schwarzenegger: time to talk about legalizing pot

[saz]

this is part of the reason why i like arnold. he's a very sane, moderate or better yet liberal republican who isn't a religious nut and not only acknowledges science and climate change (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/22/schwarzenegger-asks-obama_n_159909.html), but is also seriously concerned with this environmental crisis. he actually believes in reaching across the isle. he pisses off the right-wing nuts and recently contemplated becoming a democrat (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-02-23/arnold-considered-party-switch). and of course the benefits of legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana, would be an economic goldmine which would not only put a lot of criminals out of business, but also kick start the hemp industry, which could potenially pump hundreds of billions into the economy.



Arnold: Time To Talk About Legalizing Pot

Ryan Grim l HuffPost Reporting From DC
05/05/09 07:17 PM


California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called on Tuesday for an open debate on legalizing and taxing marijuana. A recent Field Poll showed that 56 percent (http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2306.pdf) of Californians support taxing and regulating marijuana as a way to address the state's fiscal crisis. Schwarzenegger was asked at a press conference if it was finally time to legalize marijuana.

"No, I think that it's not time for that, but I think it's time for a debate," he said, according to a transcript provided by Schwarzenegger's office. "And I think that we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what affect it had on those countries, and are they happy with that decision."

The Mexican ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, recently called for (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/13/us-pot-legalization-shoul_n_186210.html) the United States to hold such a debate to address cartel-related violence. Mexico has decriminalized possession of marijuana but doesn't tax it.

James P. Gray, a retired Orange County Superior Court judge, applauded Schwarzenegger's openness. "Once people allow themselves to discuss the issue of treating marijuana like alcohol, the result is pre-ordained. Today marijuana is fully available for anyone that wants it -- expressly including our children -- so why not regulate and control it, and tax it as well? That will reduce the violence in its distribution, and bring in needed revenue for government," Gray, now a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, told the Huffington Post.

Schwarzenegger referenced his native country of Austria, which has recently loosened penalties on marijuana. "I've heard that they are unhappy with that and they want to roll back some of the decisions that were made in European countries. I've had dialogue with experts over there where I was born. So I think that one ought to look at all that. And it could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we can look at that. And if not, we shouldn't do it," he said.

The movement to legalize pot has picked up steam in recent months as budget deficits have plagued both state and federal coffers. But for Arnold, the decision to legalize should be made on its own merits, not merely as a way to raise money.

"But just because of raising revenues, we have to be very careful not to make mistakes at the same time," he said.

Ryan Grim is the author of the forthcoming book This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America (http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Country-Drugs-History/dp/0470167394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231014655&sr=1-1)


link (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/05/arnold-time-to-talk-about_n_197244.html)

[King PSYZ]

While I wouldn't touch the stuff myself, it is about time.

Tax revenue, decrease in drug trade violence, keeping it out of kids reach, hemp indusry, etc.

It also would stop filling our jails with stoners and leave room for the real criminals.

[saz]

California tax board: Legal pot could generate $1.4 billion

Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009
By Dan Walters | Sacramento Bee


California could see a nearly $1.4 billion per year increase in state revenues were it to legalize marijuana, the state Board of Equalization says in an analysis of pending legislation to to do that.

The bill (Assembly Bill 390) by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is still awaiting its first committee hearing and is likely not to be considered until next year. It would impose not only sales taxes but a $50 per ounce fee on marijuana sales, which would be licensed by the state much as alcoholic beverages are regulated.

Today, although considered illegal by federal authorities, California allows limited sales of marijuana for medicinal purposes, subject to local control, in accordance with a ballot measure approved by voters in 1996. And the state imposes sales taxes on those pot transactions. But wider sales would, under the Ammiano bill, be dependent on federal permission.

California is considered by federal authorities to be the nation's top marijuana producing state with 8.6 million pounds a year, valued at $13.8 billion, making it one of the state's largest agricultural crops, much of which is exported to other locales. The Board of Equalization analysis concludes that assuming 16 million ounces of marijuana consumption in California a year, legalization under AB 390 would generate $990 million from the $50 per ounce special levy and $392 million in sales taxes.

