VIDEO: Legalizing Marijuana: Times They Are A-Changin’

If we have pot we won’t NEED the prescription drug benefit. (taxpayer RIPOFF!!!)
This can’t happen. A: It makes TOO much sense and B: It cuts down profits from the Billion dollar a year pharmecutical industry… nope will NEVER happen… But some people can still “Hope” for “Change” around here. Praise Allah, er um… I mean… uh God???

How can anyone suggest this. “Times are changing”..seriously. Just because people like to do it does not mean we should promote it and legalize it. Where would this end…..where? People like crack cocaine…tax it….people like walking nude in the city..tax it and get a permit. It would never stop.

And we would no longer have to pay for the non-criminals sent to prison. Imagine the millions of dollars in savings? Imagine many of those people going about their business living normal lives.
And we would no longer have to pay billions of dollars for the drug war against marijuana. Whoops! I forgot. The government would no longer be able to confiscate all that property of people without trial merely thought to be maybe involved in some way. Yeah. THAT would be a big loss.
And imagine all those drug cartels no longer being able to make billions of dollars off selling it. Imagine every American having TRUE AND REAL access to the best health care in the world without having to be rich to afford it.
Imagine THAT!

If alcohol were not legal there would be no chance in hell of becoming so. Pot {clean pot} is much less dangerous than alcohol and if you don’t think so you are just kidding yourself. Legalize it!

It should be legal! Alcohol is leagal and kills millions every year. the US could spend more money on harder drugs like cocaine and quit putting potsmokers in jail and overfilling prisons for an herb god put on the planet. the Dec of independence was printed on hemp! G. washington loved the stuff. Benefits outways any other argument

Legalize it!! Benefits outway any other argument anybody has. It’s legal in Amsterdam and they thrive off the business and you never hear of a stoned driver killing 3 kids in a car accident

Idea how about we legalize pot or criminalize liquor and beer? At least then our laws and the arguments behind them would finally make sense.

To anyone who thinks legalizing it is not a good idea. Let me ask you a question or two.
1. Why does the government get to determine what you should do with your body, if you want to be owned by the government, go be a civil servant or G.I.
2. That glass of wine you drank last night was on the same platform 100 years ago. Why not make progress, instead of regress, stop fighting people. Why can you not see things other people’s way, and accept it.
Bottom line, not everyone has a right to everything, but people have the right to something.

John Podesta is a stooge of George Soros. Legalization of illegal drugs has long been one of Soros’ dreams.

Jack, you must be high. RE-READ MY POST!

Legalize it and them when the people have mental issues and injuries through intoxicated driving; public health insurance can pay for it!! We can import it from China.
They dont call it “Chronic” for nothing?? as in “Chrinic Psycosis”

In addition to keeping people needy and ignorant we are going to keep them stoned too? Don’t we already have enough clueless people society?
I can just see it now” the administration is considering a stimulus package for dope dealers going bankrupt from the legalization of drugs”.

ChrisM. I had hoped that would be the case. But when the user base is expanded it creates issues just as bad or worse than the original problem. The people that are in prison have a life style that is toxic to a civilized society. Removing the legal deterrents for some will open the gates to even further social decline. The current laws concerning the use and sale of liqueur do fine when the individual sobers up and faces stiff consequences. And similar laws may apply for irresponsible use and sale of mind altering drugs. But at what cost will the collateral damage be? We just went through a transition concerning tobacco and its ill affects on the user and by-standers. Should we be so eager to start another round of health and social issues? Do we really want a repeat? The money being spent on drugs now still comes from a limited individual income. But having it legal does not mean that the money currently being spent will make it’s way to health or social programs that heal an individual that will cost more than what they contribute. The thieves and killers in the drug trade will just migrate to something else. I believe kidnapping and human trafficking are on the rise. How will we legalize that? This is a bad thing for the government to throw up its hands and say its just too much work. Why send a signal to the criminals to change to another big market? The tax dollars being spent on drug enforcement now will only be moved to it. I say keep the criminals engaged in what they have now and round them up. The next big illegal market could be worse.

I am not surprised at the response of the majority on here. It proves the theory that the same people who hat FOX news are pothead liberals. They break the law, then whine about the people who call them out on it. Grow up!

I don’t like drugs like Marijuana I hate them with a passion but I say legalize Marijuana but let the government grow and sell it for three reasons.
1.) When drug cartels and gangs sell Marijuana your not just getting the Marijuana your getting what ever else they put in there as well.
2.) Gangs and drug cartels make a lot of money by selling these drugs if we can increase the supply of Marijuana the price goes down which financially hurts the gangs and drug cartels.
3.) Fighting against Marijuana isn’t about fighting to protect people as cigarettes and alcohol are much more dangerous, this is about protecting certain powerful individual’s beliefs about Marijuana.

Taxing marijuana (especially for medicinal use) would be a HUGE mistake. First, it sets a precedent for taxing health care and other pharmaceuticals – which is probably a bad idea. Secondly, whatever government taxes, government PROMOTES.
If marijuana becomes the government’s new “cash cow” then every sort of government “incentive” will be applied to increase the use of the drug. This will probably have the very desirable effect of undercutting every other sort of (unlawful) drug and would probably bankrupt the cartels, but it still puts government in the business of promoting drug use.
Better to just cut marijuana loose and let people grow it themselves: that also will undercut and likely bankrupt the cartels without creating yet another drug “industry” monster.

If legal, it would be grown in California. Then Sacramento would regulate the heck out of it, then the price would go up, then the Feds will subsidize it, you get the picture?

Good way to throw the dogs off the trail. Instead of arguing that the government should not be into the health care business, let’s get everybody into drug legalization debate.
The bottom line is that we don’t want the government into our private business. But, but, look at all that money we could raise by TAXING marijuana. Folks, we don’t need any new ttaxes either. They already are taxing the very air you breath, do you really want them doing this.
Just legalize every disgusting sinful habit and that will fix everything.

It is ridiculous that marijuana is illegal in the first place. In the second place, many Republicans have been calling for the end of prohibition for a long time. Lastly, for anyone to think that there are serious health risks associated with smoking marijuna requires insane logic. It has been proven multiple times that marijuana is not that harmful, is not in reality a “gateway drug”, it grows in the US naturally, and stoned people typically drive about 20 miles an hour. We could be getting tons of money from taxing it, but no, we have to have the DEA czars go after people who use it and grow it. What idiocy. I heard about the so-called “study” that claims that pot leads to psychosis. As a trained sociologist and statistician, I have a lot of problems with that study. First, I felt like there were problems with the control group. Second, there was obvious bias against marijuana use. What kind of study is that? The prejudiced kind, that’s what.
I’ve smoked pot my whole life and have not felt any bad effects. I finished college with a 3.8 GPA and with honors; I’ve been in a successful career all my adult life; I’ve raised four children; and I’m still married to my first husband. So, DEA, put THAT in your pipe and smoke it!

Increased tax revenue would be minimal! People would simply grow their own…it is a weed after all.

Why do companies require when the random drug test are done on workers and the findings are positive, they have to let those employees go? Because they are prone to accidents which leads to injuries or deaths,and then law suits. MaryJane stays in a persons system for 30 days. We are no longer a productive society as it is, but with these slow motion clowns working, there will not be any companies to them.

2009: obamas moral and economic jihad.

So do those in favor of legalizing pot also favor cocaine, heroin, crack? If not, why? Its easy to say that pot is harmless, but that may be JUST TO YOU. Just as someone may say cocaine is harmless to themselves.

Those of you that think this is going to happen are pipe Dreaming. The Government is in the Process of making Cigarettes Illegal because of the health risks of the Smoke and somehowyou think they are going to Ignore the Smoke from Pot? Are you Kidding?

