There is always a gap between what a political system stands for and the reality of everyday life under that system. Ours is government that ostensibly stands for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. A government of, by, and for the people. Yet, when it comes to marijuana, democratic principles take a back seat to fear, ignorance, and political expediency.
Look at New York, Montana, and the federal government for recent examples of how governments ignore or actively subvert the will of the people.
In his first run for elected office, Mayor Michael Bloomberg admitted to smoking and enjoying marijuana. His exercise of liberty, his pursuit of happiness obviously did nothing to damage his chances for election -- any more than it hurt the presidential candidacies of Bill Clinton (and running mate, Al Gore), George Bush, or Barack Obama.
Yet now in his third term, Mayor Bloomberg has presided over an astonishing 350,000 low-level marijuana arrests -- more than the combined total of such arrests under the Koch, Dinkins, and Giuliani administrations -- at an estimated cost of $350 million to $700 million. The human and social costs are incalculable. Almost 87 percent of arrestees are African Americans and Latinos, most are young, and most, we can extrapolate, are not wealthy.
This, despite the fact that the New York Marijuana Reform Act of 1977 decriminalized low-level possession cases.
In Montana, Missoula police chief Mark Muir is supporting a bill that would repeal that state's Medical Marijuana Act. Nothing wrong with a police chief taking a stand on laws that would, in his view, add to or subtract from public safety. No matter how irrational.
But there's something terribly wrong with a chief who informs the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee that, "The idea of dispensaries in the state of Montana has got to be something we wash out of our minds."
If Montana is experiencing problems with a delivery system that provides patients with much-needed medicine, it ought to create a sound regulatory system. But "wash [the idea] out of our minds"?
Speaking of brainwashing, Gil Kerlikowske, my successor as police chief in Seattle, now the nation's Drug Czar, called me to task in a recent Seattle visit for my suggestion that the Office of National Drug Control Policy is as zealously committed to prosecuting the War on Drugs as the Bush administration was. Kerlikowske took pains to remind me that he ended the drug war two years ago.
Say what?
Since Kerlikowske "ended" the drug war, law enforcement agencies continue to pile up record or near-record numbers of marijuana arrests.
As we, the people, make increasingly clear our intention to see marijuana legalized and regulated along the lines of alcohol, law enforcement comes down harder and harder on nonviolent, low-level offenders.
There is hope.
Seattle, whose voters in 2003 made minor marijuana possession cases the city's lowest enforcement priority, is one jurisdiction that gets it. The law is being respected by the local police. Seattle's city attorney, Pete Holmes, won't prosecute such cases. The chair of the city council's public safety committee, Tim Burgess (a former Seattle police officer), joined Holmes and former U. S. Attorney John McCay in Olympia this week to argue for marijuana legalization and regulation.
And in a completely unexpected editorial, the Seattle Times, which until very recently had argued consistently against marijuana legalization, came out in support of it.
The people of New York and Montana, and every other city and state in the union, who believe marijuana prohibition should be replaced with regulation must rise up and say no to those mayors, police chiefs, and other officials who insist on undermining the will of the people.
Oh, and someone needs to tell the drug czar the war ain't over just because he says it is.
Follow Norm Stamper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CopsSayLegalize
But equally ludicrous is the idea that big business & government could eventually control marijuana distribution and taxation when "loco weed" is exactly that; a plant that grows so easily and prolifically that anyone with a modicum of informed negligence could grow their own in the back yard or their patio. Try taxing that reality!
Big business and government are against the legalization of marijuana because, despite all the talk of taxation revenue, etc., they clearly won't be able to control "potent" marijuana as a product with any greater success than ridiculously heavy handed law enforcement has been able to squash its continued use world wide.
unless you have pot, THEN it's PRISON 4-U...
I say we all smoke up and use it all at the same time same day across the nation everywhere and see if they can arrest us all.
Sure, Power, can frighten thirty percent of people about anything, but the real problem is that it's a weed. It's a weed that can grow in a crack in the sidewalk clear up to the 49th parallel and still give a buzz. Albeit, that buzz wouldn't be a fancy buzz, but it would be a free buzz. A free buzz much nicer than alcohol's, non-addictive, and a buzz that is self-reflective. An anti-authoritarian, decentralized buzz. Could anything be more threatening to conventional Power?
the police, DEA, and FBI are nothing but pawns in a global chess game...
how many tickets are issued for simple marijuana possession AND NO OTHER CRIME???
http://www.facebook.com/free.the.leaf
Republicans or Democrat, if you hold a position chances are you will vote against legalization.
Both sides are equally at fault.
While you rip on the "right", you should realize the largest political party who actively seeks legalization is the Liberty Party, which is technically "Right" leaning, technically a conservative group albeit a moderate one.
Pointing fingers at the left and right is just wasting time and energy that could be spent electing people we KNOW agree with us regardless of their party affiliation. This time could be spent writing letters and emails to both parties seeking change.