"We can no longer afford to keep our heads in the sand when it comes to marijuana," Ammiano said in a statement. "The move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is long overdue and simply common sense. The benefits of regulation are clear - controlling marijuana would generate up to $1.3 billion in much needed revenue for the state, restrict access to only those over 21, end the environmental damage to our public lands from illicit crops, and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to more serious crimes.

"It defies reason to propose closing parks and eliminating vital services for the poor while this potential revenue is available. California has an historic opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact a smart, responsible public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana."


link (http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/023910.html)

[yeahwho]

. he actually believes in reaching across the isle. he pisses off the right-wing nuts and recently contemplated becoming a democrat (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-02-23/arnold-considered-party-switch).

This is a trend, part of a shift within the republican party, they are splintered and finding the nutcase fundamentalists ruining any progress or electability.

Good for Arnold, he makes Sarah Palin look like a girly man.

[saz]

back in november when arnold was interviewed by george stephanopoulos, he pretty much admitted that the majority of americans want the government to focus on progressive policies and initiatives, and that they don't want the current incarnation of the republican party.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFSU_Nlyl9s


I think you can also make it very simple, and that is, you know, that Republicans have not provided for what the people need. And I think that's why Jindal is partially right on that, or he's right on that, because, you know, it is all about what the people of America need right now, and have we provided that as a party?

Let me tell you something. When it comes to building roads and people driving on the roads -- it's Democrats, Republicans, independents, decline to state --everyone wants to use those roads. Everyone's kids -- Republicans' kids, Democrats' kids -- everyone is in the school. They want to have great education. When it comes to clean air and protecting our environment and fighting global warming, everyone in America wants to be part of that.

Remember that so many times there's dialogue about, you know, we have to go back to our core values. What is that? What is core? How far does core go back in history in America, the word core? Does it go back 30 years? Does it go back 50 years? Because we know that Teddy Roosevelt talked about universal health care. So they're off the core for a long time ago already. He has talked about protecting our environment. So they've been off for a long time on that. I mean, let's be honest. Ronald Reagan -- let's go to Eisenhower, for instance. Eisenhower has built the highway system in America and he's poured billions of dollars into infrastructure. Where Republicans today say, well, that's spending. We shouldn't spend. That's not spending. That's investing in the future of America.

So there's a lot of things that they have been off on, if they want to go and talk about the core values. But maybe their definition of core values is maybe different. But I mean, so I think it's all nonsense talk. I think if they just talk about one thing, what do we need now? Now, America needs to be rebuilt, because we haven't really rebuilt America for decades. So we need to rebuild America, fix the bridges, fix the highways, fix the buildings, tunnels and all of those kind of things we need to do. And then we have to go and create great relationships with our partners overseas, with the world, and to build those relationships again. And we have to take care of health care. We have to take care of our environment. And we have to build an energy future. Those are the things that people want right now. And I know in the poll numbers in America -- I mean in California, that's what the people want.

[Dorothy Wood]

oh, arnold.

Schwarzenegger 2016!

[saz]

Oakland Voters Pass Landmark Pot Tax To Boost City Coffers

Lisa Leff | 07/22/09 01:51 AM | The Associated Press


OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland residents overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to approve a first-of-its kind tax on medical marijuana sold at the city's four cannabis dispensaries.

Preliminary election results showed the measure passing with 80 percent of the vote, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

The dispensary tax was one of four measures in a vote-by-mail special election aimed at raising money for the cash-strapped city. All four measures won, but Measure F had the highest level of support.

Scheduled to take effect on New Year's Day, the measure created a special business tax rate for the pot clubs, which now pay the same $1.20 for every $1,000 in gross sales applied to all retail businesses. The new rate will be $18.

Oakland's auditor estimates that based on annual sales of $17.5 million for the four clubs, it will generate an estimated $294,000 for city coffers in its first year.

Pot club owners, who openly sell pot over the counter under the 1996 state ballot measure that legalized medical marijuana use in California, proposed Measure F as a way to further legitimize their establishments.

