Former FBI chief in Seattle endorses marijuana legalization initiative

[iscooterliberally]

Source: The Seattle Times

In a statement, Mandigo writes:

There is no question the time has come when government must curtail discretionary programs. If the resources were available, continued enforcement of criminal laws for possession and use of small amounts of marijuana might be a discretionary function of government. But we have gone beyond the point where the resources are available or there is a justifiable cost-benefit to society. There must be an end to sacred cows.

Read more: http://today.seattletimes.com/2011/11/former-fbi-chief-in-seattle-endorses-marijuana-legalization-initiative/

[msongs]

1. too many government employees will lose jobs if pot is legalized nt

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[Fumesucker]

3. "Former"...

Always former law enforcement officials..

Those still working, their job depends at least to some extent on keeping pot illegal but once they get that pension then they're fine with screwing their brother officers.

[eggplant]

10. Wait, what?

how are they screwing their brother officers?

[Fumesucker]

12. If drugs are made legal then the number of cops needed will drop sharply..

Every department beyond the smallest towns has a drug squad, they won't be needed any more.

Not to mention things like asset forfeiture associated with illegal drugs, a great many departments make a lot of money that way.

[eggplant]

29. And this is bad because...?

We should keep drugs illegal because it is good for employment?

[Uncle Joe]

4. It's long past time for legalization of cannabis.

Thanks for the thread, iscooterliberally.

[DreamSmoker]

5. Congressman Bilbray's daughter at center of med pot debate

The young cancer survivor surged with adrenaline as she stepped up to the lectern at Imperial Beach City Hall to defend medical marijuana dispensaries and extol the drug’s therapeutic benefits for chemotherapy patients.

Briana Bilbray did not inform her father, who opposes medical marijuana, that she planned to speak out that night in July. The 25-year-old daughter of Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray told city officials that nausea and fatigue were “really pretty words” to describe such incapacitating conditions.

“You feel like you just want to die,” she said through tears in the city that launched her father’s political career. “I didn’t even want to breathe, I was so tired.”

Briana couldn’t persuade the City Council not to enact a ban on dispensaries, but she managed to shatter stereotypes on her way to becoming a torchbearer for the cause.

She is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in San Diego that seeks an immediate halt to the federal government’s efforts to shutter profit-making collectives statewide. As one of four challenges filed in each of the federal judicial districts in California, the legal action could settle the debate over California’s right to regulate production and distribution of medical marijuana.

California voters approved the drug for medicinal use in 1996, but it remains illegal under federal law.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/12/congressman-bilbrays-daughter-suing-feds-over-medi/

[RainDog]

17. great link

and, I think, part of this REALLY gets to the heart of opposition to re-legalizing cannabis.

“It was always in my head that, given the opportunity, I would do what I could to make a difference,” she said. “There’s such a negative image cemented in everyone’s brain about marijuana, and that needs to go away because chemo patients are ultimately paying the price.”

Family and most of her friends have supported her public stance on marijuana. Some in politics have raised concerns about how it might come off because of the drug’s association with the counter-culture of the 1960s and the general opposition within the Republican Party.

“There are always those who will try to take political advantage of real-life experiences,” Brian Bilbray said. “Look, make my day. The fact is I was a father before I was a congressman, and with God’s help I will be a father long after I am a congressman. And anybody that thinks that a political position is more important than what happens to my children obviously is detached from reality.”

iow, conservative opposition is not based upon the reality of the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, but rather with the association of cannabis with those who are outside of the mainstream. this is, honestly, a pitiful truth.

facts are secondary to prejudice.

this is also how and why cannabis laws may continue to target minorities.

And this conservative pol acknowledges that, in his own life, with his own family, when someone's LIFE and HEALTH are at stake - he doesn't care about things like prohibition that is divorced from reality when this substance absolutely has medicinal value.

Obama has aligned himself with those who are so afraid of a stereotype that they punish the sick. Or course, that's not the rationale. But the pretense that smoked cannabis has no medicinal value is a lie that Obama continues to uphold - for all the wrong reasons.

[Doctor_J]

6. Eric "Huh?" Holder will be after them soon

[iscooterliberally]

23. Nice!

Love it!!! :rofl:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

32. I prefer Eric "Place" Holder.

A screaming disappointment.

[yurbud]

7. the trickle of mid to upper level bureaucrats who rebel against the oligarchy

will continue until the oligarchy can no longer function.

[kestrel91316]

8. Besides, treating a relatively harmless recreational drug far more harshly than a

known dangerous and harmful recreational drug like alcohol is just STOOPID.

