Legalize Marijuana Movement!

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:42 am

Its time has come!

Time to write your congressman and your newspapers!

Carlos Santana To Obama: Legalize Pot
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MARCELA ISAZA | April 3, 2009 07:02 AM EST |

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Musician Carlos Santana is seen during an interview in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
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WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. â€” President Barack Obama brushed off a question about legalizing marijuana in his online town hall last month, but guitar god Carlos Santana says he wishes he would seriously consider it.

"Legalize marijuana and take all that money and invest it in teachers and in education," Santana said in an interview this week. "You will see a transformation in America."

During his online town hall on March 26, Obama fielded a question about whether legalization of the illicit drug would help pull the nation out of recession. Obama said he didn't think it was good economic policy, and also joked: "I don't know what this says about the online audience."

But Santana said making pot legal is "really way overdue, like the prohibition with the alcohol and stuff like that.

"I really believe that as soon as we legalize and decriminalize marijuana we can actually afford a really good governor who won't keep taking money away from education and from teachers and send him back to Hollywood where he can do 'D' movies and we can get an 'A' governor," referring to former movie action hero and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Santana made the comments as he was promoting his upcoming rock residency in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The show debuts May 27 and runs through 2010.

Huffington Post

Remember the criminalization of Marijuana was to control and discriminate against Latinos and Blacks then anti-war activists! Its the racists tool used by the racist DEA and your local Racist police death squads.

Write, blog, post, lets get this legalized now!

AIIZ

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:10 am

How much money would be raised by legalizing it and taxing it?

Post by **Elderberry** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:22 am

I don't know the figue, but I do know that it is California's largest cash crop. So, if they tax it like they do cigarettes, it would generate a LOT of revenue.

JK

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:38 am

Ugly Dougly wrote:How much money would be raised by legalizing it and taxing it?

I think the estimations of illegal sales are about a billion dollars per state like, NY, NJ, CA, WA, OR and IL. So we're talking a 10 billion dollars of taxable transactions in America.

But that is not what it costs the government to maintain the laws of criminalizing pot. If we just legalize it and not tax it. It would still save America billions of dollars. Prohibition costs society more then is reported in gang crime, gun sales and other related costs. The communal costs to maintain it as an illegal substance to society may actually be in the 100's of billions.

AIIZ

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:44 am

Here is a more detailed account of societal expenditures on prohibition of drugs!
Costs

Drugs cost â€“ and not just their street price. The costs to society of illegal drug use are spread between health care expenses, work loss, and property damage, among others.

Estimate of costs of illegal drug use (WH):

$181 billion total, including:

health care: $16 billion (prevention, treatment, medical consequences)

productivity losses: $129 billion (premature death, prison, drug careers)

"other" costs: $36 billion (law enforcement and courts)

Crime

Drug crimes as percentage of all crimes:

33.9% of all state felony convictions are for possession or selling drugs (1998) (WH).

Percent of all prisoners who were using drugs at time of their arrest (WH):

State prisons: 33% (1997);

Federal prisons: 22% (1997);

Jails: 36% (1996) (includes convicted and non convicted inmates).

Dealing
War on Drugs

Amount spent on war on drugs (2002) (WH):

Total: $11.5 billion;

Prevention: $2.1 billion;

Treatment: $3.1 billion;

Law enforcement: $6.3 billion.

DEA arrests

federal DEA arrests made a year

source: DEA

how much the DEA seized - in 2002

Drug

How much

Cocaine

61,594 kgs

Heroin

705 kgs

Marijuana

195,644 kgs

Methamphetamine

118,049,279 doses

Hallucinogens

11,532,704 doses

source: DEA

Treatment (WH)

Average cost of treatment: $3,145 (1995, in '98 dollars)

Cost of one year of imprisonment:

In federal prison: $23,900 (1997, in '98 dollars);

In state prison: $20,261 (1998);

In jail: $19,903 (1998).

Costs saved by treatment/per person: $9,814 (1995, in '98 dollars).

Number of inmates who are rearrested within six months of release from prison:

who received treatment: 3.3%;

who did not receive treatment: 12.1%.

