the best blogs in all of pot's-illegal-ville!

I have reading enjoyed reading all of my classmates blogs (I swear I’m not being cheesy! I have learned a lot about many issues that I originally knew nothing about). Three that I want to give props to are:

A Public Pariah, Muslim Americans- Readers, don’t be put off by the word pariah…I had to look it up too! In case you were wondering, it means the lowest caste in the social class system in southern India. If you can get past that complicated 75 cent word (please tell me you remember those from elementary school) then you’ll come to realize this blog is very well researched and interesting because it pertains to American life RIGHT now. The treatment of Muslims isn’t the most talked about subject among US citizens but this blog brings the issue out of the dust and enables its readers to see that it’s not all rainbows and butterflies in the wonderful “free” country of America. You’ll learn a lot and even question your own thoughts throughout this blog.

What the Frack?- This blog has a title that will make even the most mature person giggle and what else? Music. “It had me at he-……midwestern gas tunes.” (reference to it had me at hello…just fyi) Anywho, not only is this blog pleasing to the eyes and ears, it talks about an issue that many government officials are sweeping under the rug. The author of this blog talks about the history of fracking, the negative effects on the environment, and how it’s affecting the United States today. If you want to learn about an issue that you have never heard of before…read this awesome blog!

Occupation: Unemployment- Basically EVERYONE in America is affected by the increased unemployment rates over the last few years. This blog is chalk full of interesting graphs, cartoons, videos, and of course in depth research about the issue of unemployment in this country. The author of this blog did a very good job of presenting relevant information on this issue in an unbiased fashion, letting the readers make their own opinions. Mr. Cash is clearly well researched and knows a lot about the topic. His theory post makes me think there is hope for this great country, if only people as smart as Mr. Cash were running it! If you want to learn about unemployment benefits and where our tax money is going, read this blog fo sho.

f-r-e-e-d-o-m

Going back to the same quote I used in my “Just the basics” post Abe Lincoln once said “Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded”. OBVIOUSLY I couldn’t agree with him more! Most of my blog so far has been focusing on the negative effects of the prohibition of pot and the pros of legalizing it in terms of stimulating the economy and making monayyy. I didn’t even stop to think about one basic thing: it should be up to the people of America to decide if they want to smoke marijuana. I know that the government is trying to protect the people in this great country but guess how many deaths there are due to marijuana consumption…zero. Yep, none!!  I would just like to point out that over 400,000 people died due to obesity in 2000 and that number is only increasing. Is obesity illegal? No way José. So then why is marijuana? Hmmm? I think that the government should spend their time and effort trying to protect the American people from preventable diseases, such as obesity, and let American people smoke their pot if they want to. It’s a win/win/win/win situation folks!  The government isn’t controlling the American people too much, our economy gets stimulated by the revenue from marijuana being sold, the number of citizens getting arrested decrases, and dangerous drug cartels get all their power taken away. Talk about a great situation.

THE CONTINUED wastin' away in pot's-illegal-ville

Our government unfortunately follows the notion “all talk and no action”.  If the United States decides to use this oh-so-ineffective method of (in)action then the future of America  holds the prospect of the same degenerate circumstances present in today’s society. Globally, the drug trafficking problem will only exacerbate with time. Because marijuana is not legal in the United States users resort to other illegal methods of obtaining the drug that increase violence in the US and in other countries such as Mexico. Another dismal implication of this unresolved issue is that if medical marijuana is not made legal across the US then ill people all over the country will not be able to use their medication without fear of prosecution. So far only 14 states in the US have legalized medical marijuana and many medical marijuana patients are prosecuted in America and are subject to raids by the federal government every year. A negative implication for the future of an America where pot is still prohibited that hits close to home is that US taxpayers will continue to play unnecessary amounts of money toward the 800,000 people arrested and jailed each year due to marijuana related infractions. This is a waste of US taxpayers money and if marijuana is not made legal then gobs of money will go down the drain every single year paying for prisoners shelter, food, and clothes. THANKS, THANKS A LOT. I just love being wasteful…don’t you?  

interesting blog!

