If we Legalized Pot, we could solve our economic Problems overnight!

[Heather MC]

Terrible I know
but hey it's easy to grow,
you can use it to make fabric
paper
Medicine

And other stuff I don't know about. The gov, could tax the hell out of it.
and put the same restrictions on it they do for Alcohol and Cigs

[Burma Jones]

1. At the very least, many of us would be less worried......

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. Yes but that wouldn't be good for the Prison Industrial Complex and everything connected with it.

Ya know? :P

[Heather MC]

9. We could turn the Prisons into POT Farms

[El Pinko]

3. I'm all for decriminalization...

...but millions of people sitting on couches scarfing down Cheetos and watching Pink Floyd videos as a net economic stimulus? I'll believe it when I see it...

[dhpgetsit]

7. Better they sit on the couch and scarf cheetos than sit in prisons.

The US holds more prisoners than any other country and a large number are in there for pot. It's costing you billions.

[Heather MC]

12. good point!

[Zhade]

102. Well, that's a whole lotta Cheetos...

Personally, not a fan of them.

Also not a fan of this tired stereotype that people who smoke are demotivated. It's simply untrue, and based on ignorance of herb's varied effects.

[CrispyQ]

4. I couldn't agree more, but it won't happen in my life.

I'm not certain what it is about the evil leaf that our current culture fears so badly. Alcohol is much more devestating & I won't even go into all the pharm drugs & the problems they cause.

[FatDave]

63. Black people smoked it.

That's why our culture fears it. It was first smoked by those scary negroes with their filthy jazz music.

[Ghost in the Machine]

71. Wrong! It's because Mormons brought some back from Mexico...

For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. It's not a recently discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it's been in use. Its known uses go back further than 7,000 B.C. and it was legal as recently as when Ronald Reagan was a boy.

The marijuana (hemp) plant, of course, has an incredible number of uses. The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp, and over the centuries the plant was used for food, incense, cloth, rope, and much more. This adds to some of the confusion over its introduction in the United States, as the plant was well known from the early 1600's, but did not reach public awareness as a recreational drug until the early 1900's.

However, the first state law outlawing marijuana did so not because of Mexicans using the drug. Oddly enough, it was because of Mormons using it. Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The church was not pleased and ruled against use of the drug. Since the state of Utah automatically enshrined church doctrine into law, the first state marijuana prohibition was established in 1915. (Today, Senator Orrin Hatch serves as the prohibition arm of this heavily church-influenced state.)

Other states quickly followed suit with marijuana prohibition laws, including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927). These laws tended to be specifically targeted against the Mexican-American population.

http://www.congressunderfire.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=106&topic_id=2&mesg_id=2&page=

[FatDave]

78. From the very same article:

That is to say, from the article linked at your link (and thanks for the link, it's a very good article):

In the eastern states, the "problem" was attributed to a combination of Latin Americans and black jazz musicians. Marijuana and jazz traveled from New Orleans to Chicago, and then to Harlem, where marijuana became an indispensable part of the music scene, even entering the language of the black hits of the time (Louis Armstrong's "Muggles", Cab Calloway's "That Funny Reefer Man", Fats Waller's "Viper's Drag").

Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana, as newspapers in 1934 editorialized: "Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice."

In the west it was Mexican Americans, in the east it was African Americans. I responded originally to the question "why does our culture fear it so greatly?" And while white culture may not have ever been particularly fond of Mexican immigrants, for striking fear into the hearts of whitey, nothing does it quite like a black man hopped up on the devil's weed.

[JVS]

82. Stoned Mormons are indeed a scary thought.

[Zhade]

103. Are you kidding? I've seen it deprogram long-time Mormons.

Just one of its man, many benefits.

[Greyhound]

88. 90 years of brainwashing, that's all. There is no room for reason or facts in this debate.

The bottom line is that legal cannabis would hurt the incomes of many of the people that matter.

[panader0]

5. fabric, paper?

What about getting high? Let's go green!

[Heather MC]

20. I included that for the super anti-drug people

Let them smoke it!!

[BlooInBloo]

6. Does anybody really believe that the legalize-pot movement...

Isn't largely driven by a bunch of potheads who want to get high?

[Heather MC]

10. I don't do drugs and i never have

I don't even drink
but why is Pot illegal but Alcohol is legal
and Cigs are a narcotic?

What's the difference?

