Legalize Marijuana Movement!

[SilverOrange]

There's an interesting show on CNBC right now (10:00 EST) called "Marijuana: Industry". Interesting look at the marijuana trade here in the US, specifically in the emerald triangle. Damn, sometimes I miss Mendocino.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

There's an interesting show on CNBC right now (10:00 EST) called "Marijuana: Industry". Interesting look at the marijuana trade here in the US, specifically in the emerald triangle. Damn, sometimes I miss Mendocino.

I know that I do miss the Mendocino Beano

NJ has just legalized Med Pot!

[Apollonaris Zeus]

With stronger pot, you save money since it take less (two drags) to accomplish what a whole marijuana joint did in the 70's. Therefore, the actual cost of THC contained within the $120 quarter ounce of bud is less then the average cost of that 1970's $45 ounce of pot.

Not Your Grandfather’s Pot?
Mark A.R. Kleiman is a professor of public policy at U.C.L.A., the editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis and the author of “Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results.â€

[H.G.Crosby]

Any sort of flat-out legalization would risk a large increase in the number of very heavy users.

you have not done all of your homework.....check the studies done in holland, and you will find after an initial SLIGHT increase, the usage and abuse levels return to "Normal"...


doctors who don't even know their own medicines are very poor advisers.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

Any sort of flat-out legalization would risk a large increase in the number of very heavy users.

you have not done all of your homework.....check the studies done in holland, and you will find after an initial SLIGHT increase, the usage and abuse levels return to "Normal"...


doctors who don't even know their own medicines are very poor advisers.

I think he was referring to the "Munchie Factor"

[Apollonaris Zeus]

Drill, Baby, Drill. And Legalize, Baby, Legalize.
By Eric Etheridge
Gregor Macdonald says California should legalize marijuana and increase drilling for oil and gass off-shore to help solve the state’s fiscal crisis:

The potential legalization of marijuana in California should be embraced, if only as a sign of a cultural shift from an era of fantasy-based debt creation to a reality-based era of resource maximization. In order to more firmly reinforce such a paradigm shift in the minds of the electorate, Sacramento would be well advised in addition to track on open websites the transparent utilization of marijuana taxation–say, to fund state health programs. And, in similar fashion with offshore oil and gas royalties that fund rail construction and operation. The taxpayer, in a time of deep cynicism and despair, needs to witness and be a part of positive transformation. My vision, which I have written about continually here at Gregor.us, is that light-rail users will travel down Pico Blvd in Los Angeles in trains that bear the following placard: “This rail system 100% funded by offshore oil and gas royalites.â€

[Monkeypoo]

Nice orchard, eh?
Some of these plants were 8 feet tall.
Some stood up to 14 feet.

[Simon of the Playa]

ach, you know how i adore der tannenbaum...


little presents all on the tree, pine cones so to speak.


i think you are being modest WonderMonkeyPoo, they are more than nice, they are



GLORIOUS!

[Monkeypoo]

They would make very nice Christmas trees, wouldn't they?!!

Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the land
little stoners wrapped presents
they had a great plan!
We'll wrap up a bong
one for mom, one for dad
cuz they've been really good
they haven't been bad!
We'll leave brownies for Santa
with a big glass of beer
when we open our presents
make sure the weed bag is near!




Damn, vicodin makes me poetic.

[Simon of the Playa]

Damn, vicodin makes me poetic.

well, keep eating them then...


but be careful MP, they have a tendency to eat you if you are not careful...


i avoid them for this reason.

[Monkeypoo]

Will do. I promise. I have rationed myself to only 2 a day, and just for the pain in my shoulder and leg. HEY! This isn't the vicodin thread!

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!!



Marijuana is such a pretty plant...

[Apollonaris Zeus]

California on the way to becoming the stupid state with massive cuts in education. Sadly the budget doesn't allow for taxation of pot.

there is no one more stupid then legislators. They are the cause of the drug problem in america. Second is law enforcement. I know of whole neigborhoods were the inhabitants all smoke pot. Why is it not being taxed. Our government has its head in the sand or should I say up its asshole.

Mitigating Dependence
Wayne Hall is a professor of public health policy at the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland in Australia.


What effect would marijuana legalization have on dependence?

Some people remain skeptical about whether marijuana dependence exists but let’s assume that it does and that it affects around 1 in 10 of those who use marijuana. The effects that legalization has on marijuana dependence depend critically on what we mean by the term.

Marijuana use increased in the Netherlands in the 1990s, but this was also the case in the rest of Europe.
.If we mean replacing imprisonment with a fine as the penalty for using marijuana then legalization would have little effect on dependence. Evaluations of this policy in 11 U.S. states in the 1970s and 1980s found little or no effect on rates of use among adolescents and adults.

