Nice little self-sealing argument you’ve got there. No, it does not matter that smoking marijuana is a crime, because what makes things crimes are legislation, and this is a question of who has the power to make legislation. If the law is changed, and smoking pot is no longer a crime, then (duh?) it won’t be a crime anymore. That’s the right of legislatures to make, and people to decide. Not to have their government spend money on telling them what legislation TO make.
What sort of position did the powers that be take when prohibition was collapsing? Is there any insight there?
I agree-is there any legal basis for this? I mean, “can they do that?”
If the taxpayers want marijuana legalized, then…
True true, I see your point and I agree with it. If people want to legalize pot, they can legalize it with referendums and convincing their legislator, etc. But federal and state laws are different, as I pointed out. The drug czar, as of yet, has not tried to defeat a legislative campaign to decriminalize pot on the federal level, as I don’t think there’s been a serious one yet, only state and local ones. If people want meaningful change in federal drug laws and the federal legalization of weed, why are they campaigning for it on the state level? And, as a state’s right issue, it’s not the best candidate for a defensive stand-off: haven’t the Feds busted Calif. medical marijauna growers and distributers?
–greenphan
It is definately a state’s rights issue. Which is why its even more disconcerting that the federal government is trying to interefere in state politics.
I’d say it’s an undemocratic waste, yes. And regarding the prison thing, there is also a ton of money in private prisons - they’re not all run by the states anymore.
There’s an initiative circulating in my state to get a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot. I sent a letter to the petition circulator today requesting a sheet.
I’d love to see this issue actually get on the ballot. I know it would probably go down in flames, at least the first time, but it would provoke a public discourse which badly needs to be made.