Pot Wins in a Landslide: A Thundering Rejection of America's Longest War

[marmar]

:smoke:



via AlterNet:



Pot Wins in a Landslide: A Thundering Rejection of America's Longest War

By Rob Kampia, AlterNet. Posted November 5, 2008.

Voters dealt what may be a fatal blow to America's longest-running and least-discussed war -- the war on marijuana.




On Tuesday, largely under the radar of the pundits and political chattering classes, voters dealt what may be a fatal blow to America's longest-running and least-discussed war -- the war on marijuana.

Michigan voters made their state the 13th to allow the medical use of marijuana by a whopping 63 percent to 37 percent, the largest margin ever for a medical marijuana initiative. And by 65 percent to 35 percent, Massachusetts voters decriminalized the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, replacing arrests, legal fees, court appearances, the possibility of jail and a lifelong criminal record with a $100 fine, much like a traffic ticket, that can be paid through the mail.

What makes these results so amazing is that they followed the most intensive anti-marijuana campaign by federal officials since the days of "Reefer Madness." Marijuana arrests have been setting all-time records year after year, reaching the point where one American is arrested on marijuana charges every 36 seconds. More Americans are arrested each year for marijuana possession -- not sales or trafficking, just possession -- than for all violent crimes combined.

And the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, with “drug czar” John Walters at the helm, has led a hysterical anti-marijuana propaganda campaign. During Walters' tenure, ONDCP has released at least 127 separate anti-marijuana TV, radio and print ads, at a cost of hundreds of millions of tax dollars, plus 34 press releases focused mainly on marijuana, while no fewer than 50 reports from ONDCP and other federal agencies focused on the alleged evils of marijuana or touted anti-marijuana campaigns. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/106141/pot_wins_in_a_landslide%3A_a_thundering_rejection_of_america%27s_longest_war/

[Ian David]

1. All the "Yes on 2" people spent the day at Dunkin' Donuts and left their signs in the parking lot.nt

[marmar]

3. LOL.....And there were no bags of Cheetos to be found with a 100-mile radius....

n/t

[nichomachus]

17. I've heard that you cannot buy a bag of Oreos anywhere in Massachusetts n/t

[gollygee]

2. In Michigan

Liberal people more often live in cities. Conservative people more often live out in the country - farming land. And farmers would financially benefit from legalized marijuana, or really any use of marijuana. So it might be a financial thing for some of the conservative voters.

Also, I know some conservative people who voted for it because they personally know or have known someone with cancer who could have been helped by it. But those people wouldn't likely vote to legalize it for any use.

[Ian David]

19. I would kind of think you would HAVE to be stoned to spend all day milking cows. n/t

[midnight]

4. When I read this I was thinking that it was a vote to

decriminalize the use of marijuana. It should be treated and operated like other drugs ie, alcohol.

[SheilaT]

5. But this doesn't change the federal laws, does it?

nt

[Romulox]

6. Mark my words: the Federal government WILL NOT allow this. nt

[Serial Mom]

18. I don't know... the Feds under

Asscroft, Speedy and Mr. Mackey might not allow it, but you never know if under the new administration - they may have more compassion towards medical use and may stop the raids on centers that dispense it in states that have passed a law in favor of medical use.

HOPE...

[Romulox]

35. Bill Clinton's DOJ put more people in federal prison for drug use than HW Bush and Reagan combined

With all the Clinton retreads being appointed to the Obama admin, I am not confident...

[mopinko]

23. barack has said he supports decriminalization

his "fierce pragmatism" would lead him to stop pissing money away on this. i expect the whole war on drugs to be rethought, myself.

[Romulox]

33. Actually, Obama retracted his support for decriminalization, claiming that he didn't know

what the word meant. :eyes:

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7506

[mopinko]

37. .

:-(
i do remember hearing him say that it is stupid to spend money keeping people in prison for weed, tho. hopefully he will apply his usual pragmatism to this stupidity.

[msanthrope]

32. Police power....it's reserved to the states. Three things would have to

happen in order for the 'feds' to do anything about this.....

1) The feds in MA would have to take over wholesale prosecution of minor pot busts. Think a career federal prosecutor wants to do pissant pot arrests??? No.

2) The feds would have to declare total preeemption on drug enforcement to get to the point of taking over routine prosecution of pissant pot arrests, and

3) The winger SCOTUS 5 would have to abandon the entire 10th Amend/states rights/federalism meme they've been pushing for years....

Ain't gonna happen--doing it as a police power, states-rights issue is brilliant.

