View Full Version : Marijuana Legalization Bills Introduced In Massachusetts


JohnnyD
03-24-2009, 08:39 AM
Brief quote from the article:
A pair of bills — House Bill 2929 and Senate Bill 1801 — seeking to “tax and regulate the cannabis industry” have just been introduced in the Massachusetts legislature.
http://blog.norml.org/2009/03/23/norml-breaking-news-marijuana-legalization-bills-introduced-in-massachusetts/

Now, when this was first mentioned in California, I said that it was only a matter of time before we saw similar proposals in MA. It seems every Against-the-grain law CA passes, MA is shortly behind. I thought it would be at least a year or so.

RIJIMMY
03-24-2009, 10:22 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGsEt-qtOqs

fishbones
03-24-2009, 10:38 AM
Peter Tosh was/is great. Probably didn't get as much recognition as he deserved because of his crappy disposition and problems with authority.

RIJIMMY
03-24-2009, 10:43 AM
he also had this "Marley" complex where he thought he deserved the recognition Bob received.

cheferson
03-24-2009, 12:19 PM
It seems the new drug tsar Norm Stamper and new attorney general have positive views of medical use and decriminalization too. The attorney general recently said the feds would no longer go after medical clinics/users of marijuana. The new drug Tsar when asked which drugs hed legalize , he answered "All of them, every last one.I bet other states will soon follow.Two recent studies by academics at Harvard and Virginia's George Mason University suggest the U.S. government could see a windfall of anywhere from $14 to $40 billion annually through decriminalization of marijuana. The figures combine law enforcement savings and potential marijuana tax revenues.

Iam all for the legalization of all drugs, hard and soft. Take the money away from all the drug dealers and criminals selling and smuggling it. Have the drugs sold and taxed by the goverment, who use the money for treatment and health care. Make drugs cheap so no one needs to rob to support their habit. Nurses could be at distrubution centers to help with health care and to offer rehab to anyone who needs it , for as long as it takes for them to recover. Its much cheaper to have someone in rehab , then locked up in jail. If we cant keep drugs out of the prison system , where people are under 24 hour supervision. How do they ever expect to keep them out of a free society????

buckman
03-24-2009, 12:28 PM
I hope I don't see the day when everyone acts this dopey!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNu9xjUwPEk

leo33
03-24-2009, 07:10 PM
i hope some day people do not judge others for their choices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryLqfNwSSFE

Nebe
03-24-2009, 08:04 PM
Bongs!! Everyone will need bongs!!!!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

spence
03-24-2009, 08:14 PM
I hope I don't see the day when everyone acts this dopey!
I'd hope I was that composed answering tough questions as the leader of the free world.

You, I'd guess wouldn't do so well.

-spence

JohnnyD
03-24-2009, 11:16 PM
I hope I don't see the day when everyone acts this dopey!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNu9xjUwPEk

Now you're recycling videos? Come on, at least get back to being creative.

Raven
03-25-2009, 04:33 AM
it's about space

it's time to join the human Race.... la la la :buds:

buckman
03-25-2009, 08:51 AM
I'd hope I was that composed answering tough questions as the leader of the free world.

You, I'd guess wouldn't do so well.

-spence

WTF Spence. Tough questions???

If that was Bush you would laugh your ass off.

buckman
03-25-2009, 08:53 AM
Now you're recycling videos? Come on, at least get back to being creative.

I thought that was funny, Sorry JD. I need a little sensitivity training. I forget how on edge the Obamarites are.

cheferson
03-25-2009, 09:29 AM
Little opposition seen to decriminalization of marijuana
March 24, 2009 - projo.com

PROVIDENCE — No one seems to be getting worked up about a bill before the General Assembly that would decriminalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, making it a civil violation punishable by fine rather than jail time.

At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, only three people — a former New Jersey police detective, a spokesman for a convict assistance agency and a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union — testified about the bill. All were in favor of it.

No one from the attorney general’s office, the governor’s office or any other state agency appeared to oppose it. Nor was there anyone from the state’s law enforcement agencies to speak a negative word.

Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for Governor Carcieri, said it would be premature for the governor to comment on a bill that has not been voted on by either the House or the Senate, since it could change in any number of ways during that process. If it’s approved, she said, the governor would take a position on the bill as passed. The state Health Department, which had opposed last year’s medical marijuana bill, had no position and the state’s drug court officials declined to comment as well.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch’s spokesman, Michael Healey, said with literally hundreds and hundreds of bills introduced each session, Lynch had to pick the ones that most closely affected his office’s operations or legislative priorities. He said the marijuana decriminalization bill was not one of them. Healey added Lynch had supported the medical marijuana law.

Pawtucket Police Chief George L. Kelley III, president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs’ Association, also declined to comment, either personally or on his organization’s behalf, saying the bill “is not on our radar.”

The Assembly last year overrode a Carcieri veto to legalize marijuana for medical uses. A new bill sponsored by Sen. Leo R. Blais, R-Coventry, would not make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana legal, but it would reduce penalty for such possession from up to a year of jail time to a civil violation with a maximum $100 fine and forfeiture of the marijuana. The laws concerning possession with intent to sell would not be changed.

Sen. Charles J. Levesque, D-Portsmouth, vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he thought that with the state facing such a difficult time with its budget, fiscal issues might shunt the Blais bill aside, at least this year.

Blais said he thought his bill had a 60-percent chance of passing this session. He attributed the lack of vocal opposition to last year’s passage of the medical marijuana law, saying it showed support for easing the penalties concerning a small amount of the drug.

“We approved medical marijuana,” Blais said. “That was the fight. That horse is already out of the barn and in the next field.”

JohnnyD
03-25-2009, 09:33 AM
I thought that was funny, Sorry JD. I need a little sensitivity training. I forget how on edge the Obamarites are.

I'm not on edge. I just expect a little bit of effort and originality.:laughs:
That video has already been discussed.

JohnnyD
03-25-2009, 09:41 AM
Little opposition seen to decriminalization of marijuana

For a state that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US and is on its way to bankruptcy, I'm surprised they aren't trying to follow in California's (and now Mass') footsteps with legalizing and taxing.

It is however, interesting that *no one* showed up in opposition. There was quite the uproar here when that proposal was put on the ballet and again after it passed. The most opposition seems to come from Law Enforcement and Extreme Conservatives (yeah, a bit redundant to say). I can understand the Law Enforcement concerns, but I question why a group who's founding principle is "less government, less regulation" would be against policy that represents that principle.

fishbones
03-25-2009, 09:59 AM
For a state that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US and is on its way to bankruptcy, I'm surprised they aren't trying to follow in California's (and now Mass') footsteps with legalizing and taxing.

It is however, interesting that *no one* showed up in opposition. There was quite the uproar here when that proposal was put on the ballet and again after it passed. The most opposition seems to come from Law Enforcement and Extreme Conservatives (yeah, a bit redundant to say). I can understand the Law Enforcement concerns, but I question why a group who's founding principle is "less government, less regulation" would be against policy that represents that principle.

Johnny, you know which way I lean and I'm all for decriminalization. I think it's less of a government issue and more of a moral issue for the Extreme Conservatives. Keep in mind how people in the bible belt states feel about what they consider morality issues (even though they don't always practice what they preach).

JohnnyD
03-25-2009, 10:19 AM
Johnny, you know which way I lean and I'm all for decriminalization. I think it's less of a government issue and more of a moral issue for the Extreme Conservatives. Keep in mind how people in the bible belt states feel about what they consider morality issues (even though they don't always practice what they preach).

I completely agree with you. The hypocrisy of the opinion is what is astounding to me. This country was founded by what could be declared as "Extreme Conservatives." People that wanted the minimum amount of government and felt that as long as their personal liberties did not encroach on those of another person, they should be left to do as they please.

Given that, many people with the same "moral standards" that state pot should be illegal, have no issues going home and having a beer after work. If you take the government declared legality/illegality out of the discussion and put both pot and alcohol at the same level for comparison, any moral argument against pot can be directly transferred over as an argument against alcohol.

The flourishing of the Mob and gangs in this country is often attributed to Prohibition in the 1920s. In the 1930s when Prohibition was repealed, many mobsters were forced to "play it straight" because their source of revenue had been removed.

We're living that same scenario right now. I would much rather the pot head, who's going to buy dope anyway, go down the street and pay a clerk or grow his own stash - then for that same pot head to go down the street and put more money in some gang member's pocket.

detbuch
03-25-2009, 05:42 PM
For a state that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US and is on its way to bankruptcy, I'm surprised they aren't trying to follow in California's (and now Mass') footsteps with legalizing and taxing.