Where the facts are from
DEA - Drug Enforcement Administration

SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:48 am

Here is a Wikipedia excerpt:

Cannabis

In World Drug report 2006 UNODC focused on The New Cannabis, distribution of stronger marijuana with more THC and its health effects.[7]
Most of the high grade cannabis sold in the U.S. is grown in hidden grow operations indoors. The number one producer is California with an annual revenue of nearly 14 billion dollars in production, Tennessee is second with nearly 5 billion in production, Kentucky is third with around 4.5 billion, Hawaii is fourth with close to 4 billion, and Washington is fifth with a little over a billion. [8] However, marijuana is now decriminalized in Massachusetts, Vermont, and California. Marijuana has been decriminalized in Massachusetts as of March 2, 2009.

There is know reason to have pot listed as a dangerous drug except for political/racist reasons:

Pot is the safest drug. Safer then Aspirin.

Has no known overdose level.

Has a positive effect on the psychology of a person. Most users report experiences like a general calming effect. Many comment on brain stimulus- billions and billions and billions of stars! The number of those that are likely to have a bad experience will most likely not use the drug again. They will not die or sustain permanent effects.

Pot smoker are non-violent and are least likely to obstruct or resist police. Though they will most likely try to flee to avoid an arrest- who wouldn't?

The stronger the pot the less one smokes so lung damage which is the main concern of which is totally avoidable with the use of a vaporizer is lessened.

Marijuana has no known physical addictions and psychological addictions are short term.

It does not lead to stronger drugs- a major propaganda theme of the anti-pot groups. Experimentation should not be perceived as a cause and effect of drug use- it is totally an experience that people seek!

Never underestimate person's ability to monitor and make adult decisions about their body and the right healthy decisions for themselves. studies have shown that a certain percentage of the general population will have addictive personalities (1.2-2.5%) and will become addicted to just about anything from eating to masturbation. They should not be factored into discussion.

AIIZ

Monkeypoo · Post by **Monkeypoo** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:16 pm

I'm all for legalizing pot. Yay!

[youtube][/youtube]

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:53 pm

Would the price of pot (hence estimated taxes) go up or down if it was legalized?

Not saying yea or nay, just looking at it from all sides...

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:08 pm

Ugly Dougly wrote:Would the price of pot (hence estimated taxes) go up or down if it was legalized?

Not saying yea or nay, just looking at it from all sides...

Would you really care?

Remember you don't have to buy it.

But with a little help from your friends...

Who will care

AIIZ

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:44 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

SilverOrange · Post by **SilverOrange** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:19 pm

Apollonaris Zeus wrote:
Ugly Dougly wrote:How much money would be raised by legalizing it and taxing it?
I think the estimations of illegal sales are about a billion dollars per state like, NY, NJ, CA, WA, OR and IL. So we're talking a 10 billion dollars of taxable transactions in America.

But that is not what it costs the government to maintain the laws of criminalizing pot. If we just legalize it and not tax it. It would still save America billions of dollars. Prohibition costs society more then is reported in gang crime, gun sales and other related costs. The communal costs to maintain it as an illegal substance to society may actually be in the 100's of billions.

AIIZ

I think that figure of 10 billion is low. My memory could be "clouded", but I was living in Mendocino County in Northern California in 2004 and remember it being reported that there was an estimated 6 billion in undeclared income from weed growing in that county alone.

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:13 pm

I was trying to be conservative since I think the price would actually decline from competition and home production, but you are right it's more like 20 billion maybe more since no really knows. The dea only make guesses from what they intercept and they might not want the public to know since it would not make them look good if they weren't making a difference with the billions we spend to stop it.

AIIZ

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:01 pm

You can't Legalize Pot!

What will my current Dealer do for a living then? He can't get unemployment cause he's technically self-employed pot-head, and he sure as hell ain't gonna come live with me. I think they should come up with a union or something like Local 420, and strike and then ask for bailout funds.

the rebbi

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:03 pm

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:44 am

it been reported that the mexican cartel profits come mainly from marijuana about 38 billion dollars a year!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Re-Leg ... 6-148.html

They grow the their best weed in California, but also thoughout forests all over the south. the lowest quaility comes from south of the border.

