I have been for years – decades really – in favor of legalizing the use of marijuana for adults, so I obviously agree with this ground-breaking policy. In fact, back in my pot-smoking days in the 70s I would have sworn that legalization could come at any moment. Heck, I was in school in the conservative Mid-West – Cincinnati to be precise – and pot smoking barely raised an eyebrow. Most any resident adviser would say was to place a towel under the door…but even then on any given weekend the halls of most dorms smelled like Cheech & Chong’s famous van. I also happened to like going to concerts at the time and travelled around to quite a few. I doubt anyone attending could have avoided a contact high. Mind you, these were venues surrounded by police on the outside and private security on the inside. Can’t recall a single bust. Heck, I spent some time in Montreal and there you had “vendors” mixing with cops, selling dime bags right outside the old Montreal Forum. Thus my ‘prediction’ that legalization was just around the corner.
And then came Reagan.
And here we are, almost 40 years on, and pot remains a Schedule I drug according to the Government* – despite the fact that many of their own studies have backfired on them (The Shafer Commission perhaps the most famous).
Anyway, I think this is great news for a number of reasons – not the least of which is taking the criminal elements out of the equation – and hopefully the Uruguayan “experiment” leads the way to world-wide legalization. High time – pun intended – the much maligned weed comes out of the closet. Heck, I bet tourism in Uruguay is going to go through the roof
Your thoughts?
*Yes, I am certainly aware that, at the State level, quite a few have decriminalized pot to the point of almost making it legal – yet it isn’t. And the Feds can still come in and apply the “laws of the land” anyway. So it all remains a bunch of political (and Big Business, including those in the private prisons racket) bull-crap.
Here’s a great Frontline interview on the issue if anyone is interested: DR. DAVID MUSTO
Uruguay made the right decision. We have thousands of people in jail for producing, possessing, selling, or buying marijuana. Why? What’s being accomplished by doing so? We should legalize it, and while we’re at it, start viewing addiction to the hard drugs like crack and heroin as a treatment issue, rather than a criminal issue. In short, why give serious jail time for any non-violent “crime”?
Fair play to Uruguay. I’m curious, has the US/UN-acting-as-US-sock-puppet made any threatening noises at Uruguay over this? ISTR us doing that sort of thing in the past when countries acted as if they were going to dare to relax drug laws.
I gotta say, I’m in love with the stupidity of conservative argument being put forward.
“It’s an experiment in social engineering !” being, of course, code for “nobody’s done it before !!” which is doubly wrong - first because there were naturally people and civilization before pot was outlawed (Ben Franklin smoked the ganj’, don’t you know), and second because there are quite a few places out there where pot is legal these days. And they’re apparently fine for it, if hungrier and more tolerant of otherwise burnable music.
And that’s not even touching the “well, maybe someone oughta try 'cause it makes a whole lot of fucking sense ?” argument.
Mexico is considering legalizing marijuana. In the last 7 years over 70,000 people have died in narco related events in Mexico. More than died in Vietnam. Marijuana represents 50% of the narco business here. The other 50% is cocaine, amphetamines and pirated music/DVD’s. It seems likely that legalizing marijuana would amount to a reduction of 50% of the problem. A former Mexican president (Vincente Fox) has already stated that when it is legal, he will grow/sell it. Of course, if the USA legalized it that would help solve the problem here. We just grow/sell it for you folks. Most Mexicans don’t partake of it.
70,000 is more than the number of Americans who died in the 'Nam, but definitely not more than the number of Vietnamese who died there. But aside from that nitpick, I entirely agree with your post. Criminalizing pot is irrational in any country.
Of course it is: the Feds still have authority to act against pot growers.
I oppose legalization because it would create a substantial public health problem as companies move in and apply their prodigious talents at marketing, advertising and lobbying to promote an addictive product. (If pot isn’t addictive now, it sure will be after Madison Ave gets hold of it.)