It is however, interesting that *no one* showed up in opposition. There was quite the uproar here when that proposal was put on the ballet and again after it passed. The most opposition seems to come from Law Enforcement and Extreme Conservatives (yeah, a bit redundant to say). I can understand the Law Enforcement concerns, but I question why a group who's founding principle is "less government, less regulation" would be against policy that represents that principle.

Many thoughtful Conservatives (I'm not sure if they are extreme) who adhere to founding principles DO favor decriminilization of Marijuana. William F. Buckley Jr. (I guess he'd qualify as an Extreme Conservative) was for decriminalization long before even most Liberals were. On the other hand, you have liberals, even Extreme Liberals like Charles Rangle, who are against legalization. Even Obama has waffled back and forth on the issue. And the public has always been, statistically against, though the numbers for are growing. It's a bit muddy to say, on a conservative/liberal basis, who is for and who is against . . .stereotypes not withstanding.

buckman
03-26-2009, 05:53 AM
Decriminilization maybe, Tax it never. That would condone it. That's not the intent of decriminilizing it.

Raven
03-26-2009, 06:13 AM
but to continue to hide their collective heads in the sand

they never created the tax stamp on purpose

and that was 62 years ago

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/smile.png

spence
03-26-2009, 06:29 AM
Decriminilization maybe, Tax it never. That would condone it. That's not the intent of decriminilizing it.

Could make a lot of revenues from taxing hemp.

-spence

JohnnyD
03-26-2009, 08:26 AM
Decriminilization maybe, Tax it never. That would condone it. That's not the intent of decriminilizing it.

Cigarettes are taxed. I guess that means even with all the funding the government provides to non-profits that help people quit, the government condones smoking?

Alcohol is taxed. Even though they provide funding for AA and rehab clinics, they must condone drinking alcohol as well.

leo33
03-26-2009, 06:48 PM
but alcohol and cigarettes are legal.:rolleyes:

Raven
03-26-2009, 07:14 PM
and both are more harmful to society

leo33
03-26-2009, 07:23 PM
and both are more harmful to society


i agree with you 100%. sarcasm doesn't work well online.i figured it would be the next excuse against legalization.

Nebe
03-26-2009, 07:29 PM
and both are more harmful to society

Herb is harmful to society. there is no denying that fact..

outnumbered
03-26-2009, 07:40 PM
That would be cool we could have a bong building forum,not only that fast food restaurant sales would increase state revenues.

bssb
03-26-2009, 10:12 PM
Herb is harmful to society. there is no denying that fact..

true, but, much less so than alcohol

Nebe
03-26-2009, 10:17 PM
true, but, much less so than alcohol
absolutely.

Raven
03-27-2009, 04:05 AM
Herb is harmful to society. there is no denying that fact.. -> it's even a cure for ADHD

not compared to alcohol or tobacco it isn't ...not even close
ask any policeman....who has dealt with drunks...

the only reason it's detrimental to society is because of
Government installed prohibition
same as when alcohol was prohibited..... it created violence...

it should be as free as a fish in the sea or a bird in the air...
it has more health benefits than any other herb on the planet.

it's mind control NEBE - they want you on their medications!

politicians are paid to make it illegal so they can keep us all medicated
with friggan suicide drugs ..... they ALL suck

Even JESUS Christ used cannabis to cure people ....he endorsed it.

Raven
03-27-2009, 04:36 AM
That would be cool we could have a bong building forum,not only that fast food restaurant sales would increase state revenues.

2 1/2 inch bluefish makes the best bongs :humpty:

you can drop that sucker a thousand times
and it's not going to shatter and leave glass
splinters in places for ten years.....that your
foot finds a decade later... Glass Sucks :wave:

Nebe
03-27-2009, 07:46 AM
Glass Sucks :wave:

Your killin me Raven
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Raven
03-27-2009, 08:01 AM
unless it's full of wine or BEER
i want to see the clarity
and make sure nothings
floating in it. http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/eyes-1.gif
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/surfsup.jpg

JohnR
03-27-2009, 08:06 AM
This site isn't a head shop so what makes for best paraphernalia isn't going on here.

Discussing legalization or not is one thing, recipes for something illegal is another. I'll let you clean it up though - thanks...

