Weed: Legalize and tax it
Legalizing and taxing weed would solve many problems:
1. another source of revenue for States
2. a cure for many diseases
3. many people will vote for Democrats if Obama does not fight the will of the States moving in this direction. This will create for Democratic victories for years to come.
4. resources wasted on fighting the will of many people who use Weed properly can be diverted to fighting the real threat that is emerging - voter suppression in key States such as Florida
5. drug decriminalization will reduce drug crime (as happened after prohibition ended).
= new reply since forum marked as read
but industrial hemp is my primary reason for supporting legalization. I would absolutely love to be able to buy my non-leather, organic-hemp shoes as Made and Grown in America. Instead, they come from Hungary.
Why is the little nation of Hungary more advanced than us? 
I simply see industrial hemp as the best stepping stone to legalizing all plants in that family/species or whatever. If the ethanol-makers really wanted to stop using food crops for their product, industrial hemp is one of the best plants for that. And that's just one of the many billion-dollar money-makers from industrial hemp.
Marijuana can be grown by individuals, so it doesn't really have the money-making potential as the non-smokable variety 
a few miles over the border.
(16) The term “marihuana” means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin. Such term does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.
medical and industrial are so far apart genetically- the law ^^^ is kind of f'd up. you can grow hemp with virtually no THC, and the law manages to allow hemp without allowing it to be grown (no LIVE seeds..) 
The results showed three distinct "races" of cannabis. In central Asia the THC-rich indica predominated, while in western Europe sativa was more common. In India, south-east Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica the rasta variant predominated. It looks similar to the sativa subspecies, but generally contains higher levels of THC.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18725175.200-rasta-lends-its-name-to-a-third-type-of-cannabis.html
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Another paper in the series on chemotaxonomic variation in the terpenoid content of the essential oil of Cannabis revealed that several wide-leaflet drug strains in the collection had relatively high levels of certain sesquiterpene alcohols, including guaiol and isomers of eudesmol, that set them apart from the other putative taxa.[56] Hillig concluded that the patterns of genetic, morphological, and chemotaxonomic variation support recognition of C. sativa and C. indica as separate species.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis#Continuing_research
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so, anyway, this is a good one if you haven't seen it-
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/
I think I bought it after the first edition of "High Weirdness by Mail" came out
One thing I've imagined in recent years is the idea of a "Johnny Hempseed" person or even a movement. That is, to reseed the clear-cuts, fallow public lands and so forth. Especially seed the clear-cuts owned by paper companies, then "turn them in" for propagating illegal substances.
The methods I've considered include model rockets, RVs, balloons, or just people hand-seeding (at night.) For those methods that wouldn't be done by hand, you'd have to pack the live seeds in some kind of soil container so that the "payload" isn't eaten by birds, yet has a ready medium for sprouting and taking root quickly.
This would have the added benefit of preventing or reigning in erosion on these cleared lands, whether the plants survive their subsequent discovery or not. Tearing them out could give people a means to fight against their removal, perhaps if the erosion-control has done some good in any town or community downhill from the hemp fields. I know, that's probably a weak example, but it's something else to throw in the faces of the prohibitionist DEA and others like them 
if I've ever read anything by Michael Pollan. So, thanks for the links, as they're giving me ideas
Oh, and one container to use instead of a balloon, at least for throwing, would be a gourd.
I hope we'll be right behind you guys soon........next election maybe!
and when enough people know the truth there will be no jury in the land that will send someone to jail for growing an herb.
So it's compromise with liars and thieves or educate and hold out for true freedom.
Which choice would Thomas Jefferson or George Washington have picked?
What does "Give me Liberty or Give Me Death" sound like today?
Please, sir, can I have some more?
And totally not to be a debbie downer here but there are three huge problems that would have to be solved before weed is ever made legal and is decriminalized on the federal level.
1. Laws and Law Enforcement. There is money in the war on drugs, from grants to police and state, local and federal law enforcement agencies. Not to mention prisons. Also weed is a drug like booze. And until law enforcement as some type of procedure to determine (for lack of better word), sobriety, (maybe a high test), legalizing weed will go no where.
