# Will marijuana be legalized this fall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 1, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429 "2012-10-01T22:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/21 "2012-10-02T12:05:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Doesn’t mean what you think it does. Aside from the fact that I was kidding, y’all pursue happiness as you choose, and I’ll do the same.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/22 "2012-10-02T13:18:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > This. Marijuana is not “legal”, and no state has the authority to make it so. No legitimate businessman is going to put his life savings into opening a business that can be arbitrarily shut down by the federal government at any time, and no bank is going to finance a loan to start up a “legalized” marijuana dispensary. > > Personally, it wouldn’t bother me at all if marijuana were legalized tomorrow, but that change has to come at the federal level. States legalizing marijuana is on the same constitutional ground as the “show me your papers” law in Arizona, or the states passing laws “declaring” Obamacare unconstitutional, and it’s just as much an attempt at doing an end-run around the supreme law of the land when our side does it as it is when theirs does. And let’s keep in mind that even if it gets legalized or decriminalized at the state level, that is always for “personal use”, and no state allows large scale marijuana farming. This is a big problem where I live, as just up in the hills behind my house where I often ride my mountain bike, there are big busts every summer of people setting up illegal pot farms. Ditto for people who do the same in houses-- large scale hydroponic farming, oftne in average, middle class neighborhoods. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/23 "2012-10-02T15:27:37Z")
> [@Untoward\_Parable](#): > > Youre misunderstanding what is happening, there are 1000’s of shops in state legalized states selling basically to the public already, getting busted by the Feds is because you got noticed somehow or win a crummy lottery. The de fecto state of things is pretty important to reality. Certainly any president can change the reality significantly and any employer can still violate the human rights of employees and potential employees by demanding to search their urethra at random for ganja. We are in a state of limbo on the issue to some extent but don’t get confused, a ton of people will be smoking a ton of marinol with little to no threat of legal consequence from now into the medium term future at least. Still doesn’t mean it’s legal, and your claim that a drug test is a violation of human rights has been debunked by the Supremes every time it’s come up. You want to smoke weed, do so, but understand that you are probably breaking a federal law doing so, and don’t whine like a bitch when you get busted. FTR: I support legalizing, and will cheer the day. I don’t smoke myself, and I support the right of a company to drug test, though legalizing marijuana may require a change to the way that’s done, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/24 "2012-10-02T22:03:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And let’s keep in mind that even if it gets legalized or decriminalized at the state level, that is always for “personal use”, and no state allows large scale marijuana farming. This is a big problem where I live, as just up in the hills behind my house where I often ride my mountain bike, there are big busts every summer of people setting up illegal pot farms. Ditto for people who do the same in houses-- large scale hydroponic farming, oftne in average, middle class neighborhoods. [A decision by the Boulder County Land Use Department to approve the transformation of a one-time organic egg farm north of Longmont into a marijuana growing operation will stand, county commissioners decided Tuesday morning. The 67-acre Szymanski Farms, 10437 Yellowstone Road, is now one of two plots of agricultural land in rural Boulder County that have been given the green light to grow and process medical marijuana.]([Boulder County commissioners let approval of Longmont-area pot farm stand – Boulder Daily Camera](http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_15950731)) ---
**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:** [October 2, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/25 "2012-10-02T22:20:37Z")
Not for long now that the Feds have the published address of a major drug operation. ---
**Author:** ![saynotohypocrisy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@saynotohypocrisy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saynotohypocrisy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/26 "2012-10-08T00:02:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I dispute the claim that there is a “human right” to smoke marijuana. Cannabis is indisputably much safer than alcohol, if you have the right to use alcohol, I have the human right to use a safer alternative to alcohol. Obviously. It’s called basic fairness. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/27 "2012-10-08T00:07:40Z")
Well, like many things, there are two schools of thought, and people freely jump from one to the other depending on the subject and their personal prejudices; 1\> Everything is naturally legal until the goverment can show due cause to outlaw it. 2\> Everything should be outlawed unless it is proven safe, isn’t opposed by the dominant religion and is non-controversial. I’m a big supporter of #1. That means I generally reject the “that’s not a ‘human right’” argument about most anything as being far too full of #2 (pun intended). ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/28 "2012-10-08T00:10:54Z")
