Yeah, lets legalise something else that destroys peoples lives, destroys families and kills people.
Should Pot Be Legalized?
by minimus 177 Replies latest jw friends
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purplesofa
http://blog.norml.org/2009/04/01/finally-some-change-we-can-believe-in/
Finally, Some ‘Change’ We Can Believe In!
April 1st, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Share this Article Not all federal politicians believe that marijuana law reform is a laughing matter.Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), along with fifteen co-sponsors, have introduced legislation in Congress to critically evaluate America’s drugs and prisons policies.
Senate Bill 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 seeks to establish a blue-ribbon commission to “undertake a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system; make findings related to current Federal and State criminal justice policies and practices; and make reform recommendations for the President, Congress, and State governments to improve public safety, cost-effectiveness, overall prison administration, and fairness in the implementation of the Nation’s criminal justice system.”
Specifically, the Commission will examine “current drug policy and its impact on incarceration, crime and violence, sentencing, and reentry programs, [including] an analysis of the general availability of drugs in our society, the impact and effectiveness of current policies on reducing that availability and on the incidence of crime, and in the case of criminal offenders, the availability of drug treatment programs before, during, and after incarceration.”
Writing this past weekend in Parade Magazine, Sen. Webb stated:
America’s criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace. … The United States has by far the world’s highest incarceration rate. With 5% of the world’s population, our country now houses nearly 25% of the world’s reported prisoners.
… Drug offenders, most of them passive users or minor dealers, are swamping our prisons. … Justice statistics also show that 47.5% of all the drug arrests in our country in 2007 were for marijuana offenses. Additionally, nearly 60% of the people in state prisons serving time for a drug offense had no history of violence or of any significant selling activity. … African-Americans — who make up about 12% of the total U.S. population population — accounted for 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.
… It is incumbent on our national leadership to find a way to fix our prison system. I believe that American ingenuity can discover better ways to deal with the problems of drugs and nonviolent criminal behavior while still minimizing violent crime and large-scale gang activity. And we all deserve to live in a country made better by such changes.”
Senator Webb’s analysis is accurate and his advocacy is politically courageous. It’s been many years since any federally appointed commission has taken an objective look at American criminal justice policies, and it’s been nearly 40 years since federal lawmakers have undertaken a critical examination of US marijuana policy.
Webb’s stance is all the more admirable as it comes just days after President Barack Obama and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs found themselves unable to even utter the word ‘marijuana’ without laughing, no less engage in a critical assessment of America’s failed pot policies.
Writing in Salon.com, best-selling author and commentator Glen Greenwald assesses the situation and nails it:
For a Senator like Webb to spend his time trumpeting the evils of excessive prison rates, racial disparities in sentencing, the unjust effects of the Drug War, and disgustingly harsh conditions inside prisons is precisely the opposite of what every single political consultant would recommend that he do.
There’s just no plausible explanation for Webb’s actions other than the fact that he’s engaged in the noblest and rarest of conduct: advocating a position and pursuing an outcome because he actually believes in it and believes that, with reasoned argument, he can convince his fellow citizens to see the validity of his cause.
And he is doing this despite the fact that it potentially poses substantial risks to his political self-interest and offers almost no prospect for political reward. Webb is far from perfect … but, in this instance, not only his conduct but also his motives are highly commendable.
At long last, some ‘change’ in Washington, DC that we can believe in!
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purplesofa
Just an observation and memory.
As a teen, I found it alot harder to get my hands on some liquer than some pot.
Dealers will sell to anyone, any age.
Responsible adults do not want to get caught contributing to a minor.
Legalize it and I imagine it will be alot harder for you to get pot in the hands of minors.
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BurnTheShips
Marijuana should not be criminalized as it is.
