The best part about legalizing it is all these legalize drug, hippies that grow pot and have their collectives and medicinal mar1juana farms will be out of business. Hahaha....these fools are now against legalizing it! Ah how they all become capitalists quickly when its their pocket getting squeezed.
Long article, only posting the first page... http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/25/the-conservative-case-for-legalizing-pot.html Pot and the GOP Ann Lee, a Texas Republican and devout Catholic, thought mar1juana was the “weed of the devil.” Like so many Americans, Lee believed pot was a dangerous “gateway” drug that tempted the unwary into a dissolute existence. But when Lee’s son, Richard, suffered a severe spinal injury two decades ago and became paralyzed from the waist down, she was given a crash course in the devil drug. “I had to open my eyes, and I also had to pray a lot and believe in Richard’s integrity,” says Lee, now 81. “When I saw the good it did for Richard’s spasticity, I said, ‘Well, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead.’?” Since then, Lee and her husband have been steadfast in their support of Richard as he opened a California medical-mar1juana dispensary and founded a trade school in Oakland devoted to the study of pot, aptly named Oaksterdam University. Today Richard, 47 and a millionaire thanks to his pot business, is leading the charge for passage of Proposition 19, the controversial California ballot initiative that would legalize mar1juana for personal use. And Mom and Dad, now avid Tea Partiers, are manning the phones in support of their son and his efforts. You’d expect aging flower children to fight for the right to get high. But aging conservatives? As the ideals of the Tea Party’s most vocal libertarians infiltrate the Republican ranks, and state and federal officials slash budgets even as they pump cash into an expensive war on drugs, some conservatives are making the case for legalizing mar1juana. It isn’t Nancy Pelosi who’s speaking out in favor of legalized pot—she’s been careful not to take a position on Prop 19—but rather her Republican challenger in California, John Dennis. And in Massachusetts, Barney Frank’s Tea Party–backed Republican opponent, Sean Bielat, has said he leans libertarian on the issue, and it hasn’t hurt his race against the longtime congressman, who strongly supports decriminalization of pot. “As you see the liberty wing of the Republican Party grow, you’ll see more support for legalization,” says Dennis, who drew cheers during a campaign stop recently at the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo in San Francisco, where his staff altered his campaign sign to sport Rastafarian colors and a pot leaf. Republican power broker Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, points out that legalization can make sense from a conservative perspective because it touches on issues of national security and fiscal prudence. “First, there is the mess that is Mexico. Narcoterrorism is made possible by our drug prohibition in the U.S. Then there is the cost of incarceration,” he says. Gary Johnson, the Republican former governor of New Mexico and a putative presidential candidate for 2012, says he believes that “Proposition 19 has the opportunity to be the domino that could bring about rational drug policy nationwide.” Pundits like Fox News’s Glenn Beck and former judge Andrew Napolitano have also joined in the debate, on the pro-legalization side. “You know what, I think it’s about time we legalize mar1juana. Hear me out for a second…” Beck told viewers in April. “We have to make a choice in this country. We have to either put people who are smoking mar1juana behind bars, or we legalize it. But this little game we’re playing in the middle is not helping us, is not helping Mexico, and is causing massive violence on our southern border.” Even Sarah Palin, who’s opposed to legalization, has called pot a relatively “minimal problem,” telling Fox Business Network this summer, “I think we need to prioritize our law-enforcement efforts. And if somebody’s gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody else harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems that we have in society.” (Palin has copped to trying pot during the time it was decriminalized in Alaska, but said she didn’t like it.)
I think if these Tea Partiers and Republicans truly believe in personal freedom they should be more for legalizing drugs. As long as employers and insurance companies and the government aren't forced to pay for peoples re-hab who cares!
how do you think the system would run under legalization? government laboratory produced mar1juana clinics, where you have to wait in line like the DMV to collect your government mar1juana dole? how do you think those collectives would lose their business? they would simply be taxed and regulated by the State to continue what they are doing. they just wouldn't do it under the guise of calling it medical mar1juana, which is how the system currently works.
The Feds will never allow this to take hold even if the vote passes. I say keep it illegal. It's better that way. I don't care about California's economy benefits. They can continue taxing the medical side and anyone can get a medical card for it anyway. Let the stupid failure of a drug war continue. It's just an excuse to employ more enforcement types, whether DEA or whatever, so they can continue to take in paychecks in this losing effort. Do you really think the US government cares about curtailing the drug cartels? All they care about is employing people to keep the enforcement gravy train rolling. Else, a lot of people will lose their jobs. They actually need the drug cartels....just like the country needs futile wars to drive the economy. In summary, keep it illegal. Peace out. :grin:
Where are the statistics that are suggesting that this is the case? I've been looking for some updates on the issue, especially now that votes are going in, and haven't been able to find much.
I keep looking for updates as well, everything I hear is "not looking good", but no numbers....will they even get 40%?
Ron Paul: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvFYCky0muY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvFYCky0muY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> Big gov, pro-War on Drugs Democrat attack ads from the likes Jack Conway who believes the states shouldn't be allowed to set own drug policy: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IzxmBbo_9So?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IzxmBbo_9So?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I just typed in Proposition 19 on Wikipedia, and it gave me a listing of the survey results over time. The most recent one (issued by Public Policy Polling) with a sample size of 882 "likely voters", an automated survey, was 44% for and 51% against, with 5% undecided and a +/-3.3% margin of error. So it definitely "doesn't look good," but it's not quite the fish out of water.
plenty of polls show the results leaning in either direction. there really wasn't much of a push to educate the public in either direction, either. therefore it is likely not to pass...
I just now voted YES on Prop 19. Though no matter the education about misinformation, no matter all the responsible use of it, it still feels like its just about appeasing the stoners and hippies Sorry, I definitely know better but its just how I sense it. Thats how I feel. The ideal story scenario is the government warming their hearts to the good of the common man, reverting from their cold staunch ways and passing laws for the people's civil well being. But its CA government buried in budget woes wanting a cash grab, while remaining "governmental" in doing it, pure and simple. They spent way above their means and now need a money source. But you gotta take what you can get.
You don't think jobs will be created if it's legalized? Only these jobs won't jail or accidently KILL people on occasion.