"It's good business and good for the community," said Richard Lee, who owns the Coffee Shop SR-71 dispensary and Oaksterdam University, a trade school for budding dispensary workers.

The measure had no formal opposition; in November 2004, a ballot initiative that required Oakland police to make arresting adults using marijuana for personal use their lowest priority passed with 63 percent of the vote.

Support for Measure F was expected to be just as strong. As a result and given the mail-in nature of the election, there was little campaign activity, according to Lee.

"We put out signs, but outside of that it's been pretty low-key," said Lee, who hosted a victory party at Oaksterdam University's Student Union building in downtown Oakland.

Although California's 800 or so pot clubs also are expected to pay state sales tax, Oakland is the first city in the country to create a special tax on marijuana sales.

Advocates of legalizing pot for recreational use hope to use Oakland's experience with Measure F to persuade California voters next year to approve a measure that would legalize and regulate marijuana like alcohol.

[kaiser soze]

I support this mostly for the fact it will free hemp from demonization.

There have been so many breakthroughs with hemp industrial use since the early 1900s. Fuel, plastics, construction, textiles and fabrics, domestic use

Too bad the industries most threatened by it's flexibility have their hands in the anti-hemp/marijuana lobby

man it could really put a damper on environmental destruction

[blaker23]

Good for Arnold, he makes Sarah Palin look like a girly man.

What's Sarah smoking?

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin

This is your brain on drugs?

Just wondering.

[saz]

Schwarzenegger backs Obama on health care reform
(AFP) – 4 hours ago

LOS ANGELES — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger voiced support for President Barack Obama's health care drive Tuesday, calling on Republicans to back efforts to reform the system.

Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has repeatedly emphasized the need for a bipartisan approach, said he agreed with Obama's efforts to overhaul health care.

"Our principal goals -- slowing the growth in costs, enhancing the quality of care delivered, improving the lives of individuals, and helping to ensure a strong economic recovery -- are the same goals that the president is trying to achieve," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

"I appreciate his partnership with the states and encourage our colleagues on both sides of the political aisle at the national level to move forward and accomplish these vital goals for the American people."

Schwarzenegger's comments came as an influential Senate panel is expected to cast a key vote on Obama's top domestic priority.

A total of five different versions of health care reform are competing for influence in Congress, with weeks of haggling and horse-trading expected before any final version of the bill comes to a vote.

Obama is vowing to cut costs, to bring affordable health care within the reach of all Americans, and to stop insurance firms rejecting patients when they get sick, or turning them away if they have pre-existing conditions.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved

[travesty]

I am somewhat leery of legalizing once illegal vices purely for profit. I am glad Arnold wants debate and even more happy to see he'll temper the decision with facts relating to things other than just $$. While to it makes sense to legalize it on so many levels, I also have seen a similar situation here in NC. We recently legalized the lottery under the premise of all of the money it would pour in to the education coffers. To make a long story of political backhanded games and corruption short....it hasn't delivered on the promise.
They had some lofty estimates based on the number of people who were going out-of-state to play and then once it was legal those numbers never even came close to materializing so they keep bumping up the odds on the games to incentivize more play. Just seems like a smarmy thing to be doing to people on behalf of the government. Makes me think of how cigarette companies spike the nicotine levels to get you more addicted.

But whatever, CA is in desperate straights and has to do something. I would just hate to see something like this legalized just so CA can afford their absurd entitlement programs. But shit, smoke it if you got it... and if you got it then stack me a binger:D

[yeahwho]

I am somewhat leery of legalizing once illegal vices purely for profit.

The State Gambling commission in Washington State is a joke, they have made the lottery virtually the most horribly out of whack odds imaginable. The Indian Casino's have proliferated to one plus per County (with full on Slots/Roulette everything but sports book) and Radio, TV, Billboards, Print Media have non-stop advertising 24/7 telling Washington State citizens to gamble like degenerates with their spare time.

The ads are garish as all fuck and the kids all across the state are exposed to this (especially during sports broadcasts) onslaught daily. I do have some morals and scruples despite what I post here, I basically find the Washington State Gambling commission repugnant.

