Prop 19
Proposition 19 is a California ballot proposition which would legalize various marijuana-related activities. The latest polls show it at 51% approval, which would be just enough to get it passed, were it not for the following groups of people ...
Prop 19
A large majority of California's population cares for hippies about as much as Nixon (born there) Reagan (launched his political career there) and Harry Callahan (killed 30% of San Francisco's population in the 70s).
Fortunately for people with Glaucoma, an overwhelming percentage of whom happen to be actor-waiters from the greater Los Angeles area, the state has managed its budget with the efficiency of a stoned teenager who wasn't that bright to begin with. This is the major reason many non-pot smokers are backing the initiative. After all, marijuana is already Kentucky's second largest cash crop, a fact the "Yes on 19" crowd would probably bring up a lot more if sadness and NASCAR beer koozies weren't third and forth.
So with the odds stacked against the pot heads, how do you turn the tide against the stick-in-the-muds who don't want marijuana to be legal? Remind them of 3 simple things that will change if marijuana is decriminalized:
1) It will free up the cops, the courts, and the jails of having to deal with people who's only real crime is having too many episodes of SpongeBob on the TiVo.
2) Once it's legal, it can be taxed, and 57.7% of California's budget is spent on education. So all those burn outs blazing one up on thier couch would now be helping the children.
3) The most compelling argument...if you legalize marijuana, Michael Phelps is a hero again!
TimBabbComedian is a Stand-up Comic, Podcaster, & Full-time Failure. Check him out at TANcast.com/tim
>implying state laws are not overruled by federal laws
Replyenjoy your federal prisons
ps: I support legalized marijuana; i just think that federal law is stupid
Graph (or whatever is the first image) won't load. I even rebooted; not my browser (Chrome), it's you guys.
ReplyWhat are these cartels you speak of? Everyone who wants pot knows someone who grows it local. Also, the Feds don't recognize the legal for medical use laws. Federal laws trump state laws. Stings happen so often they rarely make the front page.
ReplyActually, false, state laws trump federal laws. Look up nullification, it was a big reason the South seceded, and, in case you haven't noticed, there are already many states with laws contradicting federal laws... I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't think you do either.
I'm sorry scranton, but NO state law trumps any Federal laws, if they did there would no reason to have federal laws. Federal laws are mostly constitutional laws, and the constitution overrides any law anybody makes. Just because a local cop can arrest you for something stupid, if there's a Federal law that states you can do it, you'll be released with no charge.
legalizing pot to help public schools>allows public school teenagers to buy and smoke even more pot>more high school drops outs that smoke pot all day>they buy legalized pot, thus helping public schools
Reply Hide All See All 3 Repliesits a vicious, self deprecating cycle. Please, Californians, if you want to throw money away, throw it my way.
Public school teenagers can't legally buy pot. First, it isn't a free-for-all. You need a MEDICAL REASON to get it...granted, it isn't hard to make up some reason, but potheads aren't usually that motivated. You have to be 18 to get it, and dispensaries check ID. It's the little smoke shops that sell bongs that don't check ID
You're pretty stupid if you think people drop out of school to smoke weed. Most people drop out to grow weed and make a shitload more money than you do.
People drop out of high school because high school is stupid, weed may play into that by making you realize more that it IS stupid, but weed is definitely not the major contributor to high school dropouts. Might wanna check up on your facts.
I wish cannabis was legal in England, most of it is grown in my home town and it would free up so much police time to not have to keep breaking down doors in my street.
Replytough s**t, it's not!
deal with it ;)
57.7% of california's budget goes to education?
Reply Hide All See All 5 RepliesThen why is everyone out here so stupid?
Schools are still government-run, and students are taught by unionized teachers, who don't wanna do s**t, so they don't.
Wait, so over half the state's budget is poured in to a system that's doing s**t all with it?
Education also means post secondary education
Pretty much anything government-run, especially schools, can be thought of as doing a chore you hate doing so you either half-ass it, or do just enough of a good job for the end result to be acceptable, but nowhere near exceptional. Like throwing away your trash (literally), missing the bin by thismuch and just leaving it. Good enough, right?
Because we're paying extra for ESL teachers so we can educate all the illegal immigrants so they'll be able to read a ballot and vote democrat. Actually we're ranked 44th in the nation for primary education and our k-12 schools have seen a 27% drop in funding since 2006. If the economy does not grow by the anticipated amount they'll be cutting school bus services in November. Things are not good right now. Years ago we voted for and passed a law to prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving govt services and aid. Our state govt. took it to court against the will of the people to have it overruled. Somehow bankrupting us must benefit the politicians of both parties. They've been determined to do it for the last decade or more.