Raven
03-27-2009, 08:11 AM
isn't that a great Lookin T-shirt hmmmm :rtfm:

Nebe
03-27-2009, 10:34 AM
This site isn't a head shop so what makes for best paraphernalia isn't going on here.

Discussing legalization or not is one thing, recipes for something illegal is another. I'll let you clean it up though - thanks...


making paraphernalia is 100% legal in RI.... trust me :lurk:

Raven
03-31-2009, 07:55 AM
it's also discussing why this failed war on drugs
continues to go on and on and on

230 american cities are now involved in major operations

the war on drugs has FAILED miserably

and we americans are paying for this war... and it's insane!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/31/cafferty.legal.drugs/index.html

Swimmer
03-31-2009, 10:46 AM
It is interesting that no one ever mentions how buying marijuana is aiding in racketeering and vicariously particpating in the Mexicon drug wars. I know you'll think I am asking this because of my profession. But my interest is deeper.

buckman
03-31-2009, 10:53 AM
It is interesting that no one ever mentions how buying marijuana is aiding in racketeering and vicariously particpating in the Mexicon drug wars. I know you'll think I am asking this because of my profession. But my interest is deeper.

Well put. I guess the war on drugs is failing because pot smoking is so damn important to a segment of the population, that being a criminal is justifiable.:humpty:

Raven
03-31-2009, 03:25 PM
Well put. I guess the war on drugs is failing because pot smoking is so damn important to a segment of the population, that being a criminal is justifiable.:humpty:
===========================================

prefers the medical benefits of Cannabis over the pain medications
namely the nsaids drugs: being ibuprofen,MOTRIN , naproxin ,acetaminophen or
because it works better for pain and doesn't cause heart attacks
and or intestinal ulcers.

the Government is hypocritical in allowing medical facilities to provide cannabis on a state level and then go ahead in and bust the same outlet with federal DEA agents when they are the ones who made a simple god given herb "the gateway drug",
"the assassin of youth" , and lumped it in with drugs like heroin and cocaine which have no medical attributes what so ever by making it illegal in the first place .

The Government is the CRIMINAL here :point: not the patient.

the patient is being forced by the usa government to buy their medication from the
growers....
most of which are in the southern swamp lands the same way moonshine was produced there when the alcohol prohibition
was happening....
and what did that do.... it created
the same level of violence that is happening now nation wide.

THE profitability of marijuana ONLY exists because the government made it illegal so it then became a black market item.

The Government is the criminal by forcing a patient to have to resort to obtaining their medication illegally instead of taxing it
and regulating it, ESPECIALLY when it's less harmful to society
than either tobacco and alcohol and that is unforgivable.

THEY
have been excepting bribes from the lobbyists for many decades.

the drug war is a complete FAILURE ->and OBAMA has no BALLS.

JohnnyD
03-31-2009, 03:57 PM
It is interesting that no one ever mentions how buying marijuana is aiding in racketeering and vicariously particpating in the Mexicon drug wars. I know you'll think I am asking this because of my profession. But my interest is deeper.

This is one of the biggest topics in the media concerning Mexico.

Raven
03-31-2009, 04:06 PM
are going out of the USA

and draining the economy

legalize it and then grow it in the usa

with a tax on it and the revenue stays here.

Slipknot
03-31-2009, 04:42 PM
You think Americans have become fat and lazy now? just wait and see what happens if pot is legalized :rollem: I don't think it's a good idea, people need to get motivated and get working hard, not get stoned and lethargic. Medical use is one thing, but recreational use is completely different, it's a drug like alcohol is a drug.

JohnnyD
03-31-2009, 05:07 PM
You think Americans have become fat and lazy now? just wait and see what happens if pot is legalized :rollem: I don't think it's a good idea, people need to get motivated and get working hard, not get stoned and lethargic. Medical use is one thing, but recreational use is completely different, it's a drug like alcohol is a drug.

Yes, because if Marijuana is legalized, we'll turn into a country of fat, lazy, unmotivated people - with the benefit of munchie sales going through the roof.

Similar to how everyone turned into an alcoholic that beats their wife, in the 1930's when Prohibition was overturned.

Aren't ignorant stereotypes and misconceptions fun?

Rob Rockcrawler
03-31-2009, 05:19 PM
Damn, i shouldnt have turned up that job at frito-lay.

buckman
03-31-2009, 06:22 PM
I know a lot of pot smokers. Not a one needs it as a medicine.

