affects two-thirds of his caseload.
That’s just amazing. To get an idea of how much 3 grams is, put three paper clips in your hand. Having that much drugs on you has not only been treated as a felony (a felony!), but it bogs down the majority of what even the most progressive County Prosecutor’s office in the state has been working on. Wow!
– Finally, the Cannabis Defense Coalition (full disclosure: I’ve been a member since last year) has updated its website with more information about the upcoming prosecution of medical marijuana patient Bruce Olson in Kitsap County.
Thank you for keeping us informed. I appreciate it.
@1
You’re welcome.
Legalize it and tax it.
Drug problem solved.
Cough, cough, hack, hack. Grow up already Lee.
Hack!
The ol’ synapses aren’t quit firing this morning, huh, Mark? Try upping the voltage, perv.
I like the idea of legalizing marijuana. I think legalization or decriminalization of other substances such as heroin or cocaine should be examined as separate issues.
I heard a piece on Air America’s Thom Hartmann’s show this morning given by Bernie Sanders, the Senator from Vermont. A caller from Tennessee asked Bernie Sanders why guys like Bernard Madoff get house arrest for stealing $50 billion, yet a poor young schmuck from TN gets 10 years in “big boy” prison for selling a little pot.
Something is way, way out of whack with this scenario. Pot should be made legal and allowed for adults to enjoy. And, yes, it could be an additional source of tax revenue for government, though I prefer to think of the idea of people being allowed to do as they please without fear of government prison-time as being more important than revenues.
@8 It really does boil down to an issue of personal freedom, with the possibility of any revenue being a different matter. What, we can only regain a freedom lost if there’s sufficient money in it for somebody? Still, generating revenue seems a worthy point to use with those who value money over another’s personal freedom.
Right-O, Steve: it’s about personal choice and responsibility. The tax stuff is a secondary (and not as important) issue.
Do not minimize taxes as an INCENTIVE
Imagine an initiative to sell MJ in the State Liquor Stores, under control and with a big cut for
Gregoirethe schools?A lot of folks who might otherwise not care or even oppose MJ, would be all to willing to do so if they felt it would save a buck.
Crusaders and Other Nuts
During the bush years we should have learned that acting like a nut can give a bad name to anything.
Personally, I want MJ legalized but some of the goofy things Lee and others claim puts many people off.
The simple facts are that after over a century of propaganda, some tinged by racism or religiosity, science has found nothing really interesting about MJ as a bad thing. Ranked with Booze, Coffee, Chocolate, Sex, extreme exercise, television, cough syrup, masturbation, … pot is more or less at the masturbation level of toxicity .. naughty but not harmful.
Put it this way. Suppose I was running a dtug company and I found that by tinkering around with carbon and oxygen, plus some nitrogen and hydrogen, my chemists had comer up with something that was mildly pleasant, helped appetite, and could be added to food.
OF COURSE, we would want to market this .. just as the P&G’s of this world market Ginseng flavored chewing gum.
Would anyone care?
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, pot will remain illegal so long as there’s no outrageous profit in it for the corporate world. Cannabis sativa remains something any idiot can grow in virtually any climate, though I have a funny story about how may parents (along with an innocent 7yo me) failed miserably at doing so.
U can bet that if the GOP Congressional delegation from KY represented pot growers, all of a sudden, like magic, it would be legal and the so-called Religious Right wouldn’t make a peep.
Broadway
Of course! To make pot legal, one needs (oddly) to commercialize it .. that is limit ist sales to licensed growers.
How hard do you think it is to make booze? If anything that is easier than making weed. Yet, the distillers makum big bucks.
IUmagine this:
Washington State to Sell BC Bud (R),
@15 “licensed growers”
No, SJ, I disagree. There’s already state laws on the books for home brewing and wine making. It goes as far as to address sales at wine shows and such. I do not believe there is a license required for home winemaking or brewing. And if I’m correct on this, why should there be a license for growing pot? This same state law could be revised to include home growing of MJ. All the same, just like with booze, the corporations could make money as well, selling MJ product in our state liquor (and pot) stores.
That is the point. Wine, beer, and booze can be mad by anyone BUT the regulations are designed to make it expensive if you want to sell the stuff in any quantity.
How many folks drank bathtub gin after the Twenty-first amendment? Take the tax stamps off and Smirnoff would go out of business.
For that matter, how many of use home grown oregano in our salads?
+++++++++++++++++=
Leaving the marijuanholics aside, IF the issue were forced into the public domain I do not believe any credible scientist is going to worry about MJ as a bad drug. That would leave the antiMJ folks with little to stand on IF and only IF the public saw a benefit for folks other than the marijuanaholics.
Tax it and they will come!.
@17 “Tax it and they will come!”
Well, that’s the reality of it. That said, it’s really a simple issue of personal freedom, at least it is to me. However, freedom doesn’t ring the same bell with a politician, left or right, as would money from taxation.
Hmm, I can find only one reference to “family beer” or “family wine” in the WAC’s and RCW’s. It seems to only limit how much you can remove from the home (one gallon) and allowances for consumption at winetasting events. It should be that way with growing pot – grow it to your heart’s content, no license required, as long as you don’t peddle it on the street. Sell it and you fall under different laws applying to wine/pot/beer distributers.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/def.....=66.28.140
Sure.
Legalize, tax, and the rest of it is easy. Them what wanna grow their own, rather than buy it from Red Hook, will. Just like all the folks drinking home brewed beer.
Problem solved. Next?
6. steve spews:
‘Try upping the voltage, perv.’
Uummm, you’re the one with the obsessive fantasy about goats and cannot seem to let it go. Hence, calling me a perv makes you a hypocrit. Be careful, I think it’s a felony to get caught in your goat pen with your pants down now. Good luck Stevie-slut.
Hmm, it would seem that someone has a fixation on a certain species of farm animal. Apparently increasing voltage hasn’t worked yet. I know, Mark, try plugging yourself into the range outlet. Fifty amps at 240V just might do the trick.
For those not following, I’m trying to help Mark fire up the ol’ synapses. Not much luck yet, as you can see.
So, Mark, let me know if the breaker trips – I’ll tell you how to tap into the mains. Or if you have fuses, try putting some pennies in there.
It would just be dampered by roadside drug test.Arrested for driving while high.High in public, then back to court we would all go.New Laws,More taxes,More cops to do the tests. Just what we all need,Just grow enough to smoke and take your chances.In the long run some fights are better left alone.
Steve, Steve, Steve,
Let’s go back and see how many posts you have had in the past and see how many references to goats and beastiality there are. No one else is talking about such matters other than you. My advice is to check yourself brother. Now run along back to your trailer, I am done with you.
@26 Mark, Mark, Mark, sure, let’s go back. I suggest you do a Puddy-style search. You’ll see that you’re the only one talking livestock these days. Why is that? Got issues? My bet is that you’re some kind of perv and this shit rings your bell. Oh, and I’m not your brother. Furthermore, I’ll let you know when I’m done with you.
That said, it appears you haven’t taken my advice to increase both the voltage and current. Try the range outlet and report back to me.
So much animal abuse,SPCA should really get involved. Ha Ha
Geez, Mark, I hope that voltage wasn’t too high.
Drugs are for fuck-ups.