It was promised by the current administration that raids on those participating in medical marijuana clubs will stop, and a bill has been drawn up in the California legislature to legalize marijuana for adult use, obviously as a way to generate tax revenue. It's a sign that members of our governments are seeing this prohibition as a waste of time and lost income. Do you think we will see legalization for medical use, at the federal level by the end of 2010?
Teh new "drug czar" is a former police chief from Seattle, where enforcement of marijuana laws is the lowest priotiy when cops deal with adults, so he's accustomed to liberal views on its use. It would be stupid NOT to legalize it. The tax revenue would be awesome, and people are much more peaceful "smoked up" than they are after using alcohol!
If we are looking for a vast, ready made revenue source, taxing pot is just the thing. I think folk wouldn't mind a tax if it meant they had the peace of mind that DEA goons would be breaking in their front door. As to leaving alone the medical marijuana, this means that folk with intractable pain will be able to find relief, and chemo patients will be able to eat and keep food down, instead of the horrible nausea and vomiting that they go through now. Those are only two types of patients who will find their quality of life greatly enhanced by this enlightened decision.
There are also movements to legalize it in Canada. I think that it's technically "de-criminalized" and that possession of small amounts doesn't carry much of a penalty. I read that once PM Trudeau was once asked if he'd smoked pot. Apparently, his answer was "In which country?".
Pierre Trudeau was a bit before his time, that's true. He was a very interesting guy. Didn't his wife have an affair with Mick Jagger? I remember hearing that years ago.
I love the way people who smoked pot during their teens and early 20's, are now in leadership positions. They didn't ruin their lives, they didn't go nuts, and most notably, they didn't move on to harder drugs. Not much left to object to when those little facts are examined. I have a feeling we are going to see even more changes on the federal level, during the next 3 years.
Yes we will, and about time. I thought it was really gutsy for President Obama to admit to cocaine use in his earlier days. Didn't seem to impede him in the least.
Very true. There was a time when that would have ruined a politician, but now, most people understand more about drugs, and are also willing to have leaders who present themselves as truly human.
It shows, I think, that President Obama is quite a sincere guy; there's no reason he needed to reveal his cocaine use, yet he did. I'm expecting some enlightened changes to come from this administration regarding drug use; and of course, I"m expecting the conservative born-agains to put up a bunch of stink about it.
