The Good News - WEED in Oregon, Alaska and D.C. too

Well if this ain't the silver lining on the gray cloud of the No Choice Election of 2014

Ballot measures: Oregon, DC voters OK use of pot
http://news.yahoo.com/pot-guns-gambling-among-ballot-measure-topics-203628706--election.html​

Voters in Oregon and the District of Columbia approved ballot measures Tuesday allowing the recreational use of marijuana by adults, elating legalization activists who hope to extend their winning streak across the country.

Oregon will join the company of Colorado and Washington state, where voters approved the recreational use of pot two years ago. And the District of Columbia is on the same path unless Congress, which has review power, blocks the move.
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Guam also voted yes.
Florida, has said No to medical marijuana.

ALASKA VOTED YES ! http://www.kjrh.com/decodedc/marijuana-wrap-up


Big Wins For Freedom Over The <Doom> Federals <Darth Vadar breath sounds>

Hey, Florida. What'samadayou ?
Another election night screw up like denying Crist voters access to "broken polling places"


Moi

r > g

​

 

Oh yuck! More Druggies. Burn the weed, burn it... Just not in your mouth.

 

I'm broadly in favour of the legalization and criminalization for the various reasons that have been discussed elsewhere. But I do have reservations and, as I have argued before, we need to guard against the potential 'drip-drip normalizing' impacts among the very young insofar as the legal marketing of drugs are concerned.

I'm not particularly comfortable with the growing trend particularly among female pop stars of the kind who strip down to their underwear (their names escape me) who are hero-worshipped by young teenagers and who openly promote the smoking of weed and therefore promote the idea of its social acceptability.

Of course advertising and commodification is concomitant to the capitalist system and herein lies the problem inherent to drug legalization - whether that be alcohol or weed consumption. In much the same way as the advertising industry glamorized alcohol use among the very young during a period when it was socially acceptable to do so, it appears that the smoking of spliffs will follow a similar trajectory until politician's eventually get around to deciding that this attempt at legitimization is socially and morally unacceptable too.

It is only when we see the damaging social consequences resulting from the way drugs will almost certainly be packaged and targeted to teenagers - in much the same way that alcopops were a decade or so ago - will attitudes begin to shift.

The same factors also apply to the unregulated advertising and promotion among the young for gambling, the damaging consequences of which we will start to see emerge in the near future. We really do need to tread carefully.

 

It won't start in DC until Congress OK's it.

That's going to be interesting.

 

This is too bad, Colorado's initiative has fallen short by 2/3rds of projected revenue and the associated costs have not yet been assessed but I guess people can't wait to get their weed.

 

It's good to see law catch up with reality after 50 years. I wonder what the total number of years spent in prison over simple marijuana possession is up to now?

 

great news!

 

Smoke 'em if you got 'em


I mean I personally don't smoke it, but I don't care if you smoke it. Just decriminalize the (*)(*)(*)(*) already

 

Or how many lives were ruined with felonies because they had enough of it to be considered a "dealer" even if they just brought along enough for their friends.

 

link? last I heard they were happy about the revenue they were getting, basically free money for the people, people smoke legal or not, may as well tax it

also heard crime was down in CO, sounds like a win\win for Colorado to me

though we do have to be careful, if the tax is too high, it will hurt small business and in fact reduce tax revenue, kinda like with cigerettes

your also have to take into account the money saved on enforcement and imprisonment

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They are shaming my country.

Canada is the land of pot, we grow the best in the world and more than 70% of adults admit to using it, and you guys have suddenly found wisdom while we languish in a typical pool of confusion.

It is illegal here. No one gets busted though.

I can carry up to two ounces without fear of being busted, likely up to a pound and there are four dispensaries within walking distance of home, I merely need a note from my doctor to do so.

So please keep shaming us

 

I agree that there must be appropriate regulations that restrict recreational use of all drugs, especially age/access restrictions.

As a sexagenarian ex hippie, I nonetheless have at times (and perhaps a tad hypocritically) lamented the "erosion of values" I have observed in the popular culture of my kid's day and today.

Seems this lamentation comes with the territory for every generation. I recall my grandfather being outraged by a picture of a topless hippie chick when in his day a "nicely turned ankle" was naughty.

 

The legalization of cocaine is the next drop in the normalization process. I wouldn't expect it to be a difficult process as cocaine is the drug of preference among upwardly mobile white folks and, in particular, upwardly mobile stock brokers in Lower Manhattan and movie producers in Hollywood. It's also big among defense attorneys everywhere.

 

just think we could buy a coka-cola with the original ingredients again, a real pick me up

 

I don't care much for it either, but there has been a stumbling block to decriminalization all these years - Republicans.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/02/news/economy/marijuana-taxes-colorado/

Colorado predicted $33 million in revenues and are $21.5 million short. Marijuana is so easy to grow that once it's legal, it can be grown and sold illegally very easily and the taxes can be circumvented at almost no risk. The costs to society are going to far outweigh the piddling revenues, especially once marijuana tourism dies down because other states have made the same mistake.

 

It's not a question of prudishness, Jonsa.

 

There's only one reason marijuana was criminalized in the first place - Texans wanted to use the law to deport Mexicans.

 

and lock up black people, back than black people were the main ones smoking weed

 

this is true, if you tax it too high, you run the risk of people not buying it legally.....

but fact is, they are making a profit already, and crime is down, there is no downside to this

the only downside you can come up with is they did not make as much money as they hoped this soon in the game

from your article

"One big reason: Legal pot costs a lot more than illegal pot -- mostly because of taxes and fees. "

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"Crime" is down because the same harmful acts are now legal, it doesn't mean a net gain for Colorado. There is no point in keeping a moth from flame though.

 

crime is down across the board.... prohibition is the gateway to criminal activity

and yes, a reduction in Marijuana arrests means less money spent on enforcement and incarceration

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"Colorado Crime Rates Down 14.6% Since Legalizing Marijuana"

http://naturalsociety.com/colorado-crime-rates-14-6-since-legalizing-marijuana/

 

I agree.

I was trying to make the point that the observations of an older generation on the influence of changing social acceptability are invariably pessimistic.

As to commercialization of recreational drug use and its direct influence on our youth, I am afraid that cat already got out of the bag so long ago, its now dead.

Appropriate regulation MUST accompany legalization of any recreational drug use, as much or more restrictive than the current ones surrounding socially acceptable legal drugs like alcohol and nicotine.


As to the social impacts on legalization of recreational drug use, much is made of the potential to disrupt/destroy lives, cultures etc. I have grave reservations with this perspective. Especially considering the extremely negative impacts of what the prohibition of recreational use of an arbitrary list of drugs have wrought upon our society.
If not forced underground, society has a variety of effective tools to mitigate the obvious negative effects of use, while eliminating huge swathes of undesirable criminal behavior and its harmful consequences.