BTS
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PrimateDave
Well, Homer, maybe I just don't "get it." Anyway, for now I'm sticking to my drug of choice, the very occasional bottle of cheap vodka mixed with orange juice (or orange flavored beverage made from concentrate and sweetened with lots of high fructose corn syrup). I have vitually no respect for the so-called legal system since it is about power, money, and the prison-industrial complex. Hopefully, at some point I can get ahold of some seeds and grow my own discreetly for personal use only. Screw the government and taxes. Screw anyone who thinks they own me or my body.
Dave
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Homerovah the Almighty
Legalize it and I imagine it will be alot harder for you to get pot in the hands of minors.
I'm not too sure about that Purps, there is always the taking or stealing out of someones stash
either from parents or an older sibling.
Another problem that persists is people who are constant users of pot as it is now and it is alot stronger than it used
to be, tend to carry on with a irresponsible lifestyle socially in work and their personal lives. This is my observation from people
that have been known to be constant or perhaps casual users of pot, maybe a case of people being too laid back and not caring for
themselves or the people that they associate with.
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Homerovah the Almighty
I have virtually no respect for the so-called legal system since it is about power, money, and the prison-industrial complex.
I'm not to sure thats a correct assumption thats its only about money, most of the governments of the land know very well
that if they legalize marijuana, they could heavily tax its sales and production and gain financially well from it, but its the end user ,
the general population that they are accountable for in the long run. There is already one very deadly product out there thats open and legal
to the consumers and thats of course alcohol, its acknowledged clearly of what kind of damage that product has already caused, should we put
another one out there and make it even more easier for people to abuse it.
Some folks hold the position that well I'm not the one that would abuse it, so let it be legal then , everyone else can go f..ck themselves.
If pot was maybe the same strength as it was back in the 60's and it maintained that or couldn't be grown to something stronger,
it would very well to me and perhaps others to make it legal and stop the criminality of as it stands today.
Some the reasons why I stopped smoking it was it just got too darn expensive and it got too darn strong, smoking half a joint of BC bud
will turn you into giggling zombie for hours. ( not that necessarily a bad thing )
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PrimateDave
Homer, I'm refering to the privatization of the prison system. It is big business. How else can one justify keeping a 'health' issue (as if...) a reason for incarceration.
Anyway, I only smoked a joint once a few years ago, and it must not have been all that strong because it seemed to have hardly any effect on me. I have no desire to try any hard drugs or sniff glue. I rarely drink alcohol because most of the time I have no desire for it. I'm pretty sure I could get pot locally if I wanted it, but I probably can't afford it anyway thanks to it being illegal.
Dave
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purplesofa
Homerovah,
The distribution of pot as it is right now is not working.
People are going to use it and some are going to abuse it.
Same with alcohol and same with prescription drugs.
There are many things tied keeping pot illegal, of which I am sure I don't hardly have the full picture.
But I have been researching and learning. Our system is dysfunctional in so many ways, it's more than I can fathom.
Of course there are many opinions concerning legalizing pot.
When you seperate opinions from fact, a different story emerges.
Personally I would like to see it decriminalized and let everyone grow their own for their personal use, but I know that is not going to happen.
purps
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Homerovah the Almighty
Whats your viewpoint folks on marijuana being a gateway drug to the use of harder drugs.
I would have to agree with you Purps, the drug situation as it stands today is a total mess, there are those
who are deadly against it being legalized because the value of will just drop out of sight , the end product and even the seeds sellers
have said no to the idea, ironic as it seems. And as in the perspective of the law societies out and about there are many lawyers
who also are making a killing defending people in the courts up on trafficking charges.
The big problem as it is now at least in my neck of the woods is there is huge profits to be made by the production and selling of marijuana
and the laws have lacks themselves down so much now every subjective criminal is taking a whack at it, including murdering gangsters.
Its actually has got certain communities quite frighten and scared to even go out of their houses, as I said before hundreds of thousands of dollars
can be made in one sale alone and the people who are willing to attempt this are now only facing a few months of jail time.
Not all federal politicians believe that marijuana law reform is a