I can’t believe I’m in agreement with a “Liberal” position!
Why on earth support drug-lords, wreck a home-grown industry, ruin citizens lives for a non-crime, deny solace to some very very sick people, and continue to spend incredible amounts of taxpayer dollars on a forty year old “War” we lost twenty years ago?

I don’t really see how you can make and intellectually honest argument that pot shouldn’t be legal, yet be ok with alcohol and cigarettes status as legal.
anyway, what i want to do in the confines of my own home is nobody’s business, so long as i don’t harm anyone else.
taxation and all that comes with it is simply a part of trading a commodity on the open market, and should not be used as the basis for legalization. It is secondary to the fact that we allow alcohol, we should allow pot for the same reason- let people choose to use or not use.

I have never used any illegal drug in my life, not so much as one puff of pot.
Hell yes we should legalize pot. And cocane, crack, meth, heroine, the whole thing. No, I am not kidding.
Produce it here, sell it here, tax it here. Break the back of the drug cartells. Dry up funding for our enemies.
In the name of this absurd “war on drugs” we are losing lives, money, and freedom. It is stupid and we can no longer afford it.

If weed is legalized so that it can be taxed, GROWING cannabis will probably still be illegal. Otherwise, people will just grow their own and never pay taxes on traded weed. I know I would. Growing pot is easy and the results are far superior to smuggled marijuana. Very little tax money would come from pot. Most everyone would probably grow and share, although some would still buy and sell like bootleggers. However there would be huge savings of tax dollars that is currently being spent chasing down and prosecuting folks who like to smoke. It is hard to imagine what it would be like if pot were legal. For example, you know how employers like to go around drug testing everyone these days? I don’t just mean drug testing bus drivers, I mean drug testing people who sell bus tickets. If weed were legal would they still not hire or even fire those that failed a urine test? After all, THC stays in the body for 21 days, way way longer than any other drug, so most of the time drug screening is really just marijuana screening. I doubt that it would change. The social stigma associated with smoking herb would not disappear overnight. If pot becomes legal don’t expect to be sharing a bowl with your boss at the same time you’re having a few beers after work. It will still be looked down on. People who smoke will still be viewed as “druggies”.

How about the left legalizing oil before pot- just a thought.

I have no problem with it being legal, I think everyone should have the right to grow their own. Why should the government declair that it should only be legal as long as they can get their greedy little hands into the mix. This govenment is out of control and would sell their own mothers for a ten spot.

The problem with the whole tax idea is that folks will just grow their own. Can you tax a good which never enters the stream of commerce?
That said, the marijuana prohibition is a farce. A colossal waste of money and lives driven by ideology. Free the people!!

Pot should be illegal. In my opinion, pot-smokers are a stain on our society. Most of the time (but not always) they have no desire to advance themselves. Usually they are lazy slobs who contribute nothing to civilization. I believe that legalizing pot would do nothing more than tempt simple-minded people to experience the stultifying effects of this harmful-drug. The day that this drug becomes legal will only be a victory for those who have been systematically destroying American culture since the 1960s.

The question is this drugs will NEVER go away, someone will always buy them and someone will always sell them. Who do you want to control the drugs? Drug cartels or a government regulated system(ie alcohol). There is no middle ground!

Stoned and Stupid.
The new advertising motto for the Democratic party.
I will vote for any idiot when I am high,, ya ya just give me free pizza and I don’t care what the Democrats do in office.

Oh my, here we go with another Drudge Dump.

Legalizing Marijuana is obama’s idea of creating green jobs. Only these green jobs will go up in smoke. What a dope he is!

the majority of men and women with kids do not want this legalized. i can honestly say that i’ve smoked it. did it do me any good? did it improve my grades in college? did it help me concentrate? absolutely not. pot smoking is a very methodical form of distraction. from anything. it leads to lower productivity and lower quality in virtually everything.

I say legalize it and tax the heck out of it to pay for health care and also rehabilitation for hard drug users.

Barak Hussein Obama and his Czars are a bunch of dopes that have no clue.

Using the same logic – How about taxing a few other activities such as;
Taxing – Bank robbery,
Prostitution,
Stealing, Think of the tax bill Madoff would have had,
Embezzlement,
Jay Walking,
Breathing, Think of the C02 in this one,
Looking,
Speaking too much,
a Birth tax,
A shoe tax,
A fireplace tax,
A no-fireplace tax, That way you get them both ways.
Oh – this list could go on and on, but my favorite is one we actually have in my community which is,
A Tax on rain on your property. Some call it the act of God tax.

I’m hanging with jafo; the discussion over ending the days of prohibition do not belong in a discussion about whether to nationalize health care. The ONLY association is that to nationalize health care is to ELIMINATE FREE CHOICE, which is essentially what this drug war on a far safer substance than other legal substances does as well.

This is not Democrat or Republican issue. It is an issue between those that know the facts, those that lie for an agenda, and those that simply don’t know the facts. To all the people that are like, “Drugs are bad MMmmkay”. Wakeup to the fact that the Black Market is a market. Marjuana has been used/bought by 64% of the American population. Everything that is BAD about marijuana is under the current crimalization laws. Driving while stoned… it already exists. Youths doing pot… it already exists. By legalizing marijuana, you can at least regulate it. Instead of Mexican druglords selling your kids moldy PCP-ladened marijuana, it would be regulated and grown by organic US farmers. Did you know the DEA sprays foreign crops of Marijuana with weed killer… then the druglords cut it down and sell it before it dies. That wouldn’t happen if it was regulated. Think.

Legalize it, the generations are different and thats a fact. The republican types are so silly, making our country look like its tearing apart because of “librals.” The truth is no one cares. all we want is a stable economy, fiscal responsiblity, and viable options on how to generate revenue for our goals. Foolish americans have become caught up in who is what and what is right. The fact is who is allowed to say they are doing the right thing?
I have come to find most people are just scummy and want to gain at others losses. Also that most people detract “stoners” as nothing or as if they do not think or have feeling. They think a little more then most and speak slower because they are minding their words carfully. Those who never stop to smell the roses will never understand and keep on the destructive path of american life.

My 23 year old daughter told me that parents get drunk and beat their kids, but parents who smoke pot get down and fingerpaint with their kids. The war on mary jane is a waste of resources. Legalize it, tax it and regulate its use.

Let me if I have this correct. Pot is illegal but the gov needs cash. So, make it legal and tax it.
Why not take everything illegal, make it legal and tax it? Sounds like a gov plan…..like heroin, slavery, mollesters, etc.
This admin has no MORALS!!!

Marijuana is not the equivilant of crack and heroin and should not be a schedule one drug. It is no worse, and in my opinion safer, than alcohol. I smoke cigarettes and let me tell you they are far more addictive than pot.

Not a bad idea; we may need a joint or two to deal with what’s coming!

Make grass legal and the current govt. and taxes illegal.

MakeitLegal
“Pots just been illegal so dirty Republican Christian’s could make a mint off controlling the drug trade.
Prohibition of pot is ignorance.”
You are kidding; right?
The forerunner of the DEA was created by LBJ; a Dem.
Do a little research before you spout off on Georgie’s Bottom Line…

I have over 13 years clean and sober. There is not one recovering addict who will tell you that legalizing marijuana is a good idea. Marijuana is a gateway drug, period. I will ask any legislator to make sure that marijuana smokers live next door to them, that they and their children to can enjoy the second hand drug as it wafts into their backyard. The only “Hand” we have now is that smokers behave themselves as they don’t want the police called on them, trust me I know. When we take that “control” out of play, watch out..chaos! it is enough that alcohol is destroying lives in the home, and on the road, now we are going to welcome marijuana to? I recently had a toothless hippie ask me to sign his petition to legalize it here in California, I looked at him, unkempt hair, disheveled appearance, he had enough enamel in his mouth to make maybe one tooth and I responded to him “You don’t need to toke to have a life, and I would suggest you shower, shave and get your hair cut, and visit the dentist” we do not need to use something outside ourselves to make us feel better on the inside, let’s expect more and challenge each other rather than allow our neighbors to lapse in to nothingness

I am a rare breed. A right wing Conservative pot smoker. It is high time we legalize it. I have been smoking for 35 years and climbed the highest mountain in the US last week. (Mt Whitney) My wife has a glass of wine with dinner, I do a joint after dinner. We have raised 3 well adjusted kids. i am a self made (multi) millionaire. Why in the heck can I not enjoy a joint after dinner? How can the Government tell me this is illegal when cigarettes and alcohol are legal. It’s time to legalize and tax it!

