I hope that the Feds do make one final action on pot - Legalize it in all 50 states - end the BS now.

If the Feds don't have anything better to do than arrest pot smokers or growers, their jobs should be eliminated.

Odd to see these liberal blue states telling the federal government to buzz off.

so ironic. for years they have been engaged in a relentless campaign to lock up pot smokers while misinforming the public of marijuana's effects. now they want to take money for it use, when they already waste half the money they have. i've been growing my own pot for years and will continue to do so; legal or illegal.

let those zealous dea agents worried about job security head down to mexico and help them out.

softdude - that is a beautiful thing you just said. i ain't payin them to stalk stoners and house them in jails while congress fights like little kids about the so-called fiscal cliff.

I'm all for legalizing marijuana and as far as I'm concerned you should be able to smoke it in a bar if you choose to. That being said, why does everyone think it's OK to smoke pot in a bar, but not cigarettes? Last time I checked, cigarettes were still legal to purchase.

I live in Washington state and unfortunately it is still not legal to grow your own, just a few plants would be nice. Smoking in public, which a bar is, is also illegal.

Yah, those red states usually do that. Unless it's gay marriage. Or forcing you to pray. Or the Patriot act. Or laws that prevent your friendly neighborhood corporation from datamining you. Or smoking the refer now, apparently. Or prostitution.

I am willing to bet a Franklin that Obama's farewell speech will be:

Ladies and gentleman, you are now free to smoke spliffs throughout the country.

softdude..

I like your point..

At least the FBI is staying busy setting up sting operations to put nearly likely, could be, might have been, if we talk them into it and give them the stuff, terrorists behind bars.

HEY FEDS! These kind of results (legalizing pot in Wa & Co) from an election does not involve some kind of electoral college. So, with that being said...THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN! (read popular vote wins)

We've finally found an issue that will bring the majority of conservatives and liberals together! I guess all those hippies were right; pot really does lead to peace and love!

Pot is a commodity and along with hemp should be legalized. This move will be good for the economy and bad for drug cartels. The only problem I see is the temptation for politicians to over tax it. Over taxation would be non productive because doing so would leave an opening for organized crime to crawl through.

Reasonable taxation and regulation is a must but it can't be too much of either; otherwise criminals will continue to profit from the trafficking of this commodity.

The economic benefits to our society would be enormous, a much lower crime rate, our courts would be freed up to prosecute real criminals, of course that means less people in jail [hundreds of thousands less]. Other benefits are; a new tax revenue stream and farmers will finally be able to grow hemp again. Hemp has always been and stiill is a big cash crop on the world market. It's legally grown in Canada and France to name just a few counties.

Hemp is used in the manufacture of clothing, paper and many, many other consumer goods. It doe not require much water to grow and it rejuvenates depleted soil.

It was only made illegal because of Republican hysteria in the 1920 and 1930. But not for the reasons you may think; it was made illegal to help out cotton growers and chemical manufacturers that were big donors to the Republican Party. We need to end this purely political prohibition ASAP.

While we're at it we need to take a good long look at the so called "War on Drugs" another failed and expensive Republican fiasco introduced in 1973.

A majority of Americans want the federal government to keep out of state marijuana laws,

FACT of the matter is Federal Law trumps state law. Dems and the lefties last year were praising the federal gvmnt jumping on AZ ass with immigration. NOW these same ppl are saying get the hell out of our states business.

You cannot have it both ways.

Either State trumps Federal on all accounts, or Feds trump State. You cannot pick and choose w/o being a hypocrite.

Fact 2:

It is still illegal under federal laws. Till something changes on the Federal Level, anything the States do is meaningless.

If people want government of from pot. Government should stay away from any kind of help for drug addicts. I don't want my money wasted in rehab. Even in case people can smoke recreational marijuana it should have the same regulation than tobacco and alcohol. No pot in public places, no pot in work place, no pot around children's Governmemt has the right to protect childres from pot smokers, Government building free pot smokers. Medical marijuana help sick patients but not everybody is sick.

Sorry, Jeremy, but state law trumps federal law, according to the tenth amendment. And this issue is DEFINATELY covered under the tenth amendment.

The text of the tenth amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Since the constitution does not say one word about reefer, regulating it is clearly a power not delegated to the United States nor prohibited to the States. That leaves it to the states, or to the people. I would prefer to leave it to the people.

Jeremy,

You might want to look into how the feds gain jurisdiction over an issue. It's not just a card game with the feds holding the trump card. Usually it's the interstate commerce clause that gives them jurisdiction. There are other routes also.

Tabasco Ed

Sorry, Jeremy, but state law trumps federal law, according to the tenth amendment. And this issue is DEFINATELY covered under the tenth amendment

So why Erick O Holder has to go against any Imigration Law that come from the States, you can't have both ways.

Sorry oskar, but gov't has NO RIGHT telling anybody how to raise their children. My children are MY children, not the gov't's children. And as far as the workplace goes, that is for employers to decide, not gov't.

Get the damn nanny state out of our lives!

Tabasco

Be real you liberals are already in my house, regulating what my children's can eat. Your childrens are Government childrens , like it or not.

Liberals?! That's the first time anybody has accused me of that in decades! I'm not in your house, and I don't give a dam what your children eat. That's your business, and nobody else's (other than their mother).

My children are mine, and my ex-wife's, and nobody else's. Gov't be damned!

And you are arguing with the wrong person about immigration laws. I agree with you. The states should be able to control their own borders.

Tabasco

I don't say you are a liberal I just say facts, Government with so many regulations do not allowed to raise your childrens the way you want. I give you an example. I grow up in a place where we grow wine, since childs our parents gave us diluted wine , today nobody in my family is alcoholic and none of one went wild when we got 21 years like most kids do here. My son can't do the same with his kid, I hope he don't learn the American way to drink to get drunk.

