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 FoURtWeNTy420
Infinite Conciousness
 
Registered: 03/07/07
Posts: 665
Loc: Miami
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 California mulls legalising marijuana 
#11148938 - 09/29/09 06:35 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Source
Now, there are moves afoot in California to go further to fully legalise marijuana.
Evidence of the impact that the approval of medicinal marijuana has had on some areas of California is clear in Oakland.
Across the bay from San Francisco, it has come to be known as Oaksterdam, in a nod to the symbolic global capital of marijuana deregulation, Amsterdam.
The relaxed approach to marijuana use in this part of Oakland has led to the opening of several marijuana dispensaries.
They are establishments in this once deprived area of town which sell a broad array of cannabis related products, from food products such as brownies and cereal bars laced with cannabis to traditional marijuana for smoking.
Oaksterdam University
"This is where it all started," says Richard Lee, a leading advocate of the legalisation of cannabis, pointing to a building where the first ever dispensary was opened in 1996.
His sense of excitement is palpable as he shows me around Oaksterdam, which is also home to a facility where state residents can get the ID needed to establish their right to use cannabis for medical purposes.
Richard Lee runs Oaksterdam University which opened in 2007
The area is also home to the Oaksterdam University, which Mr Lee runs.
He shows me around the student union of the university, which he describes as a trade school for all of those interested in finding a place in the thriving cannabis trade that medicinal marijuana has spawned.
Mr Lee tells me that making cannabis use legal would make economic sense but would also help in the fight against the Mexican drugs cartels.
"According to some estimates, the Mexican cartels get 60-70% of their money - their profit - from cannabis," he tells me.
"So if we cut that out of the equation then theoretically 60-70% of the violence they perpetrate would be cut out, because they'd have less money for the guns and weapons and ammunition to kill people and to spend on bribing officials and all the rest," Mr Lee says.
Trailblazing
That perspective, along with the fact that California state authorities estimate marijuana could bring in nearly $1.5bn a year in much needed tax revenue if it were legalised, has led to increased support among the state's voters for the full legalisation of the drug.
Politicians like Tom Ammiano, who represents one of the most liberal districts of San Francisco in the California state assembly, have been paying close attention.
Mr Ammiano came into politics as a trailblazing gay rights activist in the 1970s and has long advocated greater tolerance of cannabis use.
Earlier this year, he took that approach one step further and introduced a bill in the California state assembly which, if approved, would grant cannabis the same legal status in the state as alcohol and tobacco.
We like to say prohibition is chaos and regulation is control
Tom Ammiano
California State Assemblyman
That would put California ahead of even Amsterdam, where marijuana use is tolerated but not altogether legal.
Sitting with him in his office in the state government building in San Francisco, with its sweeping views of the city, it becomes clear that his proposal is far from a flight of fancy.
He tells me he has been finding that more and more of his colleagues in the state assembly are coming around to seeing why moving towards legalisation makes perfect sense.
'Lighten up'
"People across the board, whether they're conservative or liberal, have come to realise that the so-called war on drugs has failed and failed miserably," Mr Ammiano says.
"In fact, it's costing us money instead of saving us money. This new approach would be a way for the policing efforts to be focused on the big bad guys, the cartels, with their violence and murder, and lighten up on the more minor offences. We like to say prohibition is chaos and regulation is control," he adds.
"On the streets, a drug dealer does not ask a kid for his ID before selling him cannabis," he concludes with an acerbic, humorous tone that serves as proof that he has, beyond politics, also had some success in his other career as a stand-up comedian.
But, despite his optimistic tone, Mr Ammiano says he knows that those who oppose his proposal, including key figures in the medical and law enforcement community, are armed with statistics pointing to the damaging long-term effects of the drug and have the stamina and resources to wage a major fight to ensure that the bill never gets signed into law.
One of those opponents is Ronald Brooks, president of the National Narcotic Officers' Associations' Coalition, which represents more than 70,000 narcotics enforcement officers in the US.
We meet in the town of Redwood City, south of San Francisco and, as I get in his car, we drive past what appears to be a nondescript office building.
'Seriously flawed'
However, he tells me that in the 1980s it was a bank - the place where his partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless marijuana dealer, who was carrying out a bank robbery to fund his drug business.
He says experiences like that have strengthened his resolve that America can't allow itself to take a more lenient approach to marijuana.
"This argument of freeing up law enforcement so that we can take on the cartels is seriously flawed," he tells me.
Ronald Brooks is firmly against the proposed change in the law
"This is really a hoax being perpetrated on the voters of California to authorise their political agenda - that is to legalise marijuana as one step to legalise drugs in America because they simply don't think the government ought to control drugs," he adds.
"The people who are going to lose if this gets approved are the taxpayers, because we're going to have increased costs associated with this, both healthcare and law enforcement costs, and the people who have to drive on the state's highways who are going to be in danger from being hit by someone intoxicated from using cannabis. This is simply a reckless public policy," he concludes.