Slipknot
03-31-2009, 07:21 PM
Yes, because if Marijuana is legalized, we'll turn into a country of fat, lazy, unmotivated people - with the benefit of munchie sales going through the roof.

Similar to how everyone turned into an alcoholic that beats their wife, in the 1930's when Prohibition was overturned.

Aren't ignorant stereotypes and misconceptions fun?

yep :) like all deadheads dropped acid and have no brain cells left.
I forgot to add paranoia.
Plenty of drunks to go around,(I don't know about the wife beating, but if you say so) I think there are studies where they add up all the costs from sicktime,loss of production etc. due to drinking or being hungover and it costs employers plenty, which in turn costs consumers.

I have stock in Doritos:walk:

JohnnyD
03-31-2009, 08:02 PM
I think there are studies where they add up all the costs from sicktime,loss of production etc. due to drinking or being hungover and it costs employers plenty, which in turn costs consumers.

I have stock in Doritos:walk:

There are studies. The problem is that they are financed by the same department of the government that funds drug prevention.

Travis
04-01-2009, 06:33 AM
Well put. I guess the war on drugs is failing because pot smoking is so damn important to a segment of the population, that being a criminal is justifiable.:humpty:

All of you who say pot should remain illegal and a criminal offense are the same folks who will go out and throw back a bunch of coldies...what's the difference? Some people would rather burn one than drink alcohol...I am astonished at how many people have their heads up there asses!

Raven
04-01-2009, 11:40 AM
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/emerald.png

JohnnyD
04-01-2009, 11:41 AM
Raven, your picture makes me feel like I'm tripping on Acid, not high on pot.

Raven
04-01-2009, 11:45 AM
it's the poppies ....:hihi:

Swimmer
04-01-2009, 12:03 PM
I just find it interesting that in liberal Massachusetts has banned smoking of cigarettes everywhere in public, except maybe your car, because smoking them no doubt causes cancer, but 65 % of the same people who wanted smoking cigarettes in public to be illegal also voted for decriminalizing marijuana. Liberal Massachusetts where the death penalty is always soundly defeated, but its selfish residents don't give a damn about all the people dying in the drug wars in Mexico making sure they have all the dope they need. Buy a lid, kill a kid, in ole Mexico . You can't have it both ways. So I guess to even things out people should be given a citation for smoking a cigarette as well, when caught, or maybe neither of the smokers should be punished. I am so confused.

likwid
04-01-2009, 12:04 PM
I just find it interesting that in liberal Massachusetts has banned smoking of cigarettes everywhere in public, except maybe your car, because smoking them no doubt causes cancer, but 65 % of the same people who wanted smoking cigarettes in public to be illegal also voted for decriminalizing marijuana. Liberal Massachusetts where the death penalty is always soundly defeated, but its selfish residents don't give a damn about all the people dying in the drug wars in Mexico making sure they have all the dope they need. Buy a lid, kill a kid, in ole Mexico . You can't have it both ways. So I guess to even things out people should be given a citation for smoking a cigarette as well, when caught, or maybe neither smokers should be punished. I am so confused.

Most weed in MA is grown locally or in Canada.

Swimmer
04-01-2009, 12:07 PM
Most weed in MA is grown locally or in Canada.

O.K. so do you want to chat about the tarriffs that the Hell's Angels and other gorwers have to pay the various indian tribes that live along the Canadian to drive/walk across thier land to bring it into this country. Hells Angels are just a mens social group right.

likwid
04-01-2009, 12:20 PM
O.K. so do you want to chat about the tarriffs that the Hell's Angels and other gorwers have to pay the various indian tribes that live along the Canadian to drive/walk across thier land to bring it into this country. Hells Angels are just a mens social group right.

Do you live in any state bordered by British Columbia now?

JohnnyD
04-01-2009, 12:31 PM
From what I hear, That B.C. bud is tops.

RIJIMMY
04-01-2009, 12:34 PM
I'd hope I was that composed answering tough questions as the leader of the free world.

You, I'd guess wouldn't do so well.

-spence

dude, what happened to you? You have seriosuly lost you're mind, why are you SO in the tank for this guy?