Law enforcement might view it as a threat to job security to legalize pot. Less arrests. It will free up jail space. I'm sure there are plenty of other offenses going on to keep them busy. We'll never know the true effects on society and the economy unless we give it a try.

the drug war needs to end.... legalizing pot is one way to start... but it's a drug like alcohol and cigarettes and it has definite negative effects...

this article wrong saying that it will have to go to the supreme court: it already has and the Feds won both on jurisdiction and having it on Schedule 1.... so the only way pot becomes Federally legal is congress passing a law... and that aint happening anytime soon... so the feds can start putting people in jail at will for it in all 50 states for the forseeable future

Yep, legalize it and then TAX IT at a rate of $ 100, no $ 200, maybe $ 300, an ounce.

That will make the Progressive happy.

I am for legalizing pot. Private jails and DEA will lose money. When the cartels don't want pot legalized, what does that tell you. Plus the pharmaceutical can not patent a natural substance to make millions. Even though common sense suggests that we legalize it and tax it, too many people with money will not make as much and that is the kicker.

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/bill_of_rights/media/ten.htm

With ten the tokers could win.

Unbeliveable! Those 65 and older oppose marijuana use.. These idiots were probably sucking doobies in mama's closet in the sixties, telling everybody it's good and they can do what they want.. Now that their too old to enjoy themselves, they've turned into the same mouth breathers they were rebelling against when they were young.. So pathetic.

I'm glad Gallup took this poll.

I've never used marijuana and never wanted to. But I am sick up to here with my tax dollars being used to harass and lock up a bunch of otherwise law-abiding citizens who aren't harming anybody but maybe themselves.

bangladesh is translated roughly to 'people of marijuana' until the US government order by treaty to destroy all their hemp fields resulting in massive landslides that killed many and it devastated their economy. this is the case with all countries that have treaties with the US(as part of the drug war), only a few countries have any hemp production but even that is very limited in its industrial use.

there is no evidence to back up any claim against cannabis L. or cannabis sativa L. var. made by any government agency, its all lies. the only thing that could be "harmful" is the act of smoking but that is prevalent in anything organic that is burned to inhaled so its not a specific issue. no law can be passed that is based on fabricated information and racist wording. broccoli and cauliflower are both part of the same family as cannabis L., cannabaceae -hemp family.

why blame just the extreme right when it was the progressive dems who outlawed hemp back in the 30's so their business buddies could keep bilking us for money. prior to 1900ish the whole world used hemp for 6k+ years in some form as it has hundreds of uses. hemp is a cheap alternative to alot of our current industries like energy and textiles but that would put a huge competitor in the market and those that are corrupt and geedy stand in the way with politicians on both sides to back them.

the federal government has no authority in outlawing hemp, none. even the states have no authority to outlaw it. the can both however regulate the commercial trade of it like any other product. states have intrastate regulation powers and federal has interstate. commerce clause is for interstate trade to prevent blackballing from states, its has no power to regulate anything within a state.

http://www.constitution.org/cons/constitu.htm

take the effects of the drug away and ask yourselves why it is illegal, industrial hemp (cannabis L.) can not get you high but yet is still illegal.

Something tells me this legalization will be too good to be true. Pessimism aside, if the 50 states inevitably legalize without any federal interventions then we will turn our economy around- on a dime!

Here's what worries me more than Marijuana. Articles like the one I've posted below which want you to think you are abnormal or a potential mass murderer if you do not surrender your privacy and put yourself in a position to be exploited by Facebook or other social networks. Making people think this way is the first step in making us feel there is something wrong with us not getting chips implanted in our brains so our thoughts and our every move may be monitored in the future. Wow, you're refusing to let the government put cameras and microphones in your home - what are you trying to hide?

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184658/Is-joining-Facebook-sign-youre-psychopath-Some-employers-psychologists-say-suspicious.html

What the people who want legalized pot do not want to do is ride on airplanes or trains or buses who are driven or flown by potheads. They do not want to buy cars manufactured by potheads. They do not want to be treated by doctors or nurses who just took a hit. They do not want the teachers of their children to be pot heads.

And of course, you pot heads don't want to read the scientific article that studied pot smokers over a 20 year period and deduced that pot smoking affects the brain and causing mutations in the DNA that can be passed onto your children and cause them to be dumbed down by the mutated DNA. You also don't want to read about the significant decrease in earnings that pot heads have in relation to people who don't smoke pot. You don't want to read the articles about the reduced life spans that pot heads have.

Which of you want to buy the first car manufactured on the first pot head assembly line? Which of you want workers who are on pot to manage your pension funds?

Which of you want workers who use heavy machinery such as bull dozers, cranes, trucks to work on jobs close to your house or close to where you work?

The Greek, Roman and Egyptian societies all went down hill into extinction when toxic chemicals such as lead and arsenic were used in the drinking and eating vessels that they used. Their intelligence decreased and their societies were dumbed down into non existence.

There are plenty of jobs out there for intelligent educated people. However there is a limited number of jobs to sweep floors or take out the trash.

"Sixty-four percent of adults responded "no" when asked whether they think the federal government should take steps to enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states where marijuana is legal, according to the USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday."

... 1% responded "yes" and the remainder asked "What was the question again?"

ATTENTION LEGALIZATION SUPPORTERS!!! Whining/venting here can be fun, but RIGHT NOW go to

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

and fill out the comment form and send it to Mr Obama. Let's flood his inbox with our requests that he bring our drug law enforcement into compliance with what Americans actually want. For example, here is what I wrote to him. Feel free to copy and paste.