Back across the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, specifically Oaksterdam, the patrons of the Bulldog Cafe are enjoying their legally sanctioned right to consume marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Emerging industry
Gary has travelled from Texas for the weekend to attend a seminar on the cannabis trade at the Oaksterdam University across the street.
He is in his 50s, but says he is hoping to take the information he has picked up in his course on the cannabis business and make a life-transforming move in the coming months to California.
"My girlfriend and I are interested in moving to California from Texas to become a part of this here. We're not quite sure where we fit in but we want to get into the business itself. We feel it's an emerging industry, and this is where I feel compelled to come," he tells me as the smell of cannabis wafts through the room.
Like Gary, there are hundreds of others participating in the courses at the Oaksterdam University on any given week.
Beyond that, there are more than 200,000 people in the state registered as consumers of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
As for Mr Ammiano's proposal to legalise marijuana in the state, that is still making its way through the California state assembly and it is difficult to say whether it will succeed or not.
What is clear, however, is that whatever the outcome of the legalisation proposal, the medical marijuana law and the multi-million dollar industry it has spawned appear to be here to stay in California.
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I support drug testing, which drug should i test today?
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 Scruffy404
Stranger
Registered: 05/31/09
Posts: 655
Loc: BC 
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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 Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: FoURtWeNTy420]
#11148982 - 09/29/09 06:46 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Go Arnold!
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FoURtWeNTy420
Infinite Conciousness
Registered: 03/07/07
Posts: 665
Loc: Miami
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: Scruffy404]
#11149045 - 09/29/09 07:09 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Go Arnold!
hha yea....GO! arnold lmfao!
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
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I support drug testing, which drug should i test today?
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Smitington
Unidentified Flying Object
Registered: 08/10/09
Posts: 1,357
Loc: Mushroom Kingdom
Last seen: 1 hour, 7 minutes
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: Scruffy404]
#11149081 - 09/29/09 07:19 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Ronald Brooks said:
"This is really a hoax being perpetrated on the voters of California to authorise their political agenda - that is to legalise marijuana as one step to legalise drugs in America because they simply don't think the government ought to control drugs,"..."The people who are going to lose if this gets approved are the taxpayers, because we're going to have increased costs associated with this, both healthcare and law enforcement costs, and the people who have to drive on the state's highways who are going to be in danger from being hit by someone intoxicated from using cannabis. This is simply a reckless public policy,"
Are you serious? 
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omalley1015
weed and some goggles
Registered: 01/22/09
Posts: 21
Last seen: 9 months, 3 days
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: FoURtWeNTy420]
#11149227 - 09/29/09 08:05 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
FoURtWeNTy420 said:
We like to say prohibition is chaos and regulation is control
so so so so true. im definitely holding on to this quote.
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EdgeChaos
Still a stranger
Registered: 08/04/06
Posts: 2,060
Last seen: 1 month, 8 days
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: omalley1015]
#11150241 - 09/29/09 11:29 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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"His partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless marijuana dealer, who was carrying out a bank robbery to fund his drug business.
He says experiences like that have strengthened his resolve that America can't allow itself to take a more lenient approach to marijuana.
"This argument of freeing up law enforcement so that we can take on the cartels is seriously flawed," he tells me."
So... We give all the money made from illegal drug sales to this asshole who kills cops?
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mikehunt
Stranger
Registered: 03/29/08
Posts: 10
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: EdgeChaos]
#11150725 - 09/29/09 01:07 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
His partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless bank robber.
Fixed.
Fucking moron...
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Moronicus
smokehousebacon.
Registered: 05/13/09
Posts: 4,368
Last seen: 15 hours, 23 minutes
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: EdgeChaos]
#11150802 - 09/29/09 01:20 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
EdgeChaos said:
"His partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless marijuana dealer, who was carrying out a bank robbery to fund his drug business.
He says experiences like that have strengthened his resolve that America can't allow itself to take a more lenient approach to marijuana.
"This argument of freeing up law enforcement so that we can take on the cartels is seriously flawed," he tells me."
So... We give all the money made from illegal drug sales to this asshole who kills cops?
i don't see why that bank robbery shit matters, he could have been trying to fund something else instead of his 'business', which sounds like a total way to get yourself busted. I doubt he was stoned when he did this, i mean...who gets stoned and then go robs a bank? 
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BACON RANCH, FUCK YEAH
A post about m00nshine
Anonymous #6 said:
Yes, it is. The shine stands for his job title, which is Shoe Shiner, the moon stands for the time he comes out to be a nigger, which is best suited for the negroid camouflage.
