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This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
That 'Legalize Medical Marijuana' Thing: Not a Joke

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HoldingCompany
05/08/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
I don't smoke the stuff, but my 17 year old son got caught with a pipe of it.We had one of two options: Guilty for paraphernalia pipe possession (one year) probation on his first offense or 30 days probation on the marijuana charge. Add to this court cost,lawyer fees and fines. A cash cow for local jurisdictions.

We took the longer sentence plea bargain because of Question 35 on Federal Student Aid Loans (FAFSA).What Question 35 means is you can be a convicted rapist, murder or pedophile and get student finical aid. Caught with a joint of marijuana and you are denied a college loan. We have Bill Clinton and the 1997 Education Act to thank for that one.

Stop this nonsense! Legalize and tax the stuff.
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OldTowneTavern
05/08/09

@HoldingCompany: That is just insane!
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britneyspearstears
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
It's funny that it would take the economy going to shit for this to happen.
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AvenueOfTheStrongest
05/08/09

@britneyspearstears: It got a black man elected President. When things suck progress happens! Before this is over we'll have a handicapped transgendered Filipino Supreme Court justice.
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britneyspearstears
05/08/09

@AvenueOfTheStrongest: Good point. Fair enough.
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Tart of Darkness
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
Happy to pay 20% taxes! Heck! I'll pay 'em twice. I mean, you know, later.
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AvenueOfTheStrongest
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
The real mint isn't what the government would take in taxes, it's what it'd save in police, courts, and jails. Plus, many of those people who would be in prison for having small amounts of pot on them might instead be working, and paying income tax.
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CosmoChamois
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
Nic Fit asked about moving on to the debate about medical cocaine. No need for that. Cocaine and meth are both Scedule II substances. Both have accepted medical uses and both are availible at pharmacies now. Neither are used that much because the DEA really scrutinizes prescriptions of these drugs, but cocaine is used as a topical anesthetic and meth is used to treat narcolepsy and ADHD. Meth is sold under the brand name "Desoxyn."

Marijuana will end up being legalized and regulated similar to the manner we regulate alcohol. I seriously doubt drugs like cocaine and meth will ever be regulated that way. We'll probably see laws changed to treat abuse and addiction more as health issues than criminal issues, but when marijuana is legalized most of the "anti-drug war" activism will evaporate. Support for legalizing marijuana is approaching a majority. One national poll by Zogby just came out where 52% were for it. Several recent polls have shown that over 40% of voters are for it. Support for legalizing all drugs isn't anywhere close to that high. We will probably never see majority support for legalizing drugs like meth and cocaine. It's not going to happen. It's not something we need to worry about.
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BaconCat
05/07/09

@CosmoChamois: Couldn't agree more. I'd also say it's going to have to come from aggressive states, making the tax revenue/reduced jail/civil liberties args. They'll succeed, be struck down by the supreme court, and do it again, nonetheless, other progressive states and some non-prog weed-lovin' states (I'm looking at you, Alaska) will follow suit.

And yeah, no one is ever going to legalize meth. It's so bad that anti-drug commercials actually work by simply showing what happens to people who use it.
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StandishPegasus
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
This could be the best thing to come out of the Bush Depression.

Dope will get you through times of no money better
than money will get you through times of no dope.
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dirtybee
05/07/09

@StandishPegasus: I should get that stitched onto a pillow.
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Colonel Mustard
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
The best part of that picture is the Frito Lay sampler pack hidden in the background. Those dudes are prepared.
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Steve Holt's Mother Part Deux
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
Well, Arnie isn't running for re-election, and he likes to get his lid on, so what's he got to lose?
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Nic Fit
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
Great, can we now please move on to the debate about medical cocaine?
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lobstr
05/07/09

@Nic Fit: or perhaps revisit therapeutic MDMA..
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Muggs Bigglesworth
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
Oh, Arnold. You so crazy.

[www.connietalk.com]

/how do I insert pics?
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Sophie needs to study...damn
05/07/09

@Muggs Bigglesworth:

/type: '

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Miss Anita Manbadly
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
Now we need a new acronym. Should we use Weed, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (WATF)? Mary Jane, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (MJATF)? Icky Sticky, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ISATF)?

