Making the Case for Medical Marijuana

[patric]

"We are reaching a critical mass. Enough states have passed medical marijuana laws that state legislators can say, 'Well, this many states have passed it, so it can't be that disastrous.'"
http://www.fox23.com/mostpopular/story/Medical-Marijuana-State-Action-in-2014/9UFRBG6kOkWJs1UbpIvzdQ.cspx

[Ed W]

It'll never fly in Oklahoma,  Wilbur, 'cause it's a gateway drug to voting a straight Democratic ticket, opening our borders to furriners, and possibly engaging in alternative lifestyles.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[patric]

Gov. would write executive order legalizing Medical Marijuana:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWySlx_XZLI

..or lie to parents of sick children.

[Townsend]

Gov. would write executive order legalizing Medical Marijuana:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWySlx_XZLI

..or lie to parents of sick children.

Election's coming.  She's going to lie

[heironymouspasparagus]

Gov. would write executive order legalizing Medical Marijuana:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWySlx_XZLI

..or lie to parents of sick children.

You know she won't do the correct thing.  (She will, however, always do the Radical Reactionary Right thing....)


And this state keeps on electing her and her ilk...  T. W. Shannon, Jim Inhofe, Sally Kern..... those ilk!!

[patric]

Prohibition of marijuana has been a much bigger failure than prohibition of alcohol ever was.  Consider all the money wasted incarcerating people over pot and enforcing laws written nearly 100 years ago based on misinformation and fear, not to mention the loss of life in drug wars which would not exist if pot were legal.

Despite the big shift in Americans attitudes towards legalization, the old guard is still well represented.

Take the story this week about the housewife who was shot by her hallucinating husband in the 13th minute of a 911 call.
All the blame was put on the husband eating a marijuana edible candy he legally purchased, but most media outlets ignored the handful of prescription narcotic painkillers he had also taken.

[patric]

"There is quiet, silent support, not only because our laws are ridiculous but because people either have used it or know someone who has, and all of the doomsday expectations just are not true," says state Sen. Connie Johnson.
...it would legalize possession of 1 ounce of marijuana for personal use by adults 21 and older – or 1.5 ounces for doctor-approved medical use. It would allow residents to grow six plants at home.

In what would be the most groundbreaking part of the package, the initiative would allow commercial farms to export marijuana to states where it's legal for recreational or medicinal use.  "It could be cultivated, packaged and sold right here in Oklahoma, and our law would allow it to be transported to other states where it is legal."
"This is a penal colony state. We don't have much industry – it's agriculture and the prisons"

A survey conducted by SoonerPoll found 71 percent of residents favor medical marijuana and 57 percent support decriminalizing possession of 1 ounce of marijuana.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/05/08/oklahoma-pot-legalization-cannabis-cash-crop

[cannon_fodder]

Oklahoma Initiative Would Make Pot a Legal, Exportable Cash Crop

Yes please.

Very simply - about as many people smoke pot now as they would if it were legal.  Perhaps a few more would smoke pot (probably me) occasionally if it were legal.  But I don't think we would see a sudden surge in "heavy users." 

The "think of the children" argument is tired.  When I was a "kid" I got exactly as much pot as I could afford.  It was easier to get than alcohol.  It was true for my parents (class of '69), I assume it is true today.  Just like alcohol, tobacco, and huffing household whatevers - it isn't whether it is legal or not that dictates their behavior.

It would raise revenue. 

It will save money in enforcement and incarceration.

Reduce the criminal element.   The argument that cartels would simply shift their focus is probably true.  BUT - it isn't like MORE people will get into heroine or cocaine because the cartels now want them to.  Even as Marijuana becomes more available.

And, I believe, cut DOWN on driving while high.  We cut down on driving while drunk - because people are aware of it and it is not socially acceptable.  Driving while high is still a "secret" problem.

YES - evidence exists that smoking pot is not good for you.  100% agree that is probably true.  But the drink I had at lunch isn't good for me.  The pork butt, chips and beer I plan on having at the BBQ tonight are not good for me. The cigar I smoke while fishing, also bad for me.  My afternoon redbull habit is bad.   But it's hard to argue for small government AND at the same time argue that pot should be illegal because it is unhealthy.

Uncle Sam, Oklahoma City - listen to reason and stop this reefer madness.

[heironymouspasparagus]

The "think of the children" argument is tired.  When I was a "kid" I got exactly as much pot as I could afford.  It was easier to get than alcohol.  It was true for my parents (class of '69), I assume it is true today.  Just like alcohol, tobacco, and huffing household whatevers - it isn't whether it is legal or not that dictates their behavior.

Alcohol and grass were both trivial to get in 1969.  Had a booze supplier who sold quart bottles (back when they were quarts) - and it was customer choice, either clear or brown booze in the bottle.  And it was guaranteed to be 1/2 full or more - I never got less than a full bottle, but there could be supply shortages, so he would adjust as needed to serve the maximum number of customers - everyone could get a little....   $5.00.

