Marijuana Legalization/Decriminalization Efforts

[BaneTheBrawler]

Yeah, that's it.

[Plow]

Yeah, combination of tobacco, cotton, and lumber (i.e. America's only really big money before electricity/gas became big deals) heavyweights, with major media power.

And, no, "the government" wouldn't make cigarettes and alcohol illegal "given the chance." Alcohol only happened because of religious shit, same as the attempts on pornography, success against prostitution, etc.

[Ksandra]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst, paper

Spoiler: show

really no reason for me to post that except I fucking love that movie

[Correction]

So, for everyone who happens to be in Seattle.
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2012/1...se-in-seattle/


This is actual police communication to citizens. I am impressed, and laughing my ass off.
(Yeah, I found it on reddit, ijdgafa)

I can't believe nobody responded to this.

SPD seized a bunch of my marijuana before I-502 passed. Can I have it back?

No.

[Xno Kappa]

Talked to a DEA buddy of mine and he told me a good reason why marijuana is still illegal is because it's a natural counter to illegal cocaine/crack. Drug dealers aren't going to magically disappear once weed becomes legal, they're going to move onto the next substance on demand and push that onto the streets. Granted this is an opinion from a DEA agent but I thought it was pretty interesting.

[BaneTheBrawler]

I can see some dealers doing that, but ultimately, i dont think it would make a difference overall. if they're not dealing those drugs now, and have no plans to, they're probably not going to whether marijuana is legalized or not. they can always go right on dealing marijuana illegally, only difference would be they're more like moonshiners than any other type of criminal, at that point. overall price would fluctuate, too, but I think it would probably end up stay about the same.

[Nephlite]

Basically the government doesn't know how yet to tax it, the DoJ doesn't know how to enforce it (in terms of impairment protocols without a blood draw and even then, how much THC is too much to make you impaired?), and everyone is on edge to see what/if any industries are going to be affected by the legalization.

Here in D.C. you can get locked up for a tiny amount (i'm talking the end of a roach). If it gets a hit off a field test, you can be arrested. But even here they're starting to make it a citation unless there's distribution. Even felony distribution (over 227 grams) nets you community service at the most. Unless you get caught with a gun, a huge amount of cash (over $50,000), or you get caught with it in commission of a crime and they tack it on as an aggregating charge, you more than likely won't do any jail time.

It's just not worth it to lock people up for simple possession anymore. Never fought with a weed-head and none of them are dangerous (in my opinion). It's the turf wars and gang violence that makes it bad and legalization won't change the profit wars. Like Hirokei said, people will just move on to the next drug once their profits start to fall. D.C. got the jump on it and made simple possession of synthetic drugs like PCP a felony.

Never have I met a passive or otherwise cooperative person completely out of their mind on PCP. Cocaine just causes people to fight. Heroin makes people do stupid violent shit like stab people randomly. Meth isn't huge here but when you come upon people who are completely "fiending" out (i.e. the shakes, tremors, paranoia, 24/7 vertigo, bi-polarness), those are the meth heads. Prescription medication is somewhere around 65% of the overdoses we get and usually it's Aderall but good shit like Diazepam and Pentazemine is starting to come through the channels. That's the stuff that needs closer regulation and enforcement. Marijuana just needs to be left alone.

[Kohan]

Talked to a DEA buddy of mine and he told me a good reason why marijuana is still illegal is because it's a natural counter to illegal cocaine/crack. Drug dealers aren't going to magically disappear once weed becomes legal, they're going to move onto the next substance on demand and push that onto the streets. Granted this is an opinion from a DEA agent but I thought it was pretty interesting.

I've re-read this multiple times, and it doesn't quite hold up, in my opinion. Consider: you can grow marijuana plants in your home, apartment, etc., without disturbing other neighbors and/or becoming suspicious. (Anyone familiar with the process knows about activated carbon and filters, which eliminate the smell factor.) Nothing particularly dangerous is involved. Additionally, and as Nephlite noted, marijuana users aren't made violent by the substance which they imbibe to enjoy, that being THC.

As such, there are a lot of casual marijuana dealers out there who aren't involved in gang activities. They're especially common in places like Los Angeles, British Columbia, and so on. These people are not going to be violent, and they aren't going to feel comfortable in risking their lives to deal in more dangerous substances. In fact, consider the large amount of non-violent offenders who have already been incarcerated for dealing in marijuana sales, not to mention the purchasers themselves.

What your DEA friend has said is the same as the "marijuana is a gateway drug" argument, which has already been disproved in various regards. It's basically painting all people who sell marijuana with the same brush (e.g., depicting them all as hardened, violent gang members), rather than considering the comparative simplicity of marijuana cultivation versus preparing other substances.

