Exclusive: Why Can’t You Smoke Pot? Because Lobbyists Are Getting Rich Off of the War on Drugs

[Report1212]

John Lovell is a lobbyist who makes a lot of money from making sure you can’t smoke a joint. That’s his job. He’s a lobbyist for the police unions in Sacramento, and he is a driving force behind grabbing Federal dollars to shut down the California marijuana industry. I’ll get to the evidence on this important story in a bit, but first, some context.

At some point in the distant past, the war on drugs might have been popular. But not anymore — the polling is clear, but beyond that, the last three Presidents have used illegal drugs. So why do we still put hundreds of thousands of people in steel cages for pot-related offenses? Well, there are many reasons, but one of them is, of course, money in politics. Corruption. Whatever you want to call it, it’s why you can’t smoke a joint without committing a crime, though of course you can ingest any number of pills or drinks completely within the law.

Some of the groups who want to keep the drug illegal are police unions that want more members to pay more dues. One of the primary sources for cash for more policing activities are Federal grants for penalizing illegal drug use, which help pay for overtime, additional police officers, and equipment for the force. That’s what Lovell does, he gets those grants. He also fights against democratic mechanisms to legalize drugs.


Read more: http://www.republicreport.org/2012/exclusive-why-cant-you-smoke-pot-because-lobbyists-are-getting-rich-off-of-the-war-on-drugs/

[socialindependocrat]

1. Sounds like a good place to cut back!

We have police who are paid to arrest people for breaking the law.

Who puts a quota on the system that would justify overtime
to catch criminals faster.

Why is this acceptable.

And let's get those people out of prison
when their only crime was partying.

Why aren't our members of congress using their time to identify where we are overspending and spending stupidly?

Oh yeh, that's the point of the article post, isn't it?

[felix_numinous]

2. What an unjust country this has become

punishing peaceful people for profit.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Actually that's two Presidents, one pResident and the last two U.S. Nobel Peace Prize winners.

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"At some point in the distant past, the war on drugs might have been popular. But not anymore — the polling is clear, but beyond that, the last three Presidents have used illegal drugs. So why do we still put hundreds of thousands of people in steel cages for pot-related offenses? Well, there are many reasons, but one of them is, of course, money in politics. Corruption. Whatever you want to call it, it’s why you can’t smoke a joint without committing a crime, though of course you can ingest any number of pills or drinks completely within the law."

(snip)

Lovell managed the opposition campaign against Prop 19. He told Time Magazine that he was pushing against the initiative because, “the last thing we need is yet another mind-altering substance to be legalized.”

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It's sad that Lovell can't recognize or admit that money is a "mind altering substance," and too many in power are addicted to it, greed is a sickness.

Thanks for the thread, Report.

[socialindependocrat]

4. At least legalize it for the retirees!

Look, we have slaved and taken crap for 35-40 years at work.

Let us at least have a few perks after we are retired.

What are we going to do - crash a disco?

Maybe we'll laugh so hard that we'll have a heart attack
and our old employer can get a break on my retirement money...

Come on... be a pal!

[saras]

5. It's not the ONLY reason...

"What especially troubled me has been the increasing pathologizing of stubbornness, resistance, rebellion, and anti-authoritarianism, especially in children and teenagers."

http://www.madinamerica.com/2012/02/why-anti-authoritarians-are-diagnosed-as-mentally-ill/
http://warisacrime.org/content/american-political-passivity-anti-authoritarianism-and-building-base

Marijuana is an anti-authoritarian drug in many cases - the polar opposite of the drugs they want us to be using.