Recreational Marijuana in Colorado and Washington

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Bowser, Nov 8, 2012.

  1. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    It's been decided by the voters, recreational use of marijuana was passed by Colorado and Washington majorities. There seems to be some concern because the new laws contradict federal law. As far as I'm concerned, as long as local police don't enforce federal law, there shouldn't be a problem. Looking at the success of medical marijuana, I think this will be a new trend across the nation, and , eventually, federal law will change in kind.
     
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  3. Balerion Banned Banned

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    I'm excited by this prospect, but I wonder what it will mean for the state's infrastructure. Will we now see weed bars and the like? I'm curious.
     
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  5. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    Living just on the other side of the river from Washington, I think I will be heading north often. There's discussion that the new laws will affect much, one being the validity of drug screens by employers. Yes, the implications are exciting. Kudos to Washington and Colorado for taking the next logical step. I only wish my state had been so insightful as to legalize marijuana.
     
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  7. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Now would be a good time to donate to NORML. I see Oregon being next in line, with some reworking of the initiative, it could pass here too.
     
  8. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    I think a lot depends on how it affects Washington. If people see that it's not the end of the world, they will be more inclined to legalize it in Oregon. Heard on the news that the tax revenue could possibly add up to two billion dollars. That alone should be an incentive for any state.
     
  9. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    What are chances the feds are going to raid pot bars and the like the form in these states?
     
  10. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

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    How old do you have to be to buy it?

    Where do you buy it?

    Won't the Fed's just shut down any business that sells it?
     
  11. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    21

    My understanding is that it would be dispensed mush like the medical marijuana--retail stores.

    That's yet to be seen. I'm sure many hope the marijuana distributors will endure as have the medical marijuana outlets.
     
  12. Giambattista sssssssssssssssssssssssss sssss Valued Senior Member

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    What's next after this? Men marrying goats? Men marrying their sisters?
    Oops, wrong slippery-slope!

    Marijuana: Gateway to Hell! Or not.
    If anything, marijuana legalization/decriminalization is a gateway to less drug violence, taking away the lucrative payoffs of a black market. Then again, will there be unintended consequences from people who have made a killing (literally) from the drug trade?

    http://www.marijuana.com/news/2012/...rtel-might-be-upset-over-loss-of-weed-income/

    Regardless of how other states follow and in what manner, I would hope that at the very least, this may lead the way for industrial hemp farming even in states where full legalization is slated to be a difficult proposition. To many of us, legalizing the versatile agricultural cannabis as a crop with great potential is a no-brainer. I've never seen any rigorous logic behind keeping hemp from the agricultural industry, since it has always been an argument based very tenuously on the drug question. Which by the way, is sometimes buttressed with a dismissal of any practical uses hemp would have.
    One could say that the lines drawn between hemp and drug cultivation are ludicrous, for all practical purposes. It has always struck me as a desperate, thinly veiled agenda that has more to do with restricting agricultural diversity and the many potential and quite sustainable byproducts that hemp would offer, rather than actually being about concerns over the drug.
    "Oh, we already have trees and GM cotton and GM soybeans and GM corn, we don't need hemp!"

    Needless to say, with the entire plant basically legalized in those two states, it is only a matter of time before Colorado et al begin producing quality hemp. No more importing it from Canada and abroad. Quite excellent, because I like using hulled hemp seed for its full protein and high levels of omega 3. It is similar tasting to walnuts, but much more mild flavored, and can be unobtrusively added to a variety of dishes for added nutrition. I'm certainly neither disturbed that I might eventually not have to pay so much for a package of the seeds, nor that American farmers now have that option of benefiting from a new crop and the new opportunities that it brings.

    Has anyone seen anything about the ramifications that hemp will have for Colorado and Washington? I have not as of yet. Haven't looked. It's still a bit early after the election, I suppose.

    :thumbsup: Washington!
    :thumbsup: Colorado!
     
  13. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

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    So what laws were enacted to keep younger people away from this? How will younger people be delt with if found with this?

    Are their enough laws already on the books as to selling this to children by adults that buy it and then sell it to them?

    Can someone buy this there then take it back home when they leave there from their vacation?