[noblemountain]

The majority of pot dealers that I've known over my life have sold for free weed, social life (everyone wants to be your friend!), and pussy. Those guys won't be crack dealers. Beyond the fact that if you're not a crackhead already you probably won't be swayed by your former pot dealer asking if you want a sample. lol

[Plow]

Talked to a DEA buddy of mine and he told me a good reason why marijuana is still illegal is because it's a natural counter to illegal cocaine/crack. Drug dealers aren't going to magically disappear once weed becomes legal, they're going to move onto the next substance on demand and push that onto the streets. Granted this is an opinion from a DEA agent but I thought it was pretty interesting.

anybody that gets big selling weed sells other shit, weed is barely worth the effort for its size/money ratio

[Nephlite]

anybody that gets big selling weed sells other shit, weed is barely worth the effort for its size/money ratio

Much harder to move around too. Unless you vacuum pack the marijuana and take extraordinary lengths to make sure none of the oils transfer to the outside of the package, it's easy to detect. Flipping bricks for profit isn't nearly as profitable as it was back in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. As the quality went down, the price went down and a dime now gets you some crappy Mexican shit that's probably been cut with green dyed cocaine to give you a similar high. A lot of the strains you see passing along in alleyways have been bred so many times that literally, the THC has been grown out of the weed.

The good shit is home grown hydro without additives. I'm no chemist or math person but a few guys around the office say it's around a 50% concentration of THC to produce a good high. Compare it to notes from chemists and forensics back in the 70's and 80's where it first came to boom where strains were giving 75-85% THC concentrations with no additives, pesticides, and foreign chemicals. It's so hard to grow that kind of product here in the states (unless you're outside of Chicago: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/chicago-marijuana-field-d_n_1943697.html) that the import of drugs from other countries are causing the importers to hire gangs to escort shit which in turn causes major violence when they're intercepted or they go near cities.

[quannum]

a dime now gets you some crappy Mexican shit that's probably been cut with green dyed cocaine to give you a similar high.

do cops actually think this or is this a joke?

[shepardG]

...dime now gets you some crappy Mexican shit that's probably been cut with green dyed cocaine to give you a similar high.

WAT?

coke high and weed high LIGHT YEARS APPART

[Moridam]

people who deal in the pot trade are unlikely to start retailing other substances if their client pool dries up, because there isn't much else out there with a similar risk profile that conveys the kind of benefits selling pot does (which noblemountain pointed out). there's a massive risk factor in moving into something like cocaine, opioids, pharmaceuticals, etc., both from a law enforcement standpoint, and a personal security standpoint, and very few people are willing to take on that sort of risk. as well, many would find trading in substances that could potentially kill their customers ethically questionable.

also, the notion that mexican dirt weed is being cut with green cocaine is maybe the most hilarious drug idea i've ever heard in my life. for so many different reasons

[Aurara]

Anyone who thinks that cocaine rush is similar to the high that weed gives is really far off by a good margin, because the two are completely different sensations. As far as weed dealers selling more than just weed, i know a lot of dealers who sell shrooms/LSD on the side, but don't fuck around with anything heavier.

[Nephlite]

Doesn't matter to most people. See it a lot. Field test a baggie and the acid comes out a muddy color, you got cocaine in there. I erred in saying a similar high but it does happen more often than not. I said Mexican dirt because that seems to be the norm here in D.C.

[Aurara]

I get skeptical when people say "aw shit dude my weed got laced with coke/PCP/acid" and shake my head. Dealers LOSE money if they lace their weed with anything that actually worth a profit on the streets.

[Nephlite]

I wanna say coke is far cheaper here than weed but it depends on what part of the city you come from. Most of it has been stepped on so much that there's almost no real coke in the hit. PCP is DIRT cheap which is why they made it a felony to possess. God bless the internet for having quick cooking/mixing formula in layman's terms. Don't really see too much acid in the ghetto parts but in the club district, you get a lot of that and rufies. My logic is that most people who are pot heads in this city are too young to know what real weed is, therefore they buy the coke or embalming fluid laced weed because they don't know anything else. Most recreational users we bust get it from outside the city when they go home to Jersey or New York (as we all know there are no real native Washingtonians in D.C.)

[Aurara]

Well then, thank fucking god I have good dealers/dont live in a shitty drug neighborhood.

[Gadritan]

Basically the government doesn't know how yet to tax it

I'm sorry Neph, but this is one of the dumbest fucking things I ever hear when legalization comes up.

They really don't know how to tax it? You truly believe that? There isn't any sort of crops or plants that are taxed...?

Aside from the fact that there is a precedent, the government can find a way to tax anything they wanted to. They always have.