Governors Ask U.S. To Ease Rules On Marijuana

[iscooterliberally]

Source: The New York Times

The governors of Washington and Rhode Island petitioned the federal government on Wednesday to reclassify marijuana as a drug with accepted medical uses, saying the change is needed so states like theirs, which have decriminalized marijuana for medical purposes, can regulate the safe distribution of the drug without risking federal prosecution.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/us/federal-marijuana-classification-should-change-gregoire-and-chafee-say.html

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Hopefully the states will keep at it.

[villager]

1. The current President has a pretty lousy record on this issue, however

n/t

[red dog 1]

16. Another broken campaign promise.

[JoeyT]

19. But he got the kids a dog.

And as we all know all campaign promises are equal.

[uncle ray]

26. what President has had a better record on MJ?

[Ohio Joe]

2. Good

I hope more states join in.

[jwirr]

3. This makes sense. It is the states that end paying for jail time etc. nt

[sarcasmo]

32. +1

[RainDog]

4. k&r n/t

[bluedigger]

5. And ponies. n/t

[Wilms]

6. .

[SteveM]

7. To make any headway, "the states will have to keep at it"...

Once the federal government locks in on enforcing a prohibition, it will not let up, no matter who is in power. The War on Drugs in its modern manifestation is a triumph of RW GOP culture politics, and has cowed the big majority of Democrats into supporting it; 'dem boy know how to bully!

The states will have to keep challenging the ONDCP and the DEA (a rather ruthless federal police force) because the feds have their structure bolted down tractor-tight and will resist all the way. Soon they will have ANOTHER substance to prohibit: Tobacco.

[HowHeThinks]

8. Good luck.............

incarcerating minor drug offenders is the bread and butter of the for-profit prison system in America. They'd have to fill the prisons with some other sort of violators, perhaps........... :think: thought criminals!
And you'd have the pharmaceutical industry crying :cry:
You'd have the liquor industry crying :cry:
You'd have the criminal attorneys crying :cry:
You'd have a host of other businesses that rely on our archaic marijuana laws for their living crying :cry:

You'd have SOOOOO many people crying :cry: because there's SOOOOO much government money at stake to keep pot illegal.

Never gonna' happen. Sorry. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for decriminalization (at least) or legalization of marijuana, but it isn't going to happen. There's just too much lucre at stake for these bottom feeders to let it happen. :shrug:

[lib2DaBone]

9. Mr. Obama.. call off your attack dogs. MJ is not Heroin.. it is not a gateway drug..

Decriminalize and tax it... create much needed revenue instead of prisoners.


Reefer madness is putting millions in jail for simple possession of a weed.

[Kingofalldems]

10. Kick and Rec

[windowpilot]

11. Peace, Pot, Microdot...

Legalize all drugs.

[blueclown]

12. Legalize all drugs?

That is the type of sentiment which hurts the legalize marijuana supporters the most. Are you really advocating legalizing heroin? In what bizarro world is that type of action indicative of good public policy?

[RainDog]

14. Portugal has decriminalized all drugs for a decade now

they had severe problems with heroin abuse, etc. The results of their experiment have shown that cannabis use increased but use of harmful drugs has decreased. They switched from a punitive model for the issue of drug abuse to one of harm reduction. They have increased funding for drug rehabilitation and instituted needle exchange programs.

The result is that they are spending less money on this issue - b/c of law enforcement costs and b/c of health costs - HIV infections are down b/c of the needle exchange.

There are both liberals and conservatives in the U.S. who support an end to the WoD and a movement to a harm-reduction model.

Harvard Economist Jeffrey Miron did a study and claimed the U.S. would save 88 BILLION dollars if we stopped treating drug use or abuse as a criminal issue and instead put money into treatment for those who have problems with addictions - and if someone doesn't have a problem with addiction, then it's not the govt's worry b/c it's not a health or safety issue.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12192

The WoD has had horrible consequences for Americans - prohibition, as with prohibition of alcohol, is worse than the use of most substances because the majority of people do not abuse drugs.

[Liberaltalker]

13. Its called the 10th amendment.

If these governors really want to do somthing they should tell their state AG's to take this to the federal courts on the grounds that their states 10th amendment rights are being violated by the federal government!

