Why does the WH and Party want pot to remain illegal?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Straightforward question.

Why does the WH want pot to remain illegal?

Why is that the official policy of our nation (and our Party, apparently)?

It is funny how some things are just accepted.

Using torture in interrogations? People get upset.

No same-sex marriage? People get upset.

Maintaining a national Gulag system for people who produce and possess a fairly innocuous drug...

Meh.

The War on Drugs is not an intrinsic feature of the universe. It is policy.

We elect people and they DO these things in our name.

[MineralMan]

1. Could be that it's just not a primary issue when the economy

is in the tank. That's one possibility.

[Romulox]

4. Then why is Justice prosecuting such cases?

Logic problem. :hi:

[anarch]

20. the irony of this, considering how much money is wasted on the "war on drugs"

not to mention the potential revenue, at the state level at the very least, that could be had if it was legal and taxed like alcohol...that irony is actually painful.

But, oh, we've got to protect the profits of the prison industry and big pharma. It's a crock of shit. There is no good reason for pot being illegal, and plenty of good reasons to legalize it--a number of economic factors being among them.

[MineralMan]

21. You're right, but it still isn't a primary issue.

I'm in full agreement with ending the entire drug war and making those drugs legal and taxable. Don't get me wrong. But, it's not a huge issue for the current administration, which is pretty occupied with other issues just now. In the meantime, few people are getting in much trouble for smoking some dope, or even for using other drugs. That's not the enforcement goal.

It's a problem. No question. But it's not one of the major problems we're all facing. Truly, it is not.

[RaleighNCDUer]

31. Few people? Only something like half our two million prison population.

A MILLION people incarcerated, costing the government $50,000 a year apiece - what is that? 50 BILLION dollars to lock up pot smokers?

Not one of the major problems?

[Bluenorthwest]

33. Boy, are you wrong. Few people getting in trouble? Try record

numbers. Police arrested 847,864 persons for marijuana violations in 2008, 89% of those for simple possession.
Also, by the way, the OP is not asking 'why is this not the primary issue' it is asking why the administration is actually fighting against reform. That is not a question about priorities, but about actual objectives. Your responses are not related to the question asked.

[Uncle Joe]

40. One such economic/foreign relations reason is the increased destabilization in Mexico which

no doubt increases the motivation to illegally immigrate to a relatively safer and more stable nation; which happens to be us for the time being.

Legalizing Cannabis would be good for both nations from moral, economic, and human rights standpoints.

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. Do you have any notion what revenue would be generated by

legalizing and taxing marijuana sales?

We'd balance the budget and wipe out the deficit in 5 years.

[NightWatcher]

2. re: pot....maybe because Big Pharma is afraid of legalized marijuana

I cant help but think that if marijuana were legal, fewer people would be running to anti-depressants (10% of the US pop. in 2005 http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-03-antidepressants_N.htm )

Big Pharma and Big Beer (budweiser, miller, coors) fear people having access to better relief.

Plus, to legalize marijuana would be to admit that they were wrong for decades, and that's not about to happen

[lonestarnot]

6. "nails it."

Fuck I hate that expression. :D

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wildbilln864]

48. you could probably stop taking them at all...

and save lots of money too!

[Name removed]

61. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wildbilln864]

62. .

[hlthe2b]

11. Combined lobbies of Big Pharma and Private Prison industry

[NightWatcher]

15. I cant believe I forgot about the private prison industry ( which should be illegal)

[Uncle Joe]

42. I agree, the industry of for profit prisons should be illegal.

The very concept of a for profit prison industry; is anathema to any notion of this being the "land of the free" and as their power, wealth and influence along with their prisoners increases; so will their ability to lobby, aka; bribe the Congress to pass even more draconian laws against the American People.

That dynamic can't lead to any other direction so long as they're legal.

The for profit prison industry is a growing danger against our democratic republic.