If they were to legalize weed in Washington State I sure as fuck hope they don't use the Gambling Commission as a template for administration.

[saz]

smoking ze joint (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqep14L2f7k)




Pot Legalization Gains Momentum In California

Marcus Wohlsen | 10/ 7/09 09:49 PM | The Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO — Marijuana advocates are gathering signatures to get as many as three pot-legalization measures on the ballot in 2010 in California, setting up what could be a groundbreaking clash with the federal government over U.S. drug policy.

At least one poll shows voters would support lifting the pot prohibition, which would make the state of more than 38 million the first in the nation to legalize marijuana.

Such action would also send the state into a headlong conflict with the U.S. government while raising questions about how federal law enforcement could enforce its drug laws in the face of a massive government-sanctioned pot industry.

The state already has a thriving marijuana trade, thanks to a first-of-its-kind 1996 ballot measure that allowed people to smoke pot for medical purposes. But full legalization could turn medical marijuana dispensaries into all-purpose pot stores, and the open sale of joints could become commonplace on mom-and-pop liquor store counters in liberal locales like Oakland and Santa Cruz.

Under federal law, marijuana is illegal, period. After overseeing a series of raids that destroyed more than 300,000 marijuana plants in California's Sierra Nevada foothills this summer, federal drug czar Gil Kerlikowske proclaimed, "Legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine."

The U.S. Supreme Court also has ruled that federal law enforcement agents have the right to crack down even on marijuana users and distributors who are in compliance with California's medical marijuana law.

But some legal scholars and policy analysts say the government will not be able to require California to help in enforcing the federal marijuana ban if the state legalizes the drug.

Without assistance from the state's legions of narcotics officers, they say, federal agents could do little to curb marijuana in California.

"Even though that federal ban is still in place and the federal government can enforce it, it doesn't mean the states have to follow suit," said Robert Mikos, a Vanderbilt University law professor who recently published a paper about the issue.

Nothing can stop federal anti-drug agents from making marijuana arrests, even if Californians legalize pot, he said. However, the U.S. government cannot pass a law requiring local and state police, sheriff's departments or state narcotics enforcers to help.

That is significant, because nearly all arrests for marijuana crimes are made at the state level. Of more than 847,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2008, for example, just over 6,300 suspects were booked by federal law enforcement, or fewer than 1 percent.

State marijuana bans have allowed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to focus on big cases, said Rosalie Pacula, director of drug policy research at the Rand Corp.

"It's only something the feds are going to be concerned about if you're growing tons of pot," Pacula said. For anything less, she said, "they don't have the resources to waste on it."

In a typical recent prosecution, 29-year-old Luke Scarmazzo was sentenced to nearly 22 years and co-defendant Ricardo Ruiz Montes to 20 years in federal prison for drug trafficking through a medical marijuana dispensary in Modesto.

At his bond hearing, prosecutors showed a rap video in which Scarmazzo boasts about his successful marijuana business, taunts federal authorities and carries cardboard boxes filled with cash. The DEA said the pair made more than $4.5 million in marijuana sales in less than two years.

The DEA would not speculate on the effects of any decision by California to legalize pot. "Marijuana is illegal under federal law and DEA will continue to attack large-scale drug trafficking organizations at every level," spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said.

The most conservative of the three ballot measures would only legalize possession of up to one ounce of pot for personal use by adults 21 and older – an amount that already under state law can only result at most in a $100 fine.

The proposal would also allow anyone to grow a plot of marijuana up to 5 feet-by-5 feet on their private property. The size, Pacula said, seems specifically designed to keep the total number of plants grown below 100, the threshold for DEA attention.

The greatest potential for conflict with the U.S. government would likely come from the provision that would give local governments the power to decide city-by-city whether to allow pot sales.

Hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state already operate openly with only modest federal interference. If recreational marijuana became legal, these businesses could operate without requiring their customers to qualify as patients.

Any business that grew bigger than the already typical storefront shops, however, would probably be too tempting a target for federal prosecution, experts said.

