Legalize the Herb..

[wanderingbear]

Potheads sitting in prision at the tax payers expence of $200 a day makes no sence.. WHile the alternative is to tax the herb and make money off the pothead instead..

[maveric]

1. Some states are giving early releases for murderers and rapists

to make room for the evil dope smokers.
Who are more of a threat to society?

[MisterP]

2. yes to oregano!

or are you thinking of marijuana?
there's a good "Facts and Myths" book praised by Newt, CATO, and liberal sources as a "good metanalysis."

[evil_orange_cat]

3. absolutely

not only is the war on drugs a failure, stupid, and hypocritical, it's a violation of our most basic rights as humans... the right to do what we please with our bodies...

[VolcanoJen]

4. Say yes to Legalized Herb!

:-)

[leftbend]

5. Yes

and eliminate the stupid ,wasteful "war on drugs" too. Private corporate owned and operated prisions are a far too luctrative business.

[Virgil]

6. Al Gore's son wants pot legal

Well, he just got arrested tonight and wish it were legal. That would be the 3rd Albert A. Gore- http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread18010.shtml

[corporatewhore]

7. kucinich was against the war on iraq ad the war on drugs!!

[durutti]

17. Woah! That pic...

Is that Biafra photo real?

[corporatewhore]

31. yeah it is when he went to cleavland after kucinich was mayor

Saw Jello (and kucinich)at campus greens convention and still admired him for his stand against the electric companies and had nothin but praises for him.

[AfroLib]

8. Decriminalization

You know the Republicans--it's who you are that is punished, not what you do. Still, I counsel the young ones away from the weed. To each her/his own, I say.

[jonnyblitz]

9. I agree. I just got back from 3 weeks in Amsterdam

what a different atmosphere in regards to this topic.

[jonnyblitz]

10. I agree. I just got back from 3 weeks in Amsterdam

what a different atmosphere in regards to this topic.

[wuushew]

11. How come no one is talking about the recent federal court decision

to allow medical mary jane

Two big court losses for Bush this month.

[Terwilliger]

13. loss for Bush?

Do you know who first started the attack on medical marijuana?

[death by oi]

12. agreed!

not only would legalization leave more room in prisons for people who commit REAL crimes, it would help on a crackdown on the pushers. the pushers sell other drugs to kids and i wouldn't be suprised if they were lacing it with other drugs to get them hooked on those ones.

this way, you'd be able to buy just the pot and not the koke.

[wanderingbear]

15. It would eliminate most of them..

Its a money game.. The higher the risk the more money itsd worth.. Legaqlizing the Herb takes the risk out of it and pot becomes just another weed..

[Nikia]

21. That's what is ironic about big pot busts

In smaller areas, a huge pot bust can make pot scarce for a short time. All the law enforcement and anti drug people applaud. So the normal pot customer goes to the dealer to buy pot, but the dealer doesn't have any. He has coke though. Responsible users who know that pot is relatively safe and coke is bad news, say no thanks and wait. Impressionable teenagers who discovered that their teachers lied about the dangers of pot take the dealer up on their offer because coke must be no big dealer either and they can't get any weed for a couple weeks. Marijuana is a gateway drug because you can often buy other illegal drugs from the same person who be referred to someone who can. If it were sold in stores, that wouldn't be an issue.

[terrya]

14. Hell, legalize ALL drugs. Period. I'm sick of this stupid, pointless,

useless "war on drugs".

People are going to do drugs. Big fucking surprise, eh? There's no point in pretending otherwise. We legalize drugs...guess what? Gang activity drops significantly. The crime rate goes down. The police are freed to concentrate on more important things than busting people for drug possession. The prison population drops. The government can then regulate and license...and tax...drugs. Hey...another source of revenue for the government. And...more money for treatment.

Society benefits all around with legalization.

[mkeferl]

23. Once again, the point is missed

Legalizing drugs because of their revenue potential will not help at all...besides making better quality drugs available. Government regulations will most likely drive prices up to their black-market levels, thus creating a new black market! You can see examples of this in most government regulations, especially with cigarettes. Who would have ever thought that CIGARETTE trucks would be hijacked?! Only when government taxes the hell out of them.
The only solution is government-free life. Prices will be low, and prescription drugs will be dirt cheap as well.
Of course, this might mean having to (gasp) admit that government doesn't work!