[robdogbucky]

47. and energy industry

and trial lawyers associations, public corrections officers' unions in our biggest states, alcohol industry, the money being made by whomever the Mexican cartels are bribing, the politicians on the take from all these disparate economic interests, etc., etc., etc.

ad nauseum

Lost in the noise is the truth about cannabis, lost lo those many years ago when racism, xenophobia and ignorance held sway in the land.


Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[Mimosa]

55. Robdogbucky is right: It's all about the money

I don't even like marijuana. However when I used to have screaming level menstrual pain, a few tokes of Marijuana were more effective than vicodin. I heard from my great grandmother that hemp had long been used as a remedy to alleviate painful menstraul cramps. Then in the 30s it was made illegal.

[wildbilln864]

50. also the oil industry!

anything and I do mean anything made from petroleum can be made from cannabis/hemp/marijuana and has already been before cannabis's ban!

[femrap]

28. I so glad

you listed the reasons so I don't have to....TPTB (corporations) pay the politicians to do as TPTB want.

Do you realize that there is only ONE Big Beer owned by an American company? Samuel Adams. The rest have been sold to foreign entities.

Plus, remember HEMP and how strong a material it is! The chemical/plastic corps. would be upset. I even think Big Oil would be pissed if HEMP were legal.

Oh...Big Jails would be pissed if pot were legal.

[truedelphi]

53. See my post number 52.

Ttoally agree with you, but it is even bigger than self medicating for depression.

[freebrew]

59. I don't think it would.

affect beer sales at all. Not the same animal.

Beer is a beverage. People drink it because they like it.
At least that's my excuse.

[Romulox]

3. #1) Racism; #2) legalized gov't theft (YOU prove you DIDN'T do it!) #3) Real criminals are dangerous

Did I miss anything?

[Better Believe It]

5. Because Republicans want pot to remain illegal?

That might explain it.

[seattleblue]

44. What prominent elected Democrats want pot legal?

[Ganja Ninja]

7. Please don't rock the boat.

What you're asking for isn't supported by people that will never ever vote for a Democrat. We don't want to upset them.

[kristopher]

8. Law enforcement and Prison lobby.

Law and order vote.

+ all of above posts.

Bad policy always has a constituency.

[rusty fender]

14. Ding, ding, ding, ding!

The DEA is a smaller version of the Pentagon, addicted to the money and power.:banghead:

[kristopher]

19. Especially since they've been enabled to so easily seize property.

[kenny blankenship]

23. It's not just the DEA. Any law enforcement agency sees the benefits

from having a law that is widely violated. Countless numbers of Americans have been turned into police informers and induced to inform on their friends because they were caught with marijuana. Law enforcement likes anything that makes conducting more searches, threatening interviewees, and turning citizens into informants easier. The laws criminalizing marijuana possession are the most powerful tool the police forces have in their never ending war on society's disadvantaged classes, and they are also the most powerful tool that the privileged classes have in their never ending struggle to maintain that state of war whatever the cost. If pot was legal what could be then used as the basis for justifying and continuing that war? Small wonder then that the Democrats laugh, like President Obama did, at suggestions that marijuana be legalized.

[Newest Reality]

27. +1000

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. Votes

President Obama would lose more voters than he would gain by advocating making marijuana legal.

[frylock]

35. nonsense..

more people than ever before are for it's legalization. which voters would obama lose?

[Freddie Stubbs]

36. He would lose more swing voters than he would gain

[frylock]

38. his drug warrior status is turning off the non-swing voters like myself..

i've fulfilled my obligation by voting for change. i'm not getting change. i'm done voting fo dems just for the sake of having dems in office, especially when their concern is appeasing swing voters, conservatives, and undecideds.

[Freddie Stubbs]

56. Why did you vote for Obama when you knew that he was opposed to legalization of marijuana?

[frylock]

57. because i'm not a one-issue voter..

because i didn't want mccain. because i felt a responsibility to insure that the repubs did not take office.

now i'm just jaded, because the CHANGE that i'd voted for isn't taking place. we're still headed for the cliff, albeit at a slower pace. i'll vote for brown and boxer in november, but i don't foresee myself voting for obama in 2012.

