Imagine it. Grownup Californians making a choice that should never have been denied them in the first place.
Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 would allow adults in that state to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal consumption; to use marijuana in a non-public place; and to grow the weed at a private residence in an area not to exceed 25 square feet.
Whether you live in New Jersey or Tennessee, Texas or Oregon, there are compelling reasons for you and residents of all the other states to actively support this campaign in California.
Who should favor, and therefore work for the passage of Proposition 19? An abbreviated list, including both overlapping and contradictory stakeholders:
Law enforcement whose members face on the one hand the prospect of sudden, violent death at the hands of drug cartels and street gangs, and on the other the hostility they encounter when enforcing draconian, everybody-loses prohibition laws;
Members of the medical community who understand that marijuana is far less harmful to individuals and to society than alcohol and tobacco;
The scientific community whose research findings on both medical and recreational uses of marijuana have been widely ignored or distorted by drug war fanatics;
Politicians who could and should have moved years ago to legalize, tax, and control cannabis, and who now have an opportunity to show some real civic leadership;
Teachers, preachers, coaches, and counselors who, under a controlled and regulated system, would theoretically be able to make a more reasoned and persuasive anti-drug use appeal to children;
Parents who would finally be able to look their kids in the eye and tell them, "Yes, I use it. And, no, you cannot. Not until you're 21";
Conservatives who believe in states' rights;
Libertarians who believe in limited government;
Liberals and progressives who believe in nondiscriminatory policing, freedom of choice, and social justice;
Editorialists in both old and new media who, as opinion shapers, can make up for years of blind acceptance of the "This is your brain on drugs" lies and distortions of drug war propagandists;
Civil libertarians who are rightly offended by the erosion of Americans' civil liberties, particularly those embodied in the Fourth Amendment;
Ethnic minorities who for decades have been targeted, arrested, jailed, convicted, and sentenced to much longer prison terms in stunningly disproportionate numbers;
Students, workers, residents of public housing who have lost loans, jobs and career prospects, and/or the roofs over their heads because of a drug bust;
Families of the busted who've seen their loved ones -- breadwinners, fathers, mothers -- incarcerated for nonviolent offenses;
Law-abiding consumers of alcohol who, despite personal struggles with "adult beverages," have rejected use of the safer but forbidden cannabis;
Terminally ill or chronically pain-tormented patients who stand to benefit from freer access to a drug that, for many, has proven advantages over opioids in managing pain, enhancing appetite, and improving quality of life;
Abusers of marijuana who because of the risk and stigma attached to possession, have not had the courage or the wherewithal to get professional help;
Taxpayers who have been losing billions in tax revenues because of the myopic, moralistic attitudes implicit in prohibition;
Current, responsible consumers who would no longer be considered "criminals."
I was born and raised in California, spending the first 48 years of my life in San Diego. For the past 16 years I've called Washington State home. I love the Pacific Northwest, but for the next two months I'm a Californian again. My head and heart belong to a massive social movement that aims to restore human dignity, civil liberties, and common sense in the Golden State.
It's been said before but bears repeating: For better or worse, what germinates and blossoms in California often finds itself being lifted by prevailing winds of change and deposited in the other 49 states.
Californians have an opportunity to do what no other state has done, indeed, what no other country has accomplished. (No, pot is not legal in Amsterdam or anywhere else; it has been allowed, controlled, and regulated, not legalized).
Every American has a stake in the passage of Proposition 19.
Follow Norm Stamper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CopsSayLegalize
These types of questions usually arise after the initiative has passed, which is one of the biggest problems with ballot box legislating.
I'm saying this because my experience as a law enforcement officer has shown me the harm it has done to families. I do not want a society that is accepting of a drug culture.
Second, marijuana (according to the AMA) is less addictive than caffeine. The reason that more teens are in rehab for marijuana today is because of the proliferation since the early 1990s of drug courts in the US. These drug courts give the teen who was caught possessing (a large majority of whom have not used marijuana in the 30 days prior to their admission to rehab) a choice: go to rehab or go to jail. Not surprisingly most teens choose rehab over jail.