Thank Heaven this didn't pass due to intelligent stoners voting No, wow what a nightmare for smokers it would have been!
Replys**t would've gotten expensive!
Oh course, there's also the little detail of where it's coming from. If marijuana is illegal, it comes from drug cartels, the people who murder thousands each year while simultaneously destroying the few areas of actual wilderness left because the low population makes it harder for people to catch you and easier for you to murder them when they do. If it's legal, it comes from legitimate farms, creating legitimate jobs, lowering prices (despite the taxation), and putting drug cartels out of business. Sources: Prohibition.
ReplyYou seem to forget that it is still legal medically, and that actually the majority of high quality marijuana comes from co-ops, farms, and dispensaries within the US. Even people without licenses are turned on to this. People with licenses basically smoke for free through being runners for unlicensed people. I just realized I have too much potential to waste my life eating Doritos and watching X-Files all day and now am working on my second bachelor's degree. Pot just wasn't doing it for me, but I would still vote to legalize it. It comes down to a matter of personal liberty.
They forgot to list the biggest reason. The fact that soooooo many people are already depending on income from growing and selling. You make it legal and the price will go down, because it grows out of the ground for free, as God intended.
Reply Hide All See All 4 RepliesBecause you know that's what happened tobacco and alcohol when it became legal. right? People just opened up their gardens and started planting. oh wait... NO. Americans are lazy. we will just buy the inflated price. it's what we do.
It's a weed, JohnLewis... Hence the slang for it. It grows on it's own.
the stuff you grow yourself will still be crap compared to the stuff phillip morris will be growing
We could buy that for special occasions...
From what I can tell, there isn't any real physical health defects from smoking canabis (the only possible thing I can think of would be getting the smoke particles in your lungs). However, it is a memory inhibiter, so that would cause some serious problems for students who get on it. So I find that exposing students to it may cause problems (then again, so many are exposed to it already that I wonder if it would make a significant difference).
Reply Hide All See All 6 RepliesThat's why there would be an age limit, like 18 or 21. Just like with smoking and alcohol.
If you get bad weed you can collapse your lung. I work in respiratory and have seen it plenty of times. Collapsed lung requires a chest tube, which in turn requires a 14 gauge lacerating needle (A.K.A 14 gauge needle with razor blade on the end.) Although I don't think you would call this a health defect. More like a buzzkill. Or if you were alone "accidental death"
weregirly, what do you mean by "bad weed"? the only thing i've ever heard of that could cause this is weed with shards of glass in it, which unscrupulous dealers use to make it look higher quality, and which wouldn't be an issue if you were buying from a legal vendor
legalized and controlled weed would be grown, packaged and sold in accordance with government-enforced standards, hence no bad weed. in theory anyway
Weed does not cause memory inhibition or collapsed lungs.
Are you f*****g serious? Cite a source other than "I heard it from somewhere years ago", because I know from experience and research that neither one of those is even close to true. Just, wow. What are you, the opposition undercover?
The fact remains that putting smoke in your lungs is bad for you, regardless of whatever you're smoking. Granted, weed is not as bad as smoking a speed-ball off a sheet of tin foil, but it's not exactly good for you either.
If you smoke cannabis in a Vaperizer. You dont get any health effects. And you just get the pure form of THC(the active ingredient) and not all the unnecessary chemicals.
ReplyOr,y'know,the government could make pot themselves and sell it,thus making sure the pot is stable,making lots of money,and putting drug cartels out of business.Not to mention how much more affordable it will be.
Reply Hide All See All 4 RepliesThey already do, G-13, Marinol, etc...
Even if they just legalized it for industrial use, not recreational (getting high), they could easilly put a shitload of Americans to work and make billions...
Other companies (and their lobbyists) have different plans though.
Sadly, as I understand it, the government grows pot about as well as it does everything else. That's why even in areas where pot is legal, but government-controlled, the stoners still go for the illegal stuff.
Now, if you get some of those old CIA MK-ULTRA doctors working the grow-ops for the government, you'd be onto something.
Govt. crop: IDK, a friend in college, back in the day, had a very modest G-13 bud and it easilly serviced 8-10 of us. Very strong.
MK-ULTRA: Thought that was the pseudo-weaponized, agent provacateur sphere of influence? Thought they were more interested in 1-upping suspect countries than supporting this one's failing econ. ie) pissing away more $ than making it where it counts.
marinol isnt as effective, and has adverse side effects that doesnt come with going the natural route.
Hippies are annoying etc. Blue states are only blue in the major cities blah. Exploiting potheads for cheap labor is more sustainable than exploiting illegal immigrants. That is the point the non-hippies should focus on.
