# 2016 CA Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 17, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-ca-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative/725425 "2015-07-17T16:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-ca-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative/725425/81 "2015-07-23T04:41:27Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s a matter of constitutional principle. Nullification is bad policy regardless of what your agenda is. That’s a matter of opinion. Personally, I think this country would be a much better place if individuals and companies and state and local governments stepped up to challenge the federal government’s illegal actions more often. And while court challenges are one method, just plain breaking unjust laws is also a good thing, whether it’s marijuana laws, the PATRIOT Act, or any other. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-ca-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative/725425/82 "2015-07-23T05:28:20Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Decriminalization comes with all the downsides of prohibition(criminal gangs, violence) without the benefits(less usage). False. Pot isn’t legal in the Netherlands. It’s decriminalized. They don’t have criminal gangs and pot is sold in cafes. What you don’t get is Phillip Morris blowing in and promoting yet another recreational drug. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I agree with the sentiment but I think pot could be legalized in a restrained manner that isn’t excessively burdensome for responsible adults. For example, some states already restrict alcohol from being sold anywhere except by government-managed stores and prohibit most alcohol-related advertising. I think that approach should be formalized at the federal level for pot, alcohol, and cigarettes. Sure it could. And the rules would be bent once the pot lobbyists are up and running. Maybe after a decade. Kudos for at least addressing this problem though. I have serious doubts whether the CA proposal does, given the history of the initiative process. I say give the post office a monopoly on pot distribution. They couldn’t promote their way out of a paper bag. As for production, the challenge is to put medical professionals in charge rather than marketers. ---
**Author:** ![MegaNazz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@MegaNazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaNazz)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-ca-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative/725425/83 "2015-07-23T17:45:45Z")
Whoa, I stand corrected. That’s crazy that people get fired for smoking cigarettes. I never knew that - insane! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-ca-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative/725425/84 "2015-07-23T18:11:09Z")
A friend of mine is a nurse in a large medical facility. No one who works there is allowed to smell of cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-ca-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative/725425/85 "2015-07-23T18:17:33Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > That’s a matter of opinion. Personally, I think this country would be a much better place if individuals and companies and state and local governments stepped up to challenge the federal government’s illegal actions more often. The process that states are using to “step up to challenge the federal government” re: marijuana is the same process that was historically used to defend slavery and Jim Crow, to deny blacks the right to vote or have an education, and which is being used _today_ to deprive women of access to abortion and contraception, to prevent people from receiving affordable healthcare, and to prevent same-sex couples from exercising their Constitutionally-guaranteed right to marry. By endorsing that practice in order to advance something you believe in, you are also validating its use for all of those things. “It’s OK when _we_ do it” is not a valid counterargument. Marijuana legalization, if and when it happens, needs to come through Congress, and it needs to include protection for workers guaranteeing that they cannot be fired for marijuana use in the absence of evidence that they are influenced while on the job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-ca-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative/725425.md?page=4)