Comments on: Marijuana legalization ballot measure proposed

By: fernando

fernando — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:00:02 +0000

all i really feel i need to say about this is a person said in one of his comments i read that taxing is impossible because of how easy it is to grow it on your own an in that sense we wont make much money off it being legal i disagree i feel that i will make a lot of money simply because people will no longer have to grow it to have it look at lettice tomattos all this different things that can be easly grow an yet the farming businesses are not suffering from that.

By: Bill Harris

Bill Harris — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:50:56 +0000

Debaters debate the two wars as if Nixon’s civil war on Woodstock Nation didn’t yet run amok. One need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under banner of the war on drugs. If we are all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance credibility.

The witch-hunt doctor’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as lives are flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. As God witnesses (Gen.1:12), its all good. The administration claims it wants to reduce demand for cartel product, but extraditing Marc Emery increases demand. His seeds enable American farmers to steal cartel customers with better product at lower price.

The constitutionality of the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) is derived from an interstate commerce clause. This clause is invoked to authorize funding outlaws, endangering homeland security, avoiding tax revenue, and throwing good money after bad. Official policy is to eradicate, not tax, the number-one cash crop in the land. America rejected prohibition, but its back. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment.

Nixon promised the Schafer Commission would support the criminalization of his enemies, but it didn’t. No matter, the witch-hunt was on. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA halted all research. Marijuana has no medical use, period.

The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. A specific church membership should not be prerequisite for Americans to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. Denial of entheogen sacrament to any American, for mediation of communion with his or her maker, precludes the free exercise of religious liberty.

Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Puritans came here to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.

Common-law must hold that adults own their bodies. Socrates said to know your self. Statutes should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate self-exploration for seekers. Americans’ right to the pursuit of happiness is supposed to be inalienable.

Simple majorities in each house could put repeal of the CSA on the president’s desk. The books have ample law on them without the CSA. The usual caveats remain in effect. You are liable for damages when you screw up. Strong medicine requires prescription. Employees can be fired for poor job performance. No harm, no foul; and no excuse, either. Replace the war on drugs with a frugal, constitutional, science-based drugs policy.

By: Lazie420

Lazie420 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:05:49 +0000

Not only is Marijuana/Hemp the #1 cash crop, and could help with our budget. Legalizing it could help keep the real criminals in jail and the non-violent “criminals(marijuana users)” out. This could also provide many unemployed california residents with a job, or and education (Oaksterdam University). If only we could speed up the legalization process! It has my vote!

By: will

will — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:54:46 +0000

Nov 10 is to LATE!!!

Try Feb. 10

By: Smokie Jane

Smokie Jane — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:36:10 +0000

I guess we gotta start somewhere…I always knew it would start in Cali.

By: Bill Orton

Bill Orton — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:14:51 +0000

In 2002, I ran as a sacrificial lamb for a state legislative seat. At that time, the ONLY question which came up at EVERY event was, “What do you think about medical marijuana?” My answer then was, “It ought to be treated just like alcohol. No open container. No sale to minors. No driving under the influence. Otherwise, like alcohol, a legal product available to adults; taxed and regulated.” No one gave me guff on that answer, leading me to believe that the people are far ahead of the politicians on the question. I believe that if there is vigorous self-regulation within the medical marijuana industry to weed out the bad apples, then the public will see that the patients and providers do not pose some menace to society. Barring some public relations disaster (like, say, the LA hardship exemption being radically abused), the strides of the pharmagreen industry should help lay the foundation for the full legalization debate. If the JONES LEE ACT fits the “Just Like Alcohol” approach, I support their effort. — Bill Orton, in Long Beach

By: Ralph

Ralph — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:18:12 +0000

Taxing marijuana will be totally impossible. Marijuana is so easy to obtain that taxing it would be totally useless. There is no processing marijuana, just put a seed in the dirt, grow a plant, cut it down, dry it, and consume it. Marijuana plants can grow practically anywhere and is a lot more easier to get the finish product than tobacco. But there is a hell of a bonus to our economy if it did become legalized. For example; all the billions of dollars that are being spent illegal on marijuana purchases will no longer exist, so all those billions instead will more than likely be used for public transactions. This alone could keep billions of dollars circulating in the economy and produce a more reliable tax return. Just remember, you can’t tax something that anybody can grow anywhere at anytime and there is no way of controlling it. Take a look at how marijuana is thriving today.

By: Right Thinker

Right Thinker — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:17:44 +0000

This is not a conservativer-liberal issue, but one of common sense. RON PAUL actively endorces ending the prohibition against Mari-Jane, and documents the original federal laws against pot as founded on total lack of information, hysteria and agenda in the 1937 period, and no valid study supported the irrational legislation. It is long past time to legalize marijuana!

By: Josh Richman

Josh Richman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:33:22 +0000

Actually, Campbell doesn’t support decriminalization. Just last week, I heard him say that although he supports medicinal use, he opposes the idea of decriminalization/legalization/taxation because he fears a legalized marijuana industry would become a money-laundering front for manufacturers, importers and dealers of still-illicit drugs such as meth and heroin.

By: Fred Mangels

Fred Mangels — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:14:37 +0000

“…a Republican nominee – Meg Whitman? Steve Poizner? Tom Campbell? – could use it as a hot-button issue to drive more conservative, anti-marijuana voters to the polls.”.

I think Tom Campbell would be the most likely among all the potential candidates for governor to support decriminalizing pot.