Question: what happens when every park, parking lot, intersection, etc., not to mention every other backyard reeks of weed. Then it’ll be a nice place to live. Typical of you lefties: “give me MY freedom, even at the expense of imposing my lifestyle on others”. Never mind that the tax on maryJane will have little revenue generating benefit, because the price will drop as soon as it comes on the market. Will we tax it like cigarettes? — which is to say we’ll allow a generation to get hooked, and then collect the tax for whole of their lives? Oh yeah, that sounds like freedom. What abut the health risks? What about the burden on the health care system? As usual, another Feelgood policy ignores completely the consequences. Please, vote these idiots out! — while there’re still enough people not stoned out of their heads to do it!

Before ignorant right-wingers from the Drudge Report slam marijuana and liberals, do some real research. A) Marijuana is not physically addictive. B) Studies show that pot IS a demotivator for teens but not for adults over the age of 22. C) Studies show that teens can more easily get Marijuana than adults – thank the Black Market. D) Regular Marijuana use does not cause lasting physical harm. E) Marijuana DOES help people with diseases and disorders. (ie. AIDS, Cancer, ADHD, etc.) I can go on and on…

To Loath_GOP
“How can anyone suggest this. “Times are changing”..seriously. Just because people like to do it does not mean we should promote it and legalize it. Where would this end…..where? People like crack cocaine…tax it….people like walking nude in the city..tax it and get a permit. It would never stop.”
Like alcohol, tax it. The most dangerous drugs in the world are taxed and legal now. 1. Tobacco, and 2. Alcohol. These are killers, cannabis is not a killer.

Great Idea!!
How about if we tax child porn too?
If you try making the argument about how pot doesn’t harm kids like porn does, that doesn’t fly. A lot more kids are exposed to pot-smoking, lead-head parents that would rather smoke pot than get a real job.
I know many instances where a pot smoking absentee parent would rather spend his money on pot than pay child support.
Some could say that alcohol does the same thing, or cigarettes for that matter. Go ahead, outlaw them. Oh, thats right, its not about what is right or wrong, it is about tax revenue. In the case of marijuana, you have the alignment of two groups. A small group of pot smokers that are a minority of the general population and those that want to raise tax revenue for any cause. A perfect storm that will create a huge mistake.

The founders were hemp farmers!! Most people are too dumb to realize this though…

“Marijuana is a gateway drug, period.”
The Federal government did a study in 1999, your dead wrong. They found cigarettes and alcohol to be much more likely to be a gateway drug. But go ahead and spout of all your distortions, this isn’t the 1950′s anymore people don’t buy the reefer madness BS anymore.

Go ahead and legalize pot, but that still doesn’t mean that we can afford nationalized healthcare.
Podesta is a idiot and government option believers are basic math failures. People act like there is this pie of money that two sides are fighting over when the reality is, THERE IS NO PIE at all, just an empty plate.
We’re broke and Washington is filled with idiots who are being followed by idiots. And none of them have enough money to pay for the check that their mouths write.

“RE YOU SERIOUS? You must have bought some cheap crap (pot) cause if you smoke some good weed it will definitely affect your driving! Your reflexes are slower and you think it is funny to drive the wrong way on a one way street! I speak from experience! DWI IS DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED>>Regardless of the drug! DUI Driving under the influence!”
Yeah but when you got that good weed, you’re all like “Why drive? This tv show is funny.”
Get a better argument.

Hey Podesta,
I can see why you’re so into “Sickcarelessness”; someone has to pay for your “cocktails”, right?
How about taxing Obama-loving supporters? Tax the filthy rich “Entertainment” liberals who fall at your feet. This, of course, includes the fawning “journalists” of the DNC/Media complex who are constantly propping you up by toeing your political agenda line.
Yes, impose a 99% tax on all the wealth of anyone who donated to your political campaigns and members of left-wing politcal organizations that back you.
That’ll be a good start…

The only reason they are discussing legalization is they are out of money. I am a Conservative Regan Republican, however, in this arena, I am Libratarian. I personally dont like the stuff, but if you want to smoke it, it is a victimless crime, so there is no crime. But it shouldnt be legalized just to justify paying for turning our country communist like the health care “Liberty Stealing” bill will do.

If pot were legal, cotton would disappear from the market, because it is inferior to hemp products. All stomach remedies also would be obsolete.
Hemp oil would replace our fuel oils, and no more disgusting paper mills would exist (paper is made with water oonly with hemp, no chemicals). No trees would be cut down, either.
None of these industries lobbies will llet hemp be legalized, it has nothing to do with safety.
Ron

I totally think Pot should be a prescription drug sold at CVS or Walgreens.
They have Morphine, Darvon and many other drugs already much worse than Pot.
It would be a great addition to anti-depressants and pain killers and the drug cartels would go out of business if it was legal.

LOL. I’m for legalizing it, but it won’t solve a thing. We all know that if it is legalized it will be over-priced and inferior to what’s available on the ‘black market’. Plus everyone will just grow their own stuff. Duh.

It’s a lot easier to conceal and consume a joint than a 6-pack, if people thing alcohol related accidents are bad now, just wait.

They call it weed for a reason. There will be no tax revenue until they ban seeds.

Brewing your own beverage takes time, energy, raw material and packaging.
Growing your own weed is as easy as sitting around and watching the grass grow.

Most of the folks that are against legalization here are either out of touch with reality or completely misinformed about pot and it’s effects. People have been smoking pot since, well since there’s been people. Most of today’s movies and pop culture is THC (at least) inspired or influenced. It’s illegal yes, but it still happens. I haven’t touched the stuff in years, but I miss the hell out of it. Some of my most creative (and highly regarded) work has been done under the influence.
Some people are still stuck in the 50′s.
Legalize it.
Tax it (I’d just grow my own though)
De-mystify it.

Go head legalize marijuana(Dope). Makes for less competition in America. However, bad for America as a whole. One more step towards a banana republic.

@ Maxwells
Making “good” Marijuana takes more then throwing seeds into a backyard and letting it grow. Moonshine is to hemp as aged bourbon is to high-quality Marijuana. I assure you, the vast majority of Americans are lazy and would rather pay the extra money to have it now.

@ Posted by: TX_MBell | The taxes they are going to be generating are going to be from people that are already buying off the street. Just now people would be taxed for it and the gov would get their cut. Its not like this stuff is around and nobody buys it at all and when it becomes legal everybody is suddenly buying……The market is already there and so are the consumers along with the funds to purchase it with, it just isnt currently being taxed.

If you legalized drugs and the government sold it for free + a huge tax, it would still cost a fraction of current street prices. If you did this, you would:
1. Put drug dealers (and drug exporters — Mexico, Colombia and Afghanistan)out of business.
2. Save hundreds of millions in law enforcement costs.
3. Collect hundreds of millions in taxes from growers who sold to the government (they’ll be paying taxes they didn’t pay before.
4. Eventually, regulate the sale of drugs the same way we regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.
We learned this lesson during prohibition, didn’t we? Outlawing drugs hasn’t worked in any way, shape or form. It’s time to acknowledge that fact.
The massive volume of cash that is being shoveled into the pockets of criminals and towards unsuccesful law enforcement efforts is madness.

What would be the “legal limit” of driving while under the influence of THC? It’s bad enough that we have drunk drivers, now we’d have deal with the double whammy of stoners, too.

