cannabisnews.com: Goddard Poses Legalizing Pot





Goddard Poses Legalizing Pot
Posted by CN Staff on December 24, 2008 at 10:31:53 PT
By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services 
Source: Arizona Daily Star
Phoenix, AZ -- Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday that he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution — and figure out who has been smoking it.Goddard's comments came after a press conference Tuesday announcing the breakup of a major ring police said has been responsible for bringing about 400,000 pounds of marijuana across the border and into Arizona each year since 2003.
The attorney general said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money Mexican cartels use for their other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the Army and police in that country.He said that makes fighting drug distribution here important, to cut off that cash.Goddard acknowledged those profits could be slashed if possession of marijuana were not a crime in Arizona. But he said a number of other hurdles remain before that even becomes a possibility.Phoenix police Lt. Vince Piano said the operation was sophisticated, complete with specially designed heavy-duty trucks to surmount the border fence.The smugglers also had solar-powered radio towers and a network of lookouts who told the trucks, each carrying up to 2,500 pounds of marijuana, when to move and when to hide under camouflage. He said there even was a system of "food drops" to supply the drivers.Goddard said the move to break up the ring has so far led to the indictment of 59 people and the arrest of 39 of them, some in this country legally and others who were not.Piano said the operation was one of several under contract to Mexican drug lords to transport the marijuana from the border through the Tohono O'odham Reservation to Phoenix.Piano said busting the organization doesn't stop the flow of drugs, saying it was just one of several "transportation groups" working with the cartel. But he said it does disrupt at least part of the flow.The issue of Arizona drug laws came up during questions about the operation of drug cartels and the violence associated with their operations, particularly in the Mexican state of Sinaloa."The key is, they will no longer exist when people don't buy marijuana," said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the office of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "This is a market-driven economy and this is a market-driven activity."Allen said the question of legalization to eliminate those profits is a policy question."But if we're going to go down that road, what is the acceptable amount of marijuana that you want a bus driver to have in their system?" he continued."I believe it's zero," Goddard said later.Goddard said a lot of time and money are spent on enforcement activities like the one that resulted in the bust announced Tuesday. He said that requires "a hard look" at the issue.But Goddard said it's not as easy as simply declaring it legal. He said there would need to be some controls on who gets the drugs — and how much they use.So far, he said, no one has found a way to put the kind of controls on marijuana he would want before he would consider legalizing it.Allen echoed the concern that smuggling operations are not simply about marijuana.He said Mexican cartels also are in the business of smuggling cocaine and other drugs on behalf of other cartels in places like Colombia.He said they make up the money they lose when those drugs are seized through the profits they make selling marijuana in the United States.Newshawk: The GCWSource: Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ)Author: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services Published: December 24, 2008Copyright: 2008 Arizona Daily StarContact: letters azstarnet.comWebsite: http://www.azstarnet.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/HkfpmJ3cCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #32 posted by Commonsense on December 30, 2008 at 14:40:57 PT
runruff
We don't have a lot of growers where I live. Our drug task force and local law enforcement get the standard federal funds and the feds kick in a lot of extra money for highway interdiction in my area though. Our local law enforcement agencies have been given special permission to patrol the interstate interdicting drug shipments along with the state police. The feds give them money and things like gamma radiation density meters, fiber optic scopes and that sort of thing. I believe their grant money has paid for a few of the dogs too. Normally these busts are all handled by the state, but the feds will get involved if there is a chance of making a controlled delivery to another state, where they have the people drop the loads off so they can bust the people at the end of the line. Sometimes they'll take some of the other mule cases too if the bust is part of a bigger case the feds are working. Sometimes our prosecutor will bring the feds in if his asset forfieture account gets too big. He can only have a certain amount in his state account and the rest goes to the state. He can have the same amount though in an account for seizures split with the federal government, so he'll keep his state account full and split money with the feds even if they weren't really involved with the bust so he can have twice the asset forfeiture war chest. It's a racket. If both accounts are full he'll sandbag these forfeitures, turning in the paperwork and after he has spent an account down. Much of this "asset forfeiture" money is money people come up with to buy a better deal. Often a few grand can keep someone out of prison or at least severely shorten the sentence. I was in court a while back when I saw a man caught with over 200 pounds of cocaine plead to a bootcamp sentence that would keep him less than six months and he could have his record expunged in a couple of years. I found out later he had come up with well over a hundred grand as an "asset forfeiture" to buy that deal. People caught selling less than a gram of cocaine around here will almost always get a worse sentence than that. This guy was in an expensive tailored suit with the most well known criminal defense attorney in my state and some fancy lawyer from California. Clearly he was a much bigger fish than the majority of the people they lock up on much longer sentences for a tiny fraction of the 200+ lbs. this guy was caught with. It kind of makes you sick to see that when you know another fellow caught selling a half a gram of meth just got thirty years at a jury trial even though he was a Vietnam Vet with a clean record. I have to admit though I do the same for my clients if they can afford to go that route. If a few grand up front as an asset forfeiture or "restitution" to the drug task force can save someone a year or more in prison it's worth it to them to come up with the money. 
