The Police needs to police congress and the Senate as well as government agencies...

These places are where the real criminals are!!!!!

Also, police corporate America if you can't police them don't police us!!!!!!

Why is it always Pot? They do not want anything to do with Meth Labs its could be dangerous. The war on Drugs is just a subsidy for Law Enforcement. The war is lost and has been for years. Its time for the governments and law enforcement to get out of peoples lives and quit arresting people for victimless crimes.

Vote down the police budgets in every city across the US!!!!

If they don't want to be involved in real crime fighting let's not pay them to bother us regular citizens who aren't hurting anyone.

We want jobs but we don't want to give jobs where they constantly target you with your own money!!!!!!

But then they would have to lay off over half the police force since crime would drop to nothing...

Pot smokers rarely commit the crimes. They will still have to deal with crack, crank, heroin, meth, alcohol, etc.

Stone and others: Wrongo!! Many of those 593 plants are suspects in a string of arsons and burglaries and assaults on the elderly!!! So we should be glad that our tax dollars were spent taking them out before more innocent people were hurt. So thanks to the cops and to the racist politicians who bravely outlawed cannabis in the 1930s and wisely replaced one failed Prohibition with another!!!

It takes congress first to pass a bill (LAW), the president only signs it (if he wants to).

And I doubt very much congress could agree on anything these days.

No, no, no... where have you been the last 3+ years? We don't worry with Congress anymore, that's old fashioned, the new way is called "Executive Order", especially if the pres wants it. It's either "bend over" or "open wide" and shove.

However, the president can basically stop (or minimize) efforts unless a court says otherwise. I am sure he can find plenty else for law enforcement to do besides bust marijuana growers. This president apparently is against marijuana. The worst democratic president we have ever had.

better to be grown there than to have it coming up from Mexico !!!!!

Coroporateshill, What makes you think that Mexican Gangs just didn't move their manufacturing "overseas"?

What makes you think that Mexican Gangs just didn't move their manufacturing "overseas"?

Hahaha - NAFTA strikes again! ;)

But, seriously, I don't think it would be economically feasible for a Mexican drug gang to "outsource" their manufacturing to an apartment building in the Bronx - given the thousand and thousands of acres of state park land in California just across the border.

So do you think that the president is pressing Eric Holder to come after non violent Mary Jane smokers knowing that he is violating their rights????

They are making all of us depressed by the way they keep attacking the innocent for making a choice well if they do that then let's go after them for every rule that they violate.

for instance where is the JUSTICE DEPARTMENT for the LAW that the PResident Broke when killing an American without due process????

Oh they never go to jail for breaking the law just like they never go for insider trading!!!!!!

"legislative whore house known as Congress" too funny.

I agree that pharmaceutical companies are a roadblock but I would venture a guess that the alcohol companies are prepared for a marketing blitz whenever it goes legal. Several folks at Brown and Williamson tobacco in Louisville have said they're prepared to unleash a huge campaign as soon as it happens.

The war on drugs is a ridiculous failure. People will do what they want to do regardless of legalities...at least when it comes to drugs, prostitution, etc. There is NO reason for marijuana to still be prohibited. The legalization of hemp/marijuana would be similar to the repeal of the Volkstead act in financial terms.

The only ones cheering this bust are the Mexican cartels and America's for profit prison industry.

"Legalize it along the lines of alcohol and cigarettes, but apply criminal penalties to it like DUI, etc...ya cant be high as a kite and driving your car! I'm kinda on the fence post about this one...people are stupid enough, do we really want to legalize widespread stupity? I can see cancer patients or glaucoma patients benefitting from it, but why would everyone else need to smoke pot on a regular basis? Making pizza taste better isn't a good enough excuse for me".

Why do many need to drink alcohol on a regular basis? What did you think happy-hour is for?

Tim,

The War on Drugs is a complete failure !!

Cost to taxpayers: $2.5 TRILLION !!

Drug availability: Far greater than before the War on Drugs - the drug cartels have seen to that.

Drug use: Far higher than before the War on Drugs. Local drug gangs entice kids to start using as early as grade school.

Drug related violence: From almost non-existent before the War on Drugs to mass drug-related killings across country today.

War On Drugs = TOTAL FAILURE !!

Ummm, ok...but how does legalizing pot do away with any of the above? Don't ya think a black market would just spring up, propagating the exact kind of behavior? Drug dealers now become tax paying drug dealers still enticing kids to use drugs, much like tge tobacco industry. Law enforcement has their hands full with drunk and now HIGH drivers killing people.... So just how is this better? Get your head up in the clear air and think about it!