There is more debate about the effects of allowing a de facto legal marijuana market as the Netherlands has done since 1983 in tolerating the sale of small amounts of marijuana in coffee shops. Marijuana use increased in the Netherlands in the 1990s, but this was also the case in the rest of Europe, and policy analysts disagree about whether rates of use increased faster in the Netherlands than elsewhere.

If by legalization we mean making it legal to use, grow and sell marijuana then our task becomes more speculative because no modern country has adopted this policy. It seems common sense that legalizing marijuana use and sales would lead to more people using it regularly and this would probably mean more marijuana dependence.

Nonetheless it is difficult to say how much use may increase because there are options for reducing use under a legal market that are not now available. For example, we could tax marijuana to set the price at a level that discourages casual use, regulate its THC content, restrict sales to minors, include a health warning on packs and advise users on ways to reduce dependence risks (e.g. by using less than weekly). These possibilities make it difficult to predict the effect that a legal market would have on rates of marijuana dependence.

Marijuana dependence should be taken into account in considering whether we should legalize marijuana in any of these ways. But this concern also needs to be weighed against the costs of current policy, that is, the creation of perverse incentives to produce more potent marijuana, the widespread disregard of legal prohibition on marijuana use that could contribute to a decline in respect for law and policing; the unregulated access of minors to marijuana; and the social and economic costs of a large marijuana black market.

I don't know about additive behavoir to pot especially when it comes to my use. When it is around I do smoke it, but if there is none easily had, I don't go crazy and drive to the cities to score. unlike alcohol, being high is not disruptive as drinking. Its not even close and should not be consider as dangerous. I imagine that if it was legal and easily accessive, I would smoke less to closely match my drinking habits. I drink every few days.

AIIZ

[Apollonaris Zeus]

Oakland passes Marijuana Tax. Tax will generate over 17 million dollars.

It took California to to be the first to pass medical marijuana legalization to get other states to follow just as it took CA to pass automobile exaust regulations. This may be only a small step to full legalization nationwide. Still It is a national landmark!

Politicians are america's drug problem. Vote only for those that will make a change!

AIIZ

[Ugly Dougly]

Oakland passes Marijuana Tax. Tax will generate over 17 million dollars.

A step toward legitimatization.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

A step toward legitimatization.

Wow, I had to put the bong down and work out pronouncing that word

li git...., li git...., fuck it! where's that bong

[Apollonaris Zeus]

Drive to legalize marijuana rolls on in CaliforniaStory Highlights
•Oaksterdam University specializes in how to grow, market and consume marijuana
•Founder Richard Lee is organizing a petition drive for marijuana legalization
•Lee and others say legalizing marijuana could generate significant tax revenue

updated 11:20 p.m. EDT, Fri July 24, 2009Next Article in U.S. »
By Chuck Conder
CNN
OAKLAND, California (CNN) -- Richard Lee greets students, shopkeepers and tourists as he rolls his wheelchair down Broadway at the speed of a brisk jog, hailing them with, "Hi. How ya doin'?"


Marijuana activist Richard Lee is a local celebrity in the small district of Oakland, California, called Oaksterdam.

1 of 2 In this nine-block district of Oakland, California, called Oaksterdam, Lee is a celebrity.

Oaksterdam is Lee's brainchild, a small pocket of urban renewal built on a thriving trade in medical marijuana. The district's name comes from a marriage of Oakland and Amsterdam, a city in the Netherlands renowned for its easy attitude toward sex and drugs.

Lee is the founder of Oaksterdam University, which he describes as a trade school that specializes in all things marijuana: how to grow it, how to market it, how to consume it. The school, which has a curriculum, classes and teachers, claims 3,500 graduates.

Lee also owns a medical marijuana dispensary, a coffee house, a large indoor marijuana plantation, and a museum/store devoted to the cause of legalizing marijuana.

"I really see this as following the history of alcohol. The way prohibition was repealed there," Lee says, adding that he believes he is close to achieving his mission.

Lee is organizing a petition drive to place a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot in 2010, and he thinks the measure stands a good chance of being approved by voters.

America's High
Can we afford to make pot legal? Can we afford not to? The case for and against legalized pot, an AC 360 special.
Friday 10 p.m.

see full schedule »
A recent California Field Poll showed that more than half the people in the state, where marijuana for medical use was approved more than a decade ago, would approve of decriminalizing pot.

The state's faltering economy is one reason why. If legalized, marijuana could become California's No. 1 cash crop. It could bring in an estimated $1 billion a year in state taxes.

Democratic State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is spearheading a cannabis legalization bill in the California Assembly. He believes the state's need to increase tax revenues will work in his bill's favor.

"I think it's a seductive part of the equation," he says.

Ammiano says there are a number of ways legalized pot could be marketed, "It could be a Walgreens, it could be a hospital, a medical marijuana facility, whatever could be convenient. Adequate enforcement of the rules. Nobody under 21. No driving under the influence."