But that alot of money exported to be used in other cartel operations.

Legalizing will keep most of that money here!

AIIZ

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:33 am

U.S. asked to stop 'false information' on medical pot

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 5178.story

Advocacy group tells the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the government needs to update the official view of marijuana to reflect its use as a pain reliever.

By Carol J. Williams and Maura Dolan
8:07 PM PDT, April 14, 2009

Reporting from San Francisco and Los Angeles -- Citing "overwhelming" evidence that marijuana eases pain and anxiety for the chronically ill, medicinal pot advocates told a federal appeals panel Tuesday that the federal government should be stopped from spreading "false information" about marijuana.

Lies are all they have!

AIIZ

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Sun May 03, 2009 2:36 pm

ROYAL OAK, Mich. â€” Now that Michigan voters have approved medical use of marijuana, one community is considering adding pot-providers to its zoning law.

Officials in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak propose limiting caregivers who raise medical marijuana to the general business zone. It's mainly along the busy Woodward Avenue thoroughfare and away from the main local shopping district.

City planner Doug Hedges says the proposal is consistent with Royal Oak's treatment of other businesses.

In November, state voters approved a law allowing people to grow marijuana for medical use.

State Community Health Department spokeswoman Geralyn Lasher tells the Detroit Free Press Michigan had issued 96 medical marijuana permits to caregivers by last week.

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Mon May 04, 2009 8:16 am

Obama wants you to voice your opinion on Marijuana and drug Issues in his local grass roots groups. We need to get as many people to attend these meetings and push for change!

AIIZ

Playa Tom · Post by **Playa Tom** » Wed May 06, 2009 1:30 pm

The California gubernator Arnold has asked for a debate on legalizing marijuana and taxing the hell out of it. He suggested a tax of $50 per ounce. There is no chance of much happening in the immediate future but it is quite possible that things will happen in a few years.
If you want this to happen contact your elected representatives they may not always follow the will of the people but are concerned about getting re elected

Fire_Moose · Post by **Fire_Moose** » Wed May 06, 2009 2:21 pm

don't legalize, decriminalize.

Seriously, yer a felon in AZ if they find a stem

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Wed May 06, 2009 7:50 pm

Playa Tom wrote:The California gubernator Arnold has asked for a debate on legalizing marijuana and taxing the hell out of it. He suggested a tax of $50 per ounce. There is no chance of much happening in the immediate future but it is quite possible that things will happen in a few years.

Sure, I'd go for a $50 tax to start with. If that what it takes these greedy I want to balance the budget politicians. I would pay that too. then work on lowering it though law suits back to where alcohol is.

Don't fucking work on "Decriminalization" that chicken shit for saying, "Oh we think its ok, but we're going to hassle you anyway so we can fine your ass. Most state hav decriminalized it to where it's just a fine without a record.

AIIZ

nightingale · Post by **nightingale** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:29 pm

[quote="Rabbi Dali Rick"]You can't Legalize Pot!

What will my current Dealer do for a living then? He can't get unemployment cause he's technically self-employed pot-head, and he sure as hell ain't gonna come live with me. I think they should come up with a union or something like Local 420, and strike and then ask for bailout funds.

Now, this is the statement that made me chuckle. javascript:emoticon(':lol:')

Too real! would be so awesome !

the rebbi[/quote] :lol: :o :o

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:54 pm

Fire_Moose wrote:don't legalize, decriminalize.

Seriously, yer a felon in AZ if they find a stem

In that case I suggest you remove and destroy all stems before going to Arizona!

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Thu May 07, 2009 7:22 am

Its now on the National News:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/us/07arnold.html?hpw

I will be writing my state and federal reps on this issue in the next week or so as this becomes instilled in the national mind from the news coverage.

We all know that Schwarzenegger likes to smoke some bud, but can't as the gov. He did so as a movie star and body builder not too long ago. Now the bud is better then the swag he smoked then.

