Want it legalized? Let's try this train.

[420izzle]

There is a whole lot of talk on Obama and Clinton vs. Romney and blah. But none of these people support the cause we love like Bill Richardson - the current Governor of New Mexico. Do you want a compassionate president? Then support Bill Richardson for President and inform, not only tell, others of this candidate. Please visit this site Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee (http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/) and let's get a REAL person in office! "We have to undo the damage, the world is waiting." - Bill Richardson

[mrdevious]

But you haven't clearly specified, does he support legalization? I went to his site and saw nothing about it, but then there were very few things in the "issues" section (As with any politician's website really). Anywhoo if he's the governor of New Mexico he certainly didn't do it there.

[skatin_foo15]

well i think hes just assuming he will be a step closer to legalization. new mexico i think is the newest state to allow medicinal marijuana? so obviously he has some insight into how it helps people? i dunno, im half awake, i have no weed...

[BizzleLuvin]

well i know that Dennis Kucinich, while he has not stated directly that he supports legalization, has stated that he is against prohibition.

from his website:My position on this issue is to face it directly, though other politicians run away from it. I agree with the many law enforcement officials and experts in the field that we must find a new way of dealing with illegal drugs.

I have studied the issue for decades and recognize that our "War on Drugs" has failed. In fact, because our War on Drugs drives up the price, it encourages violence. Prohibition simply doesn't work. It only creates thousands and thousands of Al Capones. Prison should be for people who hurt other people, not themselves. We don't jail people for merely drinking. We jail people when they drink and drive or hurt another human.

Drug use can and should be reduced. But a continuation of our current War on Drugs will not do it. Instead, the current policies have only helped increase drug use and foster violence across the country. California was able to cut teenage tobacco use in half with a straightforward ad campaign that was financed by a tax on cigarettes. Not a shot was fired.

The supporters of the drug war have only one solution to this debacle -- more money for law enforcement, more people, more power, more prisons -- with no end in sight. Of course, these happy drug warriors who justify their living hunting down drug users come on TV and promise us that they see light at the end of the tunnel. They promised us a drug-free America by 1995, and instead we see new and more exotic drugs constantly being added to the mix.

I know that proponents of the Drug War will say that I am pro-drugs. I am not. As mayor of Cleveland, I saw first-hand the damage done by addiction to drugs, including alcohol. I also witnessed that the wasted resources and collateral damage did not promote a safe society. It is unconscionable that only one bed exists for every ten people that apply for drug treatment. Our priorities and our resources are being put in the wrong place. The primary job of law enforcement should be protecting our country and its citizens -- not protecting people from themselves.

The shredding of our rights to privacy and property promoted by the Drug War is inconsistent with a free society. Criminalization of private or self-destructive behavior is not acceptable in a free nation.

The racism evident in the Drug War, and the clearly preferential treatment for offenders with connections, undermine our concept of a just society. Draconian prison sentences that dwarf those for violent crimes, like murder and rape, destroy respect for our laws.

The rampant corruption of the criminal justice system spawned by the $400 billion-a-year black market could be ended with the stroke of a pen. So also would be the wholesale devastation we have brought to other countries. Countries like Colombia, where we send billions of dollars of military aid and spray hundreds of thousands of acres of populated land with dangerous herbicides in a country with nearly a million displaced people. And each military campaign or spraying is like a squeezing a balloon; production merely shifts to another site or goes into a temporary hiatus.

Drug addiction is a medical and moral problem that should be treated by professionals, not dumped on the criminal justice system. Setting up a national commission of medical professionals to develop an intelligent program, based on the experience of drug experts from around the world, would be a first step. Allowing doctors to treat drug addiction humanely and intelligently, including the prescription of maintenance doses, would allow us to quickly eliminate most of the black market and much of the damage to a safe, free, and just America.

It is time for an honest dialogue on this issue. Time to stop the documented lies, half-truths, and propaganda that got us into this mess in the first place. It is time to face the facts."


i'm registered Green, i would have registered Socialist but there's not a large enough party in my state. but so far neither Ralf Nader nor Elaine Brown have officially announced that they are running. I know that Ms. Brown is pro-decriminalization. (cool fact about her too-she was a former Black Panther.) so when the primaries come around, i'll have nobody to vote for unless i re register as a democrat. i do like the democratic platform but I do not trust the corporate bi-partisan party system. we shall see what happens

[Oneironaut]

Electoral politics will not bring about legalization. Prohibition will end only when there have been some massive overhauls in the public understanding of cannabis, to the point where the average person can clearly see the immorality of the current situation, and the people in power are forced to cave in. It doesn't really matter who you vote for; popular misconceptions will continue to drive public policy as long as they are popular. Even if by some miracle Tommy Chong got elected president and found some way to use his executive power to legalize weed overnight, the popular misconceptions would still be there and it would not be long before they took over again.

[slipknotpsycho]

call me pessimisitic, but i really do see another anti-weed (or atleast someone who doesn't give a flying shit) being elected =/....

anyways, like i've said before, lots of states are starting to legalize it.... and states who aren't legal but put it on the ballot had amazingly close results....

i think legalization, is already in the process, but that's what it is, a process... as with most anything, it takes seconds to make a wrong, but it can take time to make it right again...

[IntoTheEther]

I dunno about Kucinich or Richardson, but Obama has admitted that he's smoked pot and even gone as far as cocaine (which I think it a stupid drug, but whatever), so he can't be that against drugs...

[LazySmoking420]

weed will not be legalized in are life-time...

carry on with the thread..

[LazySmoking420]

I dunno about Kucinich or Richardson, but Obama has admitted that he's smoked pot and even gone as far as cocaine (which I think it a stupid drug, but whatever), so he can't be that against drugs...

Obama is a former drug addict...turned sober. I doubt he supports weed.

[A Scanner Darkly]

weed will not be legalized in are life-time...

carry on with the thread..

Man, I'm only 21 and my life-time (with advances in medicine and food) will probably be over 100 years. I'd like to think that humans aren't so fucked up that in the next 80 years we won't see the legalization of weed in at least some places.

And that "are" should be "our". :stoned:

Doesn't Ron Paul have some good views on marijuana? Marc Emery seems to support him.

[Awill3449]

Obama is a former drug addict...turned sober. I doubt he supports weed.
WOAH. Addict? Where did you hear that? (source...)

But I agree that he probably isn't pro-legalization. I bet he would be in favor of medicinal, but I don't know that for sure.

[skatin_foo15]

weed will not be legalized in are life-time...

carry on with the thread..

Thats along time to think about. It seems each year a new state is legalizing medicinal marijuana. I agree it wont be any time soon by any means. In 15 years I think alot of states will legalize medicinal use. And probably 10 years after that states might start making it legal. but i dunno thats just what i think will happen.

[420izzle]

Obama doesn't support legalization, and I don't think any of the candidates that have a chance, unfortunately, support it yet. Richardson was instrumental in the New Mexico's legalization for medicinal purposes going as far as meeting one-on-one with the people that mattered. That's what strikes me about him, he's willing to do that and compared to our current Pres., that is astounding. He's a leader and a proven international one at that...and he's COMPASSIONATE. Dennis Kusinich doesn't strike me as a compassionate individual, but perhaps I need to look into him some more.