[sweetheart]

29. not quite

Given the case study of alcohol prohibition, your statement is bologna. Legalization will remove the risk-premium that subsidizes current illegal prices from the taxpayer today.

The reasons to end prohibition are to end crime in inner cities, and to end drugs addiction deaths, end HIV and hepatitis C avoidable deaths and to keep with freedom of religion in the first amendment.

If it makes some cash, great, but that is not the operative reason to legalize... saving lives is.

[Beam Me Up]

16. Do you know HOW pot was made illegal??

The whole thing is a truly BAD joke perpetrated on the American people for 66 god damned years. If you don't know the history of drug prohibition, you should read "The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States," a Speech to the California Judges Association 1995 annual conference by Charles Whitebread, Professor of Law, USC Law School linked in sections from this page:
http://www.druglibrary.org/olsen/DPF/whitebread.html

The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 includes the following:

whenever Congress is going to pass a law, they hold hearings.  And you have seen these hearings.  The hearings can be extremely voluminous, they go on and on, they have days and days of hearings.  Well, may I say, that the hearings on the national marijuana prohibition were very brief indeed.  The hearings on the national marijuana prohibition lasted one hour, on each of two mornings and since the hearings were so brief I can tell you almost exactly what was said to support the national marijuana prohibition.

<snip>

     When we asked at the Library of Congress for a copy of the hearings, to the shock of the Library of Congress, none could be found.  We went "What?"  It took them four months to finally honor our request because -- are you ready for this?  -- the hearings were so brief that the volume had slid down inside the side shelf of the bookcase and was so thin it had slid right down to the bottom inside the bookshelf.  That's how brief they were.  Are you ready for this?  They had to break the bookshelf open because it had slid down inside.

I *HIGHLY* recommend this read.

BMU

[arcos]

18. Thank you!

very interesting!

[Speed8098]

22. That was excellent

I've know some of the history, but to see it all in one place was eye opening. I hope this can get out for the close minded to see, it might just cause a little reasonable doubt in their black and white world.


Thanks

[NicRic]

19. KICK !!!

.

[duhneece]

20. There is a (former) NM Governor-repub, no less- who agrees

Governor Gary Johnson. I think he supports a web site opposing this ludicrous 'war.'

[JVS]

24. We need cheap plentiful bud!

[LOL]

32. I'll

smoke to that!:smoke:

[Octafish]

25. Alcohol shrinks the brain.

You think it's an accident the TV is filled with beer commercials?

[Cooley Hurd]

26. In the words of the immortal Peter Tosh...

Legalize it - don't criticize it
Legalize it and i will advertise it

Some call it tampee
Some call it the weed
Some call it Marijuana
Some of them call it Ganja

Legalize it - don't criticize it
Legalize it and i will advertise it

Singer smoke it
And players of instruments too
Legalize it, yeah, yeah
That's the best thing you can do
Doctors smoke it
Nurses smoke it
Judges smoke it
Even the lawyers too

Legalize it - don't criticize it
Legalize it and i will advertise it

It's good for the flu
It's good for asthma
Good for tuberculosis
Even umara composis

Legalize it - don't criticize it
Legalize it and i will advertise it

Bird eat it
And they leave it
Fowls eat it
Goats love to play with it

[CrownPrinceBandar]

27. If you haven't already seen it..

interested persons should check out the video of "Jesse Ventura's America" that was broadcast on MSNBC. I think you can watch it at:

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2365.html

I like to use comparisons to other popular drugs to illustrate the real banality of pot. Look at cocaine, yeah it starts life as a plant, and when taken in its raw form, its a mild stimulant. Unfortunately man went and fucked with it, cooking it down with other additives to make a horribly addictive drug. Consider meth, a toxic and volitaile mixture of chems (nothing natural there). The same goes for LSD, MDMA, Ketamine, etc... Now consider the processing of pot. Lets see... grow it, dry it and smoke. No chems, no unnatural processes.

My thought is, why don't they decriminalize cultivation and keep some kind of controls on trafficking. It seems to me that growing weed for your own use is not a viable contribution to the drug "problem."
However, I am not so jaded to think it would be as pretty of a picture as the one I am painting. The fact is people will always traffic and sell to folks who shouldn't be using (mainly kids).

edit: I applaud DU moderators for leaving this thread in the General Discussion forum and not kicking it to the "Guns, drugs..." forum, as that space is so clogged with gun issues that drug topics tend to get lost. Maybe a drug war only forum should be added to the lobby? Or maybe the mods are on Xmas vacation and this slipped throgh the cracks Hehe!

