One of the topics I have been reading and hearing about of late is the legalization of Marijuana. The opinions vary, as they all do with something thats controversial. Some opinions are based on experience, sometimes even religion comes into play. Occasionally (and not enough) feelings on the subject are based on facts.
It appears to me a growing population of people are more in favor of the herb. Of course there are those who are still of a different mindset. I myself feel it should be legalized. I could go on and on about my reasonings for this, but what I would like is imput from my Gather family and what their thoughts are on this.
So legalized or not? And why?
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Comments: 18
I had wondered though if it is legalized, how would we deal with employers, who drug test? Would that have to be made unconstitutional? I think for initial employment it should, but if one is suspected of coming to work stoned, then maybe test on those basis? Just my thoughts on that.
I never understood how alcohol could be legal and marijuana not. The one thing about people who are stoned, they usually are so mellow they have no desire to go anywhere.....and maybe if marijuana was legal there would be less drunks on the road causing bad accidents.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=65
To the Voters of California:
As police officers, judges, prosecutors, corrections officials and others who have labored to enforce the laws that seek to prohibit cannabis (marijuana) use, and who have witnessed the abysmal failure of this current criminalization approach, we stand together in calling for new laws that will effectively control and tax cannabis.
As criminal justice professionals, we have seen with our own eyes that keeping cannabis illegal damages public safety -- for cannabis consumers and non-consumers alike. We’ve also seen that prohibition sometimes has tragic consequences for the law enforcers charged with putting their lives on the line to enforce it. The only groups that benefit from continuing to keep marijuana illegal are the violent gangs and cartels that control its distribution and reap immense profits from it through the black market.
If California's voters make the sensible decision to effectively control and tax cannabis this November, it will eliminate illegal marijuana distribution networks, just as ending alcohol prohibition put a stop to violent and corrupting gangsters' control of beer, wine and liquor sales.
As law enforcement professionals, we especially want voters to understand that legalization will allow us to do our jobs more effectively and safely. In 2008, there were over 60,000 arrests for simple misdemeanor cannabis possession in California, yet nearly 60,000 violent crimes went unsolved in our state that same year. When we change our cannabis laws, police officers will no longer have to waste time on low-level cannabis arrests; we'll be able to focus on protecting the public from murderers, rapists, drunk drivers and burglars. Cannabis cases will no longer clog up court dockets. And room in our costly, overflowing prisons will be freed up when we stop locking people up just because they tested positive for cannabis while on probation.
Because of all the overhead and administrative savings that legalization will generate, our criminal justice apparatus will have more resources to keep more good law enforcers employed serving the public in this time of fiscal turmoil. Ending prohibition will also put a stop to other crimes and problems caused by the illegal marijuana market, such as robberies, gang warfare, gun-running and house fires caused by underground grow operations.
Controlling marijuana through a regulated system will also reduce its availability to kids. Right now, illegal dealers have no incentive to check IDs or avoid selling to juveniles, given that the market is illegal for everyone. But under adult legalization, licensed cannabis businesses will face penalties and consequences that will effectively deter underage sales. Indeed, a recent study from Columbia University shows that teens currently find it easier to purchase illegal marijuana than age-regulated alcohol.
And, because marijuana is illegal and unregulated, its producers aren’t required to do any quality control or safety evaluation, and sometimes it is adulterated with other drugs or harmful chemicals. While law enforcers understand that every drug has the potential for abuse, making cannabis illegal has made it much more dangerous than it otherwise would be under effective regulation.
Please join us in supporting the sensible solution to California’s failed cannabis policies. Let’s vote to control and tax cannabis this November – for safety’s sake.
For many years it being illegal made no sense, given the facts about the plant. However because there are some who could benefit more by it being illegal, it stayed such. Those with the power and money have put out false information on marijuana to validate, the war on the drug. Of course in time the truth comes out.
With our prison system, inudated with a population of people who have been caught smoking it, and pocessed small amounts (and statistics say the vast majority are smokers not sellers) something needs to be done. Real criminals are getting less time due to overcrowding. Our court system is backlogged, for what? A plant that mellows people? Are non violent when smoking? Yet Alcohol is legal, and we all know the effects from that. DUI's, violence, drunk and disorderly conduct, to name a few. Seems to me they made the wrong choice in what to make illegal. But then again like I stated there are those who benefit from it being illegal.