Want to Lower Traffic Fatalities? Try Legalizing Medical Marijuana. | NORML Blog, Marijuana Law Reform

Tim, seriously man. Do you see any tax-paying alcohol bootleggers? No. They all died out when alcohol prohibition was lifted in 1933. The same thing will happen to drug dealers. Once drug prohibition is lifted then you will have regulations governing production, sales, quality, safety, tax revenues, etc. So are you going to risk buying something from some street person rather than going to a store and buying a fully regulated product? No, you and everyone else will make recreational intoxicant purchases from legal outlets.

.

And they'll always be someone selling on the side, and they'll always be someone buying on the side to avoid the Govt knowing what you're doing...it's just like people who buy duty free booze on vacation and bring it home without paying the duty on it...they don't want the govt to know they have it and have to pay a tax on it...

Exactly UnitedStates1776, and not only that.. when was the last time you heard of a dope-peddler that checked a buyer's ID to make sure they're an adult? Somehow, I doubt there are very many out there. If the War on Drugs were to end and it is all regulated like booze, with stiff penalties for selling to minors, you'd also get the added benefit of less underage consumption.

Ah Tim, me thinks thou has not smoked the magic herb? The first and best reason, is you can eliminate one of the drugs you call worse, like booze and cigarettes are carcinogenic. Pot does not cause cancer! I have never heard of a single documented case of a pot smoker getting cancer. I dare you to try and find one. As Captain America said in "Easy Rider", to the lawyer played by Jack Nicholson; "it gives you a whole new outlook, on the day"! Personally, I got high, everyday of my senior year in college, while working and getting paid, in the Psych department and still made the Dean's list. Oh yes, I smoked pot at 19 and continued until my late fifties, when I could no longer find a good connection, close by. Driving for an hour to get pot is risky...the police can now search your vehicle for a minor traffic violation. In all my years of buying, selling (small time), I never encountered any of the problems, you refer to. The longest and loudest argument, the establishment and law enforcement use against pot is the sale to minors. Taking this argument identifies you as a conservative, immediately. In case you didn't know it, you can get pot in every city, town, back woods little holler with less than 200 people, in the entire country. High school students, as a %, are frequent users, Jr. high use, is common and yes you can find it around elementary schools, in spite of all the laws you or anybody else wants to pass. Finally, the countries, which have legalized pot, have reported NO sudden or long lasting INCREASE in its usage. People, who like it, smoke it and people, who don't...don't! Most people like to smoke pot at parties, along with a drink. They don't kill anybody, rape anybody or give it to any little kids...you probably live next door to a lot of them. I'm 63 and retired and would love for it to be legalized but because of so many narrow minded people, I have been listening to the same lame crap against it for over 40 years. Legalize it and tax it and take it away from the people, who make the most money off of it...the DEA and your local authorities. Damn those auctioned cars, houses, computers, TVs, and cash make for a plus on the local budget!!!

well tim, since you think this is how you spell stupidity----->STUPITY maybe you shouldn't open your mouth about the subject.

Tim Doyle, RN I guess we should round up all the big pharms and alcohol producers...and turn them all to ash for distributing DRUGS....

Head been stuck up there long Tim???? Push real hard and your head just may pop out...

Hey Tim;

Maybe you can tell us the benefits of alcohol and tobacco??!!

Tobacco is legal and it doesn't even make "pizza taste better".

Hey Left, did I ever in any of my posts, state any benefit to alcokol or tobacco?

Then I assume you are as fervent about making tobacco and alcohol as illegal as pot is??

um,no...I'm just curious what the benefit, other than tax revenue, legalizing drugs will bring about...pretty simple, right?

OK, let's stop trashing Tim....at least he was polite enough to write a decent post, as opposed to the few who regularly make offensive statements about pot just to irritate others.

Now Tim, as an RN (I'm a doc myself), you know enough about health and physiology to make informed opinions on the matter. Frankly, you have no excuse to not understand the benefits (and general harmlessness) of cannabis use. Please go to www.erowid.com, or www.norml.com for some fairly exhaustive data on everything from physiological effects to societal issues surrounding cannabis. The data is very informative and sincere. Cheers!

I gotta go with doc here, Tim. You're altruistic, which is admirable, but the data and research is out there; "exhaustive" is a good word to describe the research done on this plant. The AMA is finally behind it, though.

"Legalize it along the lines of alcohol and cigarettes, but apply criminal penalties to it like DUI, etc...ya cant be high as a kite and driving your car! I'm kinda on the fence post about this one...people are stupid enough, do we really want to legalize widespread stupity? I can see cancer patients or glaucoma patients benefitting from it, but why would everyone else need to smoke pot on a regular basis? Making pizza taste better isn't a good enough excuse for me".

