Rep. Frank says he’ll file bill to legalize marijuana

[Mugu]

Rep. Barney Frank said he plans to file a bill to legalize "small amounts" of marijuana.

Frank announced his plans late Friday on the HBO show "Real Time," hosted by Bill Maher.

"I’m going to file a bill as soon as we go back to remove all federal penalties for the possession or use of small amounts of marijuana," Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, told Maher.

Frank didn’t define "small amounts." Efforts to reach Frank on Saturday were not immediately successful.


Complete article at:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view.bg?articleid=1082148&srvc=home&position=7

I know that this was posted earlier this week, but thought that it warranted reposting.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. A pound is easily liftable. Let's go with that for a "small amount."

[tekisui]

3. Sounds good to me. Go, Barney!

[Mugu]

4. Works for me. n/t

[panader0]

2. Legalize it!

Let the smokers out of prison, tax weed and pay off the national debt.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. According to this site, $6.2B in taxes annually.

Although, by decriminalizing marijuana, the government would save a lot of money and save many resources, they could also make money in other ways. The government could make money by taxing the revenue of the legal sale and production of marijuana. Figuring this statistic out is complicated, but put simply: the average amount of money spent on marijuana each year in the United States is approximately $10.5. Assuming the supply and demand of marijuana stays constant the federal government would produce revenue of $6.2 billion per year on legalized marijuana and each state would receive an additional $16million (Miron).
http://www.albany.edu/~kd1655/economics.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. It would unclutter our judicial system

not to mention our prisons. A very sensible idea.

[wildbilln864]

6. The corps. will never allow that....

IMHO! :hi:

[tridim]

7. IMO any amount for personal use should be legal.

Non-commercial hobby gardens should be allowed.

[Mz Pip]

9. Sadly it won't happen

the alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies will make sure of that.

[DontTreadOnMe]

10. Are you sure?

Glaxo Hemp Sticks?

It might be more profitable than Viagra.

[Mz Pip]

11. LOL

Thing is people can grow their own hemp sticks. They can't grow Viagra. Big Pharm will never go along with legalizing something that will cut into their bottom line.

[jmowreader]

12. But who really would?

Sure, people could grow their own pot.

They can also brew their own beer, make their own bread, sew their own clothes, grow their own tomatoes...last I checked, the people who sell ready-to-use beer, bread, clothes and tomatoes are doing well.

[Mz Pip]

28. Beer brewing

is time consuming and costly. My son does it for a hobby. It takes up quite a bit of space with all the paraphenalia and then sometimes it comes out really bad. Even bread baking isn't particularly cost effective.

The thing about marijuana is that it does have medicinal properties. I remember one segment on some talk show where they were debating medical marijuana. The anti- marijuana person was a woman from the pharmaceutical company who said that we should legalize medical marijuana because there were already drugs out the on the market that dealt with nausea and headaches. Translation: It would cut into our profit margin.

[Breeze54]

13. It just may happen after November.

I hope so!

[guitar man]

14. Go Barney!!

:applause:

[Echo In Light]

15. Bout time! So many non-violent 1st time offenders, and their families, brutalized

By the phony and criminally expensive "war on drugs."

[truebrit71]

16. Yeah because that is so much more important than, oh, I don't know...IMPEACHMENT...

...c'mon Barney...lets get some priorities here...

[Bluebear]

17. Nothing pleases you, does it?

[truebrit71]

19. These days, not really, no.....

...I know why he's doing what he's doing...but in the grand scheme of things there are other issues that are slightlymore pressing...

[Breeze54]

18. Releasing people from over crowded prisons should also be a priority.

Doing hard time for possessing small amounts of a herb is ridiculous.

Barney can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Don't worry your pretty little head about it. :eyes:

[truebrit71]

20. I'm not disagreeing with that...I just don't think it should be a TOP priority right now...

Thanks for the condescension though...really helped me see your point of view... :eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

[Breeze54]

21. You were the one being condescending.... implying that

our reps can only focus on one topic at a time. That's just dumb.

:eyes: back At Ya!

[truebrit71]

22. When did I say that? I said it shouldn't be the TOP priority...

...and btw I think you give our reps faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar too much credit...most can only see as far as the next lobbyists lunch... ;-)

[Breeze54]

23. "Yeah because that is so much more important than, oh, I don't know...IMPEACHMENT..."

Does that ring a bell: :shrug:

[truebrit71]

24. Where does that say or imply that they can only do one thing at a time?

Um, how about NOWHERE?

It SAYS (no implication necessary) that focusing on imprisoned stoners is NOT as important as IMPEACHING war criminals....In other words, focus on what's important and get to the other stuff later...it doesn't say "You are far too fucking stupid to hold more than one thought in your thick fucking skull so drop EVERYTHING and do this ONE thing..."

[Breeze54]

25. That's how it reads, IMHO and you didn't post all those qualifiers in the 1st reply.

That's my opinion of what you posted. YMMV and apparently does. ;)

[truebrit71]

27. You are most welcome to your opinion of course, but i hope you see that is NOT what I posted...

...or what I meant...

:hi:

[RainDog]

26. Here's the argument to get the panty-wadded conservo hetero male vote-

Pot is an aphrodisiac for many women. It's not just the relaxation... it's the heightened sensations. It's the immersion in an activity... (fill in the blank) ...Pot can and is bred to accentuate these properties... and with no munchies!

Now, what red-blooded American male would be against an herb that may help to get them laid? :) -within their marriage, of course....

[Warren DeMontague]

32. Here's the other one: We spend $40 Billion a YEAR on the drug war, and most of that is aimed at pot.

Not including costs of incarceration.

[RainDog]

34. yeah but those guys aren't the ones in jail

I mean, in small towns, prisons are as good as Walmart...

[Warren DeMontague]

36. Right, but "those guys" do pay taxes.

Ask them how much it's worth to their pocketbook to keep calling Willie Nelson a criminal. :shrug:

[Alexander]

29. His bill will only decriminalize it, not legalize it.

Still, it's a step in the right direction.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. decriminalize vs legalize?

If I can smoke a joint in the park and wave "howdy" to the cop walking by, is there a meaningful difference?

:hi:

[High Plains]

35. Decriminalize vs. legalize

Decriminalization: You smoke a joint in the park and wave "howdy" to the cop and he comes over and writes you a $100 ticket and takes your weed. But at least you don't have to worry about going to jail.

Legalization: You smoke a joint in the park and wave "howdy" to the cop and he ignores you.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

37. Got it, thanks

So with decriminilization, it's still a crime, just minor. And if you get ten tickets or so, it'll probably get worse.

Ok, that's nice, as a step toward real legalization.

[avenger64]

31. Whooooooooo!

It will be interesting to see which of the Dems is too cowardly to vote for it.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. Good. Way past fucking time. nt