What Would Happen if Marijuana Were Decriminalized?

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Yes Weed Cannabis

http://current.com/groups/make-marijuana-matter/

Make Marijuana Matter Group
Hemp Helpers please join this Group
Stand Up for your Rights
Lets Get Cannabis on current....
Lets get our voice Heard !!!

help get marijuana decriminalized

chasing our own tails.

i think legalizing and taxing marijuana would decrease the quality of it overall and perhaps some weed snobs would stop smoking simply b/c it wouldn't be as good anymore and "the man" is the one selling it...

kinda "solves" the problem of so many people smoking.

if someone feels like smoking helps the medically, though smoking is not good for you, they should be using it via a vaporizer...seems counterproductive to ingest smoke if you're already ailing...

I have to AGREE with 2 morrow Cheaper to grow than Wood , Better Than PAPER & Safer than Booze & the
Big Congolmerates see this taking Money out of there
pockets ( a simple plant ) , something that grows out of the ground & is not MAN MADE like BOOZE & HARD DRUGS or even CIGS which are MAN MADE !
Keep it coming 2 morrow .

Everyone forgets the biggest way to push this through. It's to hit people in the wallets. And im not saying to say they can tax it and whatever. Obviously that does not work. Marijuana became illegal partly (and mostly) because of the american logging corporation and the paper company. Hemp is one of the best plant byproducts on the planet. It is cheaper to grow and manufacture than wood and it is more durable than wood paper as well. Case in point paper conglomerates saw this hitting them in the pants and devised ways to get rid of it.

And guess what...want to know why this is actually becoming a formidable debate know? Look at newspapers, they are FAILING. They are losing money everyday more and more. Is this some sort of coincidence...im thinking no!

Oh and what would happen if marijuana was legal? You have alot less people in prison, and police officers are happier because they don't have to deal with a b.s. drug.

from the studies i've read in the rest of the world where it's legal it's cut crime and the amount of people who do it are a small amount. it seems manageable.

one- it's portuguese and you guessed it!

How do you get a pic like that if it's not on their website?

hopefully when legalized, it will push people to see that you dont need wack white drugs heroin or inhalents or even alcahol and cigerets. all they will need is weed!
great green ganja!

drunk drivers kill. stoned drivers miss there exits.

heroin addicts steel from there familys and friends,
but your stoned roommate will scrape the resin out your pipe... while your at work.

how can a nation really go green without grass?
LEGALIZE FREEDOM!
the only people weed hurt was the big cotton and lumber companys!( annnd umm .. a couple bikers..)

americans are too insecure.

I myself would like to see marijuana legalized and for medical reasons. Nt mine however! I rather not do it. Tried it when i was a teenager and realized it made it a chore to remove my lazy butt from the couch...HeHe! However I am a hospice nurse and deal with a lot of sick and dying patients. Some of my cancer patients can barely stand to keep food down. Yet if they happen to somehow get their hands on someones stash, they quickly find themselves not only holding the food down...but craving it due to the munchies! It also seems to assist with pain control when take with the right meds. We all know however that in the areas that already allow medical marijuana, people run to the doctor with every idea they can to try and get it for themselves. I believe if we are to do this there has to be guidelines set before the process occurs!

You must understand the law enforcement agent views the Drug war from different eyes. He sees on continuous bases the heart ache that is associated with drug use. Murder, extortion, prostitution, rape, slavery, poverty. He has been fighting these drugers for years and years. He has built his life fighting them. He does not want to surrender. To legalize mary jane would be surrender for him and his colleagues.

“We as a nation could pay a terrible price for allowing this potpourri of global scam to migrate together

Mike Braun

On the other hand, all you can think of is getting your altered state of consciences and having a good time. Your thinking “man! I can come home after work and smoke a joint and play video games for the rest of the night. Then, I’ll go down to the burger king when I get the munchies a pig out on some fries. Life will be great.” Also, you’re most likely thinking if mary jane is legal you can grow your backyard stash and become a millionaire. Your simplest bubble boy view works for you.

What was accomplished? The War on Weed that started in the 1970’s discouraged pot smuggling by small timers like me, and filled the void with drug cartels far more interested in the lucrative cocaine trade
Robert Platshorn

I’m going to say this one more time and most likely it will not be the last. Follow the money and you’ll find the answer. This isn’t about some abstract concept of freedom. When the fences went up freedom went away. It’s about wealth and power, and most importantly who controls it.