[kimmylavin]

13. Um, I do.

I'm a full-time student working a part-time job.
I pay my bills and my taxes.
And I smoke a couple times a week.

Not a pothead who wants to get high.
Someone who would rather smoke a bit than drink a beer, and not have to worry about going to jail for it.

Incidentally, I was for legalization long before I ever even tried pot.

Thanks for the generalization, though... :eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

15. No problem. Thanks for being a confirming instance.

[yellowdogintexas]

35. I have never smoked pot and never will but I have been in favor of legalizing it

for many years..like say 40 or so years.

The tax windfall alone would be amazing, not to mention the reduction of prison population.

[kimmylavin]

99. ?

So I'm a pothead if I smoke a few times a week?
Do you call a person who drinks a few beers a week a drunk?

[dhpgetsit]

14. I'm sure it's true...

but that doesn'r make it a bad idea. Fighting it is just a huge waste of taxpayers money and a drain on the economy.

We spend billions fighting marijuana trafficers.
Billions of dollers are being shipped overseas in an underground economy.
Tens of thousands of people are in prison on marijuana charges.
The legal system is choked with small marijuana cases.

[Tyler Generation]

16. Oh, shit an intoxicant you can't OD on

So what? Unless you believe Nixon/Reagan propaganda. There is nothing wrong with smoking cannabis because you enjoy it. It's personal business. There is not a damn thing you can say that will make marijuana prohibition justified when alcohol and tobacco are legal. The government shouldn't tell FREE citizens what they are allowed to do with or put in there bodies.

[BlooInBloo]

18. Notice that I didn't say one word to the contrary....

It's funny watching the potheads & supporters pretend that I did, though.

[Zhade]

106. This subject actually affects the health of some of us.

I'd appreciate you taking it seriously, instead of engaging in a snipefest for your own amusement.

[redqueen]

21. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition? They just wanna get high?

Anyone who believes the crap you just posted isn't thinking. Period.

[cliffordu]

23. I have 21 years clean and sober and I want it legalized.

No prison for Mary wanna. That's just stupid.

There are PLENTY of mechanisms in place to deal with driving while impared and beign too stupid in public.


Tax and regulate, tax and regulate.

[LeftyFingerPop]

24. I smoke twice a week..am I a pothead?

If so, what makes me a "pothead"?

If I drink a sixpack on a Friday night, am I an alcoholic?

I use weed for pain relief. Does that make me a "pothead"?

What a goddamn stupid post.

[Dr. Strange]

28. Based on your posts in the Lounge, you are a pothead.

:P

I think it should be legalized. But it's not going to fix our economy. In fact, you'll probably see the pharmaceutical companies start using it in all kinds of products, which will make the heads of various conspiracy types here explode.

[LeftyFingerPop]

30. Ha!

I think the decriminalization and taxation of it would HAVE o help our economy. Drastic increase in tax revenue and all that...

[Dr. Strange]

51. I think it would help somewhat.

But nowhere near as much as the rose-colored glasses suggest.

The decriminalization would probably be more helpful than the taxation, I suspect.

[LeftyFingerPop]

62. Agreed, not a panacea, but here's what I see...

1) Drastically increased tax revenue.

2) Drastically decreased federal expenditure burden being caused by the millions of people in prisons due to incarceration from pot offenses.

3) Freeing up of law enforcement to concentrate on real crimes and community development.

[cliffordu]

36. dUzY!!!!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

27. Gary Johnson is certainly no pothead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_E._Johnson#Post-gubernatorial_life

[sagetea]

29. I first smoked for recreation

in my teens. Then I quit in my twenties and thirties, and now due to MS, I smoke just so I can feel halfway normal. When I go out into the sun, it feels like I am being strangled with dental floss and my head is five times bigger,my body can't "remember" how to swallow and then I drool all over. My husband blows marijuana smoke into my lungs, the feeling of my head being huge shrinks, my body "remembers" how to swallow, I get to feel normal, until it happens again. God forbid if you ever have to have someone rub your throat so you can swallow food,water, even your own saliva, it is not fun, it makes you feel utterly dependant on someone else and you wonder if your life is not worth much.
I had to re-educate my daughter, she was taught "Dare to say no" when she was in public school, she hated me for MY choice of medicine, I told her that the "medicine" the Dr.'s wanted to give me screwed with my liver, kidneys, and heart and I was already battling one thing I didn't want to Battle anymore. Her argument was to move to a state that I could do it legally. 10 years ago I could have, but now I own a house, and even though I can't stand it where I live (except my house) we really cannot afford to leave.
It damn well should be legal.
sorry for going on like that...I guess I needed to say my piece.
Aho`

