The Pot Vote

[se7entse7en]

I smell trouble:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-mariju ... -1.1028455

[Duncan]

it's hard to say what the short and long term affects of this will be. I don't like it either but maybe canada can watch how washington progresses with the passing of this bill and learn from it.

But it's kinda stupid how people say that legalizing pot will stem gang wars and drug trafficking. Gangs will always be there. It's not like they'll say "oh, would you look at that, people can get mj from london drugs now... i guess we'll just fold up shop and get a 9-5 job for realz now..." As if... more likely, they'll turn to figuring out ways to make stronger mj or start selling stronger stuff that people will want instead of weakass mj from LD... what needs to be done is stronger action taken against gangs. Go after the gangs full force and try to wipe them out or shrink their size. sure, jails are crowded, but they're crowded because people are doing stupid things. You don't say oh, lets just lower our standards so more stupid people can stay on the streets so our jails aren't as full...

and also when people say that it'll save money from the war on drugs so that money can be better spent elsewhere... it's like saying oh, hey, why don't we just stop having border cops? people sneak past our border all the time... lets just give up and stop spending millions on border patrols so we can have more money for education? dumbasses... money will always have to be spent policing anyways...

[geForce]

Legalization doesn't mean it will be freely available. It could be legalized but still regulated... in fact, I think that's the plan. I don't think any Joe Bloe will be able to sell it off the street. How strictly regulated it will be is yet to be known. Will it be like cigarettes and booze where you just need a license to sell it to people over the age of 19? Or will it be like prescriptions? Will there be manufacturing standards in place so the mj is safer?

At the end of the day though, regulating mj will mean a huge tax benefit for the gov't. The black market mj industry is in the billions, untaxed... imagine if every pot head has to pay tax on their weed.

[se7entse7en]

"During Tuesday’s presidential election, Washington residents voted on ballot initiative 502, which will make marijuana legal in the state as of Dec. 6. Consumers over the age of 21 will be able to purchase up to one ounce of marijuana at licensed retail shops."

I guess time will tell where this will lead. I'm not sure where the law would stand on grow-ops. Would they be allowed to grow their own, just like it's legal to brew your own beer?

I also find it an interesting law enforcement situation:
1) You have BC which is known for its quality bud but where it's still illegal to grow and possess it, bordering Washington State where it will be legal.
2) Two out of fifty states where it's legal to possess weed. Two, but only two states. Will these two states become the drug hubs of the country?

Are they going to need increased security between states?

[Duncan]

[geForce]

[geForce]

[Duncan]

yup i agree with your sentiments... it's so insane how they can justify these kinda things by saying what they say... it's so obvious why you want it legal... because you're a pot head and you don't want to be put in jail because of it...

"Marijuana advocate Jodie Emery, whose husband, Marc Emery, is in a U.S. jail for selling cannabis seeds from B.C. via mail order to American customers, said earlier this week that a vote in favour of legalizing pot would be evidence that the U.S. war on drugs had failed and that a new approach is necessary."

duhhh.... you're for legalizing mj to have a new approach on the war on drugs... but you're the one selling the drugs!? your husband's in jail because he mailed cannabis seeds to the states! you're an effing dealer!! hey guys... i got an idea, why don't we legalize murder so we can hack down every joe blow who pisses us off and not have to worry about the consequences!

[se7entse7en]

I'm personally against the legalization of mj, but I'm also against arresting the casual user. It just puts too much drain on the justice system. I don't think the zero tolerance that has existed in the states is the way to go.

As it is, criminals are getting off scot-free here in BC because of the backlog in getting cases to trial. Can you imagine if they arrested every Joe-blow pot head? I agree that they need to go after the growers, and the dealers.

Just like with speeding. Going 1km/h over the speed limit is breaking the law, but if they really were going to start enforcing zero tolerance on speeding, there's going to be a hundred mile long line up of speeders on the freeway every day.

I just don't get why in the states everything always seems to have to be so... black and white.

[nature boy]

i actually think the legalising of marijuana isn't to save money, free up the jails, or a different approach to the war on drugs.
i think it's being legalised because the fact that it was illegal to begin with was stupid. the reason (from what i hear) why it's illegal is because the government doens't have control over it. alcohol and cigarettes are much worse for your health than marijuana (and more addictive from what i hear). when was the last time anyone talked about medicinal tobacco?

is legalizing it bad? i don't think so. will it be abused? probably just as much as alcohol and tobacco are. maybe more in the beginning, but it'll level out just like those other two did.

look up the history of legalizing tobacco and alcohol and it'll all sound eerily similar to this thread.

[geForce]

If that was the case, then it should've been legalized a long time ago.. Like 5 mins after they realized how stupid the reason was they made it illegal. Corporations would've jumped on board to lobby for it's legalization if it was a simple reason like that. Gov't would have no reason to refuse the corporations either, because corporations growing/selling mirajuana would give a way for gov't to control it, as opposed to it being in the black market.

[nature boy]

[geForce]

I'm thinking it's more complicated than that.
It's public opinion too.. Most people would be against legalizing pot because they see it as a bad drug.

Anyway, the way I see it - maybe legalizing it could reduce the crime involved in it, but it'll increase the chances that kids could get their hands on it. Let's face it, our gov't regulatory systems aren't very effective. You can't imagine how easy it was to buy and cigarettes when I was a kid.

[nature boy]

i can imagine how easy it was. all my hs friends were smokers and i often went with them to buy smokes.

anyway, you're right about public opinion, this thread is testament to it. but honestly if the government thought it would be to their benefit, of course they would legalise it at the drop of a hat. the problem was more how to reap those benefits.

all these arguments are exactly the same as when they were legalising alcohol. when joe and i were in moosejaw, sk we saw this poster of reasons why alcohol should stay illegal. it was pretty funny. i took a pic of it but hell if i know where that pic went.

[geForce]

The UN is now voicing their opinion in urging the US to not legalize pot. They're saying something about the global war on drugs.