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Comment #31 posted by runruff on December 30, 2008 at 11:59:36 PT
Jesse James was a Christian.
In 1987 we got J.O.I.N.T. Josephine County Interagency Narcotic Team. It was funded by fed money and led by a Fed narc. If he said go here they went. If he said raid there, they raided. They were only interested in pot. They only make pot arrest and the convicted went to state prison. That is right. Most did not go to the BoP but without the money and guidance of the feds millions of people would not have been incarcerated. The fed funds have been cut. J.O.I.N.T. has disbanded. We now have a very liberal Med-Marijuana laws, decrim., no budget and the voters took away the asset forfeiture money from the robber cops and must by law first convict, then prove the goods are ill gotten, then turn it all over to a state funded rehab. When they lost their license to steal, this was the first notable decline in pot bust here. Now pot bust are rare. They have been declining in the past few years but I still know cannabis farmers who are doing time from the Bush one and Clinton eras. The feds knew they could not sustain the magnitude of drug warriors that was needed so they devised this plan: Contribute millions to local precincts and like Pavlov's dogs train them to do their dirty work taking them away from their real policing duties and instead turn them into marauders and thieves in the name of asset forfeiture. 
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Comment #30 posted by Commonsense on December 30, 2008 at 10:35:55 PT
runruff
There is a much higher percentage of people in federal prisons for drugs than in state prisons. The feds only prosecute a relatively small number of criminal cases per year compared to the states and they are selective in what they prosecute. In the federal system there are about 190,000 inmates, compared to over 1.3 million in state prisons. Approaching 60% of federal prisoners are in for drug offenses compared to slightly less than 20% in state prisons. Based on all of the statistics I've seen I have a hard time believing that most of the people in federal prisons are in for nothing other than marijuana offenses, but it most certainly could be a higher percentage than those in for drug offenses in state prisons. The feds take a lot of smuggling cases, a lot of the interstate trafficking cases, big growing cases, and of course they're the ones harassing medical marijuana growers. Generally though, the pot cases the feds take will involve major weight or they'll be trying to make some sort of statement like when they go after medical growers or do something like go after Tommy Chong for selling bongs. Even though they're mostly going after cases involving major weight, they're busting mostly small timers, like mules caught transporting a few hundred pounds for someone else, and all the minor players involved in their investigations of bigger organizations. The DEA makes most of the federal drug busts. The majority of their arrests are for cocaine. For instance, I know that in 2005 they made over 12,500 cocaine arrests, compared to slightly fewer than 6,000 marijuana arrests. The same year they made close to 6,500 meth arrests and 4,000 or so arrests involving opiates and other drugs. Marijuana arrests accounted for not much more than one fifth of their total drug arrests. Other federal agencies at our borders and ports make drug arrests too, not nearly as many as the DEA, but their breakdown will have marijuana arrests much higher than those for other drugs because marijuana is the most commonly smuggled drug.I'm in the Bible Belt where law enforcement, prosecutors and courts tend to be really hard on drug cases. I'm in court all the time, but mostly I'm in state courts rather than federal courts. Like everywhere else, marijuana is by far the most common illegal drug here. It's not the one we see the most felony prosecutions on though. (I'm not talking about simple possession misdemeanor arrests.) Law enforcement are really going after meth and cocaine and those types of drugs, especially when it comes to drug sales. The drug task force doesn't want it's confidential informants out buying quarter ounces of weed. They want powder drugs or narcotics like hydrocodone or Oxycontin, and they are happy with little small buys on those drugs. The felony marijuana charges we see are usually in conjunction with other drug sales and more often than not the other charges