Dear Mr. President,

Congratulations on your re-election, sir, and best wishes for your second term. About that: I’m certain you noticed that in other results that day, voters in the states of Colorado and Washington also voted to remove all penalties for people who wish to ingest the flowers and leaves of nature’s marijuana plant. Indeed sir, if one totals those two states’ results, as of Nov. 10, marijuana got some 30,000 more votes than you did. There remains, of course, the sticky issue of our federal laws on the subject. I know you don’t have the power to eliminate them on your own, and that Congress has enough trouble agreeing on what time it is. But what you can do, if the voice of the people in those states matters to you, is order the leaders of the relevant agencies, such as the DEA, FBI and National Park Service, to allocate their precious resources on matters the people clearly find more urgent, such as human trafficking and hazardous meth labs – you know, crimes in which a person actually directly harms or threatens the safety of another. You can tell these agency leaders to order their agents not to spend any time or our precious taxpayer dollars hunting for marijuana plants, or tracking marijuana dealers or retailers or users. Should they come across such people in the course of other investigations, they should maintain their focus on the original topic and give the lowest possible priority to the marijuana. And you can order the US Attorneys’ Office to focus its resources on other matters and not prosecute marijuana cases. We could even give this new approach a catchy title, such as “Don’t Seek, Don’t Find.” At least until our federal marijuana laws are repealed. Thank you Mr. President.

Jeremy-960164

A majority of Americans want the federal government to keep out of state marijuana laws,

FACT of the matter is Federal Law trumps state law. Dems and the lefties last year were praising the federal gvmnt jumping on AZ ass with immigration. NOW these same ppl are saying get the hell out of our states business.

You cannot have it both ways.

Either State trumps Federal on all accounts, or Feds trump State. You cannot pick and choose w/o being a hypocrite.

Fact 2:

It is still illegal under federal laws. Till something changes on the Federal Level, anything the States do is meaningless.

Give me a break your whole argument is exactly what you're guilty of as well. I have a feeling that you were thoroughly pissed about the feds intervening in Arizona's immigration law. I don't think the federal government should intervene in any state unless required by the constitution.

@Salt T Pepper:

How shameful for you to lump all oldsters into one category of "pathetic...mouth breathers"! You are NEVER too old to 'enjoy yourself', and if you think that, you are the "pathetic" one. (I suppose you are never going to grow old, huh?)

Yes, there were many of us that partook freely in our youth, but this doesn't mean all of us are against legalization/decriminalization now...in fact, more of my older friends are for it. You wouldn't believe how cannabis helps arthritis, fibromyalgia, degenerative disk disease, insomnia, muscle spasms, and quite a few other things that afflict us old-agers. I myself smoked until about 7 years ago, when the laws got so insane; I didn't even want to think about going to jail at my age.

Alcohol is a much more dangerous thing, as far as I'm concerned: I quit that years ago and have never missed it. But if they started selling cannabis legally down at the corner liquor store, well, I'd just have to pay a visit, I guess, and lay my money down. Never did understand how the government found weed so criminal, yet looked at drinking so benignly...one is flower and the other a toxic chemical, both literally and figuratively.

So Salt T., don't give up on all of us oldsters...some of us are with you, and probably many others that are too afraid to stand up about it. Luckily, voting is a private thing.

LaBama: Sorry back, but beer, wine, tequila, whiskey, vodka, etc., are beverages, which contain the mood-altering drug called alcohol. Cannabis is a plant that contains the mood-altering drug called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Coffee is a beverage that contains the mood-altering drug called caffeine. (So do not go into a tavern and ask for a "glass of alcohol" as you will sound foolish.) Study hard, quiz to follow.

@LaBama:

Sorry to call you delusional, but you have been poisoned by propaganda. Why don't you read and find the truth, instead of swallowing the lies so easily?

La Bama, Mexico's Puppet, alcohol is not just a beverage, it is indeed a drug. We were taught this in middle school back in the mid 70's.

So is tobacco. Only difference, alcohol & tobacco is legal & heavily regulated. Marijuana could be as such, & the many farmers who were put out of work years ago can have a much larger cash crop than tobacco is.

The taxes collected could benefit our local, state & Federal governments out a lot. It would be fantasy to state that it would make the national deficit disappear, but a noticeable dent could be put into it.

That is, as long as the Feds don't create more entitlement programs, or use it to benefit the donors who helped put them in office (their friends).

Cat

todayopinion, many of the things that you mentioned goes on today & has for years.

Especially many independent contractors, such a plumbers, loggers, roofers, construction workers, electricians, well drillers, septic tank contractors, tree services (many who cuts trees from the top down) & many more trades who uses mid to heavyweight machinery. Not to mention many services that homeowners uses, like mowing/landscaping.

Many of these workers smokes on the job, some even driving off for "smoke breaks".

And many marijuana users have well paying jobs, not all "sweep floors or take out the trash".

Cat

ok Eric

answer this, unlike most illicit substances pot can be easily grow by most people which would make it almost impossible to tax . and what do you do with all the stoned drivers? most cities are banning smoking ,plus what about pot in the work place, or schools?

@muglitt: What do you do with all the drunk drivers? What about the people that make wine and beer in their homes? How do you tax that?

Just because it's legal doesn't mean that suddenly millions of people start smoking weed in their cars suddenly. About the same number of people will still be smoking the same amount of weed. How many are crashing their cars right now from it? Very few. Incomparably few compared to alcohol.

Really muglitt? It's already in the cars, in the schools, in the workplace....you, I think, have been blinded and misinformed about weed. I don't smoke or drink but I have been around both and hung out at parties where both are present. I would rather be around the potheads in ALL cases. The difference, I think, is that most people can smoke a joint and still walk straight, carry on a conversation, though the conversations most certainly take a turn, and are still mostly aware whereas a drunk just stands in one place and sways back and forth, slurs and is mostly deciding whether they want to risk a walk to the restroom or just piss their pants and worry about it later....I'll take the potheads. If it were legal however, people would need to show ID so the kids can only get it if an adult buys it...right now you have drug dealers who dont really care and will sell weed to anybody period.