[sweetheart]

28. YES! Visit the cannabis/wine shop of tomorrow...

As you walk in the door, the sweet smell of cannabis bud fills the air. On shelves are small glass, plastic, wood and paper containers each holding various cannabis vintages, of different years. The prices and amounts vary from 3 dollars for a small bud, to over 1000 bucks for premium genetically perfected vintage, all depending on the cannabis smoker's preference.

Amounts range from a single jay to a 1 pound case of containers for people giving gifts round christmas, much like whiskey markets. All the contianers have tax/excise labels on them, and if people grow at home over 1 pound per year, they are obliged to register tax and excise much similarly to alcohol.

The shop assistant is the 21st century sommalier, recommending various bud vintages given the customer tastes. After meeting the customers and seeing the incredible profits involved in the legal cannabis profession, it is truly amazing that it has been prohibited for so long.

Legalize it, and until then, smoke it anyways and vote against the criminals in government who wage a war with our taxes against us.

[DemBones DemBones]

30. Dennis Kucinich would decriminalize marijuana,

for medical or recreational use. If we nominate Kucinich, he could win in a landslide, considering that various polls ahow that about three quarters of voters support decriminalizing marijuana. He also offers true single payer universal health care, also supported by 60% or more of Americans.

He would also end the drug war and fund treatment for addicts instead.

Here's a quote:

"According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, more than 734,000 individuals were arrested on marijuana charges in 2000. This number far exceeds the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Eighty-eight percent of those arrested were charged with possession only. Convicted marijuana offenders are denied federal financial student aid, welfare, and food stamps, and may be removed from public housing. In many cases, those convicted are automatically stripped of their driving privileges, even if the offense is not driving related. In several states, marijuana offenders may receive maximum sentences of life in prison. The cost to the taxpayer of enforcing marijuana prohibition is staggering—over $10 billion annually."

Read more about Kucinich's position on marijuana here:

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/marijuana_decrim.php

Then look at all the issues listed on the right side of the page and you"ll find the link to his policy on the drug war.

[ErasureAcer]

33. nah

Democrats would rather vote someone in who doesn't want to rock the boat.

They're trying not to rock the vote come 2004 and hand Bush another election.

[MrPrax]

34. Kicked via a Supertoke!!

Free the Hemp in all of it's applications...
One of the more harmless things people can do...

Are microwave ovens the worst enemy of the pothead?

[drdigi420]

36. Failed, counterproductive war on people that use certain drugs

For more information and to join a great community of cannabis users from around the world, visit www.stonernet.org

United We're Stoned, Divided We're Busted

The drug war is not only a failure, it's counterproductive. It puts more drugs in the hands of children, not less. It increases crime and corruption and lowers the overall quality of life. It incarcerates the primary wage earner in already impoverished areas that are being destroyed, not by the drugs, but by the war on drugs.

The war on drugs wastes lives and resources, forces police to attempt to enforce laws that are unenforceable without a violation of our constitutional rights, and creates an atmosphere of 'us versus them' in our police departments that has often deadly results.

For safe drugs such as marijuana, it puts users in contact with dealers of other, more dangerous drugs. For dangerous drugs such as heroin and cocaine, it removes vital controls and regulations that save lives and prevent addiction. For the users of these drugs, it causes pain and suffering and deters treatment. For the people that have to live in the neighborhoods of drug gangs, it presents a clear and present danger to themselves and their families.

If you support the war on drugs, you support:
-Children selling drugs
-Gang wars in our streets
-The financing of terrorists
-Police corruption
-Higher taxes
-Higher medical care costs
-More kids growing up without fathers

It's about time that the mainstream media starts showing the real effects of the war on drugs. The only way to get teh media to do it is to tune in to any news programs about the war on drugs, thus increasing the ratings, and to write and call and raise hell.

The war on drugs is a civil rights issue. It is about protecting our freedom from those that, although well-intentioned, can't see that the cure is worse than the disease.

[spanone]

35. Pharmaceutical cocaine is available. Go figure.