are a lot more serious than the marijuana charges. It depends on the county and the prosecutor, but usually if it's just a small time marijuana delivery or "manufacturing" case we can keep the guy out of prison if he has a reasonably clean record. If they sell a quarter gram of meth they're gone unless they go set people up for the narcs. By far most of the people being sent to prison for drugs in my area are going down for drugs other than marijuana, and the sentences for the other drugs tend to be a lot longer than those for marijuana. From what I understand it's like this in most places. We have close to 1.6 million people in state and federal prisons now. It is difficult to get good numbers on how many are in prison on marijuana offenses. I did find a 2005 report by the Sentencing Project where they said there are "27,900 persons in state and federal prison serving a sentence for which a marijuana violation is
the controlling (or most serious) offense." http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/nymmj_waronmj.pdf What that means is that the longest sentence these people got was for the marijuana offense. If they were carrying a gun during a transaction or while in possession of weed "with intent," the longer sentence would probably be for the gun. In my state selling a joint while in possession of a firearm could get you life but selling a million pounds of pot couldn't get you more than 30 years. Even if someone's "controlling sentence" is one for some sort of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms conviction, if they were busted for pot they'd probably say they were in prison for pot because the pot bust is what got them picked up in the first place. Also we have people in prison for parole or probation violations involving pot but the statistics will just show that they are in prison for "public order" offenses or probation or parole violations and not pot offenses. Still though, there is no way that 80% of the people in prisons are there for drug possession like it said in the original post I responded to on this thread. The actual number in for marijuana is probably a good bit less than 5% and it may actually be less than 2%, which would amount to about 32,000 people. My purpose here is not to make light of the fact that we have thousands of people in prisons for marijuana offenses. I think that's terrible. It's inhumane and it's a waste of money and limited prison bed space. The only reason I said anything in this thread is because tintala said that 80% of people in our prisons are in for drug possession, which I knew wasn't even close to being true and I hoped no one would repeat that when they were trying to make a case for legalizing marijuana. I think it might be that 80% of all marijuana arrests are for possession only, but that doesn't mean 80% or anywhere close to that percentage of inmates in our prisons are there for marijuana offenses. I just think people make a lot better advocates for legalizing marijuana if we have our facts straight. If we make wild inaccurate claims that are easily shot down, we quickly lose all credibility. If we know what we are talking about we're a lot more effective when we try to win people over to our side. We have a lot of people to win over to our side before there is any chance marijuana will be legalized. 
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Comment #29 posted by runruff on December 30, 2008 at 07:45:16 PT
Commonsense- I pray for another Thomas Paine.
I was in fed pen two years. I hung out with convicted pot guys. Every pot guy I met was a regular guy who didn't belong in there. I talked to guys in the chow hall every day and out in the yard. I was a Yoga Instructor and befriend Peter Gotti and many high level Mafiosi.There were people in there for every conceivable crime but most were in for pot convictions. Possession, low level dealing, growing etc. I met one ecstasy dealer doing 4 years. I met two meth cookers. The pot guys were doing more time than band robbers and murders.I think all of these official "stats" are for public consumption and do not match up in the real world.All the lawyers I met were hard, mostly crooked. The judicial system is an unspeakable mess. The holier than thou attitudes of these people, many of them one left turn from incarceration themselves.I am not a criminal! I am a peaceful herb gardener. Try and make a bad guy out of that,oh they already have? America is imploding, gorged on it's own inequities! 
