Making the Case for Medical Marijuana

[patric]

I don't often wish ill for others - this is one topic where a convenient little dose of cancer for those who are voting and working against this use would probably be a pretty good case of "poetic justice".
I know - that is a terrible thing to wish and I really don't.

It's just being brutally honest, which is more than I can say for those politicians who quietly use their law enforcement connections to obtain what they need for themselves or a sick family member.

Relief from drug war insanity is going to take a lot more than waking up some politicians, because here's what you would be up against:



Republic Report think it's worth showing that there are entrenched interest groups that are spending large sums of money to keep our broken drug laws on the books:

    1.) Police Unions: Police departments across the country have become dependent on federal drug war grants to finance their budget. In March, we published a story revealing that a police union lobbyist in California coordinated the effort to defeat Prop 19, a ballot measure in 2010 to legalize marijuana, while helping his police department clients collect tens of millions in federal marijuana-eradication grants. And it's not just in California. Federal lobbying disclosures show that other police union lobbyists have pushed for stiffer penalties for marijuana-related crimes nationwide.

    2.) Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana. As Republic Report's Matt Stoller noted last year, Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest for-profit prison companies, revealed in a regulatory filing that continuing the drug war is part in parcel to their business strategy. Prison companies have spent millions bankrolling pro-drug war politicians and have used secretive front groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, to pass harsh sentencing requirements for drug crimes.

    3.) Alcohol and Beer Companies: Fearing competition for the dollars Americans spend on leisure, alcohol and tobacco interests have lobbied to keep marijuana out of reach. For instance, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors contributed campaign contributions to a committee set up to prevent marijuana from being legalized and taxed.

    4.) Pharmaceutical Corporations: Like the sin industries listed above, pharmaceutical interests would like to keep marijuana illegal so Americans don't have the option of cheap medical alternatives to their products. Howard Wooldridge, a retired police officer who now lobbies the government to relax marijuana prohibition laws, told Republic Report that next to police unions, the "second biggest opponent on Capitol Hill is big Pharma" because marijuana can replace "everything from Advil to Vicodin and other expensive pills."

    5.) Prison Guard Unions: Prison guard unions have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars just like for-profit prison companies. In 2008, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent a whopping $1 million to defeat a measure that would have "reduced sentences and parole times for nonviolent drug offenders while emphasizing drug treatment over prison."

http://www.republicreport.org/2012/marijuana-lobby-illegal/

[Teatownclown]

I wonder how many people he has sentenced for marijuana?  Or how many appeals ruled against?

Hopefully none.


I don't often wish ill for others - this is one topic where a convenient little dose of cancer for those who are voting and working against this use would probably be a pretty good case of "poetic justice".
I know - that is a terrible thing to wish and I really don't.

The carcinogens in our air from industry will do us far more harm than hemp.

I knew three well known Tulsans who died from lung cancer. They never smoked and fought against smoking everywhere including public parks.

Tulsa should become a smoke free city. New York and California are much nicer and kinder environments ever since they went clean.

[AquaMan]

Can't do that. We got too much Okie in us. That's what makes us special.

[Teatownclown]

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/crosby-stills-and-nash/video/prison-song_1343251093.html


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/opinion/a-judges-plea-for-medical-marijuana.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

[sauerkraut]

I'm aganist it, we don't need more people with altered minds on the streets we have enogh problems with legal alcohol as it is without adding more people on top of that. MJ can somethimes be a "gateway" drug too. I do think the drug laws need to be overhauled though.

[Teatownclown]

Look Sauer....nobody dies as a result of MJ. Quit trying to supervise over the masses. Don't you believe in personal choice and freedom?

Or are you this guy?

[AquaMan]

Look Sauer, nobody who tokes up now is going to stop because of the law. Nobody who isn't using is going to start based on decriminalizing of the substance. The level of driving expertise is at an all time low due to cell phones and aggressive behavior. You'll never notice the difference in bad driving.

However, the cost of enforcement of mj laws, the loss to society of contributing players, the tremendous cost of incarceration for minor offenses and the uneven justice doled out to lawyered up defendants vs public defender defendants (poor dumb guys) means we all pay way too much for very little gain.

As a fiscal conservative and a taxpayer you should really support decriminalizing.

[patric]

MJ can somethimes be a "gateway" drug too.

The "gateway" is a direct product of criminalization. 

Because marijuana is illegal, you would have to buy it from someone dealing in contraband (who would much rather sell you something more compact like meth).

Decriminalization takes it out of the hands of criminal dealers and into a more controlled, taxable environment, and lessens a buyers exposure to truly dangerous drugs (and people).

[Conan71]

Coca-Cola could be considered a gateway since it could lead to drinking rum & coke.

[RecycleMichael]

MJ can somethimes be a "gateway" drug too.

I blame breast milk as the gateway to my moonshine addiction.

[sauerkraut]

Look Sauer, nobody who tokes up now is going to stop because of the law. Nobody who isn't using is going to start based on decriminalizing of the substance. The level of driving expertise is at an all time low due to cell phones and aggressive behavior. You'll never notice the difference in bad driving.

However, the cost of enforcement of mj laws, the loss to society of contributing players, the tremendous cost of incarceration for minor offenses and the uneven justice doled out to lawyered up defendants vs public defender defendants (poor dumb guys) means we all pay way too much for very little gain.

As a fiscal conservative and a taxpayer you should really support decriminalizing.

Yes but making MJ legal will increase use and like I said we have enough problems with alcohol and adding MJ to the mix won't help. I don't understand why people want to alter their brains anyhow what's wrong with just getting high on "life" and don't take any drugs?? I do agree the drug laws are unfair and don't fit the crime and need to be changed... There is still alot not known about MJ use and some users of MJ  long ago who have since quit seem to have dulled thinking and slow reactions, also MJ can't be healthy for the lungs any smoke likely cause lung carcinoma just like cigs do. As for me, I'm a  non-drinker non-smoker and non drug user, color me old fashioned I guess.

[sauerkraut]

I blame breast milk as the gateway to my moonshine addiction.

MoonSine~ From deep in the hills of West VA, where they pipe in the SunShine and pipe out the MoonShine.

[AquaMan]

Yes but making MJ legal will increase use and like I said we have enough problems with alcohol and adding MJ to the mix won't help. I don't understand why people want to alter their brains anyhow what's wrong with just getting high on "life" and don't take any drugs?? I do agree the drug laws are unfair and don't fit the crime and need to be changed... There is still alot not known about MJ use and some users of MJ  long ago who have since quit seem to have dulled thinking and slow reactions, also MJ can't be healthy for the lungs any smoke likely cause lung carcinoma just like cigs do. As for me, I'm a  non-drinker non-smoker and non drug user, color me old fashioned I guess.

So, you would support making cigarettes illegal along with alcohol? Or you just saying some addiction and mind altering is ok but no more?

There is no more strength for your argument that MJ usage will increase than mine that it will remain the same. So throw those arguments out. What is left is the concept of decriminalization. It does not make it legal, it makes it controllable, regulated and similar to a speeding ticket.

You make the cost of the product and the cost of using it high enough to discourage use rather than throwing citizens in prison for misdemeanor activities.

[Red Arrow]

As for me, I'm a  non-drinker non-smoker and non drug user, color me old fashioned I guess.

Now that we know why you are the way you are.   Quick!  Get me a drink.

[Red Arrow]

MoonSine~

Is that at new trig function?  Is it phase related to Cosine?