Dj001

"How many are crashing their cars right now from it? Very few. Incomparably few compared to alcohol." I will look up the numbers , and you need to take n to account that most dont smoke and drive now out of fear of getting busted with it. and most people who make beer and wine in their own homes dont do so to sell it do they?MeromMasta

@troy

" people would need to show ID so the kids can only get it if an adult buys it...right now you have drug dealers who dont really care and will sell weed to anybody period."

do you really think the drug dealers are just going to go away? how many adults buy beer for kids do you think they care ?wow

@muglitt: They don't sell it because there's no incentive to sell it (unless you want to start your own brewery/winery). There's no demand because anyone can do it with no risk of going to jail. Take out the illegal aspect and I bet there will be lots of people that will start growing their own instead of buying it from someone who is taking the risk.

Muglitt--you are aware most states have revenue departments that specialize in tracking down people who sell any number of legal goods and services without paying taxes to the state, right? Someone could give piano lessons out their home and fail to report the income on their tax forms, and they could eventually get busted for it. Some people run home-based businesses like making cupcakes out their homes, and if they don't get the right licenses and pay the taxes, the department of revenue and the health department will write them up and shut them down.

Don't pretend that legal marijuana is somehow so much easier to run as an unlicensed homebusiness than all the other home businesses that no one will ever pay the taxes on it. Sure, just like other home businesses, you'll have some gray-marketers that look to skirt the law and save a few bucks by staying off the taxman's radar. But most will make the same decision every other home-based business makes--it's simply easier and less stressful to get the licenses and pay the taxes than to wait and see when you'll catch an audit.

muglitt-regarding drug dealers, sure, some of them will stick around, lacking any other idea of how to make a living. And just like some adults will buy booze and cigarettes for teenagers, some will buy them pot, too.

But since the will not be wasting time trying to bust the 80% of the population that is legal to buy marijuana, nor the dealers that confine their business just to that population, it will be a lot easier for them to focus on the ones that don't. Just like with alcohol and stings to bust stores that don't care about ID.

MeromMasta

here's no incentive to make it legal if you cant tax it is there? wine and beer are taxed if anyone can grow it how can you tax it?

i smoke while i drive all the time.

you know what happens? i drive the speed limit, signal when changing lanes or turning and come to complete stops at stop signs.

horrifying isint it?

muglitt--are you arguing that the only incentive for the government to legalize something is to make money off of it? I prefer a government ruled by the principle that it has to concrete, logical, proveable reasons for banning something, rather than needing an affirmative reason such as tax revenue to legalize it.

Your "revenue first" version leads a government contemplating banning all manner of activities simply because it cannot tax it. For example, for years many states did, in fact, ban home brewing because they couldn't make taxes from it. Lifting those bans did not lead to a demonstrable increase in alcohol tax revenue. It did, however, lead to a marked increase in beer quality as home-brew hobbyists took their private passions professional making microbrews.

Same will happen with pot. Just like some folks grow their own tomatoes, some will grown their own pot. But others are simply too lazy or otherwise occupied and will buy their produce from a reputable dealer.

Oh, and please see my earlier post about revenue departments citing all sorts of businesses that choose to dodge taxes on sold items.

It's sickening reading posts from people parroting propaganda like "it's a gateway drug" and other non factual crap. Pot is NOT habit forming and statistically it is far less harmful that tobacco or alcohol and that FACT is backed up by FBI, local and state law enforcement and AMA records; these records go back many decades.

The only harm pot causes to our society is from it's prohibition. Over the ninety some years since the Republican Party outlawed pot its prohibition has caused literally millions of American citizens to be needlessly imprisoned and carry a criminal record for the rest of their lives.... This is NOT freedom it's repression.

So to all you pot critics out there, go light up your cigarettes and pour a yourself a tall glass of whiskey; you may not know it but your health and your attitude would be much better if you lite up a joint instead.

You cannot forget the other uses for marijuana, besides medicinal and recreational.

It is more environmentally friendly than cotton and corn and cutting down trees. Hemp can be used in bio-fuels, paper, rope and string, fabric, even food. Legalizing it could actually be something that might help revive the economy and bring back manufacturing. It could be like a modern day gold rush. The ones after the big money would be developing strains, the ones after the steady money would be focusing on it's other uses. Me, I think I would open a 21 y.o. and older bakery and confection shop.

muglitt

ok Eric

answer this, unlike most illicit substances pot can be easily grow by most people which would make it almost impossible to tax .

That's the dumbest reasoning i've seen. You can also grow your own your on food, tobacco, or get a mini-brew quit and make own beer, yet other people make them and they are still taxed.

ok Eric

answer this, unlike most illicit substances pot can be easily grow by most people which would make it almost impossible to tax . and what do you do with all the stoned drivers? most cities are banning smoking ,plus what about pot in the work place, or schools?

Ummm have you ever heard of a home distillery? You can make your own booze too, and sell it. Hell they have a show on one of the learning channels(History I think) about moonshiners. As for the rest of that, how is it any different than alcohol? One you drink, one you inhale, except one lowers your inhibitions, and can make you violence prone, the other just makes you really hungry and laugh at everything. You have an incredibly weak argument regard legalization here dude.

And again, let us not forget the level of violence that results from prohibition. The war on drugs is a lost war, and I would rather the money be spent on more constructive activities. Nevermind the loss of life to law enforcement trying to stop the illegal drug trade. You conservatives are so gung-ho on shrinking the size of government, think of how much we could shrink the DEA if we legalized pot alone.

Addendum: Oh yeah, by the way, most(not all) stoned drivers are only a hazard because they tend to be overly cautious, due to the fact that they are very cognizant of the fact they are high. This is very different from drunk drivers, who think they are 10 feet tall and bullet proof

Not everyone has the resources and knowledge to grow high quality pot. Marijuana is a hardy plant and will grow if given a chance, but the average homegrown will be far less potent/fragrant than a "brand-name" developed for competition in the marketplace. I'm quite sure that people with the means will prefer to buy it from reputable suppliers, even if it is heavily taxed.