Reply Hide All See All 3 Repliesf**k the private prisons and booze and ciggerattes. and f**k Big Pharma, THey all waste millions of dollars funding videos and commercials bashing weed.AboveTheInfluence, DrugfreeAmerica. The talking dog commercials.
And they only do it to keep the public thinking weed is the worst thing in the world for you. because if we legalized weed..
hemp would be legalized.. and the only reason they made illegal is because of hemp.. Marijuana has nothing to do with it being illegal. Its not illegal for health reasons. its because hemp is the Robust. strongest. natural renewable resource known to man.. and it will make Billions and Billions of dollars.. because it makes virtaully everything from clothes. to fuel for you car. to plastic. Its mindblowing.
stfu hippie
Leave him alone, he's just high.
Sure, Mary Jane is less harmful than alcohol and probably equally as harmful as cigarettes. But just think, if we legalize it, how will we support the privatized prison business, drug companies that make trillions of dollars off of anti-depressants, booze and cigarette companies that would lose market share, gangsters, drug runners, and DEA agents that would lose a major source of income? Think about them. They have to eat too, guys.
Reply Hide All See All 8 RepliesMarijuana is as harmful as ciggarettes? I'm afraid you're completly mistaken.
@kyle actually galva is partly correct. When you smoke anything it kills cells in your lungs. Your body works overtime to fix this damage because you need O2 to live. Any time a cell in your body divides there is a chance of developing cancer. So in that sense it is just as bad as cigarettes. However nicotine metabolizes into a carcinogen and most cigarettes have cancer causing additives. So really its only slightly better for you in the cancer sense but i t does have other effects on your brain chemistry such as your ability to form and recall memories.
Weed has more tar than regular tobacco (gooey end of a joint vs. the brown/dyish one of a cigarette), but not a glut of other synthetic chemicals. Ironically, the one that actually gets you off and fosters less addiction is better for you in the long run.
But yeah, you're inhaling smoke, essentially, a poison.
Only one person in the history of the world had died thanks to marijuana, and no one is entirely sure how he did it. How many people die every year thanks to cigarettes?
Not saying it's harmless, just saying it's no where near cigarettes.
OD: brownie or ingested per random variable?
You can't smoke enough to OD on THC, that much is known, but I suppose you could eat a REALLY concentrated batch of 'x' maybe?
Thought it was around 25k X's the amount to normally get off that turned into the lethal dose. Not 100% on that quote, but damn...
Everyone is assuming you have to smoke pot to get high, which is totally wrong. There is this thing called a nebulizer which takes the narcotic agents out of the smoke and you can inhale it mixed with regular air. Also its way more potent and clean. Also there is the water hooka which takes a good percentage of the bad stuff out of the smoke as it passes through the water. Its the next millennium, stop getting high the caveman way.
Yes cannabis is much safer then ciggerettes..
Theres no way that a drug (ciggerettes) that kill 400,000 people a year. is more harmful then a god given plant that has no recorded deaths. and 20,000,000 people have smoked.
There no proof that it causes lung cancer. There is no Proof it kills braincells.. It actually kill Prostate cancer cells. and brain cancer cells.. It does not have same cancer causing chemicals that cigarettes have..
And when you do research.. dont go to government funded sites..
They all spew false research and propaganda..
Look at the studies at harverd. Yale, Princeton, They have done studies on cannabis and come to the same conclusion..
ITS TIME TO BRING A HEALTHIER AND SAFER ALTERNATIVE TO THE PUBLIC.
Promarijuana; first off it's spelled "cigarettes". second, tobacco is a plant too. Third, WEED. DOES NOT. CURE CANCER. PEOPLE LIKE YOU DISCREDIT OUR CAUSE AND MAKE US LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF RETARDS.
legalizing all drugs is the best society could hope for,all the deaths of overdose will cleanse the mankind from those retarded addicts.
ReplyYou're going to have to wait a LOOOONG time for potheads to overdose. Not as easy as ODing on the harder stuff.
THC hitting the ld50 is going to be a laughable exercise in death by smoke inhalation.
However...there are plenty of dumb asses that will die uttering "Hey ya'll, watch this!" after blazing up. The rank and file ones will just ride out their highs watching Adult Swim, listening to music, gaming, camping, other lo-fi recreational crap, really.
I think legalizing pot is a horrible idea. I dont know if any of you are being effected by the rediculousness that is, the climbing ciggarette taxes, but that s**t is insane. Could you IMAGINE the taxes on pot? It wouldnt even be worth it to people who smoke alot.Not to mention its pretty much telling kids its okay to do drugs.