[Bluenorthwest]

41. Everybody but you and the GOP

Example from life, Montel Williams. Montel has M.S. and usues marijuana to treat it. According to the very wealthy, decorated veteran he would be drooling in a chair on heavy meds without the natural medicine you deride. Drooling in a chair vs. being a productive citizen.
I could go on like this. I know dozens of people, several so famous I know you also know of them, who use medical marijuana or even-gasp- smoke for fun. In the creative arts it is a well known work tool for many.
Your experience is limited and heavily propagandized, if you are really behind that foolish question. One of the most ignorant posts I have ever read on DU. People use the ganja to treat the side effects of chemo. Doctors recommend it to patients with a variety of ailments, on a daily basis, although the Doctors can not provide it and have no financial return on that recommendation.

[SteveM]

46. Some problems, here...

There is a significant part of the "movement" who suffer diseases/injuries where marijuana is useful as an effective and relatively cheap drug with few side effects.

As for the "pothead" component: nothing is stopping these folks from getting high now, and most are not involved in the movement (no surprise, even those favoring the right-to-choose are largely apathetic).

What is the point of your question?

[High Plains]

48. Legalizing pot is a social justice issue.

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports came out yesterday. 875,000 people arrested for marijuana last year, about 90% of them for simple possession. Not for robbing or raping or pillaging or selling bad loans or starting foreign wars.

Arresting and prosecuting people who aren't doing anything to anybody should be offensive to people who believe in freedom.

It may be that the movement is driven by a bunch of pot heads. Does that make it wrong?

[BlooInBloo]

64. When people who largely just want to smoke pot are telling me...

that it'll cure all of America's economic problems overnight, I call bullfuckingshit.

I don't have a dog in that particular race, but I'd be substantially more inclined to support legalization if they wouldn't fucking make shit up and lie to me about it. That's my main issue.

[High Plains]

85. I think marijuana legalization would be an economic boon for America.

--Lower law enforcement costs
--Tax revenues from legalization, and they would be significant.
--Increased production and use of hemp products. It's really quite a versatile plant.

That said, I don't think it would solve all of America's economic problems--that's just silly talk.

And that said, I don't think legalizing marijuana should be done because of some economic cost-benefit analysis. It is a matter of fundamental fairness and justice. The state should not fuck with people who are not hurting others or their property.

[Zhade]

108. Their belief in its economic power, even if unjustified, isn't a lie.

If you didn't have a dog in this fight, you wouldn't be so angry when people point out your ignorant heartlessness on the subject.

[Book Lover]

65. And so what if it is?

Was it teetotalers who wanted to rid the Constitution of Prohibition?

So what if someone wants to remove the laws against smoking a plant so that they can smoke it? Who *else* should be for legalization?

[JVS]

72. So what? I know plenty of decent hard-working Americans who would like to spend Friday afternoon...

getting totally baked.

[flvegan]

76. I've never touched it, but I'd like it legalized for those that do

or want to. I think the idea that someone can go buy a case of beer without problem, but they get caught with a small amount of pot, they're going to jail.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

77. Does anybody really believe that the criminalize-pot movement...

Isn't largely driven by a bunch of 80 year old pearl clutchers who think sex is only for procreation, and the problem with kids these days is too much negro music?

[Ganja Ninja]

87. What if it is?

People have rights. They have the right to voice their opinions and they shouldn't be persecuted unjustly. While I doubt legalizing pot will solve all our problems There is no doubt it would create a multi billion dollar industry and contribute to economic growth. While keeping pot illegal is a further drain on the economy and government resources and serves no practical purpose.

[Zhade]

105. Uh, yeah. Check out the board of NORML sometime.

MPP also has nonsmokers fighting for our freedom.

[Firespirit]

113. Not an activist in the movement, but I support legalization

I'm an asthma sufferer, the type who can't be within 10 feet of cigarette smoke, and unless someone demonstrated that pot helped that condition (insert joke here, I know), I wouldn't smoke pot either. But it seems stupid and pointless for it to be illegal when alcohol wrecks far more lives. I've switched from supporting decriminalization to supporting full legalization of this particular substance.