2. Big Pharmaceutical Cartel. They own the patten on thc. Which is stupid much like many other pattens they own that are really the property of mother earth. They want you to pay $200 per pill not $20-80 a 1/4 ounce. And they want you to pay it to them not anyone else.
3. The Drug Cartels. They are making tons of money and legalizing it in the US will hurt their bottom line so they won't let this happen without being heard.
Trust me I am a huge supporter of legalizing weed. I will continue to support leagizing it. I hope other states will get it on their ballots. I hope people will as time passes change their 1920's racist reasons for being anti drug attitude.
If CO and WA weren't so damn cold I'd move there.
Ok I need to find some food I got the munchies 
and yet here we still are.
I don't think it was ever that no one wasn't listening. Peoples attitudes are changing. And that is true. It takes time and as generations change so do their attitudes.
But the war on drugs is way more then just people changing attitudes. They still have to work to over turn these really dumb laws. Thats the hard part. Because this is where money starts to cloud the issue. Money as been winning this war. But it is a long war and it could change, especially when they run out of money.
Ok I need coke to go with my chips and whoo football is getting ready to start
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http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/celebrity/Snoop+Dogg+Lion+ready+roll+marijuana+education/7776665/story.html
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"It's a tentative step in the right direction," Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said of Obama's statement. "He said we need a 'conversation,' and that's very promising. This sounds a lot like what he said about gay marriage a couple of years ago."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-legal-marijuana-20121215,0,5518803.story
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The city, in a novel lawsuit seeking to block U.S. Officials from forcing the dispensary to close, says the federal government’s own scientists have found medical benefits for pot and have secured a U.S. patent for use of the drug, even as prosecutors have targeted medical cannabis dispensaries.
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2012/13941/city-of-oakland-spars-in-court-with-feds-over-medical-marijuana/
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this is the report Nixon called for and ignored, which is why things are f'd now...
A Final Comment
In this Chapter, we have carefully considered the spectrum of social and legal policy alternatives. On the basis of our findings, discussed in previous Chapters, we have concluded that society should seek to discourage use, while concentrating its attention on the prevention and treatment of heavy and very heavy use. The Commission feels that the criminalization of possession of marihuana for personal is socially self-defeating as a means of achieving this objective. We have attempted to balance individual freedom on one hand and the obligation of the state to consider the wider social good on the other. We believe our recommended scheme will permit society to exercise its control and influence in ways most useful and efficient, meanwhile reserving to the individual American his sense of privacy, his sense of individuality, and, within the context of ail interacting and interdependent society, his options to select his own life style, values, goals and opportunities.
The Commission sincerely hopes that the tone of cautious restraint sounded in this Report will be perpetuated in the debate which will follow it. For those who feel we have not proceeded far enough, we are reminded of Thomas Jefferson's advice to George Washington that "Delay is preferable to error." For those who argue we have gone too far, we note Roscoe Pound's statement, "The law must be stable, but it must not stand still."
We have carefully analyzed the interrelationship between marihuana the drug, marihuana use as a behavior, and marihuana as a social problem. Recognizing the extensive degree of misinformation about marihuana as a drug, we have tried to demythologize it. Viewing the use of marihuana in its wider social context, we have tried to desymbolize it.
Considering the range of social concerns in contemporary America, marihuana does not, in our considered judgment, rank very high. We would deemphasize marihuana as a problem.
The existing social and legal policy is out of proportion to the individual and social harm engendered by the use of the drug. To replace it, we have attempted to design a suitable social policy, which we believe is fair, cautious and attuned to the social realities of our time.
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/nc/ncmenu.htm
I suspect it will end no better then our peers 
although i will admit pot is mild as hell, milder the alcohol at least, just don't lie to me in an argument for legalizing it
Surest way to piss people off is to lie to them.
Please explain your answer.
if you aren't up on medical MJ, the THC (and CBD) are the medicine, so trying to take it out is basically the dumbest thing i've ever heard...