There was a time when I used to brew my own beer. I even developed my own recipe that made a very good imitation "Guinness". But eventually, it got to be too much work for the reward, and I stopped the home brewing. If I wanted a Guinness I found that it was much easier just to go to the corner store and buy one (or two).

Co is right. in order to setup a quality grow room you need several thousand dollars, know how and patience. Pot heads aren't always the most industrious types so there will be many that would just rather go to the store as opposed to growing their own.

BigAl Las Vegas Over the ninety some years since the Republican Party outlawed pot its prohibition

while repubs have joined the war on drugs false flag op it was the dems who initially outlawed hemp back under FDR but hey why waste time with educating yourself when you can take this time to slam your opposition. i dislike them both but i know who you vote for.

american-400792 It will be horrible, when you miss that red light and slam into a car killing people. I would love to hear you use that argument in court when you are pulled over and have to appear in court before a judge.

I want to hear that argument when you pass your damaged DNA down to your children and they are dumbed down by your pot mutated DNA and your kids can't get into a college and have to sweep the halls of a college to earn a wage.

@American

I personally don't care if you smoke. Hell, I support it. But don't smoke and drive. I know a guy who can drink and drive pretty decently. But that doesn't make it any safer.

@Todayopinion

Toxins released by cars can also mutate the DNA. Gonna stop driving a car now?

Alcohol causes birth defects. Gonna stop drinking while you're at it?

@todaysopinion: Wow, I don't usually say this sort of thing, but you are just really really ignorant.

I don't know where you are getting your ideas, but weed does NOT mutate your DNA, and I've heard that straight from a geneticist. There is, however, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is very real, and comes from drinking LEGAL alcohol when you're pregnant.

From experience, I can tell you that weed doesn't cause people to drive foolishly...it makes you a SUPER "defensive driver", and that is what every driver's training class emphasizes, isn't it? A stoner wouldn't pull into an intersection without looking all ways twice, even at a green light, just to be sure, but a drunk would. He's the one you have to look out for; he's the one that will "slam into a car killing people".

Comparing the two, alcohol and weed, in driving, will show alcohol to be the loser every single time, without a doubt. In fact, I would love to see one of those drunk tests that radio stations do from time to time for MADD or others, where they measure how drunk a subject is over a given time, and how they drive, and do a comparison with a cannabis subject. How 'bout it, Washington or Colorado?

I want to hear that argument when you pass your damaged DNA down to your children and they are dumbed down by your pot mutated DNA and your kids can't get into a college and have to sweep the halls of a college to earn a wage.

Having had two parents that were quite heavy drug users in general, at least they were before I was born, I can honestly attest that you are so factually wrong with this statement, Glenn Beck could sue you for stealing his schtick(by the way the problems I had growing up had nothing to do with them using drugs, it had everything to do with one of the alcoholics that I had the unfortunate luck of growing up around).

MUW --

So we agree on the need to end marijuana prohibition. Very good. But at the risk of ruining our new found friendship, may I suggest that you just turn off the t.v., smoke one (if you don't have a job that has random drug tests), and relax. Remember, the liberals are just as much for this as are the conservatives. This issue should transcend your Clinton-Obama hatred.

Oh, and if you do have the opportunity to partake in a little reefer, don't pick up that copy of 1984 you have on your coffee table (yes, I've read your posts before). I'm not saying that 1984 is a bad book, in fact, it's one of my favorites. It's just that I doubt that it was George Orwell's intent (in writing 1984) to slam progressive thought.

All people who believe in freedom should come together in the cause to legalize marijuana.

I've been smoking pot for 42 years. Random drug tests are easy to beat, if you bother to do a little research. For instance, at the job I have now, they use the computerized time clock to randomly select who they are going to test. The selection is random, but not the days of the month that they do the testing. My last shift before they start testing, I "forget" to clock out. Now, until the end of the pay period, the computer thinks I'm at work, when I'm home and that I'm home when I'm at work. If they call my department to say they want to test me, one or more of my coworkers will call me at home. This gives me time to take a piss cleaner, so when I get there and take the test, I pass. Babyboomer stoners are a crafty old bunch.

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that, in chronic users, marijuana's adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

As has been shown by the majority of posts on this issue, marijuana has already affected the thinking ability of almost of the people who have made these ridiculous posts.

todayopinion Hahaha talk about Regurgitating Government Propaganda & Disinformation Nonsense......170 Million Americans can't be wrong and you simply voiced you Opinion without providing any supporting facts to your outrageous claims!

Speaking of "Wrong" COinFL...Hahaha with friends like "you".......

Seriously I call them like I see them and it is NEVER a matter of Left Versus Right, it is always about Right Versus Wrong! That is something that Political Partisans never quit seem to be able to Understand about their side....

“Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence.” ~George Orwell

George was against Totalitarianism in ALL of its forms even under the guise of Progressivism ....You really should spend the time to research Orwells on your own.

BTW that is why I quote him so much, he understood Totalitarianism comes in MANY forms whether Sneaking in in the Dark of the Night or Kicking in the Door in Bright Sunlight!

“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” George Orwell, 1984

Ah see now ya done made me go all "Orwell" on ya!

wow Brian

you are calling people an idiot and miserable because they dont need to drink or take drugs to deal with their life? how sad your life most be that you have to turn to such thing to make you happy.

muglitt,

I think he is mostly calling you an idiot because the contents of your postings are full of ignorance. I'm just guessing though...he might be miserable but if he is stoned prob not.

troy you missed the point altogether the point is he needs to get stoned to feel good about his self . so unless he is stone he is miserable?

Possibly....so all the more reason to legalize it....he could get miserable and go shoot up a theater if he couldnt get high

ok how many drunks have you heard about shooting up a place?

muglitt...don't go there. More bad things have happened to people involving drunksthan pot will ever have over the next 100 years. Try googling alcohol and violence - how many pages does it return? Now do it with pot. 'nuff said.