But, hey, if some legalization supporters just want to get high legally, that's as valid a reason as any IMO. I just can't really believe that that's the majority of the support. The movement has grown over the past few years.

[cali]

8. um, no it wouldn't grab a clue.

there is no silver bullet for the economy.

[mass independent]

25. certainly not a panacea

BUT aside from the funds the government wouldn't be spending to try and eradicate, incarcerate, etc.

From the figures I've heard there are about 10 million Americans who use the stuff on the regular. If each of those 10 million individuals paid $50 in tax on the "product" a month that works out to a revenue stream of 500 million monthly or 6 billion annually. Now that may be an overly optimistic projection on the possible tax revenue but it proves my point that legalization wouldn't be a financial cure-all for our government. On the other hand that's 6 billion dollars that wouldn't need to be borrowed from the Chinese.

But we're more likely to see real health care reform or all the lobbyist kicked out of DC than we are to see out and out legalization.

[NeedleCast]

11. and what financial evidence backs this up?

[BlooInBloo]

17. Are you questioning pot's magical properties to solve all the world's problems? GASP!

http://crookedtimber.org/2003/09/08/think-of-a-wonderful-thought

"You remember how in the second act Tinkerbell drinks some poison that Peter is about to drink in order to save him? And then Peter turns to the audience and he says, “Tinkerbell is going to die because not enough people believe in fairies. But if all of you clap your hands real hard to show that you do believe in fairies, maybe she won’t die.”

So, we all started to clap. I clapped so long and so hard that my palms hurt and they even started to bleed I clapped so hard. Then suddenly the actress playing Peter Pan turned to the audience and she said, “That wasn’t enough. You did not clap hard enough. Tinkerbell is dead.” And then we all started to cry. The actress stomped off stage and refused to continue with the production. They finally had to lower the curtain. The ushers had to come help us out of the aisles and into the street. "


CLAP LOUDER!!!!

:rofl:

[High Plains]

52. There's always one turd in the punch bowl, and you're it.

Instead of snarking, you might try actually making an argument...

Economic impact of legalization:

1. $20 billion a year in combined state-federal savings in unnecessary marijuana law enforcement.
2. Untold millions or hundreds of millions annually in tax revenues from legalized pot.
3. Legalization of hemp production for American farmers. They now have to import it.

How about that?

[BlooInBloo]

54. 20 billion? Not. I think it's 20 BRAZILLION!!!

And we can ride magic ponies on the way to pick up the check! WOOT!!

[High Plains]

84. Do you have anything constructive to add to this thread?

Or are you just being an ass for the hell of it?

The White House Office of National Drug Control Strategy puts the federal anti-drug budget at $13 billion:
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/07budget/parti_exec_summ.pdf

That doesn't include about $5 billion a year for the federal prisons, 60% of whose prisoners are drug offenders.

The states spend about $20 billion a year on drug enforcement.

Since marijuana users make up the vast majority of drug users, $20 billion, or slightly more than half of total anti-drug spending, is probably a conservative estimate of the costs of enforcing the marijuana laws.

Do you disagree?

Do you have a position on whether marijuana should be legalized? Why or why not? It's not that hard to actually contribute to a thread, instead of just spewing shit. You ought to try it sometime.

[Alexander]

94. He never has anything constructive to add.

I agree with you, though. Legalizing marijuana would solve quite a few problems - like, for example, our ridiculously huge prison population.

Some people, however, want a ridiculously huge prison population. Typically the gated-community types.

[WeDidIt]

19. Then immediately gran amnesty to all non-violent drug offenders

and stop spending so much damned money incarcerating these non-violent people.

[RadiationTherapy]

22. Or...there will be an inability to enforce this and other drug laws soon. nt

[dysfunctional press]

26. i'm all for legalization, but that's just a ridiculous statement...

"you can use it to make fabric
paper
Medicine

And other stuff I don't know about."

wow...how could we have been so blind for so long...:eyes:

fabric...paper...medicine...other stuff i don't know about...of course- ALL of the building blocks of our economy :woohoo:

is it wake-n-bake tuesday already?

[Romulox]

31. Are you simple? Hemp is an excellent material for paper, fabric, and is the most effective

anti-nauseant known to man. It is also a far better source for bio-fuels than the pork-driven corn ethanol we produce.