[Divine Discontent]

9. I certainly don't like the criminilization of it with people being in the slammer for it, but I've

seen many young people smoking it, and I don't want them driving while high. A guy I knew had his only accident when he was stoned and he nearly killed his best friend.

"Evidence from both real and simulated driving studies indicates that marijuana can negatively affect a driver's attentiveness, perception of time and speed", etc...

Outside of that problem, I agree that it being illegal is a boon for the enforcement squad.



Get it now, or one of a million other designs! http://www.zazzle.com/republicans_2012_keeping_millions_out_of_work_bumper_sticker-128659602907896843?rf=238107662556833486

[randome]

11. I've been saying the same thing for weeks now.

It's quite a conundrum. There is no easy answer, pro or con.

[iscooterliberally]

14. People shouldn't be driving under the influence of anything.

I don't see this as a conundrum. The so called war on drugs is really a civil war being waged by the federal government against American citizens. On the one hand they're violating our civil rights all to hell. On the other hand they are funding criminal organizations. I'm not saying that there won't be problems with legalization. I just think the problems will be much more manageable than they are now. We are supposed to be the land of the free, but we're more like the home of the enslaved they way we do it now.

[randome]

16. I know logic is in short supply on the subject.

I can't explain it, I just think that most people, even when they say they support legalization, would feel differently if there was even a snowball's chance in hell of it happening.

We can't outlaw alcohol. That hasn't worked but outlawing pot has, if looked at objectively, worked because most people don't go to the trouble of obtaining it when they know it's illegal.

I don't see it as a 'civil war', just the inertia of having outlawed it and politicians not wanting to be the ones in favor of drug use.

I know, I know, alcohol is a drug. It doesn't make sense but there it is.

[iscooterliberally]

20. I don't think that outlawing pot has worked at all really.

What has it achieved? Pot is readily available in all major cities. It's probably much easier for most kids to get their hands on than alcohol is. I can understand if you don't see the civil war aspects of this policy and I really hope that you never have to. I unfortunately have gotten to see it first hand. You might want to check out this link. One of the people on this page was from less than a mile from my home.

http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/drug-war-victim/

[RainDog]

21. omg.

do you mind if I post this separately so that I can add it to my journal? (which I use to keep track of this topic)

I wish I could just share this link with my journal but that's not possible.

[iscooterliberally]

22. Please feel free! Thanks RainDog!

:fistbump:

[RainDog]

19. the answer is simple. legalization and public education based upon fact, not lies

you continue to say and believe that only a few people support legalization while reality disagrees with you.

approximately 1/3 of the population of this nation supports legalization and has made this clear at the election booth.

the problem is legislators who don't want the law to change because they are wedded to outdated views of cannabis as something that is only part of the counterculture. this view is from those who are, honestly, out of touch with reality.

the reality is that professionals, successful lawyers, doctors, teachers, politicians, business people... people from ALL strata of society, in all professions, either use cannabis recreationally or support the use of the same.

it's a right wing propaganda point to claim that people do not support legalization across the spectrum in this nation - even conservatives support legalization. fiscal conservatives, that is.

the ONLY groups that support prohibition are the elderly, who, apparently, have had little exposure to the reality of people who use cannabis and their middle-aged counterparts among social conservatives, who, again, have little experience and whose views are such that others will not share reality with them because they cannot be trusted to rationally evaluate the fact that people use cannabis and still function within society as valued members.

in the meantime, an overwhelming majority has supported legalization of medical use for a decade and, at this time, a majority supports legalization of ALL cannabis.

remember when we talked about the way that you continued to claim something in the face of statistics and pols that indicated you are wrong? and here, again, you continue to make the same unsupported claims?

it's crazy. you have no data to support your position. others have reams of data to discount this same position. and yet... it doesn't matter.

[Divine Discontent]

30. right. and at what age is it okay for people to use it (if it were legal), because

just like alcohol, the younger people who can get a hold of it will abuse it at a higher clip than older adults. one peek into a dorm party tells us this.