I'd suggest that the anti-drug people talking here are on the payroll of the Mexican Cartels or they are protecting their way of life,and income.

Claygooding

Personally I wouldn’t do the drug if it is legal or not. It makes no difference to me. I like to wake up in the morning feeling good and healthy. I prefer to be at the top of my game everyday.

Everything now is based on economics. This whole thing comes down to an equation.

Which cost less legalization or the status quo?

to fix our problem is to be more responsible and more accountable..

we need to have a strong moral foundation

what we are doing is creating a bigger hole upside our head to get rid of a smaller hole.

Everyone will finally be happy and free and the government can make the rich people pay more tax to pay our bills!

Having just spent 20 min's crafting this post, this web site decided I was no longer logged in. I loged in and my message was gone. amazing. Stubborn SOB that I am, I don't give up quite that easily.

More and more highly regarded professionals and organizations are speaking the truth about cannabis. And more and more the arguments of those that would continue it's prohibition are becoming thread bare. The FBI director himself, re-stating his time worn rhetoric, was shot down in 3 1/2 mins. by nothing more than the truth.

Discussions about medical marijuana, and initiaves for its legalization, and popping up everywhere all over the country. This in spite of the fact that the prohibition has all but banned research. If continued prohibition is the best course for our country, then it follows that research would back up that conclusion. One would think that this research would be welcomed, not banned. Could it be that the results of this are not wanted?

One of the contributors to this article stated that Alaska has re-criminalized cannabis. Not true. I just checked. Possession for personal use, under 1 oz, is still legal. The movement failed. Another point was a test involving pilots. It seems that a marijuana euphoria took away their edge. Well, no kidding. If there were no euphoria involved, then it would have no value for recreation, now would it? I wouldn't want my pilot to be drunk either. Did anyone say you should get stoned and climb in the space shuttle?

As for the folks in Europe, it makes no difference to me what they look like, or whether they're cool or not. They have their problems, I have mine. But they are human. And they've done what we're proposing. Works for them.

When you turn the heat up under a kettle, you get steam out of the spout. If you keep the heat up, then the kettle empties of water and you run out of steam. And if you still keep the heat up, then the kettle burns and is no longer good for anything.

Change is coming. Lies are no longer sufficient to the task. You can fool all of the people, some of the time. You can fool some of the people, all of the time. You know where this goes from here. As our FBI director just found out; it's hard to defend a lie.

After more than 40 years of wide spread use, where are the facts that support the continued prohibition? The program is an utter failure. It's not only failed to achieve it's goal, but it's shown itself to be incapable of doing so. Should we continue to support and fund a program that doesn't work? You cannot legislate the desire of the people.

The hypocracy of this prohibition is there for anybody to see that cares to look. Those that would see it continue, do so out of fear of what might happen. Those that favor repeal embrace the facts. Those opposed suppress them. The victim is truth, and all our young people sitting in prison cells.

As the American people are the injured parties in this, then why should we accept taxation? Our forefathers didn't. This unjustified law has caused immeasurable suffering among us. We should now pay for this?

the second it is annouced that marijuana is decriminalized....I think Marlboro, Newports, Camels; would already have their packaged shipment of assorted marijuana types ready to hit the stands at your nears 7 11, bodaga, supermarket of pre rolled weed, and even some how their own smooth smoked version of hashish.

It will be easily accessible the very next day!...the benefits of living in a capitalistic system.

IT WOULDN'T WORK

First thing first, if someone wants to do a drug they will do it regardless of how illegal it is.

Also, dont forget that alchohol was once illegal (YES it was)

THe only benefit i would be looking for would be lowering the drug related crime rates. Now if marijuana is legalized the price and value would drop...doesn't worth fighting over. But the other drugs would still exists, those would have to decriminalized also.

Do what mexico did, (i think) decriminalize every drug so drugs have no value there.

In the end, they should legalize everything you will have to make an educated decision to say no to drugs.

we are willing to sell the soul of our society for a handful of dimes and the chance to look chique' like the Europeans.

High Powered Cartel would move from alleys to board rooms and with enough LEGAL money to throw around to lobby politicians, these people would employ a state of the art research and development to enhance their product, making it more irresistible.