Sorry to harsh your mellow. :hi: :eyes:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

32. That poster also said people who stayed behind in TX deserved Ike's wrath.

Looks like he could use a bong hit or two.

[Romulox]

34. Another fine day at Center/Right Underground!

:sarcasm:

[dysfunctional press]

38. words are kind of lost on you, aren't they...?

i said that the people who CHOSE to stay in the face of a mandatory evacuation order and all common sense, deserved whatever they got.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

47. Compassion is lost on you, isn't it?

You also attacked people who HAD to stay because they had an elderly parent, pets, etc.

[dysfunctional press]

57. no i did not. that is an out-and-out lie.

and nobody "had" to stay with pets or elderly parents- they evacuated everyone who wanted to be evacuated, and allowed people to take their pets. the people who stayed behind CHOSE to do so. and were told that they faced "certain death" if they did.

people have to be willing to take responsibility for their decisions.

[JVS]

81. With proper administration of bong-hits they would have become paranoid and wanted to flee.

[Zhade]

110. It simply does not make everyone paranoid. It's NEVER done that to me.

NT!

[dysfunctional press]

37. and that's going to solve our economic problems overnight...?

and I'M the one that's "simple"???

:rofl:

[LeftyFingerPop]

40. How have you managed not to piss off the admins yet? n/t

[dysfunctional press]

44. i guess you'd have to ask them, wouldn't you...?

:shrug:

:eyes:

[Occulus]

49. Excellent question

I don't even need to log out anymore to know who that is.

<insert joke about dropped trousers and a ruler here>

[Romulox]

68. Gold star = free pass to spout rightwing crap on DU. nt

[Romulox]

43. I guess it depends whether you consider the for-profit "Criminal Justice" system a CREDIT or a DEBIT

to the larger economy. Since you betrayed no insight into the matter beyond a lame attempt at stereotyping (Is that Freedom Rock, man? Well turn it UP man! :eyes: ) and seemed incredulous that pot might be useful, you were indeed being simple.

Your post didn't even hint at suggesting that you've considered the trillions of dollars spent on out of shape cops, dog trainers, for profit prison industries, prosectors, defenders, judges, clerks, bailiffs, prison guards, the people who supply home urine tests, etc. ad nauseam. Do you make a living off the drug war too?

[dysfunctional press]

45. the part i found ridiculous is the idea it would: "...solve our economic problems overnight!"

but then, i suppose you were convinced by the substance of the arguments laid out in the MEAT of the post:

...it's easy to grow,
you can use it to make fabric
paper
Medicine

And other stuff I don't know about. The gov, could tax the hell out of it.
and put the same restrictions on it they do for Alcohol and Cigs"

btw- where in there does the op talk about the cost of incarceration...? i guess i missed that part...:shrug:

and now you're suggesting that trillions of dollars are spent in the war against pot...? do you have some links or facts to back up that kind of assertion...? other than www.i-pulled-those-numbers-out-of-my-ass.com...? :shrug:

[Romulox]

50. 45 billion in 2005 alone...

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/06budget/06budget.pdf

[dysfunctional press]

55. first of all, $45 billion is A LONG way from "trillions"..(are you a product of the public schools?)

and in the executive summary page it says this about the national drug control budget:

In total, recommended funding for FY 2006 is $12.4 billion, an increase of $268.4 million (+2.2 percent) over the FY 2005...

so- the 2006 budget is 12.4 billion, an increase of 268.4 million over 2005. but you said that the 2005 budget was $45 billion...? :shrug:

plus- that is the amount for ALL drugs, not just POT- which is th subject of this thread.


try again.

[Romulox]

67. You forgot the cost of INCARCERATION (and insults are the product of insecurity!) :) nt

[dysfunctional press]

70. and you forgot that these numbers are for all drugs, not just pot...for starters.

btw- the document you linked is 120 pages with lots of different budget numbers- what page number(s) did you glean your $45 billion number from...? (i.e. show your work) :shrug:

and in regard to incarceration- even if pot were made totally legal tomorrow, it doesn't automatically follow that amyone and everyone locked up for drug crimes is automatically going to be set free under a blanket amnesty- that's not how it works.