> [@saynotohypocrisy](#): > > Cannabis is indisputably much safer than alcohol, if you have the right to use alcohol, I have the human right to use a safer alternative to alcohol. Obviously. It’s called basic fairness. QFT. I wish that the powers that be would pull their heads out of their asses on this one. If pot were legal I might never drink again. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/29 "2012-10-08T01:39:58Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Putting it here because these are ballot initiatives. > > Colorado, Oregon, and Washington have ballot initiatives in 2012 that will legalize production, possession, delivery and distribution of marijuana. You would be able to grow your own or buy it at state-licensed stores. > > Shockingly, (to me at least) polls show it passing in Colorado and Washington and failing slightly in Oregon. In Colorado, a recent Denver Post poll showed 51% support and only 40% opposed. It has support across all income ranges and age groups with the exception of those over 65. > > California had a similar measure a few years ago that also showed popular support before the election but it ended up failing 54-46. I think Colorado (where I am) just might pass this because, for all intents and purposes, it already is legal. Denver and Boulder are filled with medical marijuana dispensaries, and the pages of the alternative weeklies are filled with ads for them. It is a formality getting a medical marijuana card. Anybody who wants one can get one. Several municipalities, including Denver have passed laws instructing the police to make possession a least priority crime, basically saying to ignore it. > > This is something that I never imagined would happen in my lifetime. I know that Alaska decriminalized possession in the 70’s but that was repealed and it hasn’t come back up. > > Do you think this an idea who’s time has come? > > Colorado marijuana legalization initiative leads in new poll > > Read more: Colorado marijuana legalization initiative leads in new poll - The Denver Post [Colorado marijuana legalization initiative leads in new poll – The Denver Post](http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_21548398/colorado-marijuana-legalization-initiative-leads-new-poll#ixzz285TAXIOa) There seems to be a pattern for such ballot measures to lose support as the election gets closer. > [@](#): > > Polling indicates that support for the measure may be wavering. > > A Rasmussen Pollsters survey conducted in June indicated 61 percent of voters would vote in favor or marijuana legalization. A more recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling in late August and early September showed 47 percent in favor, 38 percent opposed and 15 percent uncertain. Read more: [http://www.gazette.com/articles/legalize-144808-marijuana-amendment.html#ixzz28fRMxugV](http://www.gazette.com/articles/legalize-144808-marijuana-amendment.html#ixzz28fRMxugV) > [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > I know someone with a ‘green card’ here in California. He was once pulled over with marijuana in his car and showed the cop his card (or maybe it was the doctor’s letter) and he was not arrested, just sent on his merry way (with a ticket for speeding). Not sure what would happen if he had been stopped by a federal agent. Federal agents don’t enforce state traffic laws. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/30 "2012-10-08T02:37:04Z")
> [@saynotohypocrisy](#): > > Cannabis is indisputably much safer than alcohol, if you have the right to use alcohol, I have the human right to use a safer alternative to alcohol. Obviously. It’s called basic fairness. I don’t claim that I have a “human right” to drink, or a “right” to at all. There’s nothing in the Constitution or the UN Declaration of Human Rights about a right to alcohol. I am allowed to drink because I live in a democratic society where the people, via Congress, have decided to allow the states to set their own policies on the matter. In much the same way, the people have decided through Congress that marijuana policy should not be in state hands. When the people change their minds and insist that Congress change that law, then so it will be. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/31 "2012-10-08T08:49:13Z")