    What about airport security, can you take this through the TSA from airport to airport within both states without any problems?
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2012
  14. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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  15. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Let look at the potential pros and cons of legalizing weed
    Pros:
    + Taxable income for state
    + Regulated sellers could make it harder for youth to purchase it
    + Black market would dry up, depriving criminals and cartels of much needed income to operate their gangs and thuggery.
    + Less prisoners and crimes committed
    + WE CAN ALL GET FUCKING HIGH!

    Cons:
    - Prison and law reinforcement industry would take and income hit.
    - More people with drug addiction
    - More driving while "inebriated"
    - Youth could get at it more easily perhaps

    Now if this was 1930 and we were asking about legalizing alcohol all of the above would apply and the pros would and did curb stomp the cons. Of course this all depends on the drug in question, perhaps if it was say heroin the cons could in fact be worse, with perhaps millions of people shriveling up and dying in ecstasy, but I'm sure we all agree that weed is somewhere between tobacco and alcohol in direct public harm and that pros far outweigh the cons. Hopefully Washington and Colorado will provide an experimental test of this assumption, assuming the federal government does not wage war on them.

    One another not as a chemical engineer industrial hemp is a wunderbar plant: it makes cloths, paper, oil and even fuel at up to 4 times the production per acre as that of trees farms! Of course only weed you can get high off of, but because industrial hemp looks the same it had to be made illegal as well. I hope this can finally bring back the industrial hemp industry!
     
  16. aaqucnaona This sentence is a lie Valued Senior Member

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  17. aaqucnaona This sentence is a lie Valued Senior Member

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    Obama seems to disapprove of pot legalisation and has threatened to enforce his fed force to try and repeal it. His drug czar said "its a symbolic but short lived victory for those in favor of legalisation".

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxBwpJ7ff8M&list=UU1yBKRuGpC1tSM73A0ZjYjQ&index=7&feature=plcp

    Not too big on state's rights then, is he?

    And why is weed illegal anyway? I have heard that conservatives oppose it because it causes religious hallucinations and the like. Is this true?
     
  18. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Oh Obama wwwhhhhyyyy? You were so cool once, oh well better then the alternative I guess.

    Still we have yet to hear obama final word on this after the election.
     
  19. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    This was some rare good news in this years election for those of us concerned with freedom. This may well be the begining of the end for the drug war.
    On the down side:
    Perhaps the Republicans could lead the way on this one and put marijuana legalization in the 2016 platform.
     
  20. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

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    Adding another drug into the mix of already burdensome drugs that incapacitate humans when they drive isn't going to help matters very much. Trying to keep it away from teenagers is also going to be a very hard thing to do, just look at what alcohol is causing amongst teen drivers, with more accidents happening due to DUI.

    By making it a misdemeanor having less than an ounce, or whatever small amount , would be more prudent , to me, than legalizing it. It still would be a crime by punishable by fines instead of jail for a misdemenor and no criminal record. Since my questions from above in post #10 were never answered then I guess that the laws were never amended to reflect any changes when the laws changed for possession .
     
  21. Grumpy Curmudgeon of Lucidity Valued Senior Member

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    Buddha12

    We're not adding anything, it's already in the mix.

    Give your kid 50 bucks and send him out to buy beer. He will likely return empty handed. Give him 50 and send him after heroin, crack, pot or any other drug and he'll be back in ten minutes. Regulating, taxing and forbidding sales to minors will be better than unregulated, untaxed and dangerous illegal sources. Prohibition gave us Al Capone, it is now giving us a war on our Southern border. It has filled our jails with non-violent, often minority young men who can now never amount to anything in the "legal" world because no one hires convicts, except other criminals, that is. Not only could your kid get illegal drugs easily, he could become a runner or seller and make more than you will next week. I'd rather that career opportunity would disappear, as it would if legalized and regulated like liquor.

    Grumpy

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  22. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

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    We are just adding fuel to the burning fire. By allowing it to be legal then those younger than 21 will want it even more so than they already do. Most people dying because of illegal pot growing or distribution are gang members so who reallyu cares if they die since they want to risk their lives for the money.
     
  23. gmilam Valued Senior Member

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    Then removing from the hands of outlaws should reduce that problem.
     

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