This blog debate reminded me a lot of the Carr vs. Shirky debate and is relevant to my topic...enjoy :)
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/pot-quorum/

Theories Schmeories

It may seem like the only way to completely end this debate is to look into the future at two different societies: one in which marijuana is legal and the other where prohibition was implemented. Because this is (unfortunately) impossible we must figure out another way to decide what’s best for our country. The first thing that needs to be done is that the facts about the effects of marijuana on the human body need to be evaluated in an unbiased fashion. If there was concrete evidence of the exact impact of marijuana on humans then the polarized debate as to what marijuana ACTUALLY DOES will be over. There are so many websites that affirm the health risks and benefits of the drug but marijuana really can’t be harmful and without negative side effects AT THE SAME TIME…it’s physically impossible people. The truths are not known about marijuana so society is getting information from multiple sources that have no basis. It is also vital that we educate the nonbelievers by demonstrating the stigma the media has placed on pot smokers is not true.   Many US citizens believe that every person that smokes pot abuses the drug and ends up a “stoner”. If the drug is used responsibly, the consumer does not have a brain that is complete mush. Bottom line, an unbiased research team needs to assess the effects of marijuana on the human brain and body and then decisions can be made with factual support. 

It's what you've all been waiting for...Proposition 19!

Prop 19’s goal is to allow citizens 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana, allow the government to produce, sell, and tax it, and enable state and local governments to establish penalties for the unauthorized selling of marijuana to minors. This bill intends to address the problems presented previously in my blog. It aims to decrease the revenue going to violent drug cartels that operate from across borders and decrease the number of arrests made for nonviolent use of the drug. This would “free up” the police force so they can focus on more important and dangerous crimes. Even though the drug will be legal for adults 21 years and older the penalties for selling to minors will be increased. Currently the police force is fighting a war against all pot smokers, but if it were legal to over half the population, more time could be devoted to stopping underage users. Prop 19 also works to protect the rights of medical marijuana users. Currently in the United States some local and state governments have decriminalized the use of medical marijuana but there are many cases, like Angel Raich, where the police force disregards these rules and Prop 19 would make it official for the entire state of California. The main goal of Prop 19 is to make marijuana legal for adults that wish to use the drug responsibly. The opinion poll last week came in at 48% yes and 44% no. The final vote will take place on November 2, 2010 and I will keep everyone updated on the polls! 

This is a video on the issue of legalizing marijuana on CNN from last April. 

the evolution of dance

Here's the scoop

People around the world are discussing the issue of legalizing marijuana and the popularity of the debate has been immense with Proposition 19 in California. Prop 19  calls for the regulation, control, and taxation of cannabis in the United States. This push for new legislature has ignited passion from the citizens of America and everyone is weighing the pros and cons of legalization. The prominent groups in this debate are the libertarians, medical professionals, economists, law enforcement officers (they’re so two faced!), and concerned constituents.

First I think it’s necessary to give a little background about ole Mary Jane. In colonial America she was grown in abundance and used for basic items such as rope, canvas, lamp oil, and her bountiful seeds were used for soap and birdseed. She harmed no one and only served her purpose as a crop.  She started to be used in “unconventional” ways in Africa and her use spread throughout the world. MJ was prohibited in the United States in the 1930s and it has since emerged as the most popular recreational drug.  Recently, the issue of legalization has become very popular because many individual states in the US have allowed for the medical use of marijuana. There have been multiple court cases regarding the issue on both the federal and state level. In 1978 the government made pot legal for a select few patients that deemed it a “medical necessity” but due to the surge of requests from AIDS patients the government closed the program. In 2005, a Supreme Court ruling gave the government the power to prosecute medical marijuana patients in the United States, regardless of what that states’ policy was on medical marijuana. An amendment was later proposed by New York and California legislators limiting the funding for the federal government to go against state laws regarding the subject of medical marijuana. The amendment was not passed but it received more votes from Congress than ever before. The Food and Drug Administration was sent a proposal to reevaluate the effects of marijuana on the body in 2002 but they have ignored that request. Currently Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington have a state law protecting citizens with medical marijuana licenses.  In addition, ten states and the District of Columbia have symbolic medical marijuana laws; they aren’t actually legally protected under state law though.

