Absolutely Fastest Way To Legalization

[Max Blast]

As soon as someone can come up with a way for Haliburton to profit from legalization it will happen very quickly.

Better yet, find a way for Haliburton to get a monopoly style of control and it will happen overnight!

regards,
Max Blast

[spiked666killer]

Aint monopoly's illegal in the united states?

[Oneironaut]

Only when the government has a problem with the monopoly in question.

[Markass]

Aint monopoly's illegal in the united states?

Not if they're ran by the government or a big corporation that's paying the government..

[Transition Force]

As soon as someone can come up with a way for Haliburton to profit from legalization it will happen very quickly.

Better yet, find a way for Haliburton to get a monopoly style of control and it will happen overnight!

regards,
Max Blast

Not neccessarily. They could do what the military did in WW2 - have permission to grow fields for the materials, but that's it.

[shilling]

The US government is a monopoly! Democracy our way or we flatten you.

[newactivist]

That's funny, Max! Sad but probably true.

[Dutch Masta]

Legalizing marijuana would be an ENORMOUS change for the economy.

I don't think its going to happen any time soon, but I do think it will happen in my lifetime. So I really do wonder what the world would be like if pot was legal.

[newactivist]

If Arnold signs the hemp bill sitting on his desk, it will happen. The DEA is screwed, as they fought it tooth and nail but it's going through anyway. If California, which has 1/3 of the US population, finishes legalizing it then the oil and timber companies are screwed.

It will not make recreational use legal but it will eliminate a lot of the profit motive keeping it illegal.

[Pride]

So I really do wonder what the world would be like if pot was legal. Crime would be lowered a great deal. I seriously believe that.

[snicklefritz1825]

I'm baked so that sounds so fucking awwwwwsom.

[deftdrummer]

think of it this way. One common claim amid pro legalization supporters is that crime indeed would go down and children would be less likely to be exposed to marijuana because there would be no street market. If it were sold in pharmacies just like every other drug then children would have zero access.

Also consider the fact that those that claim marijuana is a "gateway" drug to other more hard-core drugs obviously didn't stop to think for a second logically cause if they did, they would realize that marijuana could only be considered a gateway drug because most hard core drug dealers also know where to get marijuana if they don't already sell it. Therefore, it can be safe to assume that if marijuana were legal then there would not even be a chance to become a gateway drug. LEGALIZATION AND REGULATION!

[Markass]

I read an article, and sifted a few interesting lines out..

The thesis that I want to advance today is that the drug war and the laws that prohibit the private consumption of certain drugs are un-Constitutional. Prohibition laws, themselves, violate every tenet of limited government that is embodied in our Constitution.

To begin, let me pose a question: why was it necessary to amend the Constitution in order to prohibit the drug alcohol? And, while you are cogitating on that: how is it possible to prohibit other drugs without going through the formal amendment process? Well, I think, in order to answer these questions, it's necessary to take a look at what the Constitution is supposed to be.

I'd like to pose a hypothetical here that we can use for the purposes of analysis. Let's posit the existence of a drug that is 100% addicting and potentiates violence in its users 100% of the time. I think we'd have a very clear case of there being a compelling state interest to get itself involved in prohibiting this drug on the grounds that the state is protecting the rights of the non-users. Well, suppose we begin reducing those percentages. Let's suppose that we're talking about a drug that is 15% addictive and potentiates violence in some lesser percentage of its users. We have an empirical answer for that:

I've just described alcohol. And, just for another for instance, let's suppose that we have a drug that is 90% addictive but doesn't seem to correlate with violence at all. Again, empirically we have an answer: I've just described cigarettes.

And finally -- uh, and I think that this is the most frightening prospect in this whole thing -- consider this: if a state government can come up to you and can say, you may not pass delta-9-THC -- the principal intoxicant in marijuana - you cannot pass that across your blood-brain barrier, what is to prevent a state from saying at some point in the future, you _must_ pass drug X -- let's call it soma like in _Brave New World_ -- you must pass soma across your blood-brain barrier? I guess what I'm arguing is that the government has intruded into your biochemical and physiological brain and in principle, once the government can do this, then in principle the government can control any part of your body.

Hmm...

[newactivist]

Nothing is more permanent than a governments "temporary measures". Governments, by their very nature and the nature of people drawn to them, are in a constant struggle for control and power.

Like the Bible says, moderation in everything. We can't live without government controls in a society worth having but too much control is a recipe for social unrest and disaster. Every now and then government needs to get pruned back just like a Bush, so it doesn't grow too large and kills the whole garden.

Tee hee!

[bud breath420]

Do you think If George Bush by some intoxicating coke snort came to his senses and legalized weed? would the rest of the world follow suite? Im thinking yes.. Im also thinking im a little high for politics.. do you know what i mean or have i had just a little too much?

[Myth1184]

I believe fastest way is to Abandon the Bullchit Medical Marijuaa argumet, and just get to the staight fact that 50%...if not more of the US population smokes weed...

[binger]

Max Blast, I think you have the key item in the delay in making cannabis legal - the hook for making money.

Deftdrummer, I'd reconsider making the argument regarding children. By making cannabis legal, it could likely make it more accessible to children. Take alcohol as an example. If alcohol were illegal, I believe that it would probably be abused less by children. Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe that cannabis should be legalized. I just don't want to give opponents fuel to keep in from happenning. By the way, cool quote :)

[Hamlet]

"Take alcohol as an example. If alcohol were illegal, I believe that it would probably be abused less by children."

I have to disagree your statement. Alcohol is illegal for children. Therefore it becomes a 'right of passage' into adulthood and something a child can't wait to do. In other countries where a child drinks wine at the table along with adults, he's more likely to want a soda pop. It's no big deal. I've never met anyone yet who really liked their first beer, glass of wine, etc. A child's tastes are going to gravitate in different directions. In such countries they have less incidents of alcoholism statistically than we do.

We call ourselves 'the land of the free'....let's really live free and accept responsibility for our own actions instead of having the Government choose for us.

[binger]

Hamlet, I should have elaborated on my theory a bit .... my point was that the reduced accessibility would make it more difficult for children to get. So long as you can walk into a store and buy it legally, such as for a younger person, or by using fake identification, I think it will be more easily accessible to children. However, I do agree with your point regarding the image children have of alcohol, 'right of passage'.

I believe a lot of things would lose their appeal if they were decriminalized and/or age restrictions lifted. That doesn't mean that I support underage drinking. I just believe that the restrictions we place on things like alcohol and cannabis make them more appealling to children.

[newactivist]

Is anyone under any illusion whatsoever that marijuana is far easier to get in our schools right now than alchohol is? It wasn't when I was in high school 20yrs ago, I'm sure that hasn't changed. Anyone at that age who wants either one can get it, but in school they have to wait to get alchohol until after class. With weed they are sitting next to the person supplying them.

Having it legal won't change accessibility. It would be difficult to overeastimate how available it already is in our schools. Our government is spending too much time trying to close the fence after all the cows not only ran away, but got swiped by the local thugs and served with garlic and seasoning!

I absolutely agree with your statement about underage drinking making it a right of passage. This is one of the real gateways.