Efforts To Legalize Marijuana For Recreational Use
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-10-16/efforts-legalize-marijuana-recreational-use
On November 6th, voters in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon will weigh in on whether marijuana should be legalized. 17 states currently allow marijuana for medical purposes, but initiatives in these three states make recreational use legal as well. The proposed laws directly contradict federal law which classifies marijuana as a controlled substance along with heroin and LSD. A recent Rasmussen poll suggests that more than 50% of Americans favor legalizing and regulating marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco. Please join us to discuss the debate debate over legalizing marijuana.
Guests
Allen St. Pierre
executive director, NORML.
Mark de Bernardo
executive director, Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace.
Jonathan Martin
reporter, The Seattle Times.
John Ingold
reporter, The Denver Post.
Comments
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There needs to be more effort put into states rights issues in this country, this is as good a place to start as any. If you support state rights there is no way you can support Obamacare in the next hour. Illegal federal overreach is the biggest threat to our freedom in this country, and it's absolutely contrary to the founding principals in the Constitution.
This is always a difficult issue for me, I am strongly against nanny state laws, but I dislike the idea of legalizing drugs as well. I hope this show does the topic justice.
I see this as a possibility for an illegal industry to be brought into the open and make the process' of growing, distribution and point of sale safer and less associated with illegal dollars that fund more illegal activities.
What is defined as "drugs?" Alcohol and pharmaceutics have equal or greater effect on individuals who choose to use them. Where and how should a line be drawn on what is an acceptable drug and what we should prohibit? @mnemecek
This is a "NO-BRAINER" to anyone who knows the history of prohibition in the 1920s.
Prohibition does not work!
Tax pot and regulate it as we do liquor. Will it be a perfect society then? No, we'll never have a perfect society, but it will be better than the incarcerations and drug wars now.
PP, I wonder if you agreed with Mr Ashcroft when he said this in 2001:
“To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty … your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and … give ammunition to America’s enemies.”
I am not a marijuana user but there has never been a greater waste of public funds to combat an initiative. There is no evidence throughout history that marijuana has contributed to violence or any type of degenerative disease.
Further marijuana has a significantly lower mortality or fatality rate in comparison to alcohol
Bo Jones wrote:
"This is a "NO-BRAINER" to anyone who knows the history of prohibition in the 1920s".
Absolutely true. Those who don't want to legalize "drugs" won't give up their alcohol or their caffeine for that matter, will they? I am all for sin taxes because there is a cost to society when these things are present. Legalize it and tax the h- out of it. PP, your point about states' rights is an excellent one. That is a great place to start. States had different laws with respect to drinking age (until the FG blackmailed them with highway money into complying) and that worked well enough.
The only thing that the laws on all "illegal" drugs successfully do is to put small-time dealers and many users in jail and make their entire lives difficult because they have a criminal record. It does not stem the tide of use, nor does it address the billions in taxes lost to governments because of the prohibition.
Nothing in society happens without the approval of someone or a group who is in power. The small time dealer doesn't have the means to get as many drugs in circulation in without the assistance of a more powerful entity. Far too many people are getting rich on the backs of petty drug users.
I am not advocating drug use, but our enforcement of these laws is not working. Can anyone tell me that there are fewer users even with stringent laws and harsh penalties in place.
If your guest truly wants to be "drug free" why aren't we talking about outlawing alcohol? It seems to me that marijuana use is far less destructive to society than the countless deaths and dissolution of family that comes out of alcohol abuse. The medicinal benefits of marijuana are worth pursuing, and as a substance for recreational use, it seems less pernicious than alcohol.
Chris Carter wrote:
What is defined as "drugs?" Alcohol and pharmaceutics have equal or greater effect on individuals who choose to use them. Where and how should a line be drawn on what is an acceptable drug and what we should prohibit?
Well I don't use Tobacco or any illegal drugs so i am a bit biased towards alcohol. But my argument against marijuana, and tobacco(when either are smoked) is that if i drink I am effecting myself if you smoke in the vicinity of others you are effecting them as well. It would be advisable to limit tobacco and marijuana to non smoking methods of delivery. As to your question of where to draw the line, quite a slippery slop you propose. Would you make the same statement about Angel-Dust or Heroine?
Think of all the savings in courts, judges, jails (privately run), let alone mostly young lives ruined by being entered into the criminal records. I personally see marijuana as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco but support decriminalizing its use.
I do not use marijuana (I prefer a glass of wine in the evening). When are we going to get real about our drug laws? It is beyond time to face the fact that people all over the world use various substances to relax, some people unfortunately abuse them. The "war on drugs" has not worked to prevent this. What it has done is create an entire underclass or caste system of people who have been to prison. The costs of law enforcement must far exceed the cost of rehab that would result from changing these laws. I believe these laws have devastated communities far more than controlled access would.
Live in a marijuana growing area in south eastern Ohio. Folks have been growing in bulk for four decades now. Lots of locals involved. At one point I counted how many people I knew working in the industry. More people in one particular county than were working at the coal powered power plants. While I do believe people can become psychologically as addicted to marijuana as alcohol. And some studies show evidence that people become physiologically addicted. Alcohol legal for adults. So allow adults to make their own decisions legally. Even if they are stupid decisions. There is no going back. Educate educate... Legalize and tax tax tax tax.