RIJIMMY
04-01-2009, 12:41 PM
You think Americans have become fat and lazy now? just wait and see what happens if pot is legalized :rollem: I don't think it's a good idea, people need to get motivated and get working hard, not get stoned and lethargic. Medical use is one thing, but recreational use is completely different, it's a drug like alcohol is a drug.

i've never seen a fat lazy Rasta.

likwid
04-01-2009, 12:42 PM
From what I hear, That B.C. bud is tops.

AK is better. Or so they say.

leo33
04-01-2009, 06:04 PM
so legalizing weed will increase violence in Mexico? i have a feeling it would decrease do to the fact the black market for weed would dry up.

justplugit
04-01-2009, 06:41 PM
Legalize so the government gets the tax? pffft.

To do what with , pay down debt or find more $$$$$$ to waste ???????

If you believe the former i got a bridge to sell ya.

Just what we need,another blight on America, the world leader.

Raven
04-03-2009, 05:08 AM
Legalize so the government gets the tax? pffft.

To do what with , pay down debt or find more $$$$$$ to waste ???????

If you believe the former i got a bridge to sell ya.

.

i don't need a bridge right now Dave
but i'll take a big rocky cove full of Bass
if ya have one layin around :wave:
~
It's completely Obvious and transparent to me
that the current tobacco tax is just a prelude
to pot being taxed in the near future,,,,

the Government is always advocating accountability
yet with the DRUG war there is absolutely NONE to speak of

it's almost as if it's a black ops deal because
the price tag is open ended regardless
of the results over the last 65 years.....

and when i hear them say the "longest war"
on the news it makes me think about how
much money has been squandered so far.:eek5:
~
but hey, we are now in the longest war....

the war against terrorism
and it will never end :doh:

that being said....

we need to end non productive wars.

Raven
04-03-2009, 08:36 PM
You will laugh

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d83_1238604925

yeah that was wicked funny Scott thanks :)

Raven
04-06-2009, 06:28 AM
do you see the mirror or is it an illusion ;)

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/gate.jpg

cheferson
04-08-2009, 11:59 AM
At least one country has a clue!


5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results
April 7, 2009 - Scientific American

Street drug-related deaths from overdoses drop and the rate of HIV cases crashes

In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized the use and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD and other illicit street drugs. The theory: focusing on treatment and prevention instead of jailing users would decrease the number of deaths and infections.

Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C, libertarian think tank.

"Now instead of being put into prison, addicts are going to treatment centers and they're learning how to control their drug usage or getting off drugs entirely," report author Glenn Greenwald, a former New York State constitutional litigator, said during a press briefing at Cato last week.

Under the Portuguese plan, penalties for people caught dealing and trafficking drugs are unchanged; dealers are still jailed and subjected to fines depending on the crime. But people caught using or possessing small amounts—defined as the amount needed for 10 days of personal use—are brought before what's known as a "Dissuasion Commission," an administrative body created by the 2001 law.

Each three-person commission includes at least one lawyer or judge and one health care or social services worker. The panel has the option of recommending treatment, a small fine, or no sanction.

Peter Reuter, a criminologist at the University of Maryland, College Park, says he's skeptical decriminalization was the sole reason drug use slid in Portugal, noting that another factor, especially among teens, was a global decline in marijuana use. By the same token, he notes that critics were wrong in their warnings that decriminalizing drugs would make Lisbon a drug mecca.

"Drug decriminalization did reach its primary goal in Portugal," of reducing the health consequences of drug use, he says, "and did not lead to Lisbon becoming a drug tourist destination."

Walter Kemp, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, says decriminalization in Portugal "appears to be working." He adds that his office is putting more emphasis on improving health outcomes, such as reducing needle-borne infections, but that it does not explicitly support decriminalization, "because it smacks of legalization."

Drug legalization removes all criminal penalties for producing, selling and using drugs; no country has tried it. In contrast, decriminalization, as practiced in Portugal, eliminates jail time for drug users but maintains criminal penalties for dealers. Spain and Italy have also decriminalized personal use of drugs and Mexico's president has proposed doing the same. .

A spokesperson for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy declined to comment, citing the pending Senate confirmation of the office's new director, former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs also declined to comment on the report.