Wow! The potheads now have something to be enthusiastic about. Why does anyone need this crap? The govt is just thinking about taxes and any way to get money – they’re just planning to add pot users to the tax base like alcohol & cigarettes. They don’t care about your permanent brain cell alterations. I don’t want to work with alcoholics, smokers or potheads, period.

I was in a legalization march in the 1970′s and now today my reasons to support legalizing it are a lot smarter then just for personal gain. It would help the nation because less (much less, hopefully) Americans would associate themselves with an underworld class. This underworld class of dealers has access to other more harmful drugs so less people would make the leap to cocaine if they had easy legal access to pot. Plus you will recoup the tax revenue and create a new farming industry in America, NUFF SAID, LETS DO IT MR POTUS! PS I’m a Conservative and I don’t vote Democrat and I support this.

who would pay taxes rather than grow their own if it was legal?
legalize it or not on the merits of the arguments, but leave the taxes out

Looking through this blog, a lot of conservatives are afraid of moral decay and expansion of the user base. I’ve got news for you, anywhere you go in America you can buy pot, its deeply inside of the American psyche. It’s not going away, you will not make any situation worse in any urban environment then it is now and you
can at least say you are getting back some of your welfare subsidy tax dollars back in legal tax revenue and keeping a large segment of America away from underworld dealers that also offer crack cocaine as a product. Plus you free up the police to focuse more on busting harder drugs, open your minds you know legalizing it wont worsen the inner city situation from the crap it is now.

User Comments?
Yeah, I’m a user. A bike messenger from Chicago came up with that idea about taxing pot, like, 20 years ago, dude.

Leagalize it and get over all the negative hype. the weed is good and good for you. It is about time this country grows up! Weed versus wisky…whats gonna kill u first? Duh!

I have relatives who work in abused and neglected children.
The biggest cause of child neglect and abuse is addiction.
We should be demanding an end to the wink and nod approach to drugs, child exploitation/abuse, spouse abuse and various obscene activities.
Any attempt to “increase revenue” by taxing pot would not yield enough money to pay for the extra children services personnel needed to clean up after the damage done by those too addicted to be responsible for themselves.

Why is it that normally intelligent people suffer so greatly from ignorance when it comes to issues like this?
Let’s address some of the ignorance:
1. You are unlikely to get much in taxes when people are already growing and selling pot on the black market and you can grow it in your closet, backyard, or garage. Why pay taxes when there is no processing involved?
2. You won’t be able to smoke pot and hold down certain jobs because THC stays in your system and affects you longer than alcohol. This gives your employer a legal right to fire you if you show up under the influence.
3. Pot smoke is more harmful than cigarette smoke to your lungs (even if you discount the fact that people ‘hold it in’ for more effect). You will be surprised at the number of people that will object to your second-hand pot smoke and will come after you for harming your kids.
4. If you think cell phones are bad, wait until the roads are full of stoned drivers. Once it is legal to smoke it, they will push to minimize punishment while they increase traffic accidents and deaths.

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Read any of Soros’s books if you want to know what is in store for the U.S. – ONLY PUT Soros’s name in the places that accommodate instigation & Manupulation by outside forces. – This CLOWN is the source of all that is BAD of r America !!!
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I have a REALLY exciting idea. Instead of trying odd-strawmen on a weekly basis that we can say “should be taxed for Americans’ healthcare” and end up with a Byzantine and complex list of feel-good sin taxes, why don’t we focus the effort of this immense distraction on people paying for the health services that they use?
Has anyone thought of that, or is this entire thing an excercise in political flunkies trying to demonstrate their generosity with the population’s savings and patience?

I’d rather toke up than drink to be honest. i lost a brother to drinking and driving, I’ve yet to hear a person die from smoking and driving.Alcohol and marijuana are to different animals, it’s like trying to compare apples and ornages. Why do people think if we plan to legalize MJ it will allow other drugs to be legal. I for one DO NOT want cocaine, crack , meth etc to be legalized just MJ. Alcohol is a more dangerous drug yet it sold at every corner.

When a drug user like George Soros pays your light bill these silly ideas come out.

Legalize it, don’t criticize it!
i would like to see a vote taken to see who actually supports this, you would be surprised the number of americans (not all smokers) that would approve of such a thing.
drinking is about 1000 times worse, at least weed doesnt leave workers with debilitating hangovers

Mikhael – The money comes from the regular user not the guy standing in line trying to figure out if he wants a drag or a drink. Billions are being spent on it and us as users want the money to go back into the goverment (health) instead of the druig dealers. Yet all the conservatives want to keep them out. It’s a harmless drug..if you don’t believe me try it.it relaxes a person in a posistive way instead of getting angry or sad.

I agree that marijuana should be legalized. Putting people into the criminal justice system for smoking a joint is insane. My question is why do we have to tax the foxtrot out of everything? Just legalize it and leave people alone. Quit trying to steal peoples money.

Know what I like most about the ‘legalize it’ debate? It’s that I can never honestly tell who’s on the right and who’s on the left. I love that.
Un-illegalize it.

I’m a Christian who sides more with the GOP than the dems and I favor legalizing pot. Why? Because the War on Drugs is a colossal waste of money and is nothing more than a jobs and property confiscation program.
Legalize it and tax it. However, if these idiots think they can impose inordinately high taxes on it then the cartels will undercut the government and nothing will have been accomplished. Like alcohol, it has to be made a convenience item for those who desire it. Like alcohol, there should be no penalty for “growing your own” in limited quantities.

There is nothin wrong with pot. Name 1 person that has died of it. I can name a huge amount that have died of either drinking too much or killing others while drunk. PERIOD

“I’m for legalizing it, but it won’t solve a thing. We all know that if it is legalized it will be over-priced and inferior to what’s available on the ‘black market’.”
Really? What makes you say that? That’s exactly NOT how Alcohol’s Prohibition repeal went. In fact, most Americans are fairly lazy, and don’t want to brew their own (some do, home brew kits are available on the internet), but most like consistent, easy, buy-it-in-the-store packaging. Less work, the American way!
Believe me, the VAST majority of canabis aficionados are dying to BUY AMERICAN, but it’s so much easier for Americans to be caught, so we HAVE to buy foreign. Stop vilifying our farmers, and tax the crap out of it!
After FORTY YEARS of failure, when will the DEA admit it’s futility? NEVER!

Leave my weed alone! If the government gets involved they will want to regulate the quality and tax it until the cost increases 5 times, the feds screw up everything they touch! I want to get high, not go broke!

Hey, I think pot should be legal too, but those here who think a bunch of pot heads are going to pay for your health care have been smoking too much it.
I see no reason why this drug should be illegal, and I also see no reason why the Government should tax it. This is NOT a good argument to legalization. Pot should be legal and if taxed, taxed the same as any other medication or herb.
We tax alcohol and cigarettes to death and are no closer to solving our spending woes. Legalize pot? Yes. Will it magically solve our money problems? Only spending less will.

not one of you have mentioned the fact that the Federal Government will TAX you for something that you pay no taxes on now and are able to get relatively easy. Why do you want the feds involved in your pot smoking??????

THREE important facts people seem to be ignorant about or completely overlook:
Jane is NOT:
Addictive
Mind Altering
Cancer Causing
That’s right! IT IS NOT EVEN CANCER CAUSING. Google for the study done by some of th eUS’s most prominent hospitals and you’ll find it. The study was actually lead by the doctor who determined that cigarettes caused cancer.. He got a big surprise when he studies Jane!

I am a Christian and think drugs should be legal. Morality should be up to the individual and their conscience NOT what the government tells you. Alcohol is legal, but used to NOT be legal. Did they not learn from that???
Jesus turned water into WINE at a wedding party. If God himself has no problem with doing some sort of drug ( alcohol IS a drug) then what business does the government have to make it illegal?
ANd yes, tax it and pay for health care! BUT, the pharmaceutical companies contribute too much money to the politicians….greed is a sin

These are gonna be the GREEN JOBS that Obama has been talking about all along!