Even if Washington could no longer count on California to keep pot off its own streets, Congress or the Obama administration could try to coerce cooperation by withholding federal funds.

But with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement earlier this year that the Justice Department would defer to state laws on marijuana, the federal response to possible legalization remains unclear.

Doug Richardson, a spokesman for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the office is in the process of re-evaluating its policies on marijuana and other drugs.

Richardson said the office under Obama was pursuing a "more comprehensive" approach than the previous administration, with emphasis on prevention and treatment as well as law enforcement.

"We're trying to base stuff on the facts, the evidence and the science," he said, "not some particular prejudice somebody brings to the table."

[saz]

Schwarzenegger signs gay rights bills

By Dan Smith
The Sacramento Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/2248216.html)
smith@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Oct. 12, 2009 - 8:17 am
Last Modified: Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 - 11:18 am


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed two gay rights bills, one honoring late activist Harvey Milk and another recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.

In the last of hundreds of bill actions taken before midnight Sunday, Schwarzenegger approved the two bills by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco.

The governor last year vetoed the measure declaring May 22 a state day of recognition for Milk, suggesting that the former San Francisco supervisor be honored locally. But he subsequently named him to the California Hall of Fame.

Leno's SB 54, meanwhile, requires California to recognize marriages performed in other states where same sex marriage is legal.

Couples legally married in other states before Proposition 8 was approved last November will be considered legally married in California. In addition, couples legally married in other states after the measure was approved will not be considered married in California but will be afforded "the same legal protections available to couples that enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships in other states," Schwarzenegger wrote in his signing message. "In short, this measure honors the will of the People in enacting Proposition 8 while providing important protections to those unions legally entered into in other states," the governor wrote.


.

[saz]

Push to Legalize Marijuana Gains Ground in California

By Jesse McKinley
The New York Times
Published: October 27, 2009

San Francisco — These are heady times for advocates of legalized marijuana in California — and only in small part because of the newly relaxed approach of the federal government toward medical marijuana.

State lawmakers are holding a hearing on Wednesday on the effects of a bill that would legalize, tax and regulate the drug — in what would be the first such law in the United States. Tax officials estimate the legislation could bring the struggling state about $1.4 billion a year, and though the bill’s fate in the Legislature is uncertain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has indicated he would be open to a “robust debate” on the issue.

California voters are also taking up legalization. Three separate initiatives are being circulated for signatures to appear on the ballot next year, all of which would permit adults to possess marijuana for personal use and allow local governments to tax it. Even opponents of legalization suggest that an initiative is likely to qualify for a statewide vote.

“All of us in the movement have had the feeling that we’ve been running into the wind for years,” said James P. Gray, a retired judge in Orange County who has been outspoken in support of legalization. “Now we sense we are running with the wind.”

Proponents of the leading ballot initiative have collected nearly 300,000 signatures since late September, supporters say, easily on pace to qualify for the November 2010 general election. Richard Lee, a longtime marijuana activist who is behind the measure, says he has raised nearly $1 million to hire professionals to assist volunteers in gathering the signatures.

“Voters are ripping the petitions out of our hands,” Mr. Lee said.

That said, the bids to legalize marijuana are opposed by law enforcement groups across the state and, if successful, would undoubtedly set up a legal showdown with the federal government, which classifies marijuana as an illegal drug.

California was the first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, in 1996, but court after court — including the United States Supreme Court — has ruled that the federal government can continue to enforce its ban. Only this month, with the Department of Justice announcement that it would not prosecute users and providers of medical marijuana who obey state law, has that threat subsided.

But federal authorities have also made it clear that their tolerance stops at recreational use. In a memorandum on Oct. 19 outlining the medical marijuana guidelines, Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden said marijuana was “a dangerous drug, and the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime,” adding that “no state can authorize violations of federal law.”

Still, Mr. Lee anticipates spending up to $20 million on a campaign to win passage of his ballot measure in California, raising some of it from the hundreds of already legal medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, which have been recently fighting efforts by Los Angeles city officials to tighten restrictions on their operations.

“It’s a $2 billion industry,” Mr. Lee said of the medical marijuana sales.

