tagged w/ Pursuit of Happiness
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This is Serious - it affects all of us, and it should be the easiest thing to cut to decrease the nation's debt. Alcohol Prohibition didn't work, and arresting people for ganja doesn't work, so why not make people who sell card for age verification and get it legal already?
Every one might benefit medically from cannabis at some point in their life, and it prevents cancer and neuro-degenerative diseases, so cut the doctors note bureaucracy and make it over the counter for adults.
In 2007 there were over 850,000 marijuana arrests (PDF). The United States has only 5% of the worlds population but imprisons 25% of its prisoners. The federal government spent over $15 billion on the drug war in 2010, or a rate of $500 a second. Our country is 66% non-Hispanic white people but 70% of our prisoners are non-white. The justice system is overwhelmingly unfriendly to the poor. And on and on.
I don't understand how it can possibly remain the case that these facts are out there and yet marijuana legalization is somehow seen as a less than serious issue. This is a social justice issue. This is a racial justice issue. This is a deficit reduction issue. This is an issue of elementary personal freedoms. But we can't fix things as long as people who are ostensibly in favor of decriminalization continue to say so with a smirk, or relegate the issue to the margins, or treat it as a distraction or joke. It's time to get serious about a serious and deeply troubling issue.
(Photo: Darnell Thomas (L) reads while his cellmate Freddron Mendoza works on his poetry in their cell at Sheridan Correctional Center on November 14, 2005 in Sheridan, Illinois. A dedicated center for the treatment of inmates with drug and alcohol abuse problems, the state opened Sheridan in January 2004 to combat a recidivism rate of 54% in its penal system. Nearly 69 percent of all inmates in the Illinois prison system are serving time for drug or alcohol related offenses. The recidivism rate for prisoners who have served time at Sheridan is only 7.7 percent. By Scott Olson/Getty Images)This is Serious - it affects all of us, and it should be the easiest thing to cut to... more
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juicie
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added this
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1 year ago
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Happiness is...Simple steps to a life of joy
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From the article...>The Colorado House of Representatives has voted by the narrowest of margins to abolish the death penalty, using the savings to fund cold case investigations.
The measure must still pass the state Senate, The Denver Post reported Wednesday. Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat and former prosecutor, has not said he would sign it.
Rep. Edward Vigil, a Democrat, cast the vote Tuesday that put the bill over the top 33-32. He delayed almost a minute before deciding to approve the measure.
"Hopefully this will make us a better society in Colorado by not having a death penalty, though I have my reservations," Vigil said, explaining his vote.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the death penalty in 1976 while throwing out all existing laws, the majority of states have passed new legislation. Only one, New Jersey, has repealed its capital punishment law.
House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, a Democrat, argued that Colorado has executed only one person under its modern death penalty law while spending millions of dollars on appeals. Opponents of repeal argued that some crimes are so heinous that death is the only option.
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If you feel strongly one way or another, contact Colorado elected officials:
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CO-Portal/CXP/1165693060260From the article...>The Colorado House of Representatives has voted by the... more
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I decided that I'm sick of Monday.
I'm going to be calling it Friday from now on, along with everyother day of the week.
Life is a state of mind.
Join me.I decided that I'm sick of Monday.
I'm going to be calling it Friday from... more
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"ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada.
In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”
The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses."
..."While gay rights advocates widely praised the spirit of Mr. Paterson’s policy, some saw more than a little irony in the fact that New York has yet to allow gays to marry.
“If you’re going to treat us as equals, why don’t you just give us the marriage license?” said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda. “So this is a temporary but necessary fix for a longer-term problem, which is marriage equality in New York State.” ""ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin... more
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