[MH1]

37. any that could be swayed by the massive anti-Obama propaganda campaign

which would be funded by the vast moneyed interests that LIKE marijuana being illegal.

for list of said interests, see the many posts on this thread addressing that question.

[frylock]

39. why am i voting for dems if they're too scared to do the right thing?

all they seem to care about is getting in office. fuck. this. shit.

[Freddie Stubbs]

54. Because although you may not like some of their actions, you will dislike the actions of

Republicans far more.

[frylock]

58. i'm done voting for the lesser of two evils..

i'm on record as stating that apparently 8 years of bush wasn't enough to open the eyes of the status quo enabling dems. i'm afraid things are going to have to get a hell of a lot worse before people wake the fuck up.

[AngryAmish]

12. They should take a policy of neutrality - if federalism means anything

I think pot should be legal. Don't smoke it and won't start if it was. But it is harmless by and large, especially compared to alcohol.

Anyway, the Feds should do away with pot possession laws. They could make interstate transport illegal as well as importation. Then each state could decide if they want to legalize it. Potheads can live in a legal state and non-smokers in other states. Problem solved the way the FOunders would have done it.

[Fumesucker]

13. Police officers lobby..

Prison guards lobby.

Private prisons lobby.

Defense lawyers lobby.

Judges lobby.

Prosecutors lobby.

Big alcohol lobby.

Big Pharma lobby.

And last but certainly not least, they would have to admit they've been lying for seventy or eighty years.

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. +1

:thumbsup:

[chimpymustgo]

16. K&R.

[zipplewrath]

17. Image

Only Nixon can go to China.

Do you know what that expression means?

The first Black President, presiding over a country with deep racial scars, and has a history of drug use in his past, isn't going to be the guy that proposes legalization of pot. A president that struggles with accusations of being some sort of manchurian/muslim/Kenyan Anti-colonialist isn't going to also become the reefer president.

Most likely, the first president to propose such a thing will be some Gen X president that is lilly white. In otherwords probably about 10 years or more away.

[RaleighNCDUer]

32. That would be, a pasty white Republican libertarian.

Only Nixon...

[randr]

18. It points out a strategic problem with the dems

The dems are obsessed with worry over what the repugs will charge them with on any issue.
Rather that follow the repug strategy of throwing the mud at the opposition first, they are always on the defensive at must react to charges, no matter how insane.
If the dems wanted to get on the popular side of the drug issue they need to brand the repugs as anti-family and show how many lives are ruined. Brand the opposition first with what you think they will respond with to any political stand.

[slackmaster]

24. Political expediency. They don't really care, they choose views in order to garner votes.

As long as they think a majority of voters in the next Presidential election will be opposed to legalization, they'll oppose legalization.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

26. More pointedly, the proportion of single-issue voting

The public could be 75% pro-legalization and the government still anti provided the anti-pot vote would never, ever vote for a legalizationist while the pro-legalization citizens did not make it central to their voting behavior.

And that sort of thing is what makes centrism and "pragmatism" problematic. Big picture vs. little picture.

(Abortion is a good example of this effect. The proportion of single-issue voters plays out as disproportinately important versus vague national opinion.)

[yella_dawg]

25. Money.

Private prison industry.
Prison guard unions.
Law enforcement - federal, state, and local.
Lawyers and bail bondsmen.
Add to the list.


Then of course there's the tens of billions per year in direct revenue.


The legalization of pot will have a dramatic impact on the economy. That impact will be profoundly negative in the beginning, though stopping the constant sapping of the economy will eventually turn it into a positive impact.

[AnArmyVeteran]

29. If corporations could control pot production it would be legalized tomorrow!

The pharmaceutical industry can advertise and sell any damned dangerous and deadly drug they want, but we the people can't even grow and use a god-given plant that produces a chemical that is totally harmless and has dozens of beneficial medicinal uses.

