Marijuana Wins Big in Alaska, DC, Oregon, and Saginaw!

[unokitty]

Support for the measure in DC registered at 65 percent in favor (20,727 votes) to 29.5 percent against, according to National Public Radio. Medical marijuana was already legal in DC...

Oregonian legalization campaigners view the state with its already existing vigorous medical cannabis program as the forerunner in a crucial second wave of legalization across the US.

"We have ended a painful, discriminatory, harmful policy that has terrible consequences for our state," said Anthony Johnson, a longtime marijuana legalization advocate, as he took the stage at the Southeast Portland club Holocene, where the Measure 91 party was under way, The Oregonian reported. He said the reform was “decades in the making” and “replaced a policy that is smarter, more humane… It’s a policy whose time has come.”

...In Alaska, the measure to legalize recreational marijuana early on Wednesday led by about 52-48 percent with all precincts reporting preliminary results. Both sides said the initiative had passed.

"Marijuana prohibition has been an abject failure, and Alaska voters said enough is enough," said Chris Rempert, political director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol, in a statement, Reuters reported.

In Florida, the ballot measure gained the support of 57 percent of voters, but the measure fell short of a 60 percent constitutional majority required under state law.

Voters in the city of Saginaw Tuesday, Nov. 5, showed overwhelming support for a proposal that seeks to decriminalize marijuana in the community.

Those that ratify the ballot issues will join other communities including Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Traverse City, Flint, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Ypsilanti, Ferndale, Jackson and Lansing to pass one of four different brands of pro-marijuana proposals:

Democracy in action.

Time to tell the DEA, ICE, and the other Drug Warriors that the citizens are tired of funding their losing War on Drugs.

Time to tell the politicians and their friends in the Prison Guards Union and the Private Prison Industry to start preparing for a cut off of their public funds.

Time to start building a legal Marijuana Infrastructure that, through appropriate taxation, can raise funds that can support productive areas such as education and social welfare rather than prisons and courts.

Uno

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I don't really care much about weed, other than it's stupid for something so harmless to be illegal, but hopefully this is a first step to ending the entire drug war. I have my doubts though with how much money it brings in for privately owned prisons and for police departments. Pretty shitty that a vote loses 57-43 though.

 

[Knowing]

I'll never understand why the executive elected to not enforce DOMA but reversed position and doubled down on dispensaries.

 

[Ken g6]

I'll never understand why the executive elected to not enforce DOMA but reversed position and doubled down on dispensaries.

Have any courts ruled that the prohibition of Marijuana is unconstitutional? I don't know of any.

 

[Theb]

Some rare victories for liberty and common sense.

 

[dali71]

I have my doubts though with how much money it brings in for privately owned prisons and for police departments.

And don't forget about Big Pharma...

 

[Atomic Playboy]

And don't forget about Big Pharma...

I'm guessing that the executives at Phillip Morris are pissing themselves with excitement as more and more states move towards legalization. An operation to grow plants, harvest the leaves, dry them, shred them, bind them in wrappers, box them up and distribute them across every state and territory thousands of times more efficiently than even the most advanced of the medical growing operations? They stand to make billions. There's a lot of money in it for corporations. Hell, big tobacco would hardly need to make any changes to their existing facilities. So when we talk about the money, let's not act like it's all on the "keep it illegal" side of the issue.

 

[unokitty]

I'm guessing that the executives at Phillip Morris are pissing themselves with excitement as more and more states move towards legalization. An operation to grow plants, harvest the leaves, dry them, shred them, bind them in wrappers, box them up and distribute them across every state and territory thousands of times more efficiently than even the most advanced of the medical growing operations? They stand to make billions. There's a lot of money in it for corporations. Hell, big tobacco would hardly need to make any changes to their existing facilities. So when we talk about the money, let's not act like it's all on the "keep it illegal" side of the issue.

A March Pew Research Center survey on changing attitudes about marijuana found that nearly three-in-four Americans (72%) believed that efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth. And 60% said that the federal government should not enforce federal laws prohibiting the use of marijuana in states where it is legal.

Its clear that the American People believe that the efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth.

Its also clear the the Drug Warriors (DEA, ICE, Prisons, et al.) are not going to give up their billions of government money easily...

Still, Atomic Playboy raises a significant point. That is, there are also billions of dollars to be made with the legalization of pot.

It will be interesting to see when the issue reaches critical mass. That is, when the friends of the future will have the political power to deny government money to the Drug Warriors aka the friends of the status quo.

While I can't foresee the future, I wonder if the next election cycle will bring that critical mass. Or will it take longer?

What do you think?

Uno

 

[Mai72]

Get caught with weed in Thailand, and you can be looking at life in jail or death!