Here is a list of things once illegal that are now legal.
1 Alcahol, discountig the obvious detrimental effects of alcahol, the country has not fallen appart, the opposite is the case.
2. The numbers (lottery). In my youth before the lottery I knew many people involved in the Numbers racket. They were all what you would call mobsters. Nice guys unless you owed them $$$. They would give credit to folks who should not get it just to lock them in. When the gov. took over the numbers racket they were for the most part put out of business.
3. casino gambling in certain states. While I’m not a fan of casino gambling it has not completely ruined the places where it is legal.
All these things have their bad sides, but legalizing them had one common element. It took the business away from organized crime. Any time we can do this we make out lives and out country safer!
Narcotics and other drugs are illegal because they have proven dangerous properties. None of which can be proven in Marijuana when done by a credible, non-government funded, study.

no country has really legalized Marijuana. HEAVY USERS BECOME SEVERELY DEMENTED. Pot, as the drug croud refer to it, fries the brain. If you do not think so, try having a sensible conversation with a heavy pot user.
If we outlaw liquor again, we will revert to the Gangaters taking over the business once again, as the now control the sale odf drugs. Ned Fogler

Listen, we have to keep jailing all of these pot criminals on both ends–the suppliers and well as the users. With unemployment at near 10% and probably passing that mark soon we just don’t have the jobs for all of these “criminals” so just keep jailing them.

Hemp/pot is one of the easiest plants to grow and requires very little effort or attention to propagate and cultivate, costing nearly nothing to grow or process and sold at a dollar amount that rivals today’s gold prices. It could easily become a fiscal savior to any states economy, should they finally accept its use and role in today’s society.
It was readily grown throughout the US in the last century for textiles, rope, chick feed and as part of crop rotation to revitalize the soil on many farms, including my family farm.
The reason for it becoming illegal to begin with, was simply a political motivation. Probably had more to do with paper manufacturing than conflicts with any alcohol distilleries.

Those of you who are advocating legalization of pot by relating it to alcohol are wasted in the truest sense. Here’s the difference (as first pointed out by Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet, BTW): 99% of people who have a drink do not do so to get drunk. They do it as a social custom or just to have a drink. 100% of people who smoke a joint do so to get stoned. (I’m an authority on this, BTW!) The result is a bunch of wasted people, wasted minds and wasted potential. THAT is why pot should remain illegal. The costs to society and the destruction of lives is much too great. Unfortunately, in Obama’s America, people don’t think, they just respond to slogans like “hope” and “change”.

This is a ridiculous argument. I can see the benefits of taxing pot, but that is about where it stops. To think that the legalization of pot would “create” jobs and revenue for the United States is ridiculous. Though, we are in the times of creating “green” jobs, so I guess this fits.
Seriously, pot has the same effects on people when driving as alcohol. To say that we should legalize pot and make driving under the influence illegal is simply ignorant, driving under the influence is already illegal, whether the influence is pot, alcohol, crack, oxy, heroin, etc.
Sure, there is a huge untaxed market, however, how willing do you think those who currently use pot are going to be to buy it “legally” and have to pay the taxes? The underground market will still exist for those who refuse to pay the taxes. If you have a habit and only have so much money to spend on that habit, why wouldn’t you buy it cheap. You can’t tell me you think the government is going to place a low tax on it.
The fact is, regardless of what happens, there will still be people getting around the legal aspect. Look at alcohol for instance. Alcohol is legal for those 21 and over, but there are still people younger than that getting alcohol and drinking.
Legalizing it would create an entirely new government entity. The “law enforcement” money that people believed could be saved by removing pot from the war on drugs, would probably be spent three times as much in regulating this new entity, so there is no cost savings.
People don’t go to jail for pot. If you get caught with pot you pay a hefty fine, see a judge on a court date and don’t spend time in jail, unless of course you get caught with a ton of it, that is a different story. But, people seem to be arguing the point of the casual pot user wasting tons of taxpayer dollars. You are wrong.

I used to smoke pot but quit because you can’t get a job if you have it in your system and it stays there up to 3 months. Most everything else in a UA goes away in 3 or 4 days (except a hair test or folicle test) including cocaine heroin & methamphetemine. I have always and still do believe this is a gross violation of one’s privacy. If it is leagalized I am certain it will still be an issue in finding na job.

Pot should never have been illegal in the first place. The affects of pot are less destructive by far than alcohol or tobacco. The inane cries that claim “it is a gateway drug” seldom apply the same logic to alcohol. A legal code should be consistent. Either make alcohol and tobacco illegal or legalize any lesser substance like marijuana.

And here I thought tobacco is bad and need to be illegal (mainly from liberals) or banned. And yet they want to allow pots?

“I know many instances where a pot smoking absentee parent would rather spend his money on pot than pay child support.”
Suuurrrrre you do. And btw people, I am 49, smoked cannabis since I was 16. I am a highly successful IT consultant with a 90k+ salary in Mich. I guess I’m just one of the lucky dull headed stoners that got lucky eh? Without cannabis, you wouldn’t have half the art or great music that you love so much

To take the argument even further!
At no time in the history of America has murder, rape, or kidnapping been legal. Those are practically crimes against humanity. Weed was legal until 1937.

LOL at this stuff below.
Why is it that normally intelligent people suffer so greatly from ignorance when it comes to issues like this?
Let’s address some of the ignorance:
1. You are unlikely to get much in taxes when people are already growing and selling pot on the black market and you can grow it in your closet, backyard, or garage. Why pay taxes when there is no processing involved?
2. You won’t be able to smoke pot and hold down certain jobs because THC stays in your system and affects you longer than alcohol. This gives your employer a legal right to fire you if you show up under the influence.
3. Pot smoke is more harmful than cigarette smoke to your lungs (even if you discount the fact that people ‘hold it in’ for more effect). You will be surprised at the number of people that will object to your second-hand pot smoke and will come after you for harming your kids.
4. If you think cell phones are bad, wait until the roads are full of stoned drivers. Once it is legal to smoke it, they will push to minimize punishment while they increase traffic accidents and deaths.

There is a difference bewteen legalization and decriminalization. Pot should merely be a ticketable offense, not requiring a court appearence or jail time. If an employer doesn’t want a pothead they should not have to hire one, last time I checked you can get fired for being drunk at work.
They should concentrate more resources on punishing rapists, murderers, and sex ofenders and back off the recreational pot smoker whose only real harm done is using up Internet bandwith to play his video games…

A toast to this uplifting news!
*flick* *crackle crackle* *bubble bubble bubble* *cough cough*

Appears the administration has been smoking too much already.

The comments by TX_MBell are right on target.
The medical marijuana deal is a complete fraud. If people really wanted to use marijuana as a medicine it would be controlled and processed so as to control the purity and dosage, just like cocaine based pain killers.
The pot community is quick to tell you that as long as what you do does not hurt anyone then it should be legal. They forget that what you don’t do, the lack of contributing something to society hurts everyone. If you lay back in a pot induced happy stupor, yes, you are not directly hurting anyone, but you are not doing anything useful for yourself or anyone else. As shocking as it sounds we all need everyone to do something useful with their lives, create something useful, work hard. So ask not for whom we should mourn when someone drops out and lies around blissfully in a pot fog, these gutless wonders hurt us all.

I wish all these people that want this stuff leagalized lived in my neighborhood. Across the street from me a guy grows his own and is on welfare. Some of his friends came out the other night and they were smoking his medicine and got in a fight and pulled up his plant and took off and there was fighting and a lot of wreckless driving and the police showed up. Love it.

Why stop with “pot,” legalize all drugs and let the dopers die. The RNC should agree with that plan, right?