Reply Hide All See All 5 RepliesYou mean like parents having their children on anti-ADHD drugs? Or perhaps all the processed food that is so awesome. We'd rather go to the doctor for your drugs, then treat the little kiddies with 5000 calories of McDonalds.......
I'm pretty sure it would still be illegal for kids. As for price, no doubt it would be highly taxed, but that's offset by it no longer being a black market. A recent study by the RAND Corporation concluded the retail price could go down by 80% (not including taxes).
Yes, Entropy is right. Big guv' wants their cut, always do, even though they don't do the R&D, grow, employ, harvest, distribute, or retail end. The biggest scabs of all, really...
Still, it's a shrewd business move for innvoative entrepenuers, hippie rhetoric or no. Just the botany alone supports that. Biomass of a pot plant is huge vs. a tobacco one agriculturally speaking, require very little care and virtually no pesticides, will grow in any biome (desert to tundra & all points in between), and has more applications than just recreational. ie) buds get you high, the stalks are incredibly healthy as a foodstuff, hemp oil is nearly devoid of smoke/particulate matter, hemp itself, etc. Not a perfect plant, but pretty damn close.
It will be well worth it. No matter what tax they put on it. they still undercut the price by 200%. The Cartels are making Billions and Billions from this one plant.. We need to take away the money from murderers and drug dealers. and use it for education, and fighting real drugs
So by that same logic society is telling kids that it's ok to drink alcohol or own a gun or drive a car or watch pornography because those are legal too?
Good article awful most compelling argument....how bout: "They couldnt even get Gay marriage passed" or "Ensure Usain Bolt and Michle Phelps on cover of Sports Illustrated, story centered on "newly discovered lung capacity extension therapy"
Replyhow on EARTH could you think that's how to spell Michael
^Pot, obviously.
Legalize meth!
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesLegalize Killing Drifters
thats retarded..
And will never be considered.
which one, the meth or the drifters?
...I thought the second one was ok...
If it was legalized, in the Amsterdam sense, then alot less people would use it. You take away the forbideness of an act and you take away the thrill, the motivation. Sure people who already use it will continue but alot less people will be bothered to try it. The same way that smoking and drinking lose their edge when your legal. And the same reason why crack is win.
Reply Hide All See All 7 RepliesPot is not appealing because of being illegal but because it makes you feel nice. The same thing with smoking, the countries with the highest % of smokers are countries where people can smoke free.
You'd lose maybe half a %, but gain around 30%, so it ends up with more people smoking, since it's not only cheaper, but you don't have to worry about the pigs stealing it.
I agree with Lyco. Drinking, while still common tanks off after college. And it's a well known statistic that roughly 80% of smokers start before age 18. Almost ALL smokers...were hooked as kids. VERY few legal smoking adults pick up the habit.
Toupoutsou... I'd love to to know where you got your stats from. The Netherlands...Where smoking is generally accepted...Is nowhere near the top as far as percentage of smokers as far as pot is concerned. About 5%..... Compared to the US with 12%.
I'd definitely try it if it ever becomes legal. While I'm curious, finding a dealer and smoking in secret is more haste than I want to put up with. Rebellious kids who want to get away with something are certainly part of the market, but most people have much more practical concerns. Like cost, availability, legality and consistency of the product.
I used to burn regularly. Perhaps I'll pick it up again. Gainful employment is more important than recreational fun, but for now, I digress.
Been to Amsterdam. What I saw was dog s**t (canals, little greenery) & hookers (mostly washed up sad cases) everywhere. None of which were appealing. Weed was so casual, it wasn't a scene, just a facet. No biggie, and yes, their incidence of drug useage is way lower than our's.
300 million Americans. We have the highest incarcerated pop on the planet (yes, even China's). Guess how many are drug offenses.
Actually. we have the highest number of potheads then any other country in the world.. but yet we have the strictest drug laws.
in 1997-2003 cigarette smoking among adults dropped 20%.
You Legalize. Tax the hell out of it, And properly educate.
And if more people smoke,Good for them, they are making a healthier and safer alternative to alcohol and tobacco.
to @toupoutsou
Yeah thats completely not true. The US has a higher % of pot smokers the the Netherlands does, not even taking into account the amount of hard drugs addicts, which is ridiculously low here in the Netherlands. Also from personal experience (me being dutch and having lived in VA for 3 years) the "Weed community" is so much larger there then it is here.
“People think it’s legalization, it’s being sold as legalization—even though it’s the opposite of legalization.” - Dennis Peron, author of Prop. 215 that legalized medical marijuana in California
ReplyRevolverator is right, f**k Prop 19.
Explain how. being able to possess and smoke a joint without being prosicuted as a criminal. and not being able to get a loan, vote, or get a good job isnt legalization..