We need to do the same.

No?

 

[unokitty]

Willie Nelson: Obama ‘may be happy’ about D.C. marijuana legalization

Willie Nelson, iconic country music star and well-known marijuana user, said he thinks President Obama “may be happy” that D.C. voters have chosen to legalize marijuana in the nation’s capital.

Nelson is scheduled to perform Thursday night for veterans at the White House, and infamously claims to have once smoked a joint on top of the presidential mansion after an appearance there during President Jimmy Carter’s administration...

“I really think stress is the cause of a lot of our problems, and I really believe the best medicine for stress is pot,” Nelson said. “Yeah, I think that would make us get along better – all over the world.”

May not be a lot of issues that Willie Nelson, the President, and myself agree on...

But on this issue we're in harmony.

Uno

 

[PricklyPete]

I don't see marijuana being illegal in 10-15 years at a federal level. Washington/Colorado have gone a long way in showing that marijuana is no more of a social threat than alcohol or even tobacco.

 

[dawp]

Get caught with weed in Thailand, and you can be looking at life in jail or death!

We need to do the same.

No?

no.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I don't see marijuana being illegal in 10-15 years at a federal level. Washington/Colorado have gone a long way in showing that marijuana is no more of a social threat than alcohol or even tobacco.

Washington's system is utterly useless though. Citizens can't get a grower's license (it's all state-controlled supply) and it's taxed so highly that the stuff you buy at retail (when there's any stock on hand) is significantly more expensive than just buying from a street dealer. If the goal is to kill the underground market, Washington hasn't figured out the right balance.

 

[hal2kilo]

Washington's system is utterly useless though. Citizens can't get a grower's license (it's all state-controlled supply) and it's taxed so highly that the stuff you buy at retail (when there's any stock on hand) is significantly more expensive than just buying from a street dealer. If the goal is to kill the underground market, Washington hasn't figured out the right balance.

They were so paranoid that if they did not have all these ridiculus rules that the feds would shut them down.

Well, they've made it so exspensive, that their goal of killing the black market will never happen. I can see it now, the revenuers going after midnight grows. We'll have a marijuana moonshiner reality show next.

 

[PricklyPete]

Washington's system is utterly useless though. Citizens can't get a grower's license (it's all state-controlled supply) and it's taxed so highly that the stuff you buy at retail (when there's any stock on hand) is significantly more expensive than just buying from a street dealer. If the goal is to kill the underground market, Washington hasn't figured out the right balance.

I can't speak for Washington, but the retail market is also too expensive here in Colorado. So fixing the supply chain issues (whole Mexican towns being massacred) is not here yet, but acceptance of people consuming marijuana certainly is and I feel that is a step in the right direction.

 

[Meghan54]

I don't see marijuana being illegal in 10-15 years at a federal level. Washington/Colorado have gone a long way in showing that marijuana is no more of a social threat than alcohol or even tobacco.

I would have thought that over 50 years of experience would provided the proof that it isn't the demon portrayed by the gov't. It's been in relatively "heavy" use in the U.S. well over 50 years, has been used by some of the high and mighty in our gov't, yet it's still classified like heroin.

Travesty.


And I doubt D.C. will ever see what they approved ever get allowed to be put into law. D.C.’s medical marijuana law, approved in 1998, was delayed for nearly 15 years when House Republicans continuously attached provisions to federal spending bills to block the measure. The first medical marijuana dispensaries in the District finally opened in 2013. This latest measure has even less chance of having the Republicans allow this to come to fruition.

Oh yeah:

“I will consider using all resources available to a member of Congress to stop this action.” -- Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2014...lock-marijuana-legalization-in-washington-dc/


So, the will of the voters in D.C. is again going to be thwarted by Republicans.

 

[Newell Steamer]

I never understood the rage against weed.

I don't smoke it myself,.. never even tried it, other than 2nd hand smoke at concerts,.. but, if you do, more power to you.

I've seen more damage from drunk people than people high on weed.

 

[Aegeon]

I can't speak for Washington, but the retail market is also too expensive here in Colorado. So fixing the supply chain issues (whole Mexican towns being massacred) is not here yet, but acceptance of people consuming marijuana certainly is and I feel that is a step in the right direction.

In terms of Mexican weed, the evidence is it already is a complete non-factor in terms of Colorado's marijuana market, legal or not. (The black market is essentially all grown local.) Having to smuggle the marijuana across the border and then across Texas or the like in order to get to Colorado in the first place, (where someone not properly licensed with over 1 ounce of marijuana in a car or truck can still get arrested) simply ends up being effectively the more expensive of the two options and realistically is going to be a worse quality product.