Opponents said they are also preparing for a battle next year.

“I fully expect they will qualify,” said John Lovell, a Sacramento lobbyist for several groups of California law enforcement officials that oppose legalization.

Any vote would take place in a state where attitudes toward marijuana border on the schizophrenic. Last year, the state made some 78,500 arrests on felony and misdemeanors related to the drug, up from about 74,000 in 2007, according to the California attorney general.

Seizures of illegal marijuana plants, often grown by Mexican gangs on public lands in forests and parks, hit an all-time high in 2009, and last week, federal authorities announced a series of arrests in the state’s Central Valley, where homes have been converted into “indoor grows.”

At the same time, however, there are also pockets of California where marijuana can seem practically legal already. At least seven California cities have formally declared marijuana a low priority for law enforcement, with ballot measures or legislative actions. In Los Angeles, some 800 to 1,000 dispensaries of medical marijuana are in business, officials say, complete with consultants offering public relations services and “canna-business management.”

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat and author of the legalization bill, said momentum for legalization has built in recent years, especially as the state’s finances have remained sour.

“A lot of people that were initially resistant or even ridiculed it have come aboard,” Mr. Ammiano said.

In Oakland, which passed a tax on medical cannabis sales in July, several people who signed a petition backing Mr. Lee’s initiative said they were motivated in part by the cost of imprisoning drug offenders and the toll of drug-related violence in Mexico.

“Personally I don’t see a way of getting it under control other than legalizing it and taxing it,” said Jim Quinn, 60, a production manager. “We’ve got to get it out of the hands of criminals both domestic and international.”

Mr. Lovell, the law enforcement lobbyist, however, said those arguments paled in comparison to the potential pitfalls of legalization, including people driving under the influence. He also questioned how much net revenue a tax like Mr. Ammiano is proposing would actually raise. “We get revenue from alcohol,” he said. “But there’s way more in social costs than we retain in revenues.”

The recent history of voter-approved drug reform laws in California is not encouraging for supporters of legalization. Last November, voters rejected a proposition that would have increased spending for drug treatment programs and loosened parole and prison requirements for drug offenders.

None of which seems to faze Mr. Lee, 47, a former roadie who founded Oaksterdam University, a medical marijuana trade school in Oakland, in 2007. Mr. Lee says he plans to use the Internet to raise money, as well as tapping out-of state sources for campaign money.

More than anything, however, Mr. Lee said he was banking on a basic shift in people’s attitudes toward the drug.

“For a lot of people,” he said, “it’s just another brand of beer.”


.

[Guy Incognito]

is this a blag, if its not its quite funny

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/10/schwarzenegger_sticks_it_to_assemblyman_acrostic_s tyle.php

[YoungRemy]

I really want California to stop beating around the proverbial bush when it comes to the medical marijuana industry.

just open up the existing "dispensaries" to the general public and operate them under the same scrutinous measures that protect the shopowners and users alike.

why pretend that there are all these "patients" running around when there are everyday average marijuana smokers who simply want access to their "medicine" without having to call a drug dealer or meet up in some back-alley exchange.

the protection under the federal law is a good thing, as well as the latest memo by the Obama administration that they won't pursue medical marijuana cases, but I'd like to see California take it to the next level and open these shops up to the public, with laws in place similar to alcohol, and with that, education and awareness...

[p-branez]

the problem is education and awareness campaigns cost a ton of money and their effectiveness is always questionable. it doesn't make sense to legalize it, tax it, then put all the tax revenue back into solving the problems that will be created.

medical marijuana passed last year in michigan, but the outline of the program is just taking shape. no one is working quickly on this issue.

[checkyourprez]

the problem is education and awareness campaigns cost a ton of money and their effectiveness is always questionable. it doesn't make sense to legalize it, tax it, then put all the tax revenue back into solving the problems that will be created.

medical marijuana passed last year in michigan, but the outline of the program is just taking shape. no one is working quickly on this issue.

as opposed to the tons of money that goes into policing, prosecuting, and housing people in jail for weed offenses.

what do you think costs the tax payers more?