Raven
04-10-2009, 07:15 AM
as to exactly how SCREWED UP

the FDA actually is.... Smells so friggan fishy

law doesn't sorta kinda apply to these drug companies
i wonder wonder why

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/10/fda.morphine.market/index.html

cheferson
04-13-2009, 11:11 AM
You think Americans have become fat and lazy now? just wait and see what happens if pot is legalized :rollem: I don't think it's a good idea, people need to get motivated and get working hard, not get stoned and lethargic. Medical use is one thing, but recreational use is completely different, it's a drug like alcohol is a drug.

I know lots of people that smoke grass everyday and work 50-80+ hours a week. I wouldnt call them lazy. Look at michael phelps , a pot smoker, and at the top of his sport. Heres some more famously lazy pot smokers
Barack Obama, president-elect. Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the U.S. John Kerry, U.S. Senator and 2004 Democratic nominee for president. John Edwards, multi-millionaire, former U.S. Senator, and 2004 Democratic nominee for vice president. Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, 2008 Republican nominee for vice president. British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, and and Chancellor Alistair Darling. Josh Howard, NBA all-star. New York Governor David Paterson. Former Vice President, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Oscar winner Al Gore. Former Sen. Bill Bradley, who smoked while playing professional basketball. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and former New York Governor George Pataki. Billionaire and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

What about peter b. lewis founder of progressive auto insurance and potsmoker???

JohnnyD
04-13-2009, 11:41 AM
chef,

You left out half the players in the NFL. And a stat I heard during the debates on MA's decriminalization that up to 30% of MIT graduates smoked pot.

Raven
04-13-2009, 11:55 AM
a professor from Harvard was also saying
to legalize all drugs on CNN then increase
the treatment centers.

heroine is easier to get than Beer and costs even less
than a six pack....for kids in high school

Kids smoking weed may not be a good thing (i agree)
(if adults over 21 want to....... that's their decision)
but those same kids are not going to die
from it....... due to an overdose.

we have spent a half trillion dollars on prohibition
the Havard professor said ...yet the drugs infiltration
in this country is going up faster than the deficit.

it's not working.

Raven
04-29-2009, 06:45 AM
Finally the right approach is underway.... @ the Afghanistan poppy stand ..... bout friggan time... but hey, 300 million revenue is a drop in the bucket.... if they have financier's or backers...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only 10 minutes inside the tiny village of Zangabad, 20 miles southwest of Kandahar, a platoon of American soldiers stepped into a poppy field in full bloom on Monday. Taliban fighters opened fire from three sides.
“From the north!” one of the soldiers yelled, spinning and firing.
“West!” another screamed, turning and firing, too.
An hour passed and a thousand bullets whipped through the air. Ammunition was running low. The Taliban were circling.

Then the gunships arrived, swooping in, their
bullet casings showering the ground beneath them, their rockets streaking and destroying. Behind a barrage of artillery, the soldiers shot their way out of Zangabad and moved into the cover of the vineyards.
“When are you going drop the bomb?” Capt. Chris Brawley said into his radio over the clatter of machine-gun fire. “I’m in a grape field.”
The bomb came, and after a time the shooting stopped.

Raven
01-03-2011, 01:56 PM
Herb is harmful to society. there is no denying that fact..

as is drinking to much water
you can die

weed is the least harmful substance there is
compared to so much else that is legal.

JohnnyD
01-03-2011, 02:34 PM
as is drinking to much water
you can die

weed is the least harmful substance there is
compared to so much else that is legal.

When I really have to buckle down and get a ton of work done, I take a preworkout powder mixed with some water. Kind of like a legal Adderal. There is no way in hell that it'd be safe for anything more than occasional, let alone daily use... but, that's legal and $25 for 40 servings. I can only take half a serving, a full one makes my heart feel like it'll explode. I also use it in emergency situations where I'm having trouble staying awake while driving home from overnight trips to the Ditch.

The point to the above is that there just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to how drugs are scheduled. Tons of studies exist that demonstrate weed far, far down the list of dangerous substances than cigarettes or alcohol. The marketing of Pot as a gateway drug and consistent government propaganda has instilled so much misinformation that some of the most ridiculous claims are widely accepted as fact. Where as on the other hand, I can go to my local GNC, drop $25 on the counter and have a substance that causes an almost immediate elevation of blood pressure, heart rate and would probably kill anyone with any heart condition.