**What are the Feds going to do?** That’s what it comes down to. How big is the DEA and how much do they want to spend on enforcing Federal laws the states have no interest in? How much _could_ they spend? If a state were dead-set on non-cooperation, if the elected officials of that state were convinced that being seen as helping the DEA prosecute for marijuana offenses was career suicide, how much could the DEA afford to do in that state? States always lose nullification crises. We saw that in the 1960s, over Civil Rights, and in the 1860s, over Civil Rights. Therefore, it is up to the _Federal_ government to _not_ make this a nullification crisis. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/32 "2012-10-08T16:40:47Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Federal agents don’t enforce state traffic laws. While the CFR covers traffic laws on federal property, they are mirrored from state laws. In a case where a violation of state law is applicable and NO comparable law is in the CFR, the Assimilative Crimes Act permits such federal officer, usually Park Ranger’s, etc., as traveling through a national park, etc. to charge a driver under that state’s law it occurred in. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/33 "2012-10-08T16:48:40Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > It is _decriminalized_ in CA, which is something different. In Ohio, under state law, under 100 grams is a Minor Misdemeanor and DEcriminalized. However, Municipalities under Home Rule authority can pre-empt state law and criminalize it, up to a Misdemeanor of the 1st degree. However, as we all know, Municipalites can not enact felonies. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/34 "2012-10-08T17:08:02Z")
Will marijuana be decriminalized this fall? PUT. THE. BONG. DOWN. No. Too much entrenched money and power supports criminalization. Gonna take some work to get rid of it. And time. Maybe in four years, at the earliest. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/35 "2012-10-08T17:43:58Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > Why? > > As long as you aren’t stoned on the job, what business is it of your employer what you do in your own time? > > If cannabis is legal, then surely your employers should be treating it like alcohol… Don’t tell me you can get fired for drinking a beer at the weekend? Only from Chik-Fil-A. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/36 "2012-10-08T20:24:49Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > **What are the Feds going to do?** > > That’s what it comes down to. How big is the DEA and how much do they want to spend on enforcing Federal laws the states have no interest in? How much _could_ they spend? If a state were dead-set on non-cooperation, if the elected officials of that state were convinced that being seen as helping the DEA prosecute for marijuana offenses was career suicide, how much could the DEA afford to do in that state? This is the right answer. The fed govt would have to bulk up it’s enforcement capabilities in order to combat a legalization movement. > [@](#): > > States always lose nullification crises. We saw that in the 1960s, over Civil Rights, and in the 1860s, over Civil Rights. Therefore, it is up to the _Federal_ government to _not_ make this a nullification crisis . Im unclear as to why you think the 1860’s was a time of nullification failure. The Northern States were nullifying the fugitive slave law by refusing the enforce it. This was among the grievances for the seceding states, but the anti-slavery view won out in the end. I see this as a victory for nullification not a failure. Also, many states refused to enforce alcohol prohibition. The federal government eventually succumbed to the force of nullification in this instance as well. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/37 "2012-10-08T20:43:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > In much the same way, the people have decided through Congress that marijuana policy should not be in state hands. When the people change their minds and insist that Congress change that law, then so it will be. What congressional power enumerated in the constitution deals with marijuana law? How about alcohol? Why was an amendment needed to criminalize alcohol production but not marijuana? ---
**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:** [October 8, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/38 "2012-10-08T20:50:55Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > What congressional power enumerated in the constitution deals with marijuana law? How about alcohol? Why was an amendment needed to criminalize alcohol production but not marijuana? [The Supreme Court has held that the Commerce Clause enables Congress to ban marijuana.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_v._Raich) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/39 "2012-10-08T21:40:01Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Im unclear as to why you think the 1860’s was a time of nullification failure. South Carolina tried to nullify the parts that said you had to remain in the Union, and that certainly failed. Point being, the Federal government always wins when push comes to shove, so, in order to preserve its own political best interests, the Federal government had better make _sure_ it _never_ comes to shove. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429/40 "2012-10-08T21:53:40Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > QFT. I wish that the powers that be would pull their heads out of their asses on this one. If pot were legal I might never drink again. I’m with you here but, honestly, I think there are a lot of people interested in keeping current profit margins. They can grease a lot of palms to keep it that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-marijuana-be-legalized-this-fall/636429.md?page=3)