[anigbrowl]

58. Yes, but that's not going to fix our economy

The pot market is estimated to be from 30 to 130 billion. Say we legalized and taxed it at 25%, that would be a lot of money...from 7.5 to 32 billion. Well that's a lot of money too, but the federal budget is about 3 TRILLION. So with luck and the best possible estimate, legal pot might help us offset the size of the federal budget by 1%.

I'm all for it, but legalizing it doesn't solve all our problems or anything like it.

[Romulox]

33. If Democrats didn't whole-heartedly support the Drug War, it couldn't continue.

The War on Drugs makes all the rhetoric about "privacy" and the Fourth Amendment (ummm, the legal action is against the property and property ain't got no 4th Amendment rights!!!) and "choice" ring completely hollow.

[SteveM]

56. There is a powerful prohibitionist component in the Democratic Party:

The Woman's rights movement was in large measure responsible for alcohol prohibition; the modern Democratic Party has tolerated and promoted hard-line drug prohibitionists like Joseph Califano and Barry McCaffrey. You also see the same hard-line prohibitionism when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms.

The Party operates partly out of a fervent believe that social problems can be resolved by more social laws and enforcement; partly out of a well-established fear of the Far Right. That the Party has been thoroughly corporate-ized is beyond question.

[Romulox]

69. E.g., Joe Biden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAVE_act

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/joe_biden_coined_the_term_drug_czar_wrote_laws_banning_drug_paraphenilia/

[SteveM]

91. Yep.

[vanderBeth]

39. LOL- There might be a decrease in worker productivity for a while.

:party:

[Zhade]

111. Yet another untrue stereotype.

I work a full-time job and have been a patient (for glaucoma) for years.

[12string]

42. how about this reason MC

The real reason pot is illegal is because of lobbying efforts mostly of big oil.Hemp oil is a completely renewable resource for #2 diesel.It will run every diesel motor in the world while emitting 97% less hydrocarbons.This has been known since 1917 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture study and report.

[SteveM]

53. While I agree with legalization, economic problems won't be solved...

The use of hemp for clothing, textiles, drugs and other goods will face the same world-wide market forces that affect other raw materials: cheap wages and job-flight; that old race to the bottom.

Taxing the stuff could get you some extra monies; but even here, if taxes are too high, the black market will raise its head again. Cigarette smuggling has gotten bigger and bigger (smokes leave the U.S., get into the hands of the black market abroad, then are smuggled in across the borders again at substantial price reductions). This is the result of ever-increasing "sin taxes" on tobacco.

The best that can be hoped for by regulated hemp is the elimination of the expensive prison-industrial complex.

The problems with legalization is not the drug, who uses it, how much they use, etc. The problem is the War on Drugs and its attendant laws have been utilized by the Far Right (and some prohibitionist elements in the Democratic Party) as the blueprint for the Patriot Acts. THIS is why the WOD, Inc., was instituted: to develop an acceptable framework to weaken if not eliminate constitutional protections when the WOD was eventually writ large for the Patriot Acts.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060309-8.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20050610.html

[no limit]

59. How can the government tax something that most people would grow themselves?

I'm all for legalization but saying it will fix all our economic problems is a pipe dream.

[Book Lover]

60. Taxes? Grow your own and avoid taxes! (nm)

[gravity]

61. What are you smoking?

I'm for the legalization of pot and especially hemp, but not the nonsense how it will save the economy.

[Oldenuff]

115. Yep...

I don't have much confidence that anything can help the economy right now..:)

I'm more in favor of legalization on the basic rights principle.

[slay]

66. It's not terrible - it would be awesome - would help with $ problems and let pot smokers live normal

lives without always having to worry about breaking "the law". It's a CRIME the way pot smokers have been used a PAWNS in the republican drug war. Ask any cop who he'd rather deal with - a drunk or a stoner. And yeah, it really would solve SOOOOO many of our money problems. I'm behind this plan 100%! Legalize it!

[cherokeeprogressive]

73. Bong Hits, Taco Bell, and Guitar Hero for everyone!

Yup. That's the ticket. That would solve not only every existing problem, but the pot smokers would in their on-the-mark forethought identify problem areas where none exist now and ensure that they never rise to problem status.

I think you might have been talking about hemp, rather than cannibis containing THC. I hope so, because if pot were instantly legalized, bong hits, Taco Bell, and Guitar Hero are about all you'd get from most anyone under 25 that didn't already have a degree or a career.

This comes to you from a daily pot smoker.