Drunks dont shoot up theaters they kill people on the roads

muglit,, it is you who missed the point. he said "if he wants to smoke". he did not say he had to. i to, smoke on occasion, not so i can handle my life or problems, just the opposite. for you idiots i'll clarify, it is more like enjoying a fine glass of wine with company, not to get drunk but simply enjoy the moment. i will smoke for the enjoyment of a cheerful evening with friends just getting together for fun. anyone who knows the truth about pot is going to support legalizeing it. those who are opposed to it are simply misinformed or blinded by self serving morons that call them self's leaders.

Prohibition never works...... period.

The federal government should make pot and hemp legal AGAIN.

Muglitt, A drunk shot up a neighborhood bar, In a small town where i was living, because the bartender told him she couldn;t serve him anymore, He killed her and a customer and wounded four more customers. Then drove to a highway rest stop and killed himself. She was one of my favoritwe people, a wonderful friend and a good mother. How many? One is more than too many.

Muglitt -- "you are calling people an idiot and miserable because they dont need to drink or take drugs to deal with their life? how sad your life most be that you have to turn to such thing to make you happy."

It's called "enriching" your life. Marijuana is not addictive. It is not like heroin, cocaine, or even alcohol. Not smoking marijuana is fine for those people who can't handle new experiences, but those people shouldn't be able to dictate what those of us with stronger, more open minds choose to do.

Both votes were the results of addled minds.

How so Buffarilla?

buffarila--

In both states, the margin of victory for legal pot was 2-3% greater than the margin of victory for Obama. So clearly there was a substantial group of non-Obama voters who voted for legal pot.

In arkansas, they were voting on medical pot. Both medical pot and Obama lost there, but medical pot collected several hundred thousand more votes than Obama did.

Everybody has heard the term or actually been "blind drunk". When it comes to pot nobody can honest state that anyone has EVER been "blind stoned" pot just does not work that way but booze sure does.

You can drink so much that you are puking and could pass out anywhere, can you say the same about pot? You can get a wicked hangover from drinking too much alcohol, can you say the same about pot? You can drink enough alcohol in one sitting to die from it. Can you say the same thing about pot?

I think that President Obama's best course of action on this issue should be the same as his action on the children of illegal immigrants, which is to say that the federal government will not make it a priority to crack down on these laws; that there are much more important things to use our resources for. This would enable him to avoid being painted as "soft on drugs", and at the same time he would not anger the majority of the American people.

Exactly - and it would also stop making otherwise normal, productive citizens into felony criminals. Here in FL if you get stopped with a joint on you, you could face years in prison, even if you've never even had any other infractions in your entire life. Who are these laws protecting? Do some research and you'll see. These laws RUIN LIVES.

Well, it sounds like if your most important thing in life is to legally smoke pot, you better move.

cunical Comment collapsed by the community

Looks like JUNKIES are winning.

It's unfortunate that we still have people who know nothing of which they speak. I wish someone had just "said no" to their conception...

The way I understand it, the laws were enacted in the early thirties....aka the Great Depression. A lot of white people out of work who didn't know a thing about marijuana. It wasn't in their culture. It was smoked by black jazz musicians and Mexicans. Put them in prison and that opened up jobs for white people.

Bro and Duck Man,

Right on!

Pot laws were invented by white male christians in order to arrest Mexicans and Negroes.

Don't forget they also generate revenue by allowing it to come in and only after it is distributed do they arrest the "Mexicans and Negros" as you say.

FYI, not all of us Christians are bad but there are some pretty evil cultural Christians running around...those are the guys you blame...

I know a young man who several years ago wasn't old enough to buy alcohol. His solution and much to his credit, he bought the stuff to make beer and made his own. Didn't turn our half bad.

To your point, what would stop an enterprising young person from growing their own and having access to it? Do you believe every parent knows what their kids are doing when they play in the woods? Anybody can buy the seeds online. I am guessing most kids have access to debit/prepaid Visa cards.

Rich,

Is it easier for kids to get marijuana or alcohol? Ask a few of them.

Every single high school in the US doesn't have several alcohol dealers that can deliver any time any day. Not true about marijuana. Legailization and regulation will DECREASE children's access overall (compared to now).

Me too. Been a criminal for over 40 years now and would like to be legal before I pass on. How cool would that be!!! But then old hippies never die--they just become accountants (and doctors and lawyers and cops, etc.)

Took me 40 yrs too. I'm "legal" in my state.

42 1/2 years, and stiil smoking illegally.

I win!

For profit prisons are the most evil form of capitalism there is.

The flip side of that argument is that prisons are a huge drain on a state's economy, so it's not really in most politicians' interest to keep large numbers of taxpayers incarcerated. I know there's usually some kickbacks involved, but I don't think they're that significant.

To rebut Mr. Douglas, if these prisons are such a money pit then how is it these "companies" are still in business? Surely the state could adopt the more efficient business model that private prisons have. More importantly though is the question of how these "companies" produce a profit at all? The don't offer any kind of service except that the common citizen can purchase. Who funds them? My guess is the state still does the majority of that for I have never seen any pamphlets or commercials advertising for the citizens to pay a porting of their salaries to incarcerate it's criminals.

bob: Just keep in mind that a drain on a state economy is not a drain on a politician's personal economy.

How sad your life has become. You are letting your hate (and possible racism) define you. Your soul is being consumed by your hate.

and you cat are seeing demons that do not exist.

Still pissed about the election I see

can't stand the color black can you?

What a sad little man you are.

Bob,

You are hallucinating again.

Stop smoking so much crack.

you people really are liberal racists aren't you? I never brought up race or politics, just voiced an opion I guess you figure I do not have a right to unless you agree with me.