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libertaire
liberator
Registered: 08/06/08
Posts: 4,204
Last seen: 7 months, 3 days
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: Smitington]
#11150916 - 09/29/09 01:37 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Smitington said:
Quote:
Ronald Brooks said:
"This is really a hoax being perpetrated on the voters of California to authorise their political agenda - that is to legalise marijuana as one step to legalise drugs in America because they simply don't think the government ought to control drugs,"..."The people who are going to lose if this gets approved are the taxpayers, because we're going to have increased costs associated with this, both healthcare and law enforcement costs, and the people who have to drive on the state's highways who are going to be in danger from being hit by someone intoxicated from using cannabis. This is simply a reckless public policy,"
Are you serious?
One word for you sir....ALCOHOL. I love completely illogical and hypocritical arguments, they really make me laugh.
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BlindSophist
drunken preacher
Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 20,221
Loc: SF Bay Area
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: FoURtWeNTy420]
#11151276 - 09/29/09 02:36 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
FoURtWeNTy420 said:
"This argument of freeing up law enforcement so that we can take on the cartels is seriously flawed," he tells me.
This understanding of the argument is what's flawed and I think that's deliberate. The fact of the matter is that with legalization the cartels will have much less business, and therefore decrease in size and influence, drastically cutting the need for enforcement both in the areas of gang violence and drug use. It has nothing to do with "freeing up" law enforcement at all, it has to do with obviating it. But he's got a job to do, and that job just so happens to hinge on the perpetuation of a bloody and pointless war on our own soil and especially on the soil of our neighbors to the south.
I bet this guy is against immigration too, and justifies this paradox in reasoning with a demented faith in absolute law enforcement to make problems disappear into thin air.
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Love of one is a barbarism; for it is exercised at the expense of all others. The love of God, too.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
  
Edited by Tchan909 (09/29/09 03:44 PM)
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Basho
Banana Tree
Registered: 03/02/09
Posts: 12
Last seen: 1 year, 10 months
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: BlindSophist]
#11151747 - 09/29/09 03:50 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
"People across the board, whether they're conservative or liberal, have come to realise that the so-called war on drugs has failed and failed miserably," Mr Ammiano says.
 About time, better late than never
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"So basically, the oracle at Delphi was a stoner that everyone in ancient Greek society trusted a lot."
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pasucks
Stranger
Registered: 03/15/09
Posts: 255
Loc: pennsyltuckey
Last seen: 2 years, 7 months
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: Basho]
#11152160 - 09/29/09 05:02 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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"His partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless marijuana dealer, who was carrying out a bank robbery to fund his drug business.
It's beautiful stories like this that put a smile on my face.
Why the fuck would someone need to rob a bank to fund his drug business ??? Isn't that what the drugs are for ?? Someone give this cop an I.Q. test. Theirs no way this asshole should be allowed to carry a weapon with such a small and inferior brain.
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MagicMaker
The Lizard King
Registered: 10/09/06
Posts: 601
Loc: Terrapin
Last seen: 21 hours, 56 minutes
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: pasucks]
#11152459 - 09/29/09 05:45 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Someone give this cop an I.Q. test. Theirs There's
someone better give you an IQ test
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Smitington
Unidentified Flying Object
Registered: 08/10/09
Posts: 1,357
Loc: Mushroom Kingdom
Last seen: 1 hour, 7 minutes
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: MagicMaker]
#11152570 - 09/29/09 05:58 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Ronald Brooks is a burr-o-crat
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pasucks
Stranger
Registered: 03/15/09
Posts: 255
Loc: pennsyltuckey
Last seen: 2 years, 7 months
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: MagicMaker]
#11156312 - 09/30/09 09:39 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
MagicMaker said:
Quote:
Someone give this cop an I.Q. test. Theirs There's
someone better give you an IQ test
Sticking up for cops ..... That's pretty gay.
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MagicMaker
The Lizard King
Registered: 10/09/06
Posts: 601
Loc: Terrapin
Last seen: 21 hours, 56 minutes
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: pasucks]
#11157809 - 09/30/09 01:55 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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not sticking up for them at all, just though it was amusing that right after you knocked someone for being dumb, you make an error in basic elementary english...
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Morican
Stranger
Registered: 05/01/09
Posts: 1,045
Last seen: 5 months, 16 days
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Re: California mulls legalising marijuana [Re: pasucks]
#11169351 - 10/02/09 10:33 AM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
pasucks said:
"His partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless marijuana dealer, who was carrying out a bank robbery to fund his drug business.
This is even more reason to legalize it. Get rid of the "criminal element" to it. If legalized this guy could have simply applied for a loan from this bank to fund his marijuana growing operation, as a person with a pretty high IQ, I am assuming, instead of robbing it.
Criminalizing pot does nothing but make pot heads into criminals and if you are already doing one illegal thing, why not two or three.
Decriminalize it and save a cops life.
Otherwise, expects casualties because haven't your heard, it's a war on drugs and in all wars soldiers on both sides will die along with some collateral damage...
Edited by Morican (10/02/09 10:34 AM)
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