The comes strong approach and relentless marketing schemes to make sure that a steady flow of customers remains loyal..

should I continue???

Well, if cannabis were legalized then we could free up a lot of police manpower and tax money tied up in the criminalization of the drug, in addition to creating new jobs and revenue for states.

Also, with the introduction of hemp into the agricultural industry we could help the enviornment by reducing the amount of wood and cotton needed to create cloth and paper products. Less clear-cutting for paper means less eco damage to the enviorment.

This is a grassroots movement(no pun intended) that needs MUCH more support to gain any kind of viability in the political arena. While you campaign for cannibus legalization, please remember the other(and quite possibly more important) sociopolitical issues affecting our country and lend your voice to those as well.

Four out of five times I see an article with a title like this from a source like that it turns out to be less than authoritative, so I looked up the backgrounds of the people mentioned before bothering to look at it. Here they are.:

Paul Armentano - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the NORML Foundation in Washington, ..." Sounds like a man with an agenda here, but probably not an idiot.

Mike Braun Top 12 google hits were this article. the only thing I could find that wasn't was this. http://hirc.house.gov/111/bra031809.pdf
the guy apparently runs some sort of blackwater type mercenary organization or something that sets up governments. The company website is very vague.
His resume there says this: "Michael A. Braun:
Retired from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) after 33 years in law enforcement as the Agency's Assistant Administrator/Chief of Operations (SES-6). He had responsibility for DEA's 227 domestic and 87 foreign offices, Aviation Division, Office of Financial Operations, Special Operations Division and the Office of Diversion Control. He also served as DOD's Chief of Staff for the Interim Ministry on Interior, Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq." Holy Cats! Why does this guy have no wiki entry? Odd.

Joel W Hay http://www.usc.edu/schools/pharmacy/faculty_directory/detail.php?id=40 Parmacology/economics expert. Very impressive credentials.

Jeffrey Miron - Harvard economist and recently prominent marijuana advocate. Wrote a book called Drug war crimes. Lots and lots of attributions for economics.

Robert Platshorn - Apparently some sort of 70's drug smuggler. Wrote a book called the black tuna diaries. Spent the last 30 years in prison.

Looks like 3 probable marijuana advocates one of whom has major credentials, one former DEA super heavyweight, now spook/quasi governmental something or other, and one major pharmacy and government expert.

They did manage to find some interesting and knowledgeable folks. This could be a really good article.

How many people are sitting in prison for non-violent drug offenses? many for the simple act of possession. 10 years?

How much money does the gov make from the War on Drugs? How much international crime has been created from this "war".

This is as important as healthcare to everyone in america, and the rest of the world, let's be realistic.

To those who like to brush this off as not important:

It may not be as important as health care, or our economy, but there is no reason NOT to have the discussion.

I would like to see all of the people who bitch about pro-marijuana people come up with even close to the same amount of evidence to support their position.

There is no substantiated downside to legalization.and taxation.

PajamaDan, I understand your frustration. There's nothing I'd like better than to do as Lincoln, legally:

"Two of my favorite things are sitting on my front porch smoking a pipe of sweet hemp, and playing my Hohner harmonica." - Abraham Lincoln (from a letter written by Lincoln during his presidency to the head of the Hohner Harmonica Company in Germany)

But alas, here I am trying to change the laws. People are always quick to state, 'if you don't agree with the law, work to change it, don't break the law'. Well here I am trying to speak out for change.

There are many pressing issues in the world today. Cannabis hemp is causing many ordinary Americans to be criminal, due to an un-just war, on American soil. I care about changing America. I have no desire to police the world.

Sadly, the answers were too predictable. Mr. Hay is obviously uninformed and biased toward chemical pharmacology, he has almost no knowledge of the facts of cannabis use (and actually tries to quote untrue statements as factual) and as such his opinion is completely worthless. The answer from Mr. Braun formerly of the DEA is also ill informed and of an opinion that is antiquated and almost quaint in it's ignorance.

The remaining three are all significantly more fact and reality based and, unsurprisingly, are all in favour of legalizing.

It's no surprise that those who oppose legalization are those who are either completely ignorant of the truth, are financially benefiting from prohibition or a combination of the two.

The first thing to happen, would hopefully be a reduction in the "legalize/smoke" stories on Current. Geez,... have they invaded these pages, or what? I mean,... we got bigger fish to smoke.

Wow, a new topic.