[saz]

arnold disses palin in an interview with the financial times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8a78a44a-e84f-11de-8a02-00144feab49a.html):


You have to ask: what was she trying to accomplish? Is she really interested in this subject or is she interested in her career and in winning the nomination [for president]?

and i'm not down with coal, but he seems to be spot on with everything else:


Local Governments Can Lead Fight Against Climate Change

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Posted: December 15, 2009 09:42 AM (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-arnold-schwarzenegger/local-governments-can-lea_b_392442.html)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- This week leaders from around the world gather here, in a quest for a global pact to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and tackle the single greatest challenge of our time.

I am joining them, to discuss the urgency of their efforts, the economic opportunities we can seize, and the tremendous role of subnational governments in climate-change mitigation.

Some pundits have described Copenhagen as the most important world summit since the end of the Second World War. And it has been suggested that without a binding international agreement, the fight against climate change is unwinnable.

Now, it certainly would be terrific if the world's governments reached such an agreement. But as much as 80 percent of the necessary greenhouse-gas reductions will happen at the subnational level. So why should we focus all our faith and hope in international action?

Throughout the course of history, all great movements have been born at the grassroots level. The American independence movement, the civil-rights movement and the women's suffrage movement were all begun by people who did not wait for others. Then they gained momentum and speed, and swept throughout our nation.

There is a lesson in this when discussing climate change. Even in the absence of national and international commitments, we must not ignore the tremendous movement that is already under way to solve our environmental and energy problems.

For example, states, provinces and cities have been busy passing their own laws and emission targets.

In California, we are implementing a law to cut our greenhouse-gas emissions 25 percent by the year 2020. We approved the world's first Low Carbon Fuel Standard and tailpipe emissions standards, which the Obama administration has now adopted.

We have gone out and formed partnerships with other states, provinces and cities in America, Canada, China, Mexico and Europe. And right now we are working with the U.N. to assist developing countries, especially in Africa.

There is a great tectonic shift already under way that is gaining strength every day. And everyone is getting involved, from businesses and entrepreneurs who are investing billions of dollars into green technology, to ordinary citizens who are buying more energy-efficient appliances, conserving water and choosing to pursue greener lifestyles on their own.

There are so many amazing examples.

Right now a foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area is investing in efforts to help upgrade cement factories in China.

Rajendra Pachauri, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has started an initiative to replace kerosene lanterns with solar lights for 1 billion rural people.

Electric utilities are installing millions of square feet of solar panels on warehouse rooftops.

Four of the world's largest meat producers have agreed not to buy cattle from deforested areas of the Amazon.

And this movement is about much more than just protecting the environment. It is also about seizing an incredible economic opportunity.

We can create a new economic foundation for the 21st century that is built on clean fuels, clean cars and clean energy.

Today, California leads the United States with more than 125,000 green jobs. In fact, over the last decade, green jobs in California have grown at nearly triple the rate of total job growth.

And it's not just happening in California.

Green jobs in Idaho have jumped 126 percent; in Kansas, 51 percent; in New Mexico, 50 percent.

Texas, which produces the most wind power of any state, has enjoyed a 16 percent increase.

One hundred and fifty years ago, the Industrial Revolution changed the world and ushered in a new era of prosperity. Today, the Green Revolution can do the same.

And to make that happen, we need everyone to come together and sacrifice for the common good, including the environmental community.

Environmentalists must stop letting the perfect become the enemy of the possible. They cannot oppose coal-fired power plants and at the same time block transmission lines for solar fields and wind farms. They cannot oppose safe and controlled offshore drilling, while also opposing nuclear energy.

If we all work together -- environmentalists, businesses, activists, ordinary citizens and subnational governments -- we can push our nations and the world toward a clean, sustainable future. And regardless of what happens in Copenhagen, we will continue pushing ahead toward that future, because we know we must succeed.