Both parties are against legalization because there are so many ignorant people out there who believe all of the lies about marijuana. But if a US corporation could get exclusive rights to profit off of all the sales of pot it would be legalized tomorrow. It's all about control and money and has NOTHING to do with the ridiculous claims saying pot is harmful. Although large numbers of people in both parties are against legalization of pot, those on the right are the most rabidly opposed to legalization. They claim they don't like government telling us what we can or cannot do but they constantly betray themselves by always supporting government intrusions into what we can do with our bodies to what we do in our bedrooms. When will this absurdity end?

We are spending tens of billions every year incarcerating people, law enforcement, expensive drug tests, rehab programs and forcing doctors to be cops when we could be using our limited resources to benefit society and rebuild our infrastructure.

Most Americans live in a world filled with ignorance, fear and propaganda and seem unable to use their brains for logical or rational thought.

[freethought]

34. Actually, I few people I have talked to

don't actually understand the logic behind making marijuana legal. They have a sort of mindset that if it is illegal there must be good reason for it and thus must remain illegal. You kind of have to break down this mindset over time with a sledgehammer. And that takes time.

It seems to escape them that when you legalize marijuana you pull the rug out from under these ultra-violent drug cartels that are raising so much death and destruction, especially down on the Mexican border towns and cities. (A great many people are totally unaware how bad things have gotten down in places like Juarez and how innocents have been caught in the middle). You turn a black market into a legit market. You put regulations on the market and then you tax s__t out of it. Use that revenue to pay for a universal health care. The high taxes on the product will keep many away from the product.

[TonyMontana]

41. Most Americans are against it

Unfortunately.

[librechik]

45. not true--at least as far as medical use is concerned

"Americans are more accepting of medical marijuana. Sixty percent support the idea and 74 percent believe the drug has a real medical benefit for some people. Two-thirds of Democrats favor medical marijuana as do a slim majority of Republicans, 53 percent."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/legalize-pot-poll-shows-m_n_543952.html

[frylock]

51. links?

[NNN0LHI]

43. Jobs

Police, court workers, jail guards, lawyers, bail bondsmen, etc.

Lot of jobs.

Don

[wildbilln864]

46. because that's what their corporate masters want....

else we'd be too free! :hi:

[asdjrocky]

49. Gotta keep feeding the PIC.

There are corporate interests involved in prisons now, they need their money.

[truedelphi]

52. Follow the MONEY. The Big Money.

Since the early nineties, the Big Pharmaceutical companies have been researching like crazy the molecular structure of the cannibinoids found in marijuana.

They want to patent every single molecular structure that they can. Why in the world would Big Pharma let its chance to patent remedies for Multiple Sclerosis, for cancer, and for many other ailments fall to the way side, simply because Americans are insisting on their right to be left alone to grow marijuana in peace.

And of course, if we grow the stuff ourselves, it's free, and we won't need to spend $ 12 a day on some cannibinoid-based headache remedy, for example. Multiple that $ 12 a day by millions, and you see why Big Pharma is out there against marijuana legalization.

A journal opublished an article related to neurology with citations of some cannibinoid showing promise for Multiple Sclerosis spasms etc way back in 1999. Do you really think they wouold want to give the patent rights on that up?

Obama/Rahm presidency is totally in bed with the Big Pharma people. Could not care less about We the People.

[yowzayowzayowza]

60. Gettin out in front nationally on an issue near parity will...

inevitably place a number of allies in electorally uncomfortable positions ... true of Mary Jane and Gay Marriage. Despite supporting both, I also support our national representation 'hiding in plain sight' on such issues. With limited time and resources in an election to teach to the mushy middle, tiz useful to retain the option to ground the issues locally lest they provide ammo to the enemy to rile up more of the crazies and easily led than can be taught. Cold, hard, ugly political electoral calculus.

[Festivito]

63. #1:CIA... #2:Oil,Pharma,Cotton #3:Police,Justice,Prison lobbies

CIA needs its illicit money trafficking.
ADDED PLUS: Divides democratic action.
Oil wants no hemp oil to run energy use.
Pharma needs more control over drugs, not less.
Cotton needs no competitor.
The rest are used to the big money they get.