Harry Reid joins doobie brothers
Last edited Sat Jan 18, 2014, 08:53 PM - Edit history (1)
j/k... cross post from this thread for reference: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014699466
"If you'd asked me this question a dozen years ago, it would have been easy to answer – I would have said no, because (marijuana) leads to other stuff," he said. "But I can't say that anymore."
Reid says its time to address legalization, as he thinks there are good medical uses for the drug.
"I think we need to take a real close look at this," he said. "I think that there's some medical reasons for marijuana."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/reid-supports-medical-marijuana
I want to congratulate the House Democratic leader for recognizing that the majority of the American people (in the 70 percentiles and above) have supported medical marijuana for DECADES.
SO PROUD to see the Democrats are at the forefront of an issue!!! What clarity of vision! After only THIRTY YEARS!!!!! wooohoooo! LEADERSHIP!
That's why we elect people to Congress, to provide leadership on important issues that REPRESENT THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NOT FEDERAL BUREAUS THAT WANT TO PROTECT THEIR TURF.
The House is supposed to be most responsive to the fickle whims of the American people, as our founders noted when they set this great democratic experiment in motion.
Harry Reid supports mmj, after thirty years of this fickle whim of the American people to have the freedom to use one of nature's oldest remedies for a variety of ills. Cannabis has been part of the pharmacopeia for 5000 years. It has been illegal, world wide, for around 80 years.
Thirty years of this massive waste of dollars could have been avoided if the Democratic Party had listened to reason instead of playing the game of conservatives with their Nixonian enemies list of people to persecute with prohibition. That list included "the goddam Jews," as Nixon so sweetly said, "the psychiatrists," the anti-war protestors, African Americans, Latin Americans... the CORE CONSTITUENCY of the Democratic party, who, with labor, women, GLBT and other minority populations want to stop using marijuana as a means of voter suppression, denial of student loans, protection for outmoded industry, and especially as a "jobs bill" for the prison/industrial complex.
This last issue results in accruing power to rural areas in Republican majorities, while harming Democratic constituencies by increasing population numbers (prisoners) who have no right to vote. They are, literally, being held in bondage and denied the right to vote for possession of a substance safer than aspirin. Where have I seen that before...
Thank you for honoring your pledge to do your job and support the will of the American people in the legislature, and, as a Democrat, to bring YOUR VOTERS' concerns to the House. (actually, Harry, I think you're doing a great job and it was a pleasure to see you kick the shit out of the teabaggers when they wanted to default on our obligations and precipitate a world-wide depression...smoooooooth, Harry.)
But, let's let this moment be a teaching experience for Democrats, Harry. Don't make people wait another thirty years for the House to finally ignore idiots like Nancy Grace saying marijuana makes people bite off the heads of chickens and engage in odd, strange dances of the devil and eat Ding Dongs.
Be a healer of this nation, please, and put your considerable clout behind resurrecting the Polis and Blumenauer legislation to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. And anyone here on DU who agrees with me - please contact Reid to politely and lovingly ask him to represent the will of the American people on full legalization, as well as medical marijuana.
At the very least, Congress should remove cannabis from the drug schedule. If alcohol isn't there, marijuana shouldn't be there either. Those who have followed this issue know that the alcohol industry has financed anti-marijuana propaganda and lobbied to keep its product off the controlled substances act. Just say no to frat boy culture, Reid.
Say yes to the use of hemp, as well, and the promotion of the same for alternatives to fossil fuel products, for the best source of insulation for houses, for the most complete EFA profile of any plant - that can be used to combat world hunger if we just say no to the drug warriors.
SMOOOOOCHES!!!! RainDog.
= new reply since forum marked as read
How could a legislative body be so stupid for thirty years? The Marijuana Policy Project found that legislators assumed 30% of their voters supported legal medical marijuana. The reality was the reverse. That's quite a bit more than a 15 point difference. That's being deliberately stupid, or else ignoring the will of those who elected legislators in order to grease the palms of those with access to power.
hmmm. So who has problems discerning reality from fantasy... the marijuana legalization supporters or the legislators who only hear from people who want to keep marijuana illegal, such as military/industrial contractors. Claire McCaskill noted in a June 2011 Senate subcommittee report finding that the drug war has largely failed and those who most benefitted from it were not held accountable for the funds that American taxpayers are forced to provide for policy they don't want for machinery used to poison the ground water of rural people in Mexico and finance covert activities through policy that the people of Mexico and their elected leaders oppose.
Is that imperialism or just another scam on the American taxpayer by those who lobby to keep these failed policies intact? Or... are they pretty much the same thing?
Five major defense contractors received the bulk of drug war contract spending: Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, DynCorp, ARINC and ITT. Out of all the firms, DynCorp benefitted most, winning $1.1 billion.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/06/10/senate-report-war-on-drugs-failed/
"It's becoming increasingly clear that our efforts to rein in the narcotics trade in Latin America, especially as it relates to the government's use of contractors, have largely failed," Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, said in a media advisory. "Without adequate oversight and management we are wasting tax dollars and throwing money at a problem without even knowing what we're getting in return."
The McCaskill report indicates that U.S. taxpayers have shelled out over $3 billion for work and equipment related to the drug war in Latin America from 2005-2009, and most of that money went to private contractors.
McCaskill launched the inquiry after looking into counternarcotics efforts underway in Afghanistan. However, neither the Department of Defense nor the State Dept. were able to provide adequate documentation on their contracts and in many cases could not even identify firms that were given millions in tax dollars.
At the national level, marijuana arrests allow law enforcement to fluff their statistics and receive federal funding.
The law is applied in a racist manner and contributes to stereotypes and, worse, denies access to education for those who are TARGETED by stop-and-frisk and labeled, early, by such an arrest for such a nothing offense that contributes to the continuation of a cycle of racism in this nation. This needs to stop. Now.
