[SIZE=2]Please Consider Voting "Yes" on Proposition 19

There are many reasons to vote for the legalization of cannabis:[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]
- People are smoking a plant. So long as they are not infringing on the rights of others there is no reason for governments to ban this activity.
- Criminalizing cannabis has allowed a large black market to develop. This means governments at all levels do not collect taxes that legitimate business and consumers have to pay on regulated products.
- Criminalizing cannabis denies legitimate businesses from growing and distributing it. This leaves the markets in control of organized crime, like gangs and drug cartels.
- Criminalizing cannabis has put a large burden on law enforcement, the prison system, and the judicial system. All of these facilities of the government have limited resources that should be allocated for dealing with violent criminals, not marijuana smokers.

California sets trends for the rest of the country.[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]
California was the first state to enact a medical marijuana law. 13 states and Washington D.C. have followed.
Go vote Tuesday, November 2nd.
To find your polling station, Google: Where do I vote

To put a human face to the problem I think this Swat video/Prop 19 ad sums up so much.[/SIZE]

WOW what a good ad. Jesus. Hope that's on every station, every commercial break, for the next 24 hours

Ciastro, they said the same thing about medical marijuana. They threatened people back in 1996, saying whatever law the state passed wouldn't matter because of federal drug laws. Let them try. Let them prosecute people and draw attention to the fact that they are going against the will of the millions of voters who supported and passed this referendum.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis.
This plant was legal and unregulated until 1937. That is 161 years. Look into the marijuana tax act and see the reasons behind it. You'll be surprised.

One timeeeee.

I will def be making it out tomorrow to vote yes on AZ's prop 203

The most important reason to legalize is not regulation

Kids who buy pot from some guy off the street, kid smokes pot, goes back for more, Drug Dealer says I have no pot but I do have some PCP, Kid buys PCP, the rest is history.

If Kid goes to POT STORE and buys pot bc its legal, kid smokes pot, kid goes back to store and only gets pot because that all they sell, ahh now you get it

 

Originally Posted by Sportbike33

Kids who buy pot from some guy off the street, kid smokes pot, goes back for more, Drug Dealer says I have no pot but I do have some PCP, Kid buys PCP, the rest is history.

lolol?

 

Originally Posted by norcaljeff

"smoking a plant" is the stupidest argument ever. poison oak is natural, don't eat it.

that being said, snapcall highfive voting maching

that's pretty clever. I'm sure you're all about throwing people in jail for eating poison oak.

^ drug dealer upsell strategy ... truth is he did have the pot

 

Originally Posted by Sportbike33

Should I have changed drug to Heroin

well, to be fair, i'm pretty sure it would go no pot, howabout some vicodin, no vicodin, how about some perc 30's, hey, you should snort those, better buzz, hey i know they're expensive, you should switch to heroin, there's no tylenol, its actually better for you, hey, you should shoot that up, better high

with maybe a branch off into coke, thats buyer dependent

for real though, thats a silly argument, people who sell pot dont wear black hooded sweatshirts and stand in allies behind schools trying to corrupt people, they sit at home and play video games and sell pot... bad drug dealers are the people who want you to hang out and watch the lord of the rings trilogy when you just stopped over to pick up a cut of funk that is actually fucking beasters, and they still want 50 for it

I think it's lost on a lot of people that if someone wants hard drugs (cocaine, heroin, meth, etc.) they will get them. Legal or illegal, it really doesn't matter. It never enters their head they could slip and wind up in jail, and I think a lot of people who aren't inclined in this way can't wrap their head around this.

That's why the debate, at least to me, begins with how many new users legalization will create. I think the same logic applies to new users for the most part: the type of person to seek out hard drugs will do so regardless of its legality. The best empirical evidence we have are the situations in portugal et al who have at least partially legalized select drugs. Those countries seem to have been successful in doing so, even those with a more liberal culture where drugs have fewer social repercussions.

I don't understand why a state like california, where weed is already halfway there, can't make its use "temporarily legal pending further study" or whatever and have the law expire after 2-3 years...

weird, I started smoking weed when my pcp dealer was out.

So if this passes, what happens? Pot shops? Private growers? I'm curious to know how everything would go.

[x] Yes
[ ] No

it is not without concern.

 

Originally Posted by krs33

So if this passes, what happens? Pot shops? Private growers? I'm curious to know how everything would go.

PM Phillip Morris and their distribution outlets.