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Comment #28 posted by Commonsense on December 29, 2008 at 13:03:11 PT
tintila
"With legalizing cannabis, is the prison system would loose billions in profit. Since 80% of the prisoners are in for drug posession.Prisons are a hUUUGE industry and our government needs lots of them!"What makes you think 80% of prisoners in our prisons are in for drug possession? Around 20% of those in state prisons are there on drug offenses and around 55% of those in federal prisons are there on drug charges. The vast majority of inmates in prisons in this country are inmates in state prisons though rather than federal prisons and a lot more of them are in prison for violent crimes than are ion prison for drug crimes. Over 50% of state prisoners are in for violent crimes and over 20% are in for property crimes. Most of the 20% or so of state inmates in prison for drug crimes are in for delivery or trafficking. If they are in for possession, generally it's possession of a larger amount with intent to deliver. There are some people in prisons for simple possessin of a small amount, but usually they've had multiple convictions and have will often have other types of convictions other than drug convictions. Most of the people in prison on drug charges were charged for drugs other than marijuana. Don't get me wrong. We have way too many people locked up on low level drug offenses. We have too many in prison for marijuana offenses. We could free up some prison space if we legalized marijuana. To be honest though, it probably wouldn't save us billions of dollars a year in prison costs if we legalized marjiuana, even in the unlikely event that we actually freed everyone in on marijuana charges. I haven't looked at the numbers in a while, but if memory serves me correctly only somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand people in prison whose most serious offense was a marijuana crime. A lot of them have other charges for which they also recieved prison sentences. At an average annual cost of about $30,000 an inmate (it's $14,000 a year for inmates in my state) we'd save less than one billion a year letting all of these people out, which isn't likely to happen both because many are in on other charges as well and because there would be a lot of oppostion to letting people out of prison after they had been convicted of felonies knowing that in breaking these laws they could end up in prison. Also, something else that would cut into the savings is that a lot of the people who go to prison for marijuana offenses are the types of people who would be out breaking some other law to make money if they couldn't do it selling marijuana and they'll end up in prison anyway. I've been a criminal defense attorney for a lot of years and have handled cases for hundreds of people charged with marijuana crimes, thousands of pounds worth of these cases, and I have to tell you that while these people may not all be horrible criminals like the government seems to want to paint them out to be, they aren't all necessairly saints either. Some are very sweet people, some are hardenned criminals. More than a few of those people in prison for marijuana offenses right now are career criminals, thugs we're better off not having on our streets. Legalize marijuana and those guys will still be breaking laws and ending up in prison. That's just what they do. Actual prison cost savings would probably be in the hundreds of millions. We'd save a lot in enforcement costs though and we'd save on couty jail expenses as well as prison expenses. We'd also probably rake in many billions a year in sales taxes, excises, property taxes, income taxes and so on from the industry and people working in a legal marijuana. industry. 
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on December 28, 2008 at 20:59:11 PT
Afterburner, Comment 24
To Life!Sounds like your trip was treacherous. I'm glad you made it safely and had a nice time.
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Comment #26 posted by tintala on December 28, 2008 at 16:21:11 PT:
THE ONLY PROBLEM
With legalizing cannabis, is the prison system would loose billions in profit. Since 80% of the prisoners are in for drug posession.Prisons are a hUUUGE industry and our government needs lots of them!
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Comment #25 posted by OverwhelmSam on December 28, 2008 at 04:23:00 PT
Ha Ha, Politicians See The Wisdom in Legalization
We've known for years that if you legalize marijuana, the herb that drives the illegal drug black market network, that this massive distribution system will collapse.
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Comment #24 posted by afterburner on December 27, 2008 at 03:56:08 PT
We Had a Happy Chistmas 
That heavy snow, ice and slush in Ontario and Michigan, combined with the major detour of I-75 around Detroit, caused big delays. However, we arrived safely if late (or early in the morning). The family gatherings were large (I think I met some of the relatives for the first time). The parties were not cannabis-friendly, wine and beer had to substitute, but the younger generation was *talking* about cannabis experiences of friends and themselves. I might have missed the secret passing of the pipe or joint.We enjoyed the annual Christmas eve church service, the re-telling of the story and the singing of the hymns. Afterward, we partied for two days. To everyone pleasant surprise there were no arguments about politics, religion or the economy. Everyone seems tired of the drama. We were just joyful to eat and gab and spend time together sharing experiences. To all here, a toast:
L'Chaim (To Life)."Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
Matthew 6:26
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:26&version=31Sinsemilla Jones: funny stuff. LOL! 
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on December 25, 2008 at 16:00:59 PT
Forgot The Page
http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/merry.htm
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on December 25, 2008 at 14:42:02 PT
fight_4_freedom
You gave an an idea and I put Willie's song on my Christmas Page I made a couple of years ago. I hope the page works ok for anyone who might check it out. I use IE so I don't know if it works with any other browser.Merry Christmas!