In 2005 Angel Raich and four other medical marijuana patients sued the federal government for repeated raids on their house. Raich used marijuana medically because she had a fatal illness and no other medications could help her. The Californian citizens felt that the federal government was unjust with their raids of their marijuana plant because they were using the drug to stay alive and alleviate symptoms. Their practices were legal under the state and local law of California.  She did not win the case against the Supreme Court but it brought the issue into the public eye. The court ruled that it is unlawful to grow marijuana for medical purposes in one’s own home.

Libertarians in the world argue that the government doesn’t have the right to prohibit the growing and using of the drug if it is not sold or dealt at all. The Marijuana Party of the US, founded by Loretta Nall in 2002, has many points for the issue but the two that stood out to me are: “we demand the right to grow marijuana for personal consumption, just as alcohol can be brewed at home legally so long as it is not sold untaxed. We demand that you stop treating us like second class citizens for consuming something that is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco, both of which are legal and cause numerous deaths each year. Cannabis has never been reported to have caused one.”

Medical doctors around the country are researching the effects marijuana has on humans. The 10 major health benefits of pot propose a compelling argument for the usage of medical marijuana. For patients suffering from a loss of appetite, anorexia, AIDS, or discomfort from chemotherapy, pot boosts their eating habits. One problem for the use of medical marijuana is that medical marijuana is not regulated by the distributors to ensure the quality and purity of the substance. Right now, fourteen states have decriminalized medical marijuana but the whole country is not on the same page. Laws and tickets vary from state to state; some say it is legal for the caregivers of the medical marijuana patients to possess the drug, some states allow the patients to cultivate pot, and some prohibit the drug entirely. Researchers around the world are still trying to determine what marijuana can be used for in the medical field.  

Economists are swooned by the possibility that marijuana could be taxed like alcohol and tobacco and create revenue for our suffering economy.  The amount of money being spent on the prohibition of pot is excessive and wasteful. Economists argue that the money spent patrolling the border, making countless arrests for merely possessing the drug, and housing hundreds of thousands of prisoners for small infractions is  uneconomical and because the people in America are going to smoke pot whether it is legal or not (as demonstrated by the constituents every day) why not make money off of it?!

As I mentioned earlier law enforcement officers are divided on the subject of legalization. A large proportion of former DEA agents and police officers are for the legalization of marijuana because they see the tax dollars first hand being used ineffectively. LEAP stands for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and their statement is: “LEAP does not promote the use of drugs and is deeply concerned about the extent of drug abuse worldwide. LEAP is also deeply concerned with the destructive impact of violent drug gangs and cartels everywhere in the world. Neither problem is remedied by the current policy of drug prohibition. Indeed, drug abuse and gang violence flourish in a drug prohibition environment, just as they did during alcohol prohibition.” Law enforcement officers recognize that drug cartels have way too much power and money from marijuana trafficking and when alcohol prohibition was stopped it stopped organized crime. Former police officers and DEA agents believe legalizing marijuana will have the same affects. On the other hand, many are adamant about fighting the war on drugs because they feel it keeps our country more safe. Countless numbers of DEA agents argue that marijuana arrests are beneficial for society because most people associated with pot are also involved with other, harder drugs like cocaine. Arresting the people for pot gets them off the streets and it stops them from committing other, more dangerous crimes. Medical marijuana is already legal so there is no need to legalize weed for everyone.

In September 2010, a rally was held at the Cow Palace Arena , outside of San Francisco. The gathering’s purpose was to promote the legalization of pot. A debate was planned but wasn’t executed because everyone in attendance was stoned. People worry that the availability of pot will promote the abuse and usage of marijuana. Constituents worry that marijuana is a gateway drug and that if it were to become legal more people would use it and the use of crack, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and other hard will be on the rise. Many citizens of the United States argue that if marijuana were legalized, the people using the drug would not do so responsibly. This would result in the increase of unsafe drivers on roads and increase the number of annual accidents. Citizens against legalizing marijuana (CALM) is a group of concerned constituents and their mission statement is to protect the children of America: “Protect them from the message that smoked marijuana is harmless because it’s legal. Protect them from the crimes related to growing and selling marijuana in your neighborhood. Protect them from an increased number of drugged drivers. Protect our workplaces from workers using marijuana.” Their argument is compelling because no one really knows exactly what will happen if marijuana is legalized. If legalizing pot makes it more accessible to children and the future of the United States abused the drug then we’d be, well…screwed.  This group argues that the negative side effects of pot outweigh the possible benefits of legalization. California’s dropout rate is 24% and that costs American taxpayer a lot of money. Another point CALM makes is that 14% of the money collected from other legal drugs, like alcohol and nicotine, go towards the damages caused by those drugs. Therefore, not that much money could be made from legalizing marijuana. Another strong point they bring up is negative implications of marijuana in the workforce. Personally I think that the policy should be the same as it is for alcohol. Don’t go to work intoxicated and if you do, you are fired. How many people in this day and age show up to work so drunk they can’t function? Not many because the economy is terrible and everyone needs their job more than anything. I can understand where their concern comes from though.  Right now marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug which means that it has no known medical purposes and to possess any amount is illegal. People who smoke marijuana are thirty times more likely to use harder drugs than people who have never used the drug. Parents worry for their children about getting hooked on pot. It has been associated with lower test scores and lethargic lackluster attitudes. Although marijuana is not physiologically addicting it is psychologically addicting. Some people need the drug to feel normal and begin to depend on the drug to function.

          The debate on the legalization of marijuana is a sticky one because it seems as if there is no right or wrong answer. I trust the intellectual ability of my country’s leaders to assess the pros and cons to this argument and implement a plan that is beneficial to all types of citizens. When looking at this issue it is easy to get caught up in a certain section of the debate. Sure, no one wants patients with medical problems to be denied access to their medication of choice but at the same time no one wants to see the future leaders of America dwindle away from excessive pot smoking. Therefore, we should think critically and seriously about this issue and hopefully we can help our government make the best decisions for this country. 

real mature guys, real mature

This clip pulls the issue of legalizing marijuana into our real lives. I could post on my blog for months about legalizing pot, but seeing President Obama speak about the issue solidifies that it is being debated and talked about beyond the world of Lacey LaPlant. What thoughts were evoked when you watched this clip? Personally, I think this clip is degrading the issue of legalizing pot because the president himself and the crowd find the topic humorous. President Obama says that the question of legalizing pot was the most voted on question to ask Obama and he makes a joke hinting that the internet voters were pot heads. The entire crowd finds this topic hilarious and I honestly think the crowd and President Obama’s reaction appalling. The issue of legalizing marijuana is serious and if people keep acting the way they are, unable to talk about pot without cracking up, our country will make no advances in solving the problems associated with the prohibition of marijuana. Obama simply answers the question with a no; I know that he is an educated man and I wish he would back up his position with evidentiary support. 

wastin' away in pot's-illegal-ville

"The war on drugs is largely a war on pot smokers.  This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that should be dedicated toward combating serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism." - Keith Stroup, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Marijuana related arrests have been increasing every year and I personally think that our effort and money is being completely wasted. DEA agents are spending countless hours busting people for using the drug recreationally and 88% of pot related arrests are for solely possessing the drug. There are so many negative side effects for these high arrest rates and can all be avoided by the government’s actions to legalize and regulate weed. Hundreds of thousands of US citizens are rotting away in prison, USING up our tax dollars and not PAYING taxes. Their families have one less breadwinner and basically, society as a whole is negatively affected. A group called NORML is advocating for “the removal of all penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including cultivation for personal use, and casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts.” This organization has been supporting reform of marijuana laws for over ten years and their website is full of information about legalizing marijuana. Another sobering fact is that the number of marijuana arrests made in the US is more than the number of arrests for murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault combined. Granted, more US citizens use pot than commit violent crimes, but it’d be more beneficial for the police force to concentrate on rape and murder crimes than harmless, nonviolent pot violations. 

wait...our money is going where?!

Insane amounts of marijuana is smuggled across the Mexican-American border every year. Gobs of US money that should be in circulation in America is being handed over to Mexican drug lords and the United States if definitely missing out on some serious cash. America is in a recession right now and what helps a country get out of a recession? Increase in cash flow. Not only does the US miss out on the LITERALLY tons of money that could be spent to improve our economy, but drug trafficking also results in a lot of violence in the United States AND Mexico. This news clip, demonstrates the dangerous side effects of the close relationship between United States citizens and Mexican drug traffickers. An article was written in The Washington Post that evaluates the pros and cons of legalizing pot in California. If the United States were to legalize marijuana people in America would not have to resort to getting their pot from across the border. It would also decrease the amount of people smuggling substances over the border and decrease the amount of drug criminals crossing the border from Mexico and causing havoc in the United States. Right now, Mexican President Felipe Calderon is spending a lot of time and money trying to quell the drug trafficking epidemic in Mexico and if marijuana were to be made legal in America, drug cartels in Mexico would lose their power and the fighting would cease. It would be RIDICULOUSLY beneficial for the money that is currently going to Mexican drug cartels to be in the hands of the government instead of unsafe drug dealers that will do anything for money. 

push drug dealers to the endangered species list!