[tjwash]

80. Heh...you said bong. You couldn't have dated yourself more unless you'd said "kegger"

I think I originated that term...

[Codeine]

74. Is it OK to admit

that I totally believe in decriminalization of pot but that I cannot fucking stand pot smokers or the noxious smell of that vile weed? :blush:

[Zhade]

112. No, it's just an asshole thing to say. Way to stereotype all smokers.

Hell, you're probably good friends with someone who smokes and don't even know it.

[Bigleaf]

75. "Don't.....

be fucking with me now. But hey, I am the maverick, right? It could be done. You going to vote for me?"

[JVS]

79. "Whoa, I think I'm having an acid flashback"

[pokerfan]

83. The government agrees!

Or at least it did once upon a time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne9UF-pFhJY">Hemp For Victory

Hemp for Victory is a black-and-white United States government film made during the Second World War, explaining the uses of hemp, encouraging farmers to grow as much as possible.

Before 1989, the film was relatively unknown, and the United States Department of Agriculture library and the Library of Congress told all interested parties that no such movie was made by the USDA or any branch of the U.S. government. Two VHS copies were recovered and donated to the Library of Congress on May 19, 1989 by Maria Farrow, Carl Packard, and Jack Herer.

(wiki)

[the other one]

86. Actually tax revenue would be unlikely

It would be like taxing people for the vegetables they grow in the garden. Nearly impossible.

Recommended anyway.

Bong-hits for Peace!

[Ganja Ninja]

89. Do people grow their own tobacco?

Do they brew their own beer, wine and hard liquor? For the most part no because it's illegal or regulated to the point where it's not worth the hassle. Don't kid yourself, the government would make tons of money from legal pot.

[RainDog]

95. Marijuana would be like beer.

yeah, people can brew their own beer and some go to the trouble. however, people who have spent years becoming "brewmeisters" can produce things that homebrewers... just don't. then there's pbr.

Even tho people could grow clones at home, most people will not go to the trouble. MJ grown outdoors is not going to have the potency of an indoor hybrid that is coddled with nutrients and grown in 10 weeks or so - with a guarantee of quality because this is what someone does for a living.

it's not recreational mj that would be the biggest industry, however. with legalization, hemp would also be legal and just about anything that oil can create, hemp can create at much less cost to the earth and humans.

[pink-o]

90. Well, I'm 2 mos shy of my 54th b'day, so of COURSE I've tried it.

..and I inhaled!

But gotta say, I never liked it, it made me paranoid and I ended up eating crap I would NEVER let touch my heath-obssessed body!

However, pot's medicinal properties cannot be dismissed. So why would our govt criminalise something so beneficial, a substance that could invigorate the economy as well as help sick people? Well, this is Pink-O's answer about everything socially stupid that could be easily fixed but continues along its ridiculous path: Someone powerful is makin' a LOT of $$$$$ with the Status Quo.

My own $$$$ is on Big Pharma. The drug co's have tried to synthesise marijuana, making a pharmaceutical called THC, but none of the herbal healing properties transfer over to the chemical form. Oops! That means you or I or anyone with gro-lights, soil and an oven can MAKE OUR OWN MEDICINE!!!

OMFG! We can't have that! Individuals cutting into corporate profits--how UnAmerican. So better to throw growers in prison, use millions of our tax $$$$ for a "war" on "drugs" and make sick people go underground to attain the only substance that helps them thru the pain.

Let's face it: Criminalising pot is the stupidest thing since Prohibition, but as long as Big Pharma has a Big Washington Lobby and We the People have bupkis, the Status Quo will continue.

[RainDog]

92. It's NOT terrible. It's terribly useful and a terrible shame it is illegal.

the only reason pot is illegal is because a couple of assholes got a law passed w/o anyone having the slightest idea what they were doing.

go read "Why is Marijuana Illegal." over at Salon, they have a transcript of the original house session.

hemp, medicial marijuana and recreational marijuana should all be legal. If alcohol is legal, marijuana should be legal. And alcohol should be legal...it is unAmerican to have prohibition.. and it's freaking stupid.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

96. Have you seen the documentary "Grass"?

It's a funny look at the ridiculous PR campaign against pot, and it features many of the government PSAs of the time.