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Comment #21 posted by fight_4_freedom on December 25, 2008 at 12:34:33 PT
Let not mankind Bogart LOVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8HGswf584EI know it has been posted a lot recently but I just love it! And it is Christmas, so it would only be fitting to hear it today.Here's another Christmas classichttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLca9WxONGcCarol of the Buds!I hope you all have a Merryjuana Christmas!We are about to indulge in some fresh Cornish Hens, potatoes, and some stuffing! The sun is shining and it has turned out to be a beautiful Christmas day!Thank you all for doing your part in this effort to bring back FREEDOM to the Cannabis Consumers of the world!Together, anything is possible!!!!God Bless You All!
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Comment #20 posted by museman on December 25, 2008 at 10:40:02 PT
well
It's a Bing Crosby Christmas here. Little white flakes falling from the sky.Everyone have a great day!FREE CANNABIS FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on December 25, 2008 at 09:51:25 PT
rchandar 
I won't argue with God either. He said it.Happy Holidays to you!
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Comment #18 posted by rchandar on December 25, 2008 at 08:59:22 PT:
From The Bible
I've actually seen this post a few times before, but wanted to check it out myself just to make sure.This comes from a "New American Standard Bible" that I used when I was in grade school.Genesis 1:11 "Then God said, 'let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth,' and it was so.""And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good."Kinda hard for me, at least, to argue with God. I can only say, "it is written."HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM RCHANDAR
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on December 25, 2008 at 08:24:05 PT
Happy Holidays!
As Tiny Tim said God Bless Us, Every One.http://www.dobhran.com/greetings/GRinspire320.htm
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Comment #16 posted by runruff on December 25, 2008 at 08:09:28 PT
Here at Hunky- Doreyville.....
We send out high spiritual vibrations of Holiday cheer.Let's all be happy today.Let's all be kings and queens on this day!Merry Christmas!PS. today will be longer than yesterday.
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Comment #15 posted by ripit on December 25, 2008 at 06:18:12 PT
happy holidaze ppl!
heres hoping yall have a wonderful christmas!peace to you and yours this fine mornin!
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Comment #14 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on December 25, 2008 at 03:32:01 PT
Happy Holy Daze!
Merry Janesmas!Happy New Hash!And to all a good light.
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Comment #13 posted by runruff on December 25, 2008 at 00:03:20 PT
To all......
Merry Christmas!
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Comment #12 posted by E_Johnson on December 24, 2008 at 22:04:04 PT
Merry Christmas everyone
And Happy Hanukkah too. 
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on December 24, 2008 at 19:36:23 PT
Had Enough
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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Comment #10 posted by Had Enough on December 24, 2008 at 18:48:54 PT
A Very Merry Christmas
And a Happy Good New YearFor all of mankind…************Brother John Lennonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1zm4E9d1oo
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on December 24, 2008 at 16:37:31 PT
Storm Crow and fight_4_freedom 
Merry Christmas and thank you! Our friend had an accident on the ice today on our country road. She's ok but it scared her. Her husband fell a couple of times just trying to get to the truck to go help her. The temperature is suppose to drop tonight and it will freeze up again. Stay safe and have a wonderful holiday.
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Comment #8 posted by fight_4_freedom on December 24, 2008 at 15:32:56 PT
This article is like an early Christmas gift to me
It's nice to hear an Attorney General say something like that.And I think he meant what Dongenero suggested about finding out who's using it. He just totally worded it wrong. I hope anyways!Well, finally done with work and now I'm off to get some last minute gifts for the family. I thought everything would be closed by 6 but I just found out K-Mart is open until 10! Hurray!!! K-Mart is a Savior for the last minute shoppers out there! The selection isn't the greatest but it's better than nothing.I just wish all this rain and slush wasn't going to turn to ice :(Merry Christmas C-News! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
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Comment #7 posted by Storm Crow on December 24, 2008 at 14:39:49 PT
 A small question....