Countries like Portugal have legalized drugs and I think that this could be possible in the US without a large increase in the use of drugs. I think education about the negative effects of drugs is necessary to keep people from harmfully using hard drugs.
It has been proven that prohibition is not effective. Prohibition merely creates an illicit commodity and gives rise to a criminal enterprise to profit from that commodities distribution. Two things can be said about the prohibition of Cannabis. The first is that it's extremely expensive; last year we spent 15.5 billion dollars on our drug war. The second thing that can be stated with confidence is that the prohibition of Cannabis has been absolutely ineffective. Cannabis arrests happen daily throughout the United States which is clear testament to the fact that it is widely available.
There are several studies out which find that legislative policy is not a factor in deterrence from use. So why then do we continue to through good money after bad to continue what has been proven to be failed policy, when we could instead turn this into a revenue producing taxable product? With the financial crises we are in this hardly seems a reasonable policy.
I have used Marijuana off and on for 40 years as one might have a glass of wine socially. I have seen numerous friends lives destroyed by alcohol and chose not to drink many years ago. It is always amazing to me how many professionals use marijuana very casually here in Texas although if you ask them they would say no way because of social issues.
I also have used for an aggressive cancer treatment relief which worked well although my Doctors would rather I took many drugs with horrible side effects.
Last point the drug war which is like the military industrial complex.
Your guest is so far off base I wonder what planet he is from.
It does need restrictions but a class one narcotic is not the answer.
I find it amusing that the same people that demonize cannabis also cry foul when denied their Big Gulp in NYC. Why are drug classifications determined by DEA, not FDA? LEA's are policemen not scientists. The AMA did not endorse the cannabis tax act,nor were they consulted in 1936.
As a former resident of Colorado I can tell you that marijuana use was very common. In the office where I supervised a staff of 15 I would estimate that 90% used marijuana on a regular basis much like I use a glass of wine. They did not use it during work hours and it had little if any effect on their work.
Just a reminder, Colorado continues to be ranked as the healthiest state in the U.S. and that is with high marijuana use.
Am in Boulder Colorado where every several miles there is a legal marijuana dispensary. Are there any indicators that in states where dispensaries are legal that marijuana use has gone up?
Brad
know lots of folks who alcohol has destroyed theirlives. Know lots of people who are persistent marijuana users over decades and marijuana use has definitely affected their lives in very destructive ways. Moderate use of either is of course the way. BUT some folks are incapable of moderating. So should the state make both illegal for adults. NO
Educate educate educate..legalize legalize legalize for adults....tax tax tax tax
I had two negative experiences with this issue that I would like to share with listeners. One morning, my daughter and I went to wish Happy Birthday to a girl in a neighborhood, both girls were about 4 years old at the time. We had gifts and balloons and when we got there (about 10:30am), the girl's mom was completely stoned on the medical marijuana she was allowed to take and of course the little girl only realized that it was her birthday because we came over with the gifts. Another time a friend on mine told me that when her daughter was less than 1 years old, her husband was addicted to marijuana. They were struggling financially because he could not keep a job. So once they had $20 left for a week and my friend asked her husband to get milk and food for the little girl, but he in turn went and bought marijuana.
Now, in both cases, these people are not generally bad people, but they were addicted and that addiction was affecting the decisions they made. I am afraid that making marijuana legal will give some impression that it is "OK" to take, which will lead to an addiction, which it turn will affect people around them.
Is there a health risk in using hemp tinctures vs. smoking the drug?
"Five years of Prohibition have had, at least, this one benign effect: they have completely disposed of all the favorite arguments of the Prohibitionists. None of the great boons and usufructs(Definition of USUFRUCT 1: the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another. 2: the right to use or enjoy something ) that were to follow the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment has come to pass. There is not less drunkenness in the Republic, but more. There is not less crime, but more. There is not less insanity, but more. The cost of government is not smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for law has not increased, but diminished." H.L. Mencken, 1925.
Those who do not observe history are doomed to repeat it.
In the last couple of years the National Institute of Health came out with an extensive study on marijuana use and effects. When the woman who led the study was on Washington Journal almost every caller would say something foggy like "uh I have been uh smoking marijuana for 40 years and uh man I am uh uh fine" Many of the comments were ridiculously extreme.
Can your guest please discuss the NIH study. I would require every freshman in high school to read this study and do a report
Is canard the word of the day?
What a wise wise prosecutor. Or is that emailer a Judge?
Does anyone understand why hemp is also illegal? You could smoke a bushel of hemp and get a headache but that's about all.
Not only does the sale of Marijuana need to be legalized but the production must also be legalized. Now in California use and distribution is legal or decriminalized while production is illegal this creates a huge black market and hurts those in the in the industry.
What good are state laws as long as the fed laws trump. Michigan had a man loose his job because he was using his prescribed drug