At the end of the day the problem lies not with the Right or Left, but with the WHOLE. The problem lies with the institutions and their practices, it lies with career politicians who need big pharma/liquor/tobacco to be elected.
Lastly the problem lies with the already established marijuana industry. Look at voting results from Prop19, it failed in Mendocino and Humboldt counties, where marijuana is a major industry.
Its the politicians greed for campaign contributions.
Its the greed of already established MMJ to keep competition down and prices high. Because money is more important than freedom.
Anyone who is opposed will tell you its based on principle, but in reality they are just saving face because its worse to admit that you sold out your opinions for money.
Even being a progressive, I'd be happy to vote for Republican Gary Johnson for president, if he'd promise to leave Social Security alone. He has a great record implementing marijuana reform as governor of Mexico.
BTW, the Green Party also has marijuana re-legalization as a firm plank. 8^)
What i am looking forward to even more than the end of prohibition is how this era, and the fight to change it is how it will be viewed and talked about with time.
I'm looking forward to looking back on these days. More than i look forward to the actual legalization.
I wonder how our kids and grandkids will learn about these days in their history class's.
If legalization will be viewed as a fight for freedom, or a "necessary evil" to combat drug crime
Here is why i disagree with your logic.
To argue that simply being legalized translates into "corporate pot" makes no sense.
Using your logic the organic food industry and "network" of organic growers nationwide would not have jobs or customers.
I've heard the term "Mcdonaldization" of the industry. Yes there will be corporate weed, however just like mcdonalds its not the "only option".
If you want to eat a good hamburger do you go to Mcdonalds? I'd hope not, you go to a smaller either "mom and pop" restaurant or a franchise which is still locally owned.
Corporations find business a number of ways. 1. Mass sales. 2. High overhead. 3. Highly specialized work.
Marijuana is none of those. Marijuana will not have the customer base McDonalds does or even tobacco does. Marijuana is easy to grow and cure, the deep pockets of Corporations are not needed. Marijuana is easy to grow and grows nearly everywhere, so you don't need to hire specialized trained workers do it.
You cant even compare the tobacco industry to pot, as tobacco is harder to grow and the curing process is much more complicated and involved.
At the end of the day if you want cheap mediocre pot you could go to Pot Shop USA, but if you want well grown pot you would go to a mom and pop down the street.
I cant believe you brought up corn. Which is like comparing apples to oranges.
Corn has industrial uses, is shipped world wide and is included in nearly every food item you eat.
Marijuana will have NONE of those.
Retail grade marijuana has no industrial uses. Any industrial marijuana is Hemp, which is not really smokable.
Marijuana will not used to feed animals, distill liquor, create ethanol, or as an extremely common food additive/base.
The reason there are no "little guy" corn growers is due to sheer demand, you could not support the demand for corn with the "little guys".
In no way should you compare the demand for corn to the demand for marijuana....
Not to mention corn is harder to grow, harder to harvest, and generally harder to process into and end item.
I take it you live in a metro area?
Seriously go to Wisconsin, or Minnesota, Illinois or the Dakotas in the fall. You wont be able to go 10 blocks in some areas without seeing a pickup truck full of corn and other produce being sold by "little guys", so even in a multi-billion dollar industry that has thousands of uses and end results the little guy still exists.
Also no one would be forcing you to buy from pot shop USA, if you are so cheap as to save a few bucks and buy from them than the local store, you are the problem not Pot Shop USA.
Do you realize that the DEA could be at your doorstep in the middle of the night, armed to the teeth, suddenly bust in... I'm sure you know the rest of this story...
As crazy as it is, it is illegal and there are serious consequences to getting caught.
I caution you to be careful. Even as I write these words I find myself wondering who may be reading them and whether they might decide to put an end to them...
God knows this is not what America should be!
The plant belongs to us. They never had the right to take it from us in the first place.
I use Marijuana, and I'm healthier than 99.99% of all Humans on Earth! I'll defeat almost anyone at every physical feet imaginable from running to fighting to hiking to rock-climbing, etcetera. Even mentally, I'll defeat most people.
Because good Sir - I don't doubt what you say!
There is a 4000% markup on the street price vs indoor growing cost. End all regulations- and cut in local mental health services, local police, local prisons, local court systems from a volume based tax and EVERY one will stop lobbying so hard against re formal because they will be making more money. While providing cheaper and more reliable medicine.
drug busts and since marijuana is the elephant in the room, they would rather destroy lives than loose the money for their SWAT team. Then there is the fact that we as a society spend a great deal of time and other resources on worthless pursuits as a glance at any front page will confirm. Semper Fi
American Citizens should be allowed to grow their own medicine!
saw this on Alternet this morning:
http://www.authentichistory.com/1914-1920/09-fallout/6-prohibition/
I, for one, absolutely refuse to vote for anyone who intends to maintain prohibition since I consider it to be Un-American!
http://www.norml.org/
http://stash.norml.org/archives/politicians-on-pot