[Romulox]

34. The Commerce Clause, not Police Power, is the basis of the asserted jurisdiction.

Didn't you hear about the Federal raids on California growers' clubs???

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2001/11/medipot.html

[High Plains]

45. Yes, the feds raid the clubs, but they can't stop them!

The feds have lost--they just don't know it yet. For every club they raid, there are 10 others.

Obama has said he would stop the raids. We'll have to see about that.

[Romulox]

47. OK, but the person I responded to was DANGEROUSLY misinformed about the law.

You can argue that the Feds don't have the time or the inclination to prosecute everyone who uses marijuana.

But please don't be deluded into thinking they don't have the power to do so based on some half-baked (pun intended) Constitutional analysis! :smoke:

[defendandprotect]

54. Too much $$$$ in Drug War corruption ...and drug company concerns with legalizing pot---!!!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

7. This is excellent news! In NY, small quantities of marijuana have been decriminalized for years.

i think it should be legalized, period, and especially in the case of medical marijuana. The problem with the medical marijauan laws is that the Federal laws still trump state. If you recall, a few months ago, there was a Fed sweep of medical marijuana suppliers in California.

Legalization will have to be made on a Federal level.

[High Plains]

30. The feds can only arrest so many people.

The DEA typically doesn't go after pot smokers, and in all their raids in California, they have managed to shut down only a small fraction of the dispensaries.

It is state and local police who make the vast majority of drug arrests. Legalization at the state level would be a good thing.

[defendandprotect]

55. I didn't know that --!!

Where do you buy it???

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

63. lol! Decriminalization is not legalization. For amounts under 25Grams, $100

fine for the first offense, $200 for the second.. Check NORML for the penalties.

:hi:

[vssmith]

8. Need to find a Doctor who will issue a script

[GOPNotForMe]

9. This is fabulous news! nt

[Fly by night]

10. Just like MPP to take credit for victories they played little role in.

Here's hoping that NORML and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) can reassert their prominence in the cannabis world. MPP does more harm than good.

[Wiley50]

11. Thanks for that bit of info, Bernie. I would not have known.

NORML is the original and I guess best.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Just read the article

Did not see anyone taking credit at all. And you do know that NORML is getting far to conservative 'liberatarian' for most of those who have supported it over the years, right? NORML does more harm that good, or to be more to the point, NORML throws big parties and calls that activism. Just saying. I don't agree with you at all, and the article from Alternet does not take credit for anything, it places blame on the Feds, where it belongs.
I note you do not give any quotes to show MPP taking credit, you just make a declaration. A sweeping declaration, unsupported by any fact or even specific opinion.

[Fly by night]

14. You do know Rob Kampia runs MPP, don't you?

It's a familiar pattern for those of us who are activists in this field.

www.saveberniesfarm.com

[Bluenorthwest]

36. Yeah

I'm not trying to play 'I'm the biggest activist' because I'm far from that. NORML, I don't like the conservative leanings.
I guess you don't like the guy and his group. And no, I'm not in with the in crowd enough to know who he is.
Have fun.

[defendandprotect]

56. Agree -- I'm with MPP ... it's where my contributions go ---

[High Plains]

31. MPP put almost $2 million into Michigan.

And stayed quietly in the background as its local front group, the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, led the campaign.

MPP also backed the Massachusetts decrim initiative with some bucks.

So, my hat is off to them.

[defendandprotect]

57. Me, too --

and like the way they keep me informed ---

[pleah]

12. K&R

:smoke:

[Xenotime]

15. smoke em if you got em

[gatorboy]

16. Can we call it Stashachusetts now?

:hippie: :smoke:

[Fumesucker]

21. In a situation of full legality, like alcohol

You won't need a "stash", because you will be able to go to the convenience store and pick up a little ganja whenever you feel the urge for a buzz.

[tom_paine]

20. Because the Bushies are serial liars, everything they "say" leads people to believe the OPPOSITE.

Kinder and gentler nazi assholes.

[SpiralHawk]

22. My wife died of cancer 10 years ago...

She never liked pot, never would smoke it. She valued her mind -- had graduated cum laude from Harvard, had 2 Masters degrees, and a Ph.D. from Brandeis U. But when she got really sick, and the chemo and radiation were adding to her misery, some of her girlfriends brought her some pot to see if it would help. It was like magic. Her nausea eased, her appetite returned, and she was able to participate in and enjoy the remaining months of her life.

So that convinced me. The herb can indeed be healing. I will forever be grateful to pot for the ease and comfort it gave to my kind, wise, and loving wife in the final months of her life.