Bob W; you mentioned the president and Benghazi then called the man a coward. Maybe not racist but certainly political

Would you get off the Benghazi BS? We didn't impeach Bush for getting us into WARS with TOTAL LIES. Benghazi AT WORST was poor communication. Like MITTENS, you FORGOT that Obama said it was terrorism within 24 hours.

Bitter, ugly (just guessing) and ignorant is no way to go through life. Perhaps a toke would make you more receptive to the truth.

Just give the President some time. I'm sure his view will "evolve" when the polls show it's the right thing to do.

Just what is it that you don't like about Cannabis Bob?

Bob--I think you are ignorant of the constitutional requirements for impeachment. In your ignorance, you think a difference of opinion on policy is sufficient. It is not.

A president can only be impeached for "high crimes and misdemeanors." And no, "high crimes" has nothing to do with how you feel after a joint. It means crimes of significance. The president endorsing a legal status change on pot is not a crime, and therefore not grounds for impeachment.

Neither (while we're at it) are misleading statements to press regarding Benghazi.

Just to set the record straight. The whole world believed Iraq had WMDs. It wasn't a lie, it was a failure of intelligence.

BillBodine

Just to set the record straight. The whole world believed Iraq had WMDs. It wasn't a lie, it was a failure of intelligence.

Nope. The intelligence community warned that the assessment that Iraq had WMD was unreliable and hardly anyone outside of the US believed it. Why do you think it was so difficult for Bush to get an international coalition backing the neo-con war mongering going?

The world was on our side regarding invading Afghanistan because of 911 but nobody thought Iraq had anything to do with it and thought invading Iraq was illegal and nuts...which of course it was.

Dan; What you must first understand about the right wing moral Christians is they still think Jesus was a white dude. The book they blindly follow was written by people from the middle east you know the same people they call terrorist now. I probably should not have posted this as they will now be more confused and stressed than ever before

I wonder what the left-wing will do when those black helicopters of the feds come over the horizon..........

Wow Rob, you guys really are paranoid and delusional, aren't you? Didn't Senate republicans just block a UN disabilities act for fear that it would give the UN rights to storm our citizens and take our rights away? Why do republicans hate people with disabilities? Why do they also hate veterans? Republicans are the lowest of the low.

We shouldn't be signing anything to do with the UN period. The UN is a joke ran mostly by dictators. Don't believe me? Look at the countries who are in the council of human rights. Its a joke.

One can only hope.

big brother has a name now-king obama.

Geez Bob go listen to some Carl Rove or Mitt whatsisname tapes and relax.

Bob,

Go back to your bunker and please, this time, drink the Kool Aid.

You are the only one who sees "king Obama" behind every bush.

Stop hallucinating.

This made up version of President Obama that Bob chooses to see is really a scary guy! I'm just glad that in reality, our president is a thoughtful, rational, and caring individual.

People who need kings believe in kings.

Big brother was killed in his sleep, by YouTube. George Orwell didn't anticipate instantly uploaded cell phone videos.

BobW-3215303

big brother has a name now-king obama.

King Obama or President Corporate Personhood -- God save the King!

smoking pot is not as bad as either one.

Lungs get damaged from smoke. Any smoke.

Guess who pays the cost when more pot smokers get lung cancer.

Got news for you Rummy

With obamacare you are going to pay it either way, just more for it. And smoking is not the only infusion process.

Legal or not, they will still smoke it. I'm referring to the cost of incarceration for possesion of pot. People in cities that have a lot of car exhaust and other pollution develop lung cancer, even if they don't smoke anything.

When smoker get lung cancer, they cost LESS than someone that lives a long time. They die quick and there is little treatment.

Rummy,

Please do some fact checking.

Lord - how do you smoke the cost of incarceration?

Peanut butter causes cancer. Look it up.

SRS - unfortunately for you they do note get lung cancer. Let me know when you have done your fact checking. You sound like come kind of Devil.

The % of people that get lung cancer that smoke pot only is just about the same as those that smoke nothing at all. And the pot smokers lungs are in many cases stronger than the lungs of the non smokers.

Rummy - it's already been shown many times over that people that smoke pot do not suffer the same damaging effects to their lungs as cigarette smokers do.

Yes, it's true - smoking hurts your lungs - but pot smoke does significantly LESS damage.

Stop lumping two things together that aren't quite the same.

@ENDRUST... I never said I "smoke the cost of incarceration". Your response doesn't make any sense. Keep eating your peanut butter.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana stays in your systems for days, if not weeks, it's hard to prove someone was driving under the influence of marijuana at a certain date.

Imagine you smoked on the 1st of the month but then get in an accident on the 5th. You're completely sober, but under current testing you fail it like you had just smoked right before the test.

But you're right. Testing for driving impairment would help.

merommasta there is already the tech needed to test for active cannabinoids. Which is what causes the high what most companies test for is inactive cannabinoids which is what stays in the body for several weeks. well it is more complicated than that but I am not in the mood to write a paper explaining the differences in cannabinoids that we produce naturally and the two types that come from the sativa plant but anyway the ability to test active sativa cannabinoids is completely available today.

I'm no Democrat or Republican, but have always thought the "war on pot" was ridiculous. I haven't smoked in decades (makes me sleepy).

BUT - I would hope that we could all agree that certain professions should be able to dictate their practitioners refrain.

Anybody want brain surgery from someone stoned? How about the pilots in that 747? How about the local SWAT team?

mpa I would much rather have a brain surgeon or 747 pilot who toked the night before than one hung over from tee many martunies the night before. There is no hang over or jitters with cannabis. As long as they aren't high when they are doing their job they are just fine with me. I personally know of a number of people in high stress jobs who quietly and discretely use in the privacy of their own homes to calm them down and let them get a restful night's sleep.