Even California's Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, says legalizing marijuana deserves serious consideration.

"I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana," Schwarzenegger says.

But Ammiano says selling a legalized marijuana bill to his fellow legislators remains a delicate matter.

Don't Miss
Oakland, California, passes landmark marijuana tax
AC 360°: The medical marijuana explosion
"If we held the vote in the hallway, we'd have it done," Ammiano says. "But people are necessarily cautious. They are up for re-election."

And that is why Lee believes voters will approve a marijuana initiative long before the state Assembly acts. Sitting under grow lights in a warehouse filled with hundreds of marijuana plants, Lee sums it up this way: "For some people cannabis is like a religion. As passionate as some people are about their religions and freedom to think what they want and to worship as they want."

But all of that is baloney to Paul Chabot. He is president of the Coalition for a Drug Free California. He says voters should not be fooled by promises of big bucks flowing to the state from marijuana taxes.

"It's their way of sort of desensitizing our communities, our state and our nation to a drug problem that we clearly need to put our foot down on, and say, 'No more. Enough is enough.' "

Chabot points out that California's medical marijuana law has been poorly regulated, and he expects more of the same if marijuana becomes legalized for everyone.

But a substantial number of Californians seem to believe that no amount of enforcement is going to make pot go away -- and that it's time for the state to begin taking a cut of the action.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

[maryanimal]

I'm bumping this thread because there are folks gathering names to try to get marijuana legalized in Washington state. I'm hoping it passes. Although I don't smoke pot, it would be great for people to be able to grow there own legally especially for medicinal uses. I don't think it'll pass, but you never can tell.

[ygmir]

I'm bumping this thread because there are folks gathering names to try to get marijuana legalized in Washington state. I'm hoping it passes. Although I don't smoke pot, it would be great for people to be able to grow there own legally especially for medicinal uses. I don't think it'll pass, but you never can tell.

the growers will be, or should be, against it.
Here, in CA, the price fell huge, once "anyone" could grow their own.

[FIGJAM]

I think I heard on the news today that several states govenors were going to put pressure on washington to de-criminalize.

[Elliot]

I think I heard on the news today that several states govenors were going to put pressure on washington to de-criminalize.

I'm all for it, and I don't even use the stuff myself.

[FIGJAM]

You never know Elliot, it may help!

You would need the gym just to balance out the calories due to munchies.

[BBadger]

While I fully support legalizing marijuana as well as all drugs that have intoxication levels (not so much the type of intoxication) equal to or less than the effects of alcohol, I think the whole "medical marijuana" thing is a wash. If it's made legal in any form, everyone should be able to grow or partake of it who is of legal age and in safe surroundings (e.g. you can't drive while high either).

[Patsh]

I don't think it'll pass, but you never can tell.

It passed in Arizona, a notably redneck state...

[maryanimal]

I'm bumping this thread because there are folks gathering names to try to get marijuana legalized in Washington state. I'm hoping it passes. Although I don't smoke pot, it would be great for people to be able to grow there own legally especially for medicinal uses. I don't think it'll pass, but you never can tell.

the growers will be, or should be, against it.
Here, in CA, the price fell huge, once "anyone" could grow their own.

Boy, I must live in the dark here, Last thing I remember about CA and pot was if you had less than an oz, then all you got was a ticket. Gee, the poor growers will be out of a job...not! people will still want to buy from growers, but there'll be competition. And the government will put their fingers in the pie too. government grade pot will be good!

Triken: what is the marijuana law there. Totally legal? A certain personal amount?

[lemur]

legalize medicinal booze

[Patsh]

Triken: what is the marijuana law there. Totally legal? A certain personal amount?

Medical, only... so far.
I don't keep up on the news, generally, but I think there's something about decriminalizing it to some extent, off in the future, but, don't quote me... I really don't know. (Medical DID pass.)

[Ugly Dougly]

It's tricky.
Complete legalization would make prices plummet. You'd have to put a tax on quantity rather than dollar amounts. And pot users are well practiced at evading laws. I doubt if it would raise enough money to help with California's economy.
But some form of legal pot would cripple much of the trade that makes Mexican drug cartels rich.

[ygmir]

It's tricky.
Complete legalization would make prices plummet. You'd have to put a tax on quantity rather than dollar amounts. And pot users are well practiced at evading laws. I doubt if it would raise enough money to help with California's economy.
But some form of legal pot would cripple much of the trade that makes Mexican drug cartels rich.

and it has, to some extent. At least here in CA.

[maryanimal]

Triken: what is the marijuana law there. Totally legal? A certain personal amount?

Medical, only... so far.
I don't keep up on the news, generally, but I think there's something about decriminalizing it to some extent, off in the future, but, don't quote me... I really don't know. (Medical DID pass.)

We have legalized medicinal marijuana too. But not for the businesses that sell it. They've shut down all the "drug stores" here in town.