Pot Criminalization: Up in Smoke?

[Donovan]

I dunno, if I'd just spent two fucking decades in jail for selling weed I might have trouble finding my happy place too.

[Jimbone]

I don't know... those guys who get released after decades for murders they didn't commit seem downright giddy.

This guy is too glum. He needs to spark one up and relax.

[Donovan]

Maybe he's pissed because they let him out on a Monday and Tuesday is taco night.

[Duchess]

Life without parole for selling weed. Jesus Christ. I've seen a lot of murderers do less time than that. I'm glad he's free.

[Maggot]

Why would anyone be selling drugs to a drug cartel? Don't they have their own stuff?

[BlueTiki]

I guess Nixon feels it's OK to rip a fetus, from a sixteen year old (without parental consent) but not to sell them a fattie.

[Blindgreed1]

I guess Nixon feels it's OK to rip a fetus, from a sixteen year old (without parental consent) but not to sell them a fattie.

Nixon was in the generation of that ridiculous "Killer Weed" era. If I recall, murder and communism was the main focus of that "educational" movie.

[BlueTiki]

Sorry . . . Jay, not Dick.

Governor Jay Nixon.

[sally]

Is BG stoned? Richard Nixon was pushing up daisies when this guy was sentenced.

[Blindgreed1]

Is BG stoned? Richard Nixon was pushing up daisies when this guy was sentenced.

I never touch the stuff, but if it makes you feel better I am easily confused.

[Duchess]

When Californians go to the polls in November they will not only be voting for our next President they will be voting to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. If it passes, it will increase the state's revenue by $1 billion in addition to saving the state government millions more in costs associated with police, courts and correctional facilities.

[thekid65]

And what better way to actually get folks to go to the polls to vote for the next president! Betting a good turnout for Ca.

[OnBendedKnee]

When Californians go to the polls in November they will not only be voting for our next President they will be voting to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. If it passes, it will increase the state's revenue by $1 billion in addition to saving the state government millions more in costs associated with police, courts, and correctional facilities.

Fingers crossed.
Perhaps then bottled water won't be as expensive.

[Blindgreed1]

When Californians go to the polls in November they will not only be voting for our next President they will be voting to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. If it passes, it will increase the state's revenue by $1 billion in addition to saving the state government millions more in costs associated with police, courts and correctional facilities.

It needs to be decriminalized on a federal level. The Feds still raid medical marijuana dispensaries in Ca and they confiscate all of their product and press charges on the owners. How many times can a small business owner recoup that? It's bullshit.

[Duchess]

It needs to be decriminalized on a federal level. The Feds still raid medical marijuana dispensaries in Ca and they confiscate all of their product and press charges on the owners. How many times can a small business owner recoup that? It's bullshit.

They should be working on THAT before they legalize recreational use.

[Donovan]

There is still a lot of interpretation difficulty at all levels, and until the Federal government decriminalizes it there will be conflict. In my state I can now legally get medical marijuana but there are few doctors willing to prescribe it until it becomes less muddy federally. And I can still get fired from my job for using regardless of legality.

[Duchess]

Guess what they are judging at this years state fair in Oregon? Pot plants! Ahahaha!

The list of breakthroughs in an ever-changing world where cars drive themselves, faces are surgically transplanted and Russian hackers are accused of manipulating the U.S. presidential campaign, add this development: marijuana growers can now compete for blue ribbons in the state fair.

That’s what Oregon officials say will happen at their fair in Salem next month. Besides tastiest apple pie and plumpest pig, pot will be judged for its finer attributes, including color, aroma, leaf structure and lack of pests.

Story

[HairOfTheDog]

The DEA is blowing smoke up our assess, in my view.



It has finished its investigation into whether to reclassify marijuana out of Class I category and ruled against doing so. Marijuana will remain classified as one of the most dangerous drugs with no medical use.

So...marijuana remains in the same classification as heroin and LSD, which are deemed more harmful than alcohol, tobacco, opium, cocaine, and morphine.

Such bullshit -- there's definitely medical use for marijuana. And, in my opinion, it's a million times less dangerous than prescribing addictive pharmaceuticals which, as of last year, led to more overdose deaths than drunk driving deaths annually.

'People can argue about the pluses and minuses of marijuana, but everyone knows it's not a killer drug like heroin,' Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted after the news emerged on Thursday.

The US government has poured millions into researching the drug, and a number of papers have concluded that CBD - an active ingredient in marijuana - can aid treatment of ailments from anxiety to cancer.

But that momentum has been stunted by the DEA's conclusion, which cites scientific evidence purportedly showing no real medical value.

The DEA said it plans to make it easier for researchers to study marijuana's possible medical benefits by expanding the number of entities that can legally grow marijuana for research purposes. Currently only researchers at the University of Missouri are allowed to grow marijuana, as part of a contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Refs:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-y.../#comments
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z4H2jyBlaf
======================

I'm all for more government research, but there's already tons of medical and scientific research which justifies legalizing medicinal marijuana and millions of American have first-hand experience proving so. Even if the DEA and government don't want to legalize or decriminalize marijuana for recreational use, medicinal marijuana should be legalized federally, in my opinion.

I think that having the DEA investigate and make the ruling is a conflict of interest -- lowering the classification could be viewed by the DEA as a 'slippery slope" which would lead to the federal legalization of medicinal weed and possible federal legalization (or at least decriminalization) of recreational weed, thereby reducing the charter of the DEA and reducing the occupancy at for-profit private prisons.

[Duchess]

I just read that today in prepared remarks Jeff Sessions said, marijuana causes life wrecking dependency that's only slightly less awful than heroin.

*sigh*

[HairOfTheDog]

Californians voted to legalize recreational marijuana for adults last year. The new law took effect on November 9^th.

There are no recreational dispensaries licensed and running yet, but it's in the works. Good -- much better to have people self-medicating or just chilling using marijuana rather than pills or alcohol, in my opinion.

One of the best things about the new law is that hundreds of thousands of people in jail on marijuana charges have the opportunity to get their sentences ended or reduced. Those among them with felonies won't have the same ease of opportunity, which I think is good.

So many young people and poor people have been unable to find employment due to marijuana-related arrests. It is estimated that close to a million people have review-able convictions that could be reduced or overturned.

According to the California Judicial Council, at least 4,500 people have already filed petitions to have their sentences reduced or thrown out altogether.


http://www.abc10.com/news/local/californ.../350221123
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z51esqPKyF