My interest in legalizing marijuana stemmed (pun intended) from the show Weeds on Showtime. Before watching this show, pot was an enigma to me and I rarely thought about it because it didn’t affect me in my day to day life. Many people in the United States don’t smoke pot on a regular basis so analytical thought pertaining to the subject of marijuana is not very common. Hence, the reason for my blog! In Weeds the main character begins to sell marijuana on a small scale and throughout the show different drug dealers are introduced. One in particular stood out to me: U-Turn. He completely abuses his power as a drug dealer and the amount of control he has over the people around him is absolutely frightening. My want to exterminate lethal drug dealers such as U-Turn was exacerbated by this clip: WARNING: there is very profane language in this clip so if foul language offends you, please refrain from watching. I’m not the only one that is advocating for the legalization of drugs in America. Former DEA Agent Russ Jones reflects on the legalization of drugs in the article “It’s time to call off the war on drugs”.  He is a strong advocate for the legalization of drugs because in the past four decades the United States has made 38 million NONVIOLENT (keyword people) drug arrests and increased the prison population by 25%. Ross commiserates “When I arrested a rapist or a robber, the community was safer. When I arrested a drug dealer, all I did was create a job opening.” Ross asserts that there is no benefit to society when drug dealers are put in jail, it just causes a shift in the responsibility of drug dealing to another person. I am not totally going out on a limb here and saying that legalizing marijuana would help society and so on and so forth; there is legitimate proof that legalizing and regulating drugs decreases the abuse of said drug. In Switzerland, heroin is regulated and deaths and overdoses caused by the disease were reduced by 50 percent and drug crimes were reduced by another 60 percent. Obviously drug crimes were reduced since the heroin was readily available, but the decrease in overdoses and deaths really shows that abuse of the drug is definitely reduced if it is regulated and legalized. How do humans learn? BY EXAMPLE. So let’s get crack-a-lackin folks. 

Just the basics

Legalizing marijuana is a topic that is sweeping the nation. Currently, marijuana is illegal in the continental US and a whole slew of problems have arisen in the country; there are increased numbers of people in prison, drug dealers dominance in the market of pot, and millions of US dollars are going across the border due to drug trafficking. There are many benefits that would come from the legalization of pot and I feel as though it is my civic responsibility to inform the world wide web of those benefits. An analogy I like to use when describing America’s relationship with “Mary Jane” is that she is like the United States’ insane girlfriend. He doesn’t trust her whatsoever so he tries to suppress her, but she just messes everything up and goes crazy. Mary Jane mutilates America’s relationships with other countries and the more he tries to keep her on a tight leash, the more she acts out. If America legalized pot the terrible repercussions of the drug would be substantially downsized. There would be less drug trafficking across the Mexican-American borders, drug dealers would not be making BANK, and there would be significantly less people in prison for possession of pot. Those people can be at home making money, caring for their families, and most importantly, PAYING TAXES. Let’s face it, America is in a terrible economic state and although the debt seems impossibly hard to pay off, we should try to gain revenue from making marijuana legal and taxing it “even though it would hardly make a dent in our national debt” (that’s me quoting the naysayers of the world).  Not only is making marijuana illegal not benefitting the United States, but it is also against the principles of the wise found fathers of this country. Abe Lincoln once said, "prohibition...goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." California has a head start and in pushing for legislature to legalize marijuana but the rest of the country is following in its footsteps. One of the main reasons people are against marijuana is because they are uniformed about the drug. There is a stigma placed on people who smoke pot; they are associated with laziness and this negative portrayal makes the general public frown upon the subject of marijuana legalization. On my honor, I promise to help the ignorant in this country learn what smoking pot really does to the human body and how the legalization of it can help our country.