Would he have made even this half-hearted statement 10 years ago? Even 5? It's progress! (grudging progress, but still progress!) Maybe in another couple of years, he'll catch up with reality! Happy Holidays to you all! And may all your Holiday wishes come true! And a special Merry Christmas to you, FoM! You didn't know it, but you made my day easier, today. I'm doing my annual link check on my big old list (groan!). And a MMJ study had disappeared from all the free medical sites on the web, but I found the abstract posted here on CannabisNews! Thank you for having it here safely archived! I HATE "losing" studies! 
So, thank you so very much for all you do, dear. You are loved and appreciated by many! Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year to you!
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Comment #6 posted by dongenero on December 24, 2008 at 13:34:03 PT
I agree, that is a weird comment...........
especially coming form the Attorney General!..."he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution — and figure out who has been smoking it.This from someone who is an Attorney General!!? Willing to consider legalization if he can figure out who has been smoking it? Perhaps he means if he can determine who is driving under the influence, though that is NOT what he said.As for who smokes it?.... who drinks a beer? None of your business!Another comment that concerns me is ...."what is the acceptable amount of marijuana that you want a bus driver to have in their system?"Now, a layman who reads this would likely think, "bus driver under the influence." But, regular CNews readers, savvy about prohibitionist double speak, hear..."bus drivers with THC metabolites in their system." Big difference!I'm not exactly sure what A.G. Terry Goddard really means but, his statements were certainly as clear as mud. 
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Comment #5 posted by museman on December 24, 2008 at 12:17:01 PT
cartel funding
may come in part from 'drug sales' but it was initially funded by the CIA. The mexican connection was originally funded by U.S. banks in the '70's loaned to the mexican 'government', and paid back through mostly cannabis profits.After the payoff, the DEA did a sting operation and busted most of the bankers involved.Those "specially designed heavy-duty trucks to surmount the border fence" undoubtedly came about from a direct connection with the C.I.A.If anyone believes anything coming from the judial/law enforcement sector concerning cannabis, they need to take another look.If they want to "figure out who has been smoking it" pick someone at random on the street, and the odds are good they've smoked, or do smoke. PEOPLE SMOKE CANNABIS you moron!FREE MARIHUANA FOR EVERYONE (except cops. at this point they owe us so much, they can never make it up)
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on December 24, 2008 at 12:06:41 PT
HempWorld, 
I think I understand what Your saying, but it might be important to give the guy a little credit. These politicians are speaking out and may be feeling the water... We need to let them know their remarks are acceptable, appreciated and taken seriously. And that may help other politicians feel comfortable speaking out too.I'm thankful Goddard has the courage to speak out.-0-This news item is also in the Sierra Vista Herald (AZ)Goddard: Distribution control needed to legalize potBy Howard Fischerhttp://www.svherald.com/articles/2008/12/24/news/state/doc4951cc9286f16412308801.txt
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Comment #3 posted by HempWorld on December 24, 2008 at 11:46:12 PT
Goddard Poses Legalizing Pot but like a true
fascist, he wants to "figure out who has been smoking it" and "and how much they use."He doesn't get it, but what can you expect when his job depends on it.
On a mission from God!
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on December 24, 2008 at 11:25:44 PT
Mexican farmers shouldn't have to hide their crops
Mexicans should be proud of their farming, and not have to hide it.You'd think the U.S. effort to keep cannabis undergound crates some phycological problems for the people of Mexico who are farmers not getting their recognition.We beat them down mentally.They may simply want to make a buck just like the prohibitionists simply wants to feed their children.Many Mexicans are Christians, many prohibitionists are Christians. Christians are beating on Christians. 
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on December 24, 2008 at 11:14:01 PT
1,200,000 pounds! in 3 years alone on A border!
Wow! Citizens are not going without... Thank You Mexico.Goddard, sees.Forget trying to keep American's from getting or smoking cannabis; it's not going to stop...Change the system, because cannabis will continue to be grown and brought into America. Regulate it, make it safer, dignified for Mexico, even.-0-ONe point though Goddard may be missing. It isn't that You want zero trace in a bus drivers system but rather that You don't want the driver high at the time. Just like with beer. I don't care if the driver had 2 beers last night, I only care that He is not impared while driving right now. -I hope a letter writer mentions that point, because they only allow 150 words and couldn't fit it in also.Thanks, Goddard.
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