As far as cash cow to fund heath care, no way. Our government needs to cut spending not increase it!
Spending more we can’t afford is crazy.
Legalize it and half of the Mexican drug war will be over! I see comments of people who have no idea of what pot is and how it affects most people. You people need to pipe down and comment on things you know more about. Pot is already Multi billion dollar industry… Just about anything that can be made with petroleum or lumber etc can be made with pot! All the more reason it will never be legalized.

If you tax marijuana by making it legal, might the price be so high no one buys it and still buys the illegal marijuana still smuggled in? If it is say 400 bucks an ounce legal and 250 an ounce illegal which are you going to buy? Thing with alcohol, to produce enough you have to have a huge factory and a lot of trucks to deliver it. With marijuana, you don’t. The blackmarket won’t go away because it is legal. That is a totally erroneous argument. The drug lords will just undercut the legal government marijuana and keep on selling it. Nothing will change. The violence to control illegal marijuana may even grow too if the market tightens a bit. Just remember, most everyone of you who uses right now is contributing to the violence that occurs in supplying you your good time.

Ok smartie smarterson Pat,
“1. You are unlikely to get much in taxes when people are already…”
You can grow vegetables at home, but do you? You could raise chickens even in an apartment but do you?
“2. You won’t be able to smoke pot and hold down certain jobs because THC stays…”
Why you so concerned with where I want to work? Some businesses, where legal, have owners who smoke cigs and let you too. Let me decide where I want to work, ok?
“3. Pot smoke is more harmful than cigarette smoke to your lungs (even…”
Why you all up in my lungs? You’ve definitely advocated for a ban on cars and their pollution, right? Because you care so much about my lungs. Keep your mind off my lungs, pervert.
“4. If you think cell phones are bad, wait until the roads are full of stoned drivers…”
Psst, they already exist. I know, right? Now, let me finish this comment before my exit comes up. Oops, there it is, time to make a hard right!

A wise man once said – “According to the government, the only ‘good’ drugs are taxed drugs…”
Don’t forget that alcohol was in prohibition until the government realized that they could put a tax on it and reap some cash from what people (including some government officials) were doing in hiding.

Legalizing an unhealthy substance so you can tax it to pay for the unhealthy effects of that substance. Sounds like liberal logic to me.

in my above post I screwed up… my quality of life IS 1000 times better now… I miss spelled one of the words in there and it made it sound like it does not work… Sorry I was a grunt in the Army… Not and English Major!

There is a HUGE difference between legalizing marijuana and legalizing crack because people “like them”. We don’t have people in rehab because they are “addicted top marijuana” (unless it was court ordered for ridiculous reasons). There is no physical addiction to marijuana, the only addiction a person can have is psychological; they need the feeling of change in from their sober life. This may lead someone to harder drugs, but again it’s a psychological problem, anything could lead that person to harder drugs. An “addiction” to pot is no different than a sexual addiction or someone with an eating disorder. In addition, we don’t have people in hospitals or morgues because of a marijuana overdose. A person would have to smoke about 1500 lbs of pot in 15 minutes to receive a lethal dose. This is ridiculous, this PLANT is illegal for entirely political reasons. But I won’t get into those.

“you never hear of a stoned driver killing 3 kids in a car accident”
That’s because most stoners don’t have jobs and can’t afford a car.

Marijuana is harmful mentally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually. For abundant scientific based writing on the harmful mental, psychological, and physical effects, see
If the U.S. were to go the way of Amsterdam, we would lose the Republic. Our society depends upon the exercise of good judgment, reason, thoughtful engagement, and responsible citizenship, all of which are undermined by substances used to “turn on and tune out”. There are better ways to deal with pain and other medical problems than to effectively self medicate with substances that have so many known harmful effects.
The United States needs to enforce drug laws, provide intensive prevention, early intervention, and treatment programs, and provide for diversion from the criminal justice system for those who take part in justice system and community based prevention, early intervention, and treatment programs. The future of the nation is in the gravest jeopardy if otherwise reasonable adults who should know better promote policies that would result in the continued use and spread of the use of such a harmful substance as marijuana.

I can’t imagine that legalizing pot would generate much revenue, but it might save quite a bit that would otherwise be spent on law enforcement and prisons. Pot’s just too easy to grow. It’s much cheaper to get high on pot than it is to get drunk and that’s despite massive government efforts to stamp it out. Imagine how affordable it would be after legalization and how little effort would be put into catching the guy with 20 plants when it’s just a matter of low level tax evasion. So even if the government were to legalize and tax it, I imagine that people would just continue to buy the illegal stuff in order to save money.

Go ahead and legalize it, but it wont do SQUAT FOR THE ECONOMY. They’ve taxed tabacco, alchohol and everything else to the hilt to “pay for health care” and what has it done? NOTHING.

Maybe it’s just me but it seems like the libs are totally disorganized at this point. They essentially have all of the power in Washington today but they can’t seem to get on the same page to get anything passed. Every day there’s a new wacky solution put forth (such as taxing pot to pay for healthcare) but they just can’t seem to get synchronized.

I say this country needs a little less coddling, and a little more ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality.
Legalize ALL drugs. Adults should be able to do to their bodies whatever they want. If they die, so what? One less person taking a toll on our resources.
That said, pot has NEVER killed even one single person.
As soon as someone can provide me statistics saying how many people have DIED as a direct result of pot, you’ll have somewhat of an argument for keeping it a SCHEDULE 1 narcotic. What a joke.

very evil people in White House

I think it’s great that we are actually supporting such groups as the taliban and various violent foreign drug cartels by making it illegal for folks here to buy/grow/sell it with integrity and respect for the common man.

The drug war is sham. First, pot should be legal, since it causes less harm in all ways that alcohols. Then we need to stop locking up drug addicts and treat drug addiction as the medical problem it is, instead of as a criminal problem. Jailing a sick addict doesn’t help anyone, including the addict. But as someone above said, the “war on drugs” is a big business where agencies can confiscate bank accounts, cash, cars, homes, businesses, and the drugs themselves, only to resell again and again, confiscating property, again and again, along the way, and NOT helping the addicts at all. LEGALIZE IT!

George glad to see you are getting on the band wagon I see a lot of comments for it.. few (mainly uniformed)not for it.
John hunt said it best (now that he does not have teenagers in his house) Obama has kids in school and I can see the problem nobody want’s to talk out of both sides of their mouth ..
the top shows on TV are about pot get a jump on this befor FOX NEWS gets there first I see it coming
I was shocked to see you talking about it and tell George Will I take back every bad thing I have said about him somebody finley pulled that stick out of his arse
this is somthing that is going to happen are you going to be sitting on the sidelines or are you going to help have a rational disscusion
By the way love the show

let the states tax pot in the amount u grow,,,,,get a permit from the arg,dept to grow a set amount,,,,,,,,pay ur taxes grow ur weed ,,,,,,,if mines better than yours ill sell ya some .
simple if your caught growing with out a tax stamp,,,pay a high fine ,,,,
gov ,wins

Oh Kent K., its time for you to put down the bong and check your spelling……its a little off! Try using words with 5 or fewer letters.

Hey Tommmmmaayyyy!
Why are all people in favor of legalizing pot brainless? Maybe because they’ve been stoned half their life?”
I wish. Can’t handle the weed myself, makes me sleepy mostly. But I can handle freedom. Makes me get a chubby mostly.
Why we all got ta have brains anyway? So we can make Soros richer? Or maybe Trump?
Why can’t we all be free to enjoy the natural world that God gave us? Yes God formed marijuana in 6 days dude. Why you be all hating up on God for his creation?

George Washington grew it, The first bible was written on HEMP Paper, People have been using it for 1000′s of YEARS!!!
It is safer than tobacco, alcohol and RX drugs!!! You can use it for paper, oil, food, headaches, cancer, the list goes on and on! It should have never been made illegal in the first place! Mr Obama, sell us a pot sticker once a year so we can grow it at home for personal use! i will pay you $1000.00 dollars a year to grow my OWN!!!! I am an insulin using diabetic and I can’t DRINK!!! So I smoke!!!! It’s the safest stuff on the PLANET!!! Come on Obama, everyday I wait for you to do this! Especially in the state of GEORGIA!!! This would be the best thing you can do for US!!!

I love how the anti-legalize people on here are screaming “Bring GOD back!!!”. Talk about drug induced delusions…. Seems like most of the “lazy potheads” are providing well thought out answers backed by scientific proof. While the antis are throwing insults and moral based objections.

It really is about time someone in power comes to their senses and advocates the legalization of marijuana. We’ve spent $30 billion a year on the so-called ‘drug war’, since the 70′s and where has it gotten us? Nowhere. Time to take it out of the thugs hands and tax it. Make money and stop spending billions on a failed policy. A winner in my estimation.

Typically solution from a mentally bankrupt administration.
You want to spend more money? You have to make it first.
Doesn’t work the other way around. No matter how high you are…

The content of the comments posted in reply to this article, by current or former pot smokers, make a pretty good case against legalizing pot.
Pot smokers use marijuana to mask their own problems or at least make their problems not “feel” as bad. They then criticize healthy/normal people to self-justify their escape from reality – truly tragic.

Since I started smoking pot I love Jesus even more!

Legalize pot because it just costs too much to fight it, and look at all the money we can make from it. Are you kidding me??? Legalizing simply means government control of something else, believe me, you potheads don’t want that.

I don’t think that too many pot smokers go around killing each other. What i have hear is that pot makes you feel better not worst. You do what you wont, but i think that pot is not a bad drug……………………….
Government is the killer drug.

I’m conservative, I think it ought to be legalized and taxed..End of story. Been saying that for decades.

Good Debate. So, let me understand thi s. If I buy pot illegaly,I’m a criminal. If I grow my own pot,I’m a criminal. If I sell it to a friend, I’m a criminal. Why should the Department of Justice(Sheriffs office) receive those revenues?? Why not just put it in the General Fund? Who cares how it’s going to be miss spent.
I witnessed first hand how poorly the misapprociation of funds was handled with the State of California’s “WINDFALL” from lottery revenue. What a joke. Like this will save us? At least court fines that are criminal will THEN get miss spent.

How are you going to tax something we can grow ourselves or buy from someone else tax free. What a stupid idea.

The websites in my Oct, 26, 2009 3:49:14 PM somehow got deleted. You can do a google search on GordonDrugAbusePrevention for articles referencing the scientific literature concerning the harmfulness of marijuana. You can do a google search on SpiritualHarmofMarijuana for statements by spiritual teachers and others concerning the spiritual harmfulness of marijuana and other psychedelic drugs. The Spiritual Harmfulness of Marijuana and Other Psychedelic Drugs website is also accessible via link from the Gordon Drug Abuse Prevention website.

People who are for keeping cannabis illegal sound so ignorant. They have no idea what they are talking about. It sounds like the just watched a reefer madness movie.

Decriminalizing marijuana would cause the prices to go way down. This would take the incentive out of the equation for drug cartels.It would be cheaper with a tax than it is illegally.

I’m Down. Let’s do it

As someone who has not smoked pot for 40 years I hope it never is legalized. I quit when I woke up at a traffic light with my foot on the brake. The thought I could have killed someone and not remembered it was enough for me to quit!
Do we really think that Woodstock would have been what it was if the majority of people and performers had not been stoned?

What they have in mind for California is to allow individuals to grow a five by five plot for personal use. There is an expense and hassle to growing your own plants of any kind and most will buy instead. Not too many people make their own wine, but it is legal. What amazes me is that people just accept that the govt has the right to force you to pay a doctor 50 dollars every month to give you a script for 30 pills. What freedom do you have? Many of us would not use any drug that is illegal but, I would exchange use of legal drugs for illegal drugs if illegal drugs became legal. Also Duh to comments about no job: illegal drug users do work and function in society. Fact is, I do not know anyone who uses no drugs at all. No one. Govt control of drugs is govt control of the movements of people since all people use drugs. Anti drugsters are hypocrites one and all.

Legalize and tax. Mmmhmm.
What makes anyone think that someone who would risk criminal conviction and jail to sell dope would suddenly become a law abiding citizen when it comes to paying taxes on selling dope? Please.
How about let’s legalize marijuana because the Federal government has no Constitutional jurisdiction on the matter, or on health care for that matter.
How about let’s start telling the government what freedoms we will allow it to abridge do rather than begging for freedoms they have no right to abridge?

There’s nothing more that you can do against the cartels than legalizing marijuana

The Harm Caused to Individuals and Society by the Use of Marijuana
The view that marijuana is harmless or even “relatively harmless” is a view that is widely shared. That a view is widely shared does not mean that it is a sound view or that it has any basis in knowledge or fact.
Of course, the fact that marijuana is a plant that is widely available in nature has nothing to do with the potential harm that it can do if it is smoked or ingested. To assume otherwise is to engage in vague or magical thinking. It is common knowledge that there are plants and substances of all kinds that are harmful if ingested. For instance, hemlock is deadly as are some mushrooms. Smoking anything has some harmful consequences.
However widely shared a view it may be, the view that marihuana is harmless or even “relatively harmless,” it is a view that reflects a lack of knowledge concerning the immediate and the short term and long term effects of marijuana. It is also a view that reflects a lack of knowledge of the less widely recognized effects of marijuana use of contact highs and flashbacks (spontaneous recurrence of a drug high without using the substance at the time of the recurrence.)
Similarly, the view reflects a lack of awareness of the civil liberties implications of being subject to contact highs and other effects as a result of being in the proximity of those who are using marijuana. Certainly, a rational public policy needs to be based on such a knowledge base.
One way I try to determine what the knowledge base might be of a person who seems unaware of the harmful effects of marijuana is to pose these questions:
• Do you know of research that shows that the use of marijuana can negatively affect motivation, long and short term memory, concentration, judgment, reasoning, and common sense?
• Do you know of the research of Harris Isbell and others who found that there can be idiosyncratic psychotomimetic (psychosis-like) effects from the administration of delta 9 THC in human subjects? (Delta 9 THC is the active principle of marijuana.)
• Do you know of the research findings that marijuana smoke can be inhaled by bystanders who then can experience marijuana highs and idiosyncratic effects?
• Do you know of the research in humans and animals showing the deleterious changes in lung tissue as a result of exposure to marijuana smoke?
• Do you know that contact high and flashback effects can occur as a result of the use of marijuana and do you think that the occurrence of such effects can have any negative consequences?
• Do you see any deleterious impacts to the civil liberties of others, including children, the elderly, mentally impaired, and other sensitive individuals, when they are unwillingly or unwittingly subjected to marijuana smoke or contact highs?
With regard to the policies that are needed when it comes to psychoactive, mind altering substances, I believe that there should be an increasing emphasis on effective diversion programs (including drug court programs) and early intervention with judicial backup but no record if successful re-education and treatment are completed. Such approaches need to go on hand in hand with a massive prevention-education effort aimed at helping dissuade users from using a substance that has such negative effects on the mental, psychological, and physical health of users and on the health and functioning of those in their proximity, as well as on the overall well being of society.
After the conclusions of the deliberations in Independence Hall, Benjamin Franklin was asked later by a woman what kind of a government the new nation had. He is said to have replied: “A republic Madame, if we can keep it.” A new question: If we sanction or tacitly encourage the recreational and/or chronic use of psychoactive, mind-altering drugs, including marijuana, and if we do not actively discourage their use, can we still keep our republic? I think not, since keeping our republic depends on an educated and informed psychologically and mentally healthy and stable citizenry who value the common good and who are capable of bring sound reasoning, good judgment, the exercise of common sense, and understanding to bear on recognizing and addressing exceedingly complex and challenging problems and threats that are currently looming before us.
Answers to the six earlier questions can clearly reflect a very different set of values and assumptions concerning what kind of nation we want America to be, and what kind of nation and what kind of world we want to pass on to the future generations. The answers can also reveal very different knowledge bases concerning the effects of psychoactive, mind-altering drugs and very different perspectives on what constitutes mental and psychological health and what the value of mental and psychological health is. From my vantage point, playing Russian Roulette with anyone’s mental and psychological health is simply not a smart thing to do. Turning any part or all of the United States into an Amsterdam or letting it evolve into an Amsterdam would seriously undermine our capacity to realize the promise of America and, from my perspective, it would throw to the winds the great gifts that the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us and entrusted to our keeping, the same gifts that following generations have fought and are fighting to keep.
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See GordonDrugAbusePrevention on the web.

I used to live with two other people, one was an avid pot smoker, one had “stopped” pot smoking, and I am against smoking pot. For the most part while I lived with them I smelled pot coming from the smoker’s room almost every night, often waking up to the smell of it. When living with them I had feelings of anxiety and sleeplessness, and while they were initially the night before exams, I never had these panic attacks before, and even on exams that meant more and were much harder. One night the three of us were playing a friendly poker game with a few other guys for mere pocket change ($5 from each of us). About mid-way through they all decide they’re gonna get high, and I say “go ahead, I’m not going to do that stuff”. It was a few days later that I learned the roommate that quit had started doing pot again. I moved out a bit later, and since the sleeplessness and anxiety attacks are gone. My exam grades increased almost immediately, and now I have my own place.
By the way, pot is delusional, because I hear the same arguments for legalizing pot everytime this conversation comes up.
P.S. I won the poker game, the avid pot smoker was too stoned to keep playing, gave up and went to bed shortly after we started up again.

Best idea I’ve heard from liberal in three years.
I would support health care reform if someone could explain to me a way to pay for it.
I would DEFINITELY support it if pot was legalized to pay for it.
But Politicians care too much about controlling peoples lives.

Unlike making beer, wine or hard liquor, growing high quality marijuana requires very little in the way of skills or equipment. It would be exceedingly difficult to keep track of who is growing and selling small quantities. Good luck trying to tax it.

This is overdue. Most people simply dont understand the history behind this prohibition. It’s largely due to the lunatic crusade of Harry Anslinger in the 30′s. All studies from LaGuardia’s unbiased six year study to todays studies have shown no ill efects, but have been silenced by decades of propoganda. Pot is no more dangerous (in fact less) than alcohol and tobacco. Legalize it, tax it, and use the money for drug education and health care.

legalize it

To all of you that support pot legalization. Lets make ALL drugs legal, why stop at marijuana? Why not sell cocaine, crack, etc door-to-door, or at the Pharmacy, maybe get a subsidy from Medicare? Surely if Pot is good for you then the other drugs must be MUCH better? Don’t you think??

Our son died of a brain cancer at age 42. Without the pot my wife and I bought in some dangerous places from scary people, our son’s last days would have been worse. “War on drugs”? What a cruel joke!

Jethro, Conjectures pure conjectures, you almost sound like a young blind Reagan, what is in it for you? Bottom line, Alcohol is one of worst mind altering substance out there, where we loose close to 100,000 people a year to it, that is like more than 4 flu season in one year, do you see it in the news? NO, ask your self why?…..
Not one person has dies from Cannabis and it is practically none habit forming, it should be compare more with coffee or beer (a beverage with very low amount of the drug alcohol). So it is wrong to paint everything with a broad brush and making it sound as if Cannabis will bring more “Health and social problems” or more “collateral damage” or a “repeat” of the problems Alcohol has giving us?
And you say “keep the criminals engaged in what they have now and round them up”? are you mad? You sound like a policeman. (making sure there is job security).
Learn more of what Cannabis is, and how it helps the body, don’t run with what the media tells you. You know?, the media that never tells you that more people die from the drug “Alcohol” than all the other drugs combine,(don’t forget to keep Cannabis out of this statistic because no one has die from it).
Again you comment is all conjecture, nothing else.

Is there anything or anyone the democrats don’t want to tax?

Yeah thats what I want, some drug head or drunk flying my airliner, or driving my kids school bus.

legalize pot… yeah so we can have even more unmotivated idiots who waste their money on the stuff, thinking that by being mellow, all their problems will blow by (trust me, ive worked with a number of them, and all of them are still living with their parents) besides, once weve grown tired of pot, like cigarettes, and alcohol, we’ll want to legalize cocain until those columbian lords turn into legitimate buisness men.

This is complete idiocy, not because we should or should not legalize marijuana.
It is idiocy because we can not possibly tax pot enough to pay for a trillion dollar plus program. If we put the amount of tax necessary to cover Health Care the cost would be as high or higher than it is now. The black market would continue, people would grow it at home and you would end up with little or no revenue.

Freedom cannot exist without personal responsibility
Legalize drugs and dump this healthcare reform farce. Use the money savings to pay the debt and cut personal/business taxes. In fact, end all entitlements for all those physically and mentally capable of working.
A society that rewards based on need, creates needy citizens. Reward based on ability and it will create able ones.

I thought the Repubs were all about personal freedoms, and not letting the Government take away liberties and so on. You know, all the same stuff that the rest of the Country has been screaming about for the past 40-50 years. Yet there are still those that keep going with the whole REEFER MADNESS argument. I can’t believe that with the insanity we are going through in this economic nightmare, that there are still so many that are happy to see billions of our tax dollars wasted on pot. God made pot, man made beer. Who you gonna trust?

wonderful…just what we need, folks using their government hand out check to buy their legalized drugs so they can sit on their butts and be happier while they wait on next months government hand out check
This is the world the Democrats want anyway…thanks for helping them get you there. A subdued and quiet public is a controlled public. Apparently not much more brainwashing is needed from teh looks of these comments.

rdworking, kind woman that he married over 30 years ago. I am a business owner and a respectable member of my community. In fact, UNLESS I told you, you would NEVER, EVER guess that in the privacy of my home, I ENJOY smoking a joint.

How ridiculous is it that marijuana is illegal? Here in Michigan, as probably every other part of the country, we heavily fund our drug task forces. They can’t seem to find much else to do other than harass and attempt to bust state-licensed medical marijauana patients, while the announcement was made that once again, we will cut another couple-hundred dollars in per-pupil school funding.
The drug warriors parrot their usual mantra about it being “for the kids.” So, I ask the question, What’s more relevant in regard to doing something that benefits “the kids”? Busting medical marijuana users (or even recreational users) or providing school funding?

Here’s my thing, is the war on drugs working? I seen the brain on drugs commericial, to the guy at the payphone talking about how prescription drugs are to blame for his lack of drug sales, and just say no to drugs. I could care less about who uses what to get high. Obviously it’s not working, there’s meth, coke and crack-cocaine still out there, besides weed, acid, e-pills, prescription drugs, need I say more. Next thing is how much has the war on drugs cost us as taxpayers over the years. Finally, when we get out of our own world and see the world for what it is, maybe people will see that we have much, I mean much bigger problems, than weed, drug possessions and drug busts, for every raid they have, we pay for that as taxpayers, for every weed arrest, either possession or distrubution, we pay taxes on that! So ask yourselves what are you doing so that your kids, your students, your relatives, your peers aren’t taking some drug that can kill them or have them in an abandoned house or alley somewhere!

It is the stigma that scares many people who use smoking pipes to keep it a secret. One of the problems inhibiting legalization is that people who smoke a glass pipe are not considered serious or mature. It is the public to make our choices known and to make sure our voices are heard. With the economy the way it is today this is the best chance to change the law. Send a letter make, send an email make a phone call, every hand written Letter that makes it to a representative is considered to be the voice of thousands of people who did not take the time to write and that is a power we all have.