Two States Legalize Cannabis

Husker_x

Husker_x

New member
Colorado and Washington state both passed legalization measures.

Finally, the shift begins. With an Obama win I think this means the beginnings of sensible policy.

Here's hoping.

 
Didn't he campaign against the legalization of said drug??

Out here it's a medical issue
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or will that be folded into the new healthcare bill too?
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tschu said:
Still federally illegal, so smoke all you want until the DEA shows up at your door
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that's where the president can have impact, by instructing the justice department to not pursue cases. Same kinda deal where many states have taken simple possession over to a civil fine, like a parking ticket, instead of the federal guidlines.

 
Well I live in Colorado (voted for it) but I am not sure how this is going to work. So, will I be able soon to walk into the local convenience shop and buy a half ounce? How are the feds going to ignore the suppliers? More questions than answers at this point.

 
strigori said:
that's where the president can have impact, by instructing the justice department to not pursue cases. Same kinda deal where many states have taken simple possession over to a civil fine, like a parking ticket, instead of the federal guidlines.
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This.

And even if Obama changes his position on recreational and medicinal marijuana, the problem is he'll have a House of Representatives that will herp-a-derp over the mere notion of legalizing it. Unless it's a package deal, the best we can hope for in the next two to four years is the Federal Government looking the other way for states that legalize.

At least any pro-marijuana legal challenges should see a friendly Supreme Court in the future, what with Obama's appointments and all.

JJHusker1 said:
Well I live in Colorado (voted for it) but I am not sure how this is going to work. So, will I be able soon to walk into the local convenience shop and buy a half ounce? How are the feds going to ignore the suppliers? More questions than answers at this point.
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As long as the production, distribution, and sale all happen within the confines of Colorado, they'll just look the other way.

Intrastate traffic, though, will probably be shut down.

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Also, here's an interesting article on why the legalization of recreational marijuana in the U.S. would be the best thing for Mexico in fighting the drug cartels that are taking that country over:

Link

While tough police and military operations on both sides of the border have largely failed to slow the cartels, legalization would be "the biggest structural shock suffered by drug trafficking in Mexico since the massive arrival of cocaine in the late eighties," the researchers wrote.
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...research suggests that cartels earn $6 billion each year from marijuana sales in the United States. If Washington, the state most likely to pass its ballot measure, does so, IMCO reports it will cut the cartels' income by $1.37 billion, or about 23% of their revenue (though some cartels will be hit harder than others).
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This would happen...because the infrastructure created by these ballot initiatives would result in cheaper and higher-quality domestic production of marijuana, which would also have less far to travel to reach its customers.
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tschu said:
Still federally illegal, so smoke all you want until the DEA shows up at your door
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People who smoke Marijuana will smoke it regardless if it's illegal or not. The DEA is not going to show up to small time user's houses and arrest them. They may try to enforce federal law on the suppliers like they are trying to do with the medicinal mj out in California but, the state of Colorado has done a good job of keeping the feds away from it's med. marijuana program. I would expect to see similar results happen with full legalization.

 
People also seem to overestimate law enforcement's interest in continuing to police a substance that half of Americans have tried and ten percent use on a regular basis. Obama can and likely will have a positive impact in this area. I don't expect a federal initiative to legalize the substance, but state by state by state we are seeing continuous victories in the medical, decriminalization, and now legalization movements. Cannabis is now a political winner, with a majority of Americans supporting a tolerant policy change.

This is a huge first step. Given the momentum (and the world of practical sense legalization makes) it's hard not to be optimistic.

 
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