Wisconsin State Rep with Bill Legalizing Marijuana Looking for Cosponsors

[unokitty]

Melissa Sargent

After researching this issue extensively, I believe that this bill will benefit Wisconsin and its citizens in many ways, including: addressing racial disparities in arrests, providing medical benefits, saving law enforcement time and money, and providing additional revenue for the state...

Intertwined with the burden on law enforcement is the level of racial disparities in marijuana arrests. In Wisconsin, a person of color is nearly four times more likely to be arrested on a marijuana charge than a white person — one of the greatest racial divides in the nation...

We know that legalization would save the taxpayers in law enforcement costs, but Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron estimated last April (updating figures from his own 2010 report) that with the legalization of marijuana, as opposed to our current prohibition, we would save $10 billion across the U.S. on prohibition enforcement and provide a new stream of tax revenue of as much as $10 billion annually if marijuana is taxed similarly to alcohol and tobacco...

I believe that full legalization would address the unfounded prohibition and denial of the freedom of choice by adults. Legalization would bring marijuana usage out of the shadows and allow adults who are 21 and over to partake in it as they see fit.

...the most dangerous thing about marijuana is that it’s illegal.

Seemed like this lady has written a well thought out piece.

What's your opinion?


And with the Superbowl coming up, two questions for the Packer fans.

One
Which two states have legalized marijuana?

Two
Which two states are represented in the Superbowl?

Uno

 

[Engineer]

My opinion...not sure I have one up or down on using/smoking weed. I sincerely hope we don't end up with a bunch of stoners on the highways (more than we have now).

As for why states are doing it, pretty simple to me....end part of the war on drugs (i.e. cheaper to not do it) and to get more revenue via taxes.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Melissa Sargent

Seemed like this lady has written a well thought out piece.

What's your opinion?


And with the Superbowl coming up, two questions for the Packer fans.

One
Which two states have legalized marijuana?

Two
Which two states are represented in the Superbowl?

Uno

Took us a long time to recover from the propaganda a newspaper mogul used to demonize hemp so it would not compete with his paper mills.

 

[Jhhnn]

We're a month into it here in Colorado, and so far it's smooth sailing all the way. Hopefully that will continue, and I see no reason why it won't.

Legalization is sound policy, and we're proving it.

 

[michal1980]

I hope some state republicans help sponsor this bill. Its the right thing to do.

 

[Jhhnn]

I hope some state republicans help sponsor this bill. Its the right thing to do.

This isn't really conservatives' kind of freedom, ya know?

As this unfolds, I'm sure they'll try to grab the flag, claim it was their libertarian ideals that have promoted legalization all along. Or not, depending on how willing they are to go against various LEO's & their mouthpieces. They're a key conservative constituency, after all.

Not yet, anyway.

They're not the ones driving this change, never will be.

 

[unokitty]

According to Gallup, in addition to the 85% of Americans who support legalizing medical marijuana, 73% support decriminalizing weed, and 58% support full legalization — a nearly 50% increase from 40 years ago...

Quite simply, there's a U.S. pot revolution afoot, but it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Besides the shift in public opinion, there's a lot of money to be made in the legal pot business — some estimates put the numbers in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Marijuana is going to be legalized.

What we are negotiating now is how soon and through what process.

While I don't give a damn who gets credit for the legalization, no one should underestimate the power of the forces that oppose legalization. Prison guard unions, lawyers, and the others that make their living arresting and incarcerating people for smoking marijuana are not going to let go of their gravy train easily.

There is a reason that Nick Gillespie recently denounced the president's "unfathomable, bottomless, contemptile cowardice on pot," pointing out that 87% of Americans think that marijuana is basically similar to alcohol and asking:

"What does it say about our elected representatives when even a president who grants that marijuana is no 'more dangerous than alcohol,' jokes about his past drug use and faces no more elections in his lifetime is terrified to go along with a massive and still growing majority of Americans?"

Indeed.

Uno

 

[Jhhnn]

Marijuana is going to be legalized.

What we are negotiating now is how soon and through what process.

While I don't give a damn who gets credit for the legalization, no one should underestimate the power of the forces that oppose legalization. Prison guard unions, lawyers, and the others that make their living arresting and incarcerating people for smoking marijuana are not going to let go of their gravy train easily.

There is a reason that Nick Gillespie recently denounced the president's "unfathomable, bottomless, contemptile cowardice on pot," pointing out that 87% of Americans think that marijuana is basically similar to alcohol and asking:

"What does it say about our elected representatives when even a president who grants that marijuana is no 'more dangerous than alcohol,' jokes about his past drug use and faces no more elections in his lifetime is terrified to go along with a massive and still growing majority of Americans?"

Indeed.

Uno

Oh, please. Is Obama terrified, or shrewd, enabling legalization while not providing repubs at the national level a hostage taking opportunity? Or should we ask the DEA how they feel about legal weed in CO, WA & any other state willing to regulate it in a reasonable manner?

We'll beat 'em at the state level, where we're stronger in some places more so than others. If this unfolds as I think it will, there will be no going back by 2017.

He's gone as far as he can w/o making it his issue, and I'd really rather he didn't. He's really giving us all the help we need atm, and I thank him.

Let's review.

1. A64 passed in Nov 2012. The Obama/Holder DoJ took no legal action, sought no injunctive relief.

2. They issued this memo in Aug 2013, basically instructing the DEA & federal prosecutors to let it happen in CO & WA, and that's the way it's been so far.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf

3. Despite all the nay saying and predictions of Doom, the Colorado experience has been utterly smooth. Tens of thousands stood in line for hours w/o incident. They bought something to smoke, went home, got high (many as usual) and life went on as usual, except that nobody's getting busted & tax revenues are strong. Other than that, nothing much happened that matters, except desperate parents seeking miracle cures for severely disabled children showing up in some numbers. Good luck to them all.

It really is one of those situations where the only thing to fear is fear itself, and we're out to prove that in Colorado. People need to be shown, and that's exactly what we're doing while the DEA sits this one out.

 

[zinfamous]

This isn't really conservatives' kind of freedom, ya know?

As this unfolds, I'm sure they'll try to grab the flag, claim it was their libertarian ideals that have promoted legalization all along. Or not, depending on how willing they are to go against various LEO's & their mouthpieces. They're a key conservative constituency, after all.

Not yet, anyway.

They're not the ones driving this change, never will be.

I don't care if they suddenly decide to grab the flag and claim it as their own. As long as someone does it.

Hell, seeing republicans actually be republicans for once (less government) would be refreshing.

 

[Lithium381]

I don't care if they suddenly decide to grab the flag and claim it as their own. As long as someone does it.

Hell, seeing republicans actually be republicans for once (less government) would be refreshing.

Yep, get it done.

 

[Jhhnn]

I don't care if they suddenly decide to grab the flag and claim it as their own. As long as someone does it.

Hell, seeing republicans actually be republicans for once (less government) would be refreshing.

We claimed it as our own in Colorado, and we didn't need national leadership to do it. Same in Washington, and soon in some other places as well, I'm confident.

Given that the usual claims of "grass roots" from far right think tanks is what we're accustomed to, real grass roots are another story entirely, and that's the ongoing story of cannabis legalization. It's peaceful guerrilla warfare, a popular uprising of sorts.

Doing anything to actually promote it yourself? Sent off any checks to organizations in your state or to NORML?

Republicans & smaller govt? Near as I can tell, the only thing they want small about govt is its benefit to the little guy.