RIJIMMY
01-03-2011, 02:38 PM
i watched too awesome shows on the history channel this weekend on the history of drugs in the US and how they became illegal. Very, very interesting. Race has played a huge part in the laws. Bottom line is that NO ONE ever saw the laws creating a huge, violent, black market. The crime we have in the country is worse than the impacts of drugs being legal. There are no violent drug cartels selling beer in the US.

fishbones
01-03-2011, 02:53 PM
Pot is illegal in this country because of the stereotype of the lazy white kids with nasty dreadlocks, hemp bracelets and tie dye clothes that arrive in town for the Phish concerts and stink the place up with their b.o.

JohnnyD
01-03-2011, 03:33 PM
Bottom line is that NO ONE ever saw the laws creating a huge, violent, black market. The crime we have in the country is worse than the impacts of drugs being legal. There are no violent drug cartels selling beer in the US.

Which is extremely interesting to me considering the immediate surge of violence and bootlegging that emerged as a result of Prohibition.

I've been meaning to try and catch one of these shows. I know on of the channels has a show "Drugs Inc." but all the ones I've caught have been about Mexican or Colombian cartels.

Raven
01-03-2011, 04:34 PM
you brought up a very good point on your
weapon of choice to drive home awake .....from the ditch

it's a matter of what "your body" says feels right
not your Doctors recommendation and that is because
only you can "feel" how something affects you and
no one else can.

I try to tell people to take that approach to deciding what makes
them feel good .... not what some advertiser says.

On one of those pot usa shows it was saying how these pharmaceutical
companies go to the MEDICAL colleges to train emerging Doctors
on how to prescribe the medications and also pay them sums of cash
up to $100,000,00. dollars to give speeches about their products.

sounds like a shill operation to me...

when i go to the Doctors and try to downplay all the medication
they wanna give me.... they get all perturbed about it and talk about
how safe everything is... blah, blah and this has been around for so many years
is their argument , when in reality, it should be screw the general population
"how does it work for you individually" should be
the question asked.

One person can get absolutely no benefit from something whereas
another person may consider it to be the only thing that works.

Saw an interview with some kids who's dad was on medical marijuana
and they said they can't believe it... HE'S BACK
they said ,where as before he was so doped up on pain killers to them
he was unreachable,not there ......... a shadow of his former self

the father who looked very bad physically (posture) simply said...
after a minute or 10 minutes the pain is not completely gone
but it just doesn't bother me as much anymore
and i can tolerate it.
i no longer care.

The Dad Fisherman
01-03-2011, 05:40 PM
This is an interesting read on it......

Why is Marijuana Illegal? Drug WarRant (http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/)

striperman36
01-03-2011, 07:21 PM
It's Nixon's fault

Raven
01-04-2011, 05:58 AM
i think everything in Nixon's presidency should be NULL and Void

after all he did cheat on the election, was busted
or was forced to resign... for getting caught

so all his other hired criminals ( ANSLINGER = Sh1t slinger )

law breakers ,cheaters, liars should have their influential
lies and tactics repealed and or cancelled

fishbones
01-04-2011, 10:25 AM
AK is better. Or so they say.


Today I didn't even have to use my AK
I got to say it was a good day.

Raven
03-27-2011, 05:00 AM
Clinics open this summer in Rhode Island

ecduzitgood
03-27-2011, 07:49 AM
The 10 Most Successful Potheads on the Planet… Cool Enough to Admit It : COED Magazine (http://coedmagazine.com/2009/02/06/the-10-most-successful-potheads-on-the-planet-cool-enough-to-admit-it/)

George Washington grew pot on his farm????

ecduzitgood
03-27-2011, 08:08 AM
Gee I forgot to post the other link that was at the bottom of the first link, so for those of you who will not read the whole article here it is.
The 10 Smartest Pot Smokers on the Planet… Cool Enough to Admit It : COED Magazine (http://coedmagazine.com/2011/02/02/the-10-smartest-pot-smokers-on-the-planet-cool-enough-to-admit-it/)

buckman
03-27-2011, 08:58 AM
Gee I forgot to post the other link that was at the bottom of the first link, so for those of you who will not read the whole article here it is.
The 10 Smartest Pot Smokers on the Planet… Cool Enough to Admit It : COED Magazine (http://coedmagazine.com/2011/02/02/the-10-smartest-pot-smokers-on-the-planet-cool-enough-to-admit-it/)

It appears that alot of scientist are drug addicts:rotf2: