U.S. won't interfere with states on marijuana sales

[VaderTT]

Check into "The Dutch Experience", and their legalization. It does not come without issues, and they are rethinking the whole concept. They've had a MASSIVE increase of drug use in the 18-20 age. I don't care what someone does as long as I don't pay for it.

Check the statistics on Native versus non native users in the Netherlands.
Their issue, is that it's still illegal everywhere else. I didn't come across many dutch smokers while I lived there.

[naynay]

I actually disagree with this. I think it should be legal across the board. The Puritanical shit we have to deal with on some things is ridiculous to the point of incredulity. Can only have a car dealership open 6 days a week? Really? This is the 21st Century and some areas are still living off laws that were all the rage when men were still wearing pantaloons.

conceal carry is not legal across the board, and even where it is legal, it has different stipulations on a state by state basis.

[Vertnut]

Uhhhhh. You're paying out the ass for people's "illegal" drug use right now. See: prison

"Legalization" and "decriminalization" are two different things. Not many folks are actually serving a lot of time for smoking a little pot. Fines, yes, but not much prison time. I'm thinking more of the effects on healthcare costs, insurance costs, etc. Any time there's an "action" like this, there will be a "reaction".
Colorado and Washington are still in the early stages of the experiment.
When Nevada "legalized" gambling, they had no idea that organized crime would come in and take over. Once they gained reasonable control over gaming, they could regulate it and help their state financially.

[Vertnut]

Check the statistics on Native versus non native users in the Netherlands.
Their issue, is that it's still illegal everywhere else. I didn't come across many dutch smokers while I lived there.

True, but they still have to deal with the issues whether they are citizens or not. Again, the issue I have is strictly financial. It shouldn't cost me a penny in tax money.

[racrguy]

True, but they still have to deal with the issues whether they are citizens or not. Again, the issue I have is strictly financial. It shouldn't cost me a penny in tax money.

Legalizing and taxing it would be a reduction in your tax dollars being spent on drugs. The additional taxes would more than cover the cost of any DUI issues, methinks.

[Vertnut]

Legalizing and taxing it would be a reduction in your tax dollars being spent on drugs. The additional taxes would more than cover the cost of any DUI issues, methinks.

Yeah. Like tobacco and gasoline? Just like those items, the feds will keep all that tax money. If the states do it independently (like Nevada has with gaming) that might be true, but Uncle Sam will want to regulate and tax the "chronic".

edit: Now if Uncle Sam were to "decriminalize" it, I think it would open the doors for states to legalize it themselves and keep any "revenue" to themselves. Remember that chronic is still federally "classified" as the same level drug as heroin.

[Captain Crawfish]

You never drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes?

Drink occasionally I really don't mind pot I just don't like messing with piss test so I don't do it. We all wish to escape our daily routines I suppose.

[Chili]

tldr.. Too stoned.

[98MarkVIII]

no surprise there. obama probably smokes dope himself i know the people who voted for him are smoking something! getting high is for people who wish to escape the reality of their lives. but whatever floats your boat

I don't suppose it could also be for people that just simply wish to escape actual bodily pain without the use of synthetic drugs that typically yield far worse side effects than the symptoms they are treating?
I suppose those sad cases of people that suffor from diseases such as Parkinson's, where cannabis is the only known relief from the constant muscle contractions have no right to "escape the reality of their lives"

[talisman]

It's legal to light up in Colorado and Washington, and soon smoking pot could be legalized across the country following a decision Thursday by the federal government.

After Washington state and Colorado passed laws in November 2012 legalizing the consumption and sale of marijuana for adults over 18, lawmakers in both states waited to see whether the federal government would continue to prosecute pot crimes under federal statutes in their states.

Both Colorado and Washington have been working to set up regulatory systems in order to license and tax marijuana growers and retail sellers, but have been wary of whether federal prosecutors would come after them for doing so. They are the first states to legalize pot, and therefore to go through the process of trying to set up a regulatory system.