And then, let's have Project Fashion Runway Show make their contestants design the new uniforms for this newly-acronymed entity. Fun for all!
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NexusRanger
05/07/09

@Yeah but no but yeah: How about Weed, Handguns, Alcohol and Tobacco: WHAT?

or

GWB-C: Guns, Weed, Booze, Cigs (already Texas state motto)

HART: Handguns, Alcohol, Reefer and Tobacco (also a standard checklist before leaving the house)
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monkeyrotica
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
Revenue generator? Maybe. Crime reducer? Definitely.
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Uncle_Billy_Slumming
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
You could worked in my new coinage: The "WeedNeeder Card"
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Eldritch
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
How is this hard? For fuck's sake, tax them like cigs and liquor, make sure the supply is safe, have age restrictions, and then make a mint off the taxes. We're not talking about legalizing heroin here, it's just weed.
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mfnher
05/07/09

In reply to This Recession Will Legalize Weed Before It's Over
NPR did a story about this on 4/20. It didn't make it sound like weed was that big of a money maker. I was all for legalization until I heard the story. Plus, I thought about parents smoking up in front of their children. One can have a glass of wine and still be a functional parent, but it's hard to be a little bit stoned.
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mfnher
05/07/09

@mfnher: [www.npr.org]
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smartastic
05/07/09

@mfnher: not really. you just have one or two hits, not a full joint or bowl. that's how i smoke, if at all, these days.
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BaconCat
05/07/09

@mfnher: Parents who smoke spark up in front of thier kids anyway. Using your wine analogy, what about the parent who packs away the whole bottle in front of their kids. Should the government come into their house and make sure they only have 1 glass of wine? Or should they do what they do now, which is stay back, tax the parent on the bottle and if the drinking, along with other things becomes a serious harm, intervene in defense of the child?
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mfnher
05/07/09

@smartastic: Maybe, as with alcohol, smoking pot changes as you get older. Not so much about getting completely stoned as it is about relaxing a bit. I guess I've only ever thought about the way we used to smoke when I was younger. The stronger the weed the better. I'd be interested to see how many people share the same smoking habits as you.
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agameofchess
05/07/09

@mfnher: You know the country is ready for legalization when NPR starts doing 4/20 stories.
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Colander
05/07/09

@mfnher: I get what your saying, but the legalization might be inevitable (coming down to choice blahblah), but I know a couple with a one-year-old, and they smoke, but NEVER in the same room as the kid. Never even on the same floor, and they only do it if the kid is asleep.
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Colonel Mustard
05/07/09

@mfnher: Well, it's hard to be a good parent if you leave a running power saw in the nursery and then go lock yourself in your bedroom, too. People who would get too stoned to care for their children are the same people who already get too stoned to care for their children, or too drunk, or too absent, or whatever else.

I understand your point, but I don't think it's consequential to the argument at hand. After all, we have all the legal tools we need right now to be bad or neglectful parents. Legalizing pot wouldn't make anyone more irresponsible, it would just give the already irresponsible people one more way to fuck up. Which they would do anyway, regardless.
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homoviper
05/07/09

@mfnher: I share those smoking habits. I'm not saying I don't ever get really high, but what I am saying is that more regularly, I just want to take a hit or two at the end of the day to unwind.
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Art_Yucko
05/07/09

@mfnher: True- Mom & Pop putting down a bottle of Pinot-Grige in front of the kid doesn't chemically affect the kid (it certainly never did in my case.) Hotboxing, though?
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Mount_Prion
05/07/09

@Art_Yucko: Who the hell is going to hotbox a room with their kid in it? That's like that fucker who built a bong with his cat inside of it. It's real, it's on gizmodo, but I am too high and lazy to look it up.
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PandoraSpocks
05/07/09

@BaconCat: Word. Shoulda legalized it 30 years ago and taxed it like cigs.
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Cheap Shot
05/07/09

@mfnher: Nobody has ever uttered the word's "my dad used to beat me when he got stoned".

My friend has two kids and has gotten stoned daily and is the best mother I've seen.
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