Researchers from the College of Biological Science of the University of Minnesota have identified the genes in the Cannabis plant that produce tetra-hydro-cannabinol (THC), claiming in a press release that it is “a first step toward engineering a drug-free Cannabis plant”. George Weiblen, an associate professor of plant biology and a co-author of the study, said “Cannabis genetics can contribute to better agriculture, medicine, and drug enforcement”.
http://coto2.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/prop-19-monsanto-and-gmo-terminator-cannabis/
(very long ^^^, from 2 years ago...things are worse now, no doubt!)
At his Amsterdam glasshouses, he nods conspiratorially at the healthy- looking garden produce. “Don’t say anything yet, but we are also working on putting THC into tomatoes,” he confides. Then he cackles reassuringly: “Only kidding!”
David Watson has stated “HortaPharm has built up over many years the most extensive ‘Living Library’ of Medicinal Cannabis varieties in the world”.
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Under the agreement GW Pharma will be responsible for the development of specific drug delivery technologies to administer the pharmaceutical grade medicinal cannabis. This work will include a vaporizer for which HortaPharm has a patent pending.
(look up Sativex, they did it!)
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“”Physicians will be able to monitor patient usage remotely,” continued Guy. “People won’t be able to tamper with our devices, even though they are portable and easy to use. You’d need a metal saw or a blowtorch to get into one of them. These controls answer concerns of those who worry that our extracts will be used inappropriately. And, these devices can be adapted for other medicines, ensuring patient safety and medical efficacy.”“
“Dr Guy and his representatives have engaged in high level discussions with the DEA, FDA, the Office for National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) and senior state officials in California and Maine.”
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“”GW occupies a lead position world-wide,” concludes Guy. “We are uniquely placed to become the first company to achieve regulatory approval for prescription cannabis-based medicines.”“
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http://www.cannabisculture.com/node/19879
“Patented Pot vs. the Herbal Gold Standard by David Malmo-Levine”
“How patented marijuana strains and medicines may threaten the re-legalization movement, curb information sharing, set up a monopoly for certain breeders and medicine producers and limit users to a more expensive and inferior product. Their economic value to the pharmaceutical houses which produce them will be directly proportional to the severity of the prohibition against the use of cannabis.”
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“GW Pharmaceutical was granted a license to grow cannabis for medical research in 1998 and it’s partner Bayer was granted a patent for Sativex in 2006. Sativex comes in a 5.5 ml spray bottle for $102 U.S. Dollars, which supplies about 51 sprays – enough for an average ten day supply. It is now available in Canada for MS and cancer pain, and has most recently become available in Britain and parts of Spain for use in the treatment of some other symptoms and syndromes.”
“GW Pharmaceutical has even patented a strain of cannabis called “Grace” in Canada. It was patented in 2005 under the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act. Under this 1994 Act, all plant species (except algae, bacteria, and fungi) are eligible for “protection” (exclusive rights to sell) for 18 years. Medicine patents last between ten to twenty years depending on the country.”
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“The modern version of this monopoly began in 1910 with the Flexner Report – a report that succeeded in closing down all the naturopathic and herbal medicine schools by the 1930′s. This report was partially engineered by the Rockefeller Foundation. The removal of these schools would assist the Rockefeller family in protecting their investments in pharmaceuticals from botanical competition. The Rockefeller Institute and Rockefeller Foundation were also key players in the development of the sciences of genetics and molecular biology – the fields in which the concepts of patenting of life-forms originated. Standard Oil – now Exxon/Mobil and a host of other oil companies – was the Rockefeller Foundation’s source of income. Interestingly, in 1927 Standard Oil became business partners with Bayer – the marketer and distributor of Sativex in Canada.” 
The classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug as well as the continuing controversy as to whether or not cannabis is of medical value [59] are obstacles to medical progress in this area. Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I classification is not tenable; it is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that information on safety is lacking. It is true cannabis has some abuse potential, but its profile more closely resembles drugs in Schedule III (where codeine and dronabinol are listed). The continuing conflict between scientific evidence and political ideology will hopefully be reconciled in a judicious manner [60, 61].
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358713/?tool=pubmed