[Fumesucker]

39. Nicely said.. Thanks.. And my greatly belated condolences on your loss. n/t

[defendandprotect]

58. Quite something for drug companies to fear ...!!

I'm glad your wife was able to use marijuana and feel better --

what arrogance that our ill have to beg at court house steps for medicine --!!!

Thank you for the story -- and sad for your loss.

[charlie]

24. 28 years later...

...we're getting back to where we were in 1980. America had relaxed and was getting a grown up attitude about marijuana. It was decriminalized in practice, if not law. Willie Nelson smoked a joint on the roof of the White House, fer chrissake. In the Spielberg-produced movie Poltergeist, the parents were rolling joints after hours when the kids were in bed, and it was no thang because it was common.

Then came Reagan.

It just shows how one idealogue fuckhead can derail the whole country for decades. Decades.

[Wednesdays]

61. I sure hope this election has been 1980 in reverse

Not just because of this issue, but also because of a score of others!

[tblue37]

25. A significant majority of Americans have tried pot at one time or another in their lives.

They know the reefer madness stuff is BS.

[charlie]

27. Including our Congress critters

and our last 3 presidents. It's one of the worst instances of unspoken hypocrisy, right up there with the whoring, boozing, and gambling among "family values" pols.

[SoCalDem]

26. Uh oh,.. The freeps will think that "Paul Pot" has risen from the grave

:rofl:

[ravenna_windream]

28. Wish that was NC =(

My friend has glaucoma, her husband has hep C which has turned into end stage liver disease and her father has stage 4 cancer (mesothelioma). It's a triple whammy for her I know but she fights for all of them every single day :( She thought NC also had a similar law but it was overturned and criminalized again upon "pending research that proves the medical benefits"....boo :(

[Lance_Boyle]

65. we are "sort of" decriminalized in NC

misdemeanor charges only for possession of amounts less than 1/2 ounce.

So yeah, your weed gets confiscated and you have to pay a fine, but no jail time (not even a "trip downtown") for possession of less than 1/2 ounce.

[SecularMotion]

29. I voted Yes

Here's a story from the local paper with reactions from both sides.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_10913297

:smoke:

[Fumesucker]

42. Jeebus.. The anti-pot people in that story had some of the stupidest comments I've ever read n/t

[SecularMotion]

44. The issue hit home around here

The same county district attorney prosecuted a group of teens in Great Barrington for possession and sales of small amounts of weed. The parents and others formed a local opposition group to have the charges reduced. It was in the news for a few months.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

38. Kettle calls for recount. nt.

[gollygee]

40. Rofl!

:D cute

[curse of greyface]

41. For some reason I assumed Pol Pot... Isn't he dead? nt

[rsweets]

43. Smoke American ... It's better ~~~~~~

And I would gladly pay taxes on it too...

[librechik]

46. if only--

too much money being made on it as an illegal substance. That's change we can believe in! but won't happen. SADLY!!! because these people should know how much MORE money could be made on pot/hemp/ once it is legal again.

[rsweets]

49. Bingo ...

The uses for hemp are numerous

[eridani]

48. Joe Biden--I hope you are paying attention

And I hope he outgrows his Drug War bullshit.

[mojowork_n]

50. OK, for this post the Tiger logo can take a blow...

But I did want to make the observation that if anyone in America could intuitively grasp the realities of the Solari Index, it ought to be voters in Michigan.

The "Solari Index" is what you'll find in the introduction to this series of columns, at "Scoop" News, New Zealand:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0202/S00054.htm

The series is called "Narco-Dollars for Dummies" and anybody interested in this topic should find their time well spent, in reading it.

[mojowork_n]

60. Oops, I guess it was just traffic, there's the Tiger logo... n/t

[Jed Dilligan]

51. I hope Asscrock is experiencing symptoms treatable with marijuana

as a result of this legislation.

[Wetzelbill]

52. Dude, did somebody order a pizza?

[defendandprotect]

53. Great news ...nothing phonier than this corrupt Drug War --!!!

WEhere NY, NJ all the blue states on this -- here????

[Art_from_Ark]

59. The voters of Fayetteville, Arkansas

(home of the main campus of the University of Arkansas) voted to give the lowest priority to enforcement of misdemeanor marijuana laws, by a roughly 2-1 margin

http://nwanews.com/nwat/News/70793/

[Why Syzygy]

62. Let it be so and move forward

to the rational conclusion: decriminalization.

[debbierlus]

64. The local DA held rallies against the MA initiative in the Berkshires

This guy had a hard on for putting a kid in jail for a year for selling a joint within school property (to his friends, same age).

I am thrilled people ignored him.