As economies of scale start playing a greater role for many growers and marijuana stores, retail marijuana prices should go down significantly. (There presumably will always be some boutique high end stuff, but the price of normal marijuana should so the drop.) The reason you didn't see this happen earlier is that expansion has taken longer than would be typical in another industry due to a lack of access to bank loans and the like. There was also a bunch of profit taking while competition was still somewhat limited for specifically the retail market and supply was relatively tight.

 

[Jhhnn]

They were so paranoid that if they did not have all these ridiculus rules that the feds would shut them down.

That's just an excuse. The Feds have shown no inclination to shut down Retail or Medical in CO. The real difference lies in the personal growing provisions in CO. Licensed growers have no monopoly- that whole delivery system (actually 2 systems side by side) has to compete with personal growing.

Few people seem to realize that legalized personal growing is a complete paradigm shift. In CO, people can legally grow, keep, use, share & transport cannabis in limited quantities. No medical exams, no fees, no registration, no cards, no bullshit.There is no at home possession limit for anything they grow. The smell of cannabis in any form is no longer grounds for search unless they're reeking out the neighborhood. In Denver, it's legal to toke up on your front porch, if not on the sidewalk.

It's like brewing your own beer- nobody cares unless it's really good, and then they just want to help you drink it.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I'd like to see what happens in municipalities like Saginaw, but I'd guess that such ordinances are little more than for show. I'll bet that the local police completely ignore them and still enforce state laws.

 

[Carson Dyle]

In terms of Mexican weed, the evidence is it already is a complete non-factor in terms of Colorado's marijuana market, legal or not. (The black market is essentially all grown local.) Having to smuggle the marijuana across the border and then across Texas or the like in order to get to Colorado in the first place, (where someone not properly licensed with over 1 ounce of marijuana in a car or truck can still get arrested) simply ends up being effectively the more expensive of the two options and realistically is going to be a worse quality product.

I know a northern California grower who used to live here in Colorado. He has extensive ties to old friends, including a couple running dispensaries. He just brought in 300 lbs following the harvest. Moving it over the road is a risk, but selling it is so easy and encounters so little heat now, that it's worth it just for the easy sale.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I can't speak for Washington, but the retail market is also too expensive here in Colorado. So fixing the supply chain issues (whole Mexican towns being massacred) is not here yet, but acceptance of people consuming marijuana certainly is and I feel that is a step in the right direction.

No one should smoke Mexican weed. That stuff sucks!

 

[Aegeon]

I know a northern California grower who used to live here in Colorado. He has extensive ties to old friends, including a couple running dispensaries. He just brought in 300 lbs following the harvest. Moving it over the road is a risk, but selling it is so easy and encounters so little heat now, that it's worth it just for the easy sale.

I would draw a significant distinction though between smuggling it from Colorado (as I understood what you have described) versus actually smuggling it from Mexico. Besides the presumably much high quality and ultimately selling price from a dispensary, a significant portion of the smuggling cost and risk comes from taking it over the border in the first place and safely on the roads. (And beyond US border control checkpoints near the border which can also potentially bust them.)

Essentially the smuggling of the marijuana into Colorado from Texas simply is an additional risk on top of the first (with costs related to the odds of marijuana possibly getting seized and the like). The question is not whether someone could theoretically get away with smuggling marijuana from Mexico into Colorado, its whether it makes economic sense to actually do so. The cartels are not going to stick with a particular smuggling operation if its clearly a money loser once all the costs are added up and its clearly going to stay that way.

 

[master_shake_]

not seeing the issue with marijuana.

kills less than alcohol, less harmful than alcohol and less addictive than you guessed it, alcohol.

prohibition does not work and it puts a lot of americans behind bars for a victimless crime.

 

[Jhhnn]

I would have thought that over 50 years of experience would provided the proof that it isn't the demon portrayed by the gov't. It's been in relatively "heavy" use in the U.S. well over 50 years, has been used by some of the high and mighty in our gov't, yet it's still classified like heroin.

Travesty.


And I doubt D.C. will ever see what they approved ever get allowed to be put into law. D.C.’s medical marijuana law, approved in 1998, was delayed for nearly 15 years when House Republicans continuously attached provisions to federal spending bills to block the measure. The first medical marijuana dispensaries in the District finally opened in 2013. This latest measure has even less chance of having the Republicans allow this to come to fruition.

Oh yeah:



http://www.thedailychronic.net/2014...lock-marijuana-legalization-in-washington-dc/


So, the will of the voters in D.C. is again going to be thwarted by Republicans.

Repubs will have a lot tougher time with this. DC police can't bust people for possession or home growing. All Repubs can do is feed the black market & deny revenue to the DC govt- pretty dumb, even for Republicans.