Why do many need to drink alcohol on a regular basis? What did you think happy-hour is for?

Pot strengthens the immune system, the lymphatic system and the reproductive system. it inhibits the growth of cancer cells by interfering with their ability to take in nutrients. It promotes the growth of new brain cells. Those are enough benefits for me. Benefit for you? It makes me a nicer person

Tim

Legalization is on the ballot this year in WA state. We already have medical marijuana and Seattle has made pot the lowest enforcable crime inside city limits......IT WILL PASS this year.

If you would educate yourself the bill has built in provosion for "DUI".

Whats great is once it passes the only people here who will give 2 @!$%#s about weed are the feds....and where are they going to go for all their intel against potheads?? Do you think the state/city/local police are going to feed them info about a substance that is basically legal in their jurisdiction??

Educate yourself

YES ON 502!!!

PEOPLE-

Instead of trashing on Tim, why dont you guys take the time to explain why we think it should be legalized. Dont you think that would be more productive?

Tim-

My stance is that I should be allowed to smoke it. Unlike other drugs, this natural God given plant cannot cause overdose and as far as we know, does not cause harm to the human body. I have a full time job, a wife, a gym membership.. I pay taxes, I abide by the laws, I even hold the doors for anyone that is behind me.. I really dont think that I should be branded a criminal if I choose to smoke this harmless plant. I could go on and on about why I think it should be legal but when it comes down to it, I dont want to be made into something I am not. I live in Alaska and the state law says that we are allowed to have a certain amount within our household for personal use, which I think is perfect.

No Brad I dont think so.

Some people will never be swayed.....don't try to change them, they are quickly becoming the minority. We need to work on convincing people that haven't already been brainwashed by DARE and Reefer Madness.

Focus your efforts where they will do some good. Let the anti pot people rant, it shows perfectly how arrogant and misinformed those people really are.

Good luck trying to reach out to people that aren't already brainwashed... Every grade in my elementary went through the DARE program... I think the only people who dont go through DARE are the homeschooled...

I agree except for treating the physically addicted in medical and mental health facilities. If you want to legalize drugs, then use them at your own risk. Do not ask for my tax money to pay for your treatment.

The vast majority of rehab centers are paid privately. No taxpayer funds used.

Of course, in reality, we spend far more trying to stop the use of drugs than we would spend on rehabilitation for the relatively few who need it.

so viking, you mean you'd rather pay for their housing and food for the next 10-15-whatever years they're sentenced to in prison for the rest of your life? all the while perpetuating even more hardened criminals when they're released...that's what you'd rather do with your tax money? keep creating criminals just like always or actually changing a population of people who actually can do better with their lives? as in they're not actually criminals, they're addicts...criminals are people of a whole 'nother class...although the two really overlap each other and it's hard to see the difference sometimes, it's there to see and the fact that it's all muddied up is thanks to prohibiton, which of course makes criminals out of everyone caught, even middle school kids...

Tim, seriously man. Do you see any tax-paying alcohol bootleggers? No. They all died out when alcohol prohibition was lifted in 1933. The same thing will happen to drug dealers. Once drug prohibition is lifted then you will have regulations governing production, sales, quality, safety, tax revenues, etc. So are you going to risk buying something from some street person rather than going to a store and buying a fully regulated product? No, you and everyone else will make recreational intoxicant purchases from legal outlets.

.

That's the same thing you said above, and it still makes no sense in a real world...maybe in a drug-induced stupor world, but not here...our govt cant run a post office? They're going into the drug dealing biz? The stuff on the street would be better quality!!

no it wouldn't tim, the government already knows how to grow the best cause they're already doing it. just look up the university of mississippi's marijuana research farm. as far as not having faith in the government, why would you even for a second think the government can win a war on drugs if they can't do anything else? when the government says the war on _____— it's always one they will never win. war on terror? still fighting. war on poverty? psssssh. war on drugs? legalize it.

Reality check...bootleggers didn't go away in 1933. Still got people making whiskey around where I'm from. Those that "got out" didn't go to work at Amazon...they're growing. Why does everyone think you have to tax pot? Just legalize it and be done with it. It's a friggin' plant. It'll grow just fine in your yard without a tax on it. All the anti people stil believe William Randolf Hearst's propaganda from the 30's...ala "Reefer Madness". Hearst was a bigot that hated Mexicans and he spent a considerable portion of his immense fortune demonizing weed and tying it to Mexicans so that we could get rid of them. Don't believe it? ...do your own research. People just keep rehashing the same old crap to justify their anti weed stance and don't have a clue they've been snookered.

Tim, you are just plain full of chit...get over yourself, you are in the minority and your mind is small. You throw cliches around like you hang out with cops. You don't run the world but want to tell every one else, how to live. I've lived in the "real" world, longer than you and not everyone who smokes a joint is out to destroy it, except in your fantasy. 54% of 18/29 year olds favor legalization, 49% of 30/49 year olds favor it, with 47% opposed.

you know doyle you are a stupid &^%%$. We, taxpayers. paid the police to "observe" for weeks and weeks, now we will pay the cost of putting them in jail, and the cost of jail and then we never taxed the amount that has been sold. You say our govt can't run a post office, if you ever leave your small town in North Dakota and travel, our post office is world class. What else does the govt run pretty well, oh yeah the military. and when it comes to taxes they are really good. We have a "drug war" in order to justify the budgets for all levels of govt, DEA, state and local police and I am tired of paying. Legalize it all. In the "real world" timmy you take drug tests and if you don't pass them then you don't work. A % will have problems, just like with drinking, OCD whatever but we already pay that cost, we as in taxpayers.

I have never seen someone go to rehab because of pot... Maybe if they did they were coke heads too. I have seen this in my family tho... one of my family got stopped and car was searched. They found 2 regular size joints. She got 18months prison 5 years probation.. for 2 joints.. My niece's molester 6months county jail 1 year probation oh and put on a list that no one enforces half the time.

So I think it would also save tax dollars because it would releive the population in prisons and jails and make room for real criminals...

I think y'all might want to take a break and go smoke some pot...seems like everyones panties are kinda twisted tight about this pot thing! I'm gonna go get me a beer, or as you lefties like to call it, a recreational intoxicant!

Dude, I work in rehab...and I can tell you that everyone who is in for multiple detoxes has always started down that path by smoking pot...doesn't mean that's going to happen to everyone, as personality, genetics, etc have alot to do with it, but that is a fact that can not be overlooked...Hey, what the hell do I care! Job security!!!

Tim

In Colorado the dealers set up legitimate dispensaries and sell the Pot they grow from there to medical marijuana licence holders. No one here even begins to hide the fact that making it medicinal is just a step to make it legal; that is the whole point. Once a dealer always a dealer, sure; but now they don'tt have to worry about going to prison. They gladly pay their taxes.

Also, a lot of people started down the POt road by drinking alcohol first. Alcohol is also a "gateway" drug.

Tim

In Colorado the dealers set up legitimate dispensaries and sell the Pot they grow from there to medical marijuana licence holders. No one here even begins to hide the fact that making it medicinal is just a step to make it legal; that is the whole point. Once a dealer always a dealer, sure; but now they don'tt have to worry about going to prison. They gladly pay their taxes.

Also, a lot of people started down the POt road by drinking alcohol first. Alcohol is also a "gateway" drug.

Sorry, forgot about the etoh component...

AAahhhh Tim, I get you now. You PRETENDED to have a open mind, but in reality you already had your opinion rock solid and unchangeable. All that smoke about black market and tax loopholes was just a dodge, or you'd have noticed things like now, there are NO taxes paid on it at all. If pot was legalized, fewer people would be buying on the black market, and the harder drugs like meth and coke and the rest would be harder to get, as some of the people who sell pot also sell these drugs, all black market you see.

But, think your thoughts, drink your drinks, don't smoke if you don't want to, but just stop pretending to everyone ( maybe even yourself) that you have a open mind.

Dude, I work in rehab...and I can tell you that everyone who is in for multiple detoxes has always started down that path by smoking pot

tim, that's just not true. alot of people with addiction problems start with alchohol. did you ever think that if pot was legal that alot of those people would never have been around the other harder drugs that were presented to them by dealers that they were buying pot from? obviously not. have another beer and keep killing your liver, i'll smoke the illegal less harmful pot.

you work in rehab so no wonder you're so full of it. rehab asks you to give up one addiction(drugs) for another(religion) cause as they say "you can't do it on your own".

don't forget cigarettes...cigarettes are definitely "the" gateway drug...i was only 12 when i first smoked a cigarette...and just quit last month. @!$%#'s hell...

to be fair, those in congress get off on eFFing the public more than a young gal...

Some in Congress prefer boys,ask Sanitorium about this,as he is praying for them after Pa.booted him and can't find a job.

Well, they WERE paying the light bill all along, so........

For one dirty rat that sure was a clean and spot on post *cheers*

over 20 million NON-VIOLENT users have been arrested in 40 plus years, breaking up millions of families, making criminals out of otherwise law-abiding free citizens of america. with legalization there will be less use of alcohol and cigarettes nationwide, which means less emergency room visits, and marijuana has also been shown to help junkies quit hard drugs, and alcoholics as well, not to mention prescription drug addicts, and it's also not addictive, so they can quit smoking it up after getting all that outta their system...so that means with legalization of marijuana, there'll be less junkies, less home thefts, etc. (yep, junkies steal to support their habits), less fatal alcoholic accidents, less murders (yep, drunks will kill someone in a fight), less sexual crimes (yep, drunks will rape someone), and our national GDP will rise as well, because marijuana is one of the most profitable products out there...it's america's top grossing cash crop, earning more than corn and wheat combined....not to mention, with legalization, it would put drug cartels out of business, and kids would have to be carded if they wanted to buy some bud, (currently it's easier for kids to buy bud than get cigs or beer)...and much more...

and all that doesn't even touch on hemp...which can replace all coal use in our power plants nationwide, which can be made into biofuel, (which we need to do pronto because we're wasting our food crop corn to the biofuel industry and because of that, food prices are rising nationwide), can be made into paper (goodbye, logging industry, and good riddance), clothes, (and you can recycle those clothes into paper!) (bye-bye, cotton, which harms our environment due to the necessary uses of fertilizers and herbicides), as well as biodegradable plastic products (shopping bags, etc.) and other products such as pvc pipes for homes, particle boards for construction, fabric for carpets, drapes, even subflooring materials, also paint, etc. (so you can totally build a house from scratch with hemp and power that home with hemp through power plants (burns cleaner too), and drive to work and back with hemp, hell, you can even build a body for cars from hemp, (ford did that when he first created his ford t model), and much much more....but basically, hemp will end our dependance on foreign fuel, coal use (and end coal mining), end deforestation, and build many of our homes.

all that means more jobs too. plus it's good for our farmers, who are suffering at getting only around 50 bucks per acre for corn and wheat...currently, recreational marijuana is a 35.8 billion dollar industry yearly, and hemp companies in america is a 300-400 million dollar industry...(it's legal to sell hemp products in america, but not legal to grow hemp...therefore, millions are wasted to import hemp from foreign countries, who are making money hand over fist LEGALLY through prohibition at our cost.) AND IT"S ALL ILLEGAL!! come on now...what's up with the keystone pipeline bull@!$%# when all that gunk's not even renewable and sustainable like cannabis? like that's really going to bring permanent jobs to you and your children and your grandkiddies and...riiiiight...

legalization is totally necessary to our country. without legalization, we're in that handbasket goin you know where.

huh...i like this post so much that i'm gonna repost it on its own thread here...

This is true! Could have been chinese pot!

American made by Mexicans probably on the cartel payroll. Check out other sources on the story, those that give more details.

How dare they arrest these job creators!

good point...kinda hard to "tax" stuff growing in someones basement. The law enforcement component would have to shift into a tax enforcement group. Kinda like all the new IRS agents that had to hire to collect all the new taxes...

Doc, I remember one time we found some pot growing in a ditch out front of a friend's house, right by the road! Plant was already about a yard tall when we found it. It was on the easement, so technically I guess the city was responsible! They should have arrested the mayor, lol!

It is (I hear) pretty easy to brew beer in your basement. Yet there is still a multi-billion dollar market for beer. Likewise, it is easy to grow a plant, but there is still a multi-billion dollar black market for pot. The people who are saying legalize and tax it aren't saying tax the home growers, but tax the legal corporations who will take over the market from the illegal cartels.

Tim, of course people will grow it themselves. Why wouldn't they? I can go to the store and buy all of my veggies, but I would rather plant a large garden in my backyard. It's easier, cheaper, and less expensive to do so. Does the government tax me on my garden?....no (not yet!), but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to grow my own instead, right? And just because I have a garden, as many others do, it hasn't yet brought about the destruction of any agrobusiness, you know....

Your premise is understandable, but the reality is that it is a moot point in the grand scheme of things. Legalize cannabis, there will be plenty of people willing to buy it retail and pay a fair tax on the purchase. Simple as that.

You really believe what you've written??Believe you are attesting to something that is well above your pay grade ,sir.

Jesus Tim...the research is out there. Find it before posting again. Everything you've written is bewildering to anyone with any modicum of sense but you keep saying the majority of people don't understand because they're potheads. For God's sake, we shouldn't have to find the information for you...it's out there!

All the more reason to legalize it and regulate it, just like booze.