Next, usage rates will NOT skyrocket among young people when marijuana is legalized. Examining the example of the Dutch approach where cannabis may be legally purchased at a retail outlet is quite instructive. The usage rates among Dutch youth are HALF of what usage rates are among American youth.
Dbrett480, please get your facts straight before you post such ignorant lies about a subject you are quite obviously completely uninformed.
2003 http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/289/4/427
When marijuana was decriminalized in several US states, the rate of drug use among use increased.
consumption in the home. The court’s ruling became a green light for marijuana use. Although the ruling was limited to persons 19 and over, teens were among those increasingly using marijuana. According to a 1988 University of Alaska study, the state’s 12 to 17-year-olds used marijuana at more than twice the national average for their age group. Alaska’s residents voted in 1990 to recriminalize possession of marijuana, demonstrating their belief that increased use was too high a price to pay.
Also
The only harm pot has done to my family is the jail time and outrageous fines that I paid for having a bag of it,something that most americans struggle with is loss of work or property and insane fines for your salary over something that cost me thirty bucks and has no proven ill effects on my body but helpfull in so many ways.I smoke pot and have no intrest in putting a needle in my arm, that is done by the plasma center where I donate and is not affected by the use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDrpjTEjN08
Now look up Rush Limbaugh. Yes, while Glenn Beck was singing warm God songs in Washington, famous and beloved Rush Limbaugh, on vacation with his bride Kathryn, showed off an e-cigarette manufactured by Volcano (Hawaii) and reported that it was helping him control his smoking habit. The same Rush Limbaugh who bragged of his "formerly nicotine stained fingers" now even got off a verbal jab at "Big Tobacco" which is trying to use its clout with captive FDA (where do you think the feds get all that tax money) to suppress e-cigs.
Aside from Rushing to take note of the supurb fraeudian pun operating here, shouldn't we start reminding our rwtsh (right wing talk show host) friends to "c o n n e c t t h e d o t s " ? Wouldn't it be a gas if Republicans recaptured the Congress AND riefer got legalized?
According to the ONDCP, at least sixty percent of Mexican drug cartel money comes from selling marijuana in the U.S., they protect this revenue by brutally torturing, murdering and dismembering countless innocent people.
If we can STOP people using marijuana then we need to do so NOW, but if we can't then we need to legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match. One way or the other, we have to force the cartels out of the marijuana market and eliminate their highly lucrative marijuana incomes - no business can withstand the loss of sixty percent of its revenue!
To date, the cartels have amassed more than 100,000 "foot soldiers" and operate in 230 U.S. cities, and Arizona police are now conceding that parts of their state are under cartel control. The longer the cartels are allowed to exploit the prohibition the more powerful they're going to get and the more our own personal security will be put in jeopardy.
An embarrassing omission on my part, coming from a proud member of LEAP (www.copssaylegalizedrugs.com) whose membership includes prosecutors and judges, as well as probation and parole officers; DEA, FBI, Homeland Security agents; prison wardens; and those who protect state and national parks (whose prime "agricultural" acreage is ideal for the cartels to farm their illicit, tax-free crops).
Any other stakeholders we can add to the list?
Athens Banner-Herald
Published Tuesday, August 31, 2010
I would like you to know about medical marijuana for cancer. In her late 30s, my wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, stage 4a. It was a 6 centimeter tumor that had grown around the hepatic artery and portal vein.
At first I thought marijuana was just for nausea caused by her chemo, but then I found a study in the journal Cancer Research (July 1, 2006). It showed that cannabinoids specifically fight pancreatic tumor cells.
I changed her diet and started her on a regimen, and she now is cancer-free. The regimen is being studied at the University of Wisconsin. I hope others can benefit from medical marijuana.
http://onlineathens.com/stories/083110/liv_702323043.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-HLxpWGCzc