Like you I haven't used in years but I want it legalized because of the medical discoveries being made with it. For me it is obscene for our government to make something illegal here in the U.S. that has the potential of easing suffering and even curing certain ailments. It is similar to the presidential edict that prevented any federal funding for stem cell research for 8 years while other countries went ahead with it. Now there are very useful findings that are actually coming to a doctor's office near you thanks to research done overseas that should have been done here years ago. Anyone who thinks that our government is like our mommy who looks out for us is blindly naive.

Our government operates pretty much like the old Mafia. Those who pay the extortion money on time get protection. Those who don't have "unfortunate accidents." As long as the tobacco industry paid the most they were pretty much left alone but once the insurance companies started paying more we suddenly had a massive anti-smoking campaign headed up by C. Everet Coop our then Surgeon General. It wasn't about public health it was about money.

In the face of almost overwhelming evidence to the contrary our government still insists that cannabis is a schedule one drug. Why? Simple the pharmacutecal industry, the paper industry, the textile industry, the oil industry, the synthetics industry, and the list keeps on going don't want the competition for their established products. Cannabis was outlawed in 1937 but during WWII when Uncle Sam needed lots of hemp to make quality lines and hawsers for the Navy and rope for military use and canvas for tents and uniforms suddenly the ban was lifted and hemp was grown commercially under governmental mandate. The synthetics just couldn't hold up and compete so we temporarily looked the other way for the good of the war effort. That was blatant hypocrisy and many people noticed it. As long as the big bucks keep rolling in don't expect any significant changes in the federal position on cannabis or the drug war.

It kind of boils down to this question. How do you take money out of the U.S. Treasury and put it into your own pocket without being sent to prison for theft or imbezzelment? Simple you create some kind of a war and then set up the support mechanisms for it and overcharge like the dickens for that support. That is what our for profit prisons do and our DEA does, and our border security systems do and Halliburton did and so on and so on. It is all a scam as I see it. This is undergratuate business school stuff. How to create a need for an un-needed product so that you can sell something that no one wants is really tough but it can be done. I know because I took some of those classes years ago. LOL

Pot is leagal where I live...we just made it so. If if is not where you are...your bust. We, Washington, just proved it can happen. BTW the vote was pretty much split down the middle, red and blue.

You cannot legislate morals. (Something the GOP hasn't figured out yet.)

Warren S. Levine

As much as I don't agree with making pot legal, I must agree with the part of your comment about opiates pain killers being replaced or at best give the person who is suffering the choice to use this for medical reasons only.

I have been on many opiate meds for years now, and trust me they do mess you up big time...its called Tolerance and Dependency plus most opiate drugs cause serious damage to the liver and stomach lining and pancreas.

I can not smoke pot anymore as I did in my youth due to my intolerance of it via asthma and other problems, so I have to take a big leap in knowing that these very addictive and deadly drugs could slowly kill me.

I am always testing to check my liver that is a big one trust me, but I still believe that pot should only be used as a pain relief option.

This drug in itself can cause some people to go onto bigger stronger much dangerous drugs if they start doing this one everyday.

I do not understand these people who say that pot will not cause you to be any different.

That is a complete BS lie.

Pot will slow your thinking process down, and if mixed with booze or any other drug who knows what the hell will happen.

I smoked pot did many drugs over the younger days of my time, and trust me it started with pot then led to something stronger.

This may not be the case for everyone but I have seen it first hand.

I have lost some friends that started with just a spliff here or there, then they became irritated when they did not smoke for a day or two so they did other things.

What I am saying is that in some cases you may find one simple joint can lead to many other things.

I worked on a saw cutting steel and there was a guy came to work stoned and cut off 3 of his fingers.

He was laughing for love of god like it was some wild trip.

Sorry this sh-it will change your way of thinking no doubt about it, but for those in severe pain I say if it helps then yes it is much more safer then pain killers.

JMPO

JMP experience.

freeman,

There are those who have personal issues, obviously. The drugs only augment or diminish these issues, as the case may be. An idiot, when stoned, will be a stoned idiot. When drunk he'll be a drunk idiot.

Freeman, You may be interested to know that recent clinical studies have shown pot to be useful in weaning oneself off of opiates.

Perhaps your friends friends who got irritated when they were out of pot were like me. I'm just naturally irritated. People annoy me. I started several fistfights before I began smoking pot. I'm much more easy to get along with, when I can get high. People still annoy me, but I'm able to overlook it. Like you, I tried harder drugs in my youth, but I didn't like them.

Freeman, thanks for your thoughtful response. I agree with you on most points except for the gateway part -- that never happened to me or most of my friends. I totally agree with Plotinus; and I can personally identify with you, Den. Vikes and Percs made me very easily enraged.

I was on them from Aug 1988 through some time in 1993, during which time I had three major operations on my knee, and I'm quite sure smoking pot, even though it was much weaker then, helped me to reason more clearly -- I went and saw a shrink, because I felt like I was becoming a bad friend, a bad father, just a bad person, and I didn't like that one bit.

But in most cases, people don't go to shrinks, because of the stigma, or they can't afford them, or don't have the medical coverage (listening, Republicans?) to see one. So they go down the social drains and into the sewers of morphine, methadone, heroin, and that stuff.

I've also smoked or vaped pot daily for about 30 years with no significant breaks in time at all, with no ill effects at all. I'm 70 lbs lighter than I was in 2009; I quit cigarettes cold-turkey in May of 2010, and I've been allowed to vape in three hospitals. Get an IOLITE (gratuitous plug). I've used it at sporting events and no one has ever noticed. And Freeman, I've vaporized 20% THC pot while working out, and it had NO effect whatsoever on my blood pressure, my pulse rate, or my blood oxygenation. And I didn't get out of breath. No effect at all in a hospital experiment. =)

And to you Feds who are all pissed off reading this @!$%#, it will save MILLIONS in Medicare dollars since we won't be needing prescription pain-killers hawked by Big Pharma, who we all love to hate.

End of rant. It's 4:20!!! :)~