Consumption and sale of marijuana is still illegal in all other states, though some cities and towns have passed local laws decriminalizing it or making it a low priority for law enforcement officers. There are also movements in many states to legalize pot, including legalization bills introduced in Maine and Rhode Island, discussion of possible bills in states including Massachusetts and Vermont, and talk of ballot initiatives in California and Oregon.

But on Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that it would not prosecute marijuana crimes that were legal under state law, a move that could signal the end of the country's longtime prohibition on pot is nearing. "It certainly appears to be potentially the beginning of the end," said Paul Armantano, deputy director of the pot lobby group NORML.

The memo sent to states Thursday by the DOJ said that as long as states set up comprehensive regulations governing marijuana, there would be no need for the federal government to step in, a decision that will save the Justice Department from having to use its limited resources on prosecuting individuals for growing or smoking marijuana.

"This memo appears to be sending the message to states regarding marijuana prohibition that is a recognition that a majority of the public and in some states majority of lawmakers no longer want to continue down the road of illegal cannabis, and would rather experiment with different regulatory schemes of license and retail sale of cannabis," Armantano said.

Richard Collins, a law professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, said that the memo from the DOJ points out specifically that the federal government will only walk away from marijuana crimes in states where there is a solid regulatory system for the drug's growth and disemenation.

For other states to mimic the systems in Colorado and Washington, they will first have to get legalization laws on their ballots or in their state houses, which could post a challenge, he said.

While Colorado and Washington have not yet set up their regulatory systems, both states will likely sell licenses to farmers who want to grow marijuana as well as to manufacturing plants and retail sellers. The marijuana will also likely be taxed at each stage of its growth, processing, and sale.

"In both Colorado and Washington, legalization was done by citizens with no participation by elected representatives until they had to pass laws to comply with the initiative. In other initiative states I would expect such measures - I would expect a new one in California, for instance - and roughly half the states permit this and the rest don't.

"In the states that do have initiatives I expect efforts to get it on the ballot. The other half it will be much tougher. It's hard to get elected representatives to do this," Collins said.

Armantano is more optimistic about the spread of legalized pot. He compared the DOJ's announcement to the federal government's actions toward the end of alcohol prohibition in America a century ago, when states decided to stop following the federal ban on alcohol sales and the federal government said it would not step in and prosecute crimes.

"For first time we now have clear message from fed government saying they will not stand in way of states that wish to implement alternative regulatory schemes in lieu of federal prohibition," Armantano said.

He predicted that within the next one to three years, five or six other states may join Colorado and Washington in legalizing the drug, setting the stage for the rest of the country to follow.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union, was disappointed with the Justice Department's decision, but said that he had already reached out to set up meetings to talk with leadership in the department and he was "open to discussion" about the benefits.

"I would tell you that certainly the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers oppose legalization," he said, "but that is not to say that we're not willing to have a conversation about it. It is, from our perspective, a gateway drug and opinions to the contrary don't have the weight of fact behind them."

"We want to talk to (the DOJ) about their thought process and ours and where the disconnect is," he said. "From our perspective the only fault with the status quo is that we aren't making a bigger dent and we'd like to make a bigger one."

[Trip McNeely]

Just because it's legal, doesn't mean I want to be around it or have my kids around it. This will be a big issue. I don't want to be walking down a street or at a restaurant and be exposed to it because some dipshit doesn't care about anyone but themselves. I find that this will be the attitude as it is with most smokers. The problem is it will affect me differently than the average asshole blowing cigarette smoke in mine or my children's faces.

[Cooter]

oh no, not teh weedz!?!?! you'll be trying to fly off the top of a tall building and/or microwaving your babies

[Trip McNeely]

Regardless of your take on it, it does affect your Central Nervous system. And quit being over dramatic, I never said it would do anything of the sort.

[Cooter]

over dramatic is thinking that accidentally smelling weed smoke is going to harm you somehow and that it'll be worse than smelling tobacco smoke

[Trip McNeely]

As far as I know tobacco smoke doesn't trip a drug test.