AIIZ

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:16 am

I don't know if this is such a good idea when you contemplate the corporatization of the industry. Weed is the biggest cash crop and money maker in the State of Calif. Imagine the tobacco companies getting their shit stained hands on this. Our State & National Parks have also become illegal growing farms introducing pollutants, dangerous growers and erosion into the back country. It might be better to greatly reduce the penalties instead. I don't know. Where there's big money, there is always evil shit going on too.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:25 am

cowboyangel wrote:I don't know if this is such a good idea when you contemplate the corporatization of the industry. Weed is the biggest cash crop and money maker in the State of Calif. Imagine the tobacco companies getting their shit stained hands on this. Our State & National Parks have also become illegal growing farms introducing pollutants, dangerous growers and erosion into the back country. It might be better to greatly reduce the penalties instead. I don't know. Where there's big money, there is always evil shit going on too.

I also think there is big money involved in keeping it "illegal"..........
I bet the cartels and large growers lobby (read bribe) legislators to keep it illegal to keep the price high.

IMHO........

Post by **Elderberry** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:39 am

cowboyangel wrote:I don't know if this is such a good idea when you contemplate the corporatization of the industry. Weed is the biggest cash crop and money maker in the State of Calif. Imagine the tobacco companies getting their shit stained hands on this. Our State & National Parks have also become illegal growing farms introducing pollutants, dangerous growers and erosion into the back country. It might be better to greatly reduce the penalties instead. I don't know. Where there's big money, there is always evil shit going on too.

Yes, but at least it's easier to control legal business than it is to control criminal activity complete outside any law or regulation.

This might be something that would save the cigarette companies in this country--is that a good thing? I don't know; but I'd rather see them selling pot than tobacco. I don't think it should ever be allowed to advertise the product either.

You will NEVER stop the demand for drugs, so you will also never be able to stop the supply. Only when this basic truth is acknowledged, will there ever be sensible laws that are true solutions to the current situation.

I think that all recreational drugs should be legalized. Stiff penalties put in place for any sales to minors and a large portion of the tax revenue generated be put into an education and treatment program for the inevitable percentage of people that have problems with using drugs. This is nothing different than how we now deal with alcohol, so the model is already in place.

JK

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:54 am

jkisha wrote:
cowboyangel wrote:I don't know if this is such a good idea when you contemplate the corporatization of the industry. Weed is the biggest cash crop and money maker in the State of Calif. Imagine the tobacco companies getting their shit stained hands on this. Our State & National Parks have also become illegal growing farms introducing pollutants, dangerous growers and erosion into the back country. It might be better to greatly reduce the penalties instead. I don't know. Where there's big money, there is always evil shit going on too.
Yes, but at least it's easier to control legal business than it is to control criminal activity complete outside any law or regulation.

This might be something that would save the cigarette companies in this country--is that a good thing? I don't know; but I'd rather see them selling pot than tobacco. I don't think it should ever be allowed to advertise the product either.

You will NEVER stop the demand for drugs, so you will also never be able to stop the supply. Only when this basic truth is acknowledged, will there ever be sensible laws that are true solutions to the current situation.

I think that all recreational drugs should be legalized. Stiff penalties put in place for any sales to minors and a large portion of the tax revenue generated be put into an education and treatment program for the inevitable percentage of people that have problems with using drugs. This is nothing different than how we now deal with alcohol, so the model is already in place.

JK

good points......I might add, stiff penalties for mis-use, IE:
D.U.I., crimes commited U.I., personal physical abuse, neglect, etc.

and, in a draconain sense, I'd limit public health care funding for abuse (all drugs including alcohol and tobacco) issues.........

If you drink (or whatever) yourself to near death, then, die.............

Post by **Elderberry** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:56 am

ygmir wrote:
I also think there is big money involved in keeping it "illegal"..........
IMHO........

ya think???????????????????????????????? duh!

JK

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Thu May 07, 2009 9:00 am

jkisha wrote:
ygmir wrote:
I also think there is big money involved in keeping it "illegal"..........
IMHO........
ya think???????????????????????????????? duh!

JK

not often, and, not well............

Legalize Marijuana Movement!

Legalize Marijuana Movement!

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