[RainDog]

98. don't think I've seen it

Via YouTube or Google vid, I have seen "Hemp For Victory" - the WWII campaign to get farmers to grow hemp for the war. And "Waiting To Exhale," about medical marijuana users, and "Stoned in Suburbia" which was, imo, a strangely funny video about British pot smokers. "Granny Pot" was my favorite. Also the short from Henry Ford about his 1940s hemp car - stronger than steel!

I've also seen a lot of videos from farmers in the U.S. who want to legalize hemp...these farmers aren't stoners. They're farmers. Hemp should be legal and should be available for industry here.

[mokawanis]

93. Think of the money we'd save

if we stopped locking people up for drug offenses

[marlakay]

97. my only fear with it is that they would add shit to it and ruin it

but yes we could make money, heck all the folks we pay to go to jail for it would save money. but the people who make big money off it now would be pissed and probably start doing other drugs.

It is very helpful for the sick and not so easy to get now so that would be nice.

I probably wouldn't do it though because i already eat too much at night as it is!!! lol

[teknomanzer]

100. That is completely absurd...

legalizing the doob which I am all for - would not solve all the economic problems in the country. Thats just straight up stoner talk. Weed should be decriminalized but any belief that it will magically correct our economic woes speaks to ignorance of the principles of economics. Now I am not an economist but I do know that our problem are far more complex than that and anything less than finding an abundant inexpensive renewable energy source to replace fossil fuels is not going to have that great an impact on our complex national or global economy. You need to put down the pipe man... or better yet pass it over here.

[foo_bar]

107. now that you mention it, hemp is an inexpensive renewable energy source

It is the name for a multiplicity of ester-based fuels (fatty esters) commonly defined as the monoalkyl esters made from vegetable oils, such as soybean oil, canola or hemp oil, or sometimes from animal fats through a simple process termed as transesterified. This renewable source is as capable as petroleum diesel in powering diesel engine without requirement of any modification.

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=126664

It’s worth remembering, by the way, that Rudolf Diesel, who in the 19th century created the engine type that bears his name, would probably find the rush for alternatives amusing. His idea was that his invention should run on hemp oil or peanut oil — not so far removed from rapeseed biodiesel and recycled chip fat that is being used today in some diesel engines.

http://www.baileycar.com/alternate_fuels.html

[teknomanzer]

114. I figured someone might bring that up...

just shortly after I clicked the button... I think that would be swell, but in all honesty I don't think we could produce enough bio-diesel to replace fossil fuels - it could take a significant chunk out of what we typically use in gas; it could make a decent addition to a multitiered solution but it by itself will not be adequate to replace fossil fuels completely. And even if we did start using hemp to produce bio-diesel it still would not solve our economic problems overnight - the impact probably would not be felt for a couple of decades. So I am going to change my previous statement to nothing short of a total redistribution of wealth would solve the economic problems.

I do believe that the legalization of cannabis would reduce some of our law enforcement expenditures. Unfortunately we are now facing a serious problem with methamphetamine that would make those expenditures insignificant. The number of meth addicts adding a further burden to the criminal justice system is alarming. I would suggest that the money used to interdict marijuana would be used more effectively fighting this very real and dangerous drug problem. As for a tax windfall from the legalization of pot - lets see if Holland is awash in taxes from the sale of doob. Somehow I don't think they are.

[Zhade]

101. There's nothing terrible about the idea of re-legalizing this beneficial herb.

Keep in mind that hemp is what's used for paper/rope/etc, not marijuana.

Free the herb!

[MrSlayer]

104. Well I don't know about solving them overnight but it would certainly help.

The beer, chemical and pharmaceutical industries want it illegal and as such, illegal it will stay. It's ridiculous and sad but that's how it is.

[Oldenuff]

109. I'm pro legalization as well...

but for me it's more of a "rights" issue.Who the heck has the right to tell me I can't use cannabis as a responsible adult?


If we weren't meant to use Cannabis,then why do we have cannabis receptors in our brains?

Why would we agree to access taxation on a substance that we should have every right to utilize in the first place?I appreciate the fact that there are many among us who want to see Cannabis legalized,but all this taxation BS gets me riled up.

No offense intended...just saying what I feel.

For those who don't use it,that is your choice.Just don't infringe on my right to use or not use it as I see fit.

And just a mention here,that the Federal Government has a Medical Marijuana Program in case someone didn't know.Why in hell is the government persecuting MMJ patients,when they have their own program?


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