[alp227]

15. revised title: "2 Governors Asking U.S. to Ease Rules on Marijuana to Allow for Its Medical Use"

[iscooterliberally]

31. 2 down, 48 to go.

Hopefully the rest will jump on board eventually.

[DreamSmoker]

17. No one in this Administration is listening

We can blow this horn til the cows come home Folks..
This God Damned Administration is not listening and never has been..
Obama is the head puppet of the American Government Machine that is in self survival mode..
Our own Government that was for the People and by the People is what this Government just lets you believe..
This Government will stop at absolutely nothing to protect itself from all..
That includes the American People it once served...

MMJ has been nothing but a tool for the Government to control people..
It has been since it was outlawed for the very first time.. Before you and most of was where even born...
A Texas Sheriff who did not like those Mexican Migrant Worker..
The Prohibitionists have taken the Wheel ever since leading the charge against Cannabis use what so ever to date..

So here we are in the Twenty First Century and nothing at all has changed because of Politics..
The Facts still just get in the way of what is right..

And still no real Leader to get us there either..

[lonestarnot]

18. There is a whole economy based on keeping the mj illegal. What don't you get about that?

[DreamSmoker]

20. Lets start with the DEA

And what Economy are you referring to???
Local, State or the entire U.S.??

The Biggest Anti Cannabis Business of them all is the Federal DEA...
Last years DEA Budget was well over $2 Billion Dollars..
That does not even include all the Forfeiture Money and Property which is huge..
Most of this huge chunk of Cash is devoted totally to Cannabis eradication..

[duhneece]

25. And all the District Attorneys, local law enforcement who get HIDTA funds

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas get extra monies to fight the War on Drugs, especially if they focus on arresting & convicting non-violent drug offenders, driving those numbers up...by diverting resources that could have been used to arrest rapists, murderers, robbers, etc.

I will not give up fighting this unjust war on drugs that became a war on American people of color and the poor. Eventually, I believe we will reach a tipping point.

If you're not familiar with the arguments for legalizing AND REGULATING all drugs, check out those who have been on the front line, law enforcement, who see that substance abuse prohibition mirrors alcohol prohibition, with all the violence, corruption and injustice.

[freeplessinseattle]

21. Wow, Gregoire!

“What we have out here on the ground is chaos,” Governor Gregoire said in an interview. “And in the midst of all the chaos we have patients who really either feel like they’re criminals or may be engaged in some criminal activity, and really are legitimate patients who want medicinal marijuana.

“If our people really want medicinal marijuana, then we need to do it right, we need to do it with safety, we need to do it with health in mind, and that’s best done in a process that we know works in this country — and that’s through a pharmacist.”

[AngryAmish]

22. This is so sensible, yet the Administration will ignore it.

I don't smoke pot and won't if it is legal. I harbor no illusions that mj can be harmful. But anything can be harmful.

Leave people alone to live their lives.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

23. If only there was something in the constitution that allowed states to manage their own affairs. n/t

[Liberaltalker]

24. There is!

Please read the 10th amendment.
" The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

[DreamSmoker]

27. Civil rights be damned

This is true fact but is ignored by the Feds...
Remember those Folks sent out threatening letters to all involved..
From the local Dispensaries to the Governor of the State..
All got threats from the Feds before the Federal Invasion of California...
The Federal Government itself is to blame..
The Feds coordinated with Local Police and Governments for months in secret to pull this off
and shut down all Cannabis access period..
The Feds in turn lied to the Public on the real facts of why they did this..
Today This Obama Administration now says that it backs the DEA... Not the American People or the real Medical Facts.
Stating the very same excuses used when Nixon was President...

Like I said before..
This Government is not listening or even cares..
America has become self serving at the expense of the American People instead of serving them..

Even my local Representative just does not listen or get it at all...
No matter how many times I have written to her..
She quotes the same lame excuses to oppose any Legalization or regulation at all.. 100% of the time
like all the others..

[Uncle Joe]

28. Kicked and recommended for logic, compassion and common sense.

Thanks for the thread, iscooterliberally.

[BrendaBrick]

29. Current TV is currently running a Vanguard Documentary on this:

"The War on Weed"

Here's the trailer:

http://current.com/shows/vanguard/93551820_the-war-on-weed-vanguard-trailer.htm

[sarcasmo]

30. Legalize and tax our # 1 crop.