Still, if we’re going to legalize, we should start in a small country. Also, the Uruguay plan isn’t legalization. From the OP’s article: The proposed law would allow individuals to grow up to six plants of marijuana and possess as many as 480 grams for personal use. Marijuana clubs of anywhere from 15 to 45 members would also be allowed and granted permission to grow up to 99 plants at a time.
Users would have to register, and those claiming to use cannabis for medical reasons would have to show a doctor’s prescription. Marijuana would also be sold at licensed pharmacies. Regulations would be set down in 120 days.
That’s a decent start. I hope Uruguay’s experiment receives heightened and healthy scrutiny.
I’m amazed there are still people who think it should be illegal. Whenever I hear an “it should remain illegal” argument, I can’t help but think, “Well, you are clearly speaking out of ignorance.”
Exactly right. Take a look at the number for 2012:
Ridiculous.
The hypocrisy of current and past legislators, including the last three POTUS in a row, is breath-taking. To think that they all admit to having tried pot – one without “inhaling” of course :rolleyes: – and yet they support the Federal Laws that send all those people to jail for doing what they themselves did. And both, in Obama’s & Bush’s cases, beyond, as they admit to using/abusing coke. Good thing they weren’t the ones who got trampled by the very corruption they help maintain.
I agree with your first sentence. As for as your second one goes, it’s not “in your head” at all, it simply isn’t: 10 Facts About Marijuana*
*Yes it’s an advocacy site, but I’d like to see anyone dispute the facts given.
Indeed, your memory serves you well. Happened to Mexico in Obama’s first term when they “threatened” to legalize all drugs in order to curtail their very real war agaisnt the Cartels. The US let them know pretty clearly that there would be consequences…despite the fact that they spend more on drugs (both consuming and “fighting” them*) I also remember reading that there were more casualties in Mexico in the past decade that in the Afghan War. “Insane” doesn’t begin to describe it.
The numbers are simply staggering all-around. From victims, to the sheer amount of money involved in the illicit trade; both for and against it. As the article mentions and I often say when the topic comes up, it appears no one learned anything from The Prohibition years. Quite the contrary really.
Sad thing is, I very much doubt that anything Uruguay does – or Holland or practically anyone else for that matter – will make any difference on a large scale. But if the US led the way I’d be pretty sure the rest would follow right-quick.
Meanwhile lets keep destroying people’s lives for the sake of illicit profit and/or saving face. Get rich or get dead. No one in charge appears to give a shit.
You’d be factually wrong. We don’t need to wait for the Uruguyan results to come in, when we already have data from The Netherlands that goes back to 1976. There are a ton of studies that you can find just poking around the internet. In order not to do a Google vomit, I’ll simply link to one of them:
Further, can you cite a single case of death due to smoking pot? Because you’d be the first to do so. OTOH, if you’d like, I can provide plenty of data showing the devastating effects of legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
Given a choice, I would much rather my (hypothetical – mine’s a man already) kids smoke pot than indulge in any of the others. In light of what we already know, it would be foolish of me to think otherwise. Sure, abstinence is best. But see how well that works when it comes to birth control. People are people and educating them is key – but once you do, the informed choice is theirs to make. Not yours, not mine, and certainly not the Goverment’s.
– highlights mine.
Dude, how’s that NOT legalized? You simply register and smoke to your heart’s content. NO ONE can touch you.
But of course. Notice I wrote “the very corruption they help maintain.” I’d also add to your list that at many levels it’s the huge profits of the drug trade itself (I linked to figures upthread) that also help perpetuate – read: buy-off – the status quo.
The Uruguayan law seems similar to home-brewing laws for beer and wine in the US.
That looks like legalization to me.
Hemp, itself, not just marijuana, is a really remarkable plant. The fact that it is illegal here is a rather curious turn of fate. Nobody has ever convinced me that prohibition of this plant is a good thing for anyone except the industry that has grown up around its prohibition.
That one fact will slow or stall the growing movement in the US to legalize its use.
“Follow the money,” the man said, “and you will discover why things are the way they are.”