Get it now, or one of a million other designs! http://www.zazzle.com/republicans_2012_keeping_millions_out_of_work_bumper_sticker-128659602907896843?rf=238107662556833486

[RainDog]

31. it's easier for kids to get marijuana than alcohol

if something is illegal, those who sell it have no compulsion to follow regulations regarding the sale of any substance.

why is cannabis easier for kids to get? because it is sold illegal IN THE SCHOOLS.

go ask any law enforcement officer about this.

personally, I would rather have college students using cannabis than alcohol. would probably cut down drastically on rape - this is a real problem for females. but I think that both alcohol and cannabis should be legal for anyone 18 and older - if you're old enough to go fight a war, you're old enough to decide whether or not to take a drink, etc.

more importantly, before kids get to college, their parents should educate them and not treat these issues like some secret, forbidden topic and try to scare their kids - that just undermines anything you say because kids learn their parents were lying to them. same with sex - you don't want kids to have sex because, emotionally, they need to develop, they need to have more experience with the world before they take on adult actions and the possible responsibilities that go along with actions - becoming a parent, in the case of sex, or responsible use of intoxicants, in the case of alcohol or cannabis.

I know from my own experience that those who come from families that are rigid and inflexible about issues, who treat them as crimes or sin are the kids who act out the most when they're in college. It seems like oppressive tactics have a reverse effect. Or at least that's what I saw.

[Tsiyu]

13. I m far more worried about those driving while

on LEGAL prescription drugs like Xanax, Hydrocodone, Opana, Percoset, and the sleep aid that warns on the commercial that you might find yourself driving or operating machinery while asleep with no memory of the event :wtf:

Using that as a basis to deny people the right to medicate as they and their physicians - rather than politicians - decide, we would outlaw all narcotics, painkillers and alcohol.

I get so sick of the lameness, really. I'm not trying to be snarky, it just gets so exhausting listening to the logic that some feel only applies to one particular herbal plant but not to the myriad other causes of something such as "bad driving."

[RainDog]

15. we're able to have legal alcohol and laws against drunk driving

and public health and safety campaigns against drunk driving.

these don't stop some people from driving while drunk, but they do help most people develop awareness and have established things like designated drivers - sensible answers to these sorts of things. As my son and his friends have come of legal age, they want to do the obligatory go to a bar and have a drink. They openly discuss how one of them in their group is the designated driver and doesn't drink that night. They take turns.

This works for them. They can be responsible and they are, while still going through this "rite of passage" that is part of our society for many people.

While growing up, my kids knew that their parents could distinguish between responsible use and irresponsible actions. They knew that some people, no matter if they want to be responsible, have a problem with limiting their intake of alcohol and have to just avoid it entirely because it's a problem for them. This was just presented as fact, not condemnation or shame.

imo, this is the sort of attitude that we, as a society, need to take. Some people have a problem with some substances and need to avoid them. Others do not and they can consume such substances without overdoing it. Those who have a problem have places where they can get help if they can't quit on their own. Seems much safer to me than to say all use is forbidden, as in prohibition.

[iscooterliberally]

18. +1 - thanks!

[Utopian Leftist]

24. Remember the great fear of the conservative heart:

that someone, somewhere is getting away with something THAT THEY ARE NOT!

Their narrow little minds simply explode upon contemplation of the mere possibility that others could get away with "SIN" or worse, actually enjoy anything that didn't stem from rigorous discipline and/or years of needless misery.

Personally, I find that weed balances me better than any anti-depressant, but the major reason I use it now is not for the high but for the spiritual benefits it confers. Read the excellent book "The Benefits of Marijuana: Physical, Psychological and Spiritual" by Joan Bello. The spiritual properties of Cannabis have been known for thousands of years, monks in India used it to enhance some of their meditations. It is a consciousness-expander in my opinion.

That's the real reason they despise the weed so much: expand your awareness and have FUN at the SAME TIME??? Their worst fear. All those years of hiding in their closets, whipping themselves (or others) metaphorically or literally but always mercilessly and with judgment. All unnecessary, and in fact quite toxic and harmful to the spiritual path they originally may have set out upon.

[RainDog]

25. it's great for yoga

or so I have heard

also sex with someone you love - sex is a spiritual experience too, for those who don't have a problem with the idea that the carnal and the eternal can share in human happiness.

[Utopian Leftist]

26. I'd say Amen but

Eureka! sounds like a more appropriate comment for such an enlightened response.

Yeah, the first time I discovered mixing Tantra with Cannabis, I was able to delay orgasm for six straight hours, lol. That was one of the most intense spiritual experiences of my life.

[RainDog]

28. well, from the other side of that leaf...

cannabis relaxes. it makes a woman attentive to pleasurable sensations. it enhances our senses - taste, touch... it helps someone to forget the cares of the day and be in the moment with the person you love.

however, I cannot say this is true for all people because, as with any other thing, different people respond differently to something like cannabis or whatever.

for some women, tho, the above is true. as above, so below, or something like that.

[red dog 1]

27. Legalize It & Tax It...Could Raise Billions + Free Up Cops For Violent Crimes!