No brand names - the bottle had labels, but due to the supply chain methodology, it might say Jim Beam and actually be a mix of Beam, Jack, Johnny Walker, etc.  Clear could be mix of gin, vodka, and tequila.  Depending on supply..... it would always give a buzz....

[patric]

TULSA, Okla. - It's not if but when Oklahoma's medical marijuana laws change, according to one of the country's leading experts on medical cannabis.

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Medical-marijuana-expert-Oklahoma-native-thinks/gOMQyxuel06CVKrAfqWgkA.cspx

The Epilepsy Foundation supports increased access to medical marijuana, saying, "Nothing should stand in the way of patients gaining access to potentially life-saving treatment."
But Oklahoma law does stand in the way.

Aggarwal said compounds unique to marijuana interact with something in the brain actually named after the marijuana plant, or cannabis sativa. It's the endocannabinoid system.

"When you look at the distribution of those receptors in brain, nervous system, immune cells, it's like, 'OK, that's why it has that effect on inflammation, that's why it has pain-reducing effects, that's why it has reductions in muscle spasms, seizure activity, because it's involved' -- it's the circuits in the body that govern those things," said Aggarwal.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Ain't it a b$tch when yet again, the RWRE are shown to be wrong.....


http://www.msnbc.com/all/does-marijuana-lower-the-crime-rate

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/13/marijuana-crime-denver_n_5319298.html


And RT.com reported;

Compared to the same time period in 2013, overall property crime fell by 14.6 percent in Denver. Homicide rates, while not leaving the single digits in either year, fell by 66.7 percent while the number of robberies decreased by seven percent.

[patric]

The federal wall is slowly coming down:


House blocks feds from going after medical marijuana
For the first time ever, Congress is taking action to protect – not condemn – medical marijuana use.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/congress-comes-out-medical-marijuana

[heironymouspasparagus]

The federal wall is slowly coming down:


House blocks feds from going after medical marijuana
For the first time ever, Congress is taking action to protect – not condemn – medical marijuana use.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/congress-comes-out-medical-marijuana

Being the eternal amoral opportunists they are, just reading the polls and making inane pronouncements....

"The heart and soul of the Republican party is that pro-freedom, individual philosophy that Reagan talked about," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), the primary Republican pushing the amendment.


Yet, for at least the last 34 year (actually many more) they have been the against freedom, anti-individual party - just the OPPOSITE of what Reagan talked about.....

[Vashta Nerada]

The vast majority of marijuana arrests in New York City are for the lowest misdemeanor charge -- criminal possession in the fifth degree -- in which the arrestee either possessed less than two ounces of marijuana, or had the drug "in public view."

Since 1977, possession of less than 25 grams of marijuana -- a little less than an ounce -- has been decriminalized in New York state. Under the law, those caught with such a small amount of weed are subject to a $100 violation for a first offense.

However, since the late-1990s, NYPD officers have been asking the hundreds of thousands of people they stop on the streets each year empty their pockets. In 2013, 85 percent of those people were black or Latino.

When pot comes out of the pocket, it becomes "in public view," thus allowing police to make an arrest for misdemeanor criminal possession in the fifth degree.
Arrestees can face up to three months in jail, and a criminal record.

[Vashta Nerada]

Medical marijuana proponents accuse Tulsa Police of harassment over petition
http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/medical-marijuana-proponents-accuse-tulsa-police-of-harassment-over-petition/article_db704aa3-5f0d-5551-be54-67fb1988e07a.html

Circulators of an initiative petition seeking to legalize medical marijuana on Monday said they have been harassed by the Tulsa Police Department.

Chip Paul, chairman of Oklahomans for Health, said that on four days last week, police came to locations where his group was attempting to gather signatures to get the issue on the ballot. The locations were publicized in advance, he said.

Police asked the volunteers to leave, Paul said. When they responded that they were exercising a constitutional right to petition government, police began asking for identification, he said.

He said the "harassment" has impacted efforts to obtain the slightly more than 155,000 signatures needed to get the issue on the ballot.
"We know we are dealing with a controversial topic," Paul said. "We are doing our best to run our campaign in a lawful, respectful and professional manner. We would expect the same respect from law enforcement."

Leland Ashley, public information officer for Tulsa Police, said he found two records where calls were made to police concerning the petition circulators. Both calls indicated marijuana was being sold.

Paul said his organization has asked the ACLU of Oklahoma for assistance in resolving the matter.
"The collection of signatures for a ballot measure is the exercise of one's fundamental right to petition their government under the First Amendment," said Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma. "And the government has no business interfering with that right or chilling the First Amendment activities of signature gatherers. We take any and all allegations of such interference very seriously and are looking into the matter and will respond appropriately."