[saz]

California Assembly Panel Votes To Legalize Marijuana

First Posted: 01-12-10 01:57 PM | Updated: 01-12-10 02:25 PM
Ryan Grim | HuffPost Reporting (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/california-assembly-panel_n_420369.html)

Since marijuana was criminalized more than 70 years ago, no panel of federal or state lawmakers has ever voted to reverse the ban and legalize it. That streak ended on Tuesday, when a California Assembly committee voted to approve AB 390, sponsored by Assembly Democrat Tom Ammiano, which would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana in the state of California.

The bill passed the Public Safety Committee by a 4-3 vote and now moves to the Health Committee before coming to the Assembly floor for a full vote.
"This historic vote marks the formal beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition in the United States," said Stephen Gutwillig, California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Making marijuana legal has now entered the public dialogue in a credible way. Decades of wasteful, punitive, racist marijuana policy have taken quite a toll in this country. The Public Safety Committee has demonstrated that serious people take ending marijuana prohibition seriously."

Meanwhile, a group of voters announced they have obtained enough signatures to put a marijuana legalization proposition on the California ballot in 2010.

Judge Jim Gray, who retired last year from the California Superior Court in Orange County, hailed the committee's passage of bill.

"The mere fact that there was a vote in the Assembly to regulate and control the sale and distribution of marijuana would have been unthinkable even one year ago. And if the bill isn't fully enacted into law this year, it will be soon," said Gray, who works with the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "Or, the bill will be irrelevant because the voters will have passed the measure to regulate and tax marijuana that will be on the ballot this November."

Advocates of Ammiano's legislation argue that, with the state facing an existential fiscal crisis, instead of spending money to enforce marijuana laws the crop should be used as a source for revenue and job creation.

Marijuana-policy reform legislation is on the move elsewhere. Voters in Washington state announced on Monday that they would begin a petition drive to put a legalization question on the ballot as well come November. A group of activists is planning a similar campaign in Nevada.

Also on Monday, the New Jersey legislature approved medical marijuana legislation that would make the drug available from state-licensed dispensaries to seriously ill patients.

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[Echewta]

This would destroy tourism in Amsterdam and open up a whole new group of tourist to California, especially Los Angeles.

[RobMoney$]

Yes, We Cannabis!

This is really a no-brainer.
Not only will you increase revenue from the sale and taxation, but just think of the money that will be saved by not having to incarcerate people for marijuana related offenses.

After a quick google search
Link (http://www.alternet.org/rights/47815/)


According to the new BJS report, "Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004," 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuana offenses...

Multiplying these totals by U.S. DOJ prison expenditure data reveals that taxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison pot offenders....

Of course, several hundred thousand more Americans are arrested each year for violating marijuana laws, costing taxpayers another $8 billion dollars annually in criminal justice costs.



And lord knows how much is wasted fighting the smuggling cartels of Mexico.

[RobMoney$]

This would destroy tourism in Amsterdam and open up a whole new group of tourist to California, especially Los Angeles.


I'd think San Fran would be the choice destination of potheads, no?

[RobMoney$]

Also, Jersey voted to legalize it for medical purposes yesterday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/nyregion/12marijuana.html



New Jersey Vote Backs Marijuana for Severely Ill

By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Published: January 11, 2010

TRENTON — The New Jersey Legislature approved a measure on Monday that would make the state the 14th in the nation, but one of the few on the East Coast, to legalize the use of marijuana to help patients with chronic illnesses.

The measure — which would allow patients diagnosed with severe illnesses like cancer, AIDS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis to have access to marijuana grown and distributed through state-monitored dispensaries — was passed by the General Assembly and State Senate on the final day of the legislative session.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine has said he would sign it into law before leaving office next Tuesday. Supporters said that within nine months, patients with a prescription for marijuana from their doctors should be able to obtain it at one of six locations.

[Echewta]

Yes, San Francisco too.

Awww yea! Jersey Shore to fight the beat and blaze up the heat!!!

I hope there would be the same laws in effect to bust people for driving while high or acting like a fool in public. I'm sure there would be.

[RobMoney$]

Yes, San Francisco too.

Awww yea! Jersey Shore to fight the beat and blaze up the heat!!!


I've been pumping iron lately so I can fist pump all night long!!
Beatin' up that Beat.