cannabisnews.com: Where The War on Pot Will Go To Die

function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Where The War on Pot Will Go To Die');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/28/thread28076.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}












  Where The War on Pot Will Go To Die

Posted by CN Staff on May 23, 2014 at 11:50:39 PT
By Nick Gillespie 
Source: Time 

USA -- In some states, there's an untenable mismatch between the crime and the time, but does anyone think that pot—medical or recreational—will still be illegal in 10 years? Now that a majority of Americans—54% and climbing, according to Pew Research—believe that marijuana should be treated like beer, wine and liquor, it’s time to ask: where does the war on pot go to die?What episode will trigger that final skirmish that kicks over the hollowed-out edifice of marijuana prohibition like the Berlin Wall? What will be the final outrage against common sense and common decency that triggers an Arab Spring for weed in these U.S.? Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia already have medical marijuana (with more to come), and full legalization has gained 13 percentage points in just the past five years.
Ironically, whatever ends the war on pot won’t happen in Colorado or Washington, which have already legalized recreational pot and have received vague promises from Attorney General Eric Holder that the feds won’t bust people and businesses who comply with state laws. Colorado is further along in the retail process than Washington (where pot shops won’t open until mid-July), and so far the only problem of note is that the state is raking in 40% more tax revenue than originally projected.Look instead to places such as Round Rock, Texas, where 19-year-old Jacob Lavoro faces a sentence between five and 99 years for allegedly selling a 1.5-pound slab of hash brownies. Under state law, selling up to five pounds of plain old pot is punishable by no more than two years in the clink and a $10,000 fine. But hash, a concentrated form of pot, is considered a controlled substance and even the tiny amount in Lavoro’s brownies qualifies him for what amounts to a potential life sentence. Through a convoluted rationale, you see, the law can count all the brownie ingredients—the eggs, butter, flour, cocoa—as hash.Oh well, everything’s bigger in Texas, including the unconscionable mismatch between the crime and the time. If he was only a couple of states away, Lavoro wouldn’t be facing jail, he’d be a successful entrepreneur. That sort of mind-blowing disjuncture is exactly the sort of thing that takes the fight out of the war on pot.Or look to recent comments made by FBI director James Comey, who admitted that he can’t hire the 2,000 cyber-crime fighters the bureau needs to protect America because of workplace drug tests. “I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” Comey said. He was upbraided by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for providing yet “one more example of leadership in America dismissing the seriousness of marijuana use.” Whatever you can say about Comey, he’s in good company acknowledging the ubiquity of pot smoking in today’s America. According to the latest government data, 43% of Americans—including the three most recent presidents—have tried pot at least once. And when asked whether alcohol or marijuana is more harmful to society, fully 63% say booze and just 23% say pot. How much longer can the Jeff Sessions of the world hold back the tide of public opinion?And, finally, look to California, which passed the nation’s first medical marijuana ballot initiative way back in 1996 and saw 46.5% vote in favor of recreational pot in a 2010 proposition. In 2011, federal agents raided the operations of business of dispensary owner and medical grower Aaron Sandusky. This came after repeated promises by the Obama administration that it wouldn’t go after medical pot providers who were operating within state law. And even though officials from the city of Upland, which had tipped off the feds, later admitted in court that Sandusky was operating properly within state law.Sandusky refused on principle to cop a plea because he thought he was in the right. Tried in federal court, he was unable to offer a defense based on California state law, Sandusky ended up pulling a 10-year sentece. In March of this year, he lost his final appeal. If he’s lucky and stays on good behavior, he’ll be out in 2021. Does anyone think that pot—medical or recreational—will still be illegal by then?As it happens, Sandusky is doing time in Texas’ Big Spring Federal Correctional Institute, which is only a four-hour drive from Jacob Lavoro’s hometown of Round Rock. As Lavoro ponders whatever deal prosecutors might offer him, he’d be smart to visit Sandusky and ask what life behind bars is like. Because while the war on pot is surely in its final stage, there will still be plenty of casualties before peace is declared.  Source: Time Magazine (US)Author: Nick GillespiePublished: May 23, 2014Copyright: 2014 Time Inc.Contact: letters time.comWebsite: http://www.time.com/time/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/O9wRy5SRCannabisNews   -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 

Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help    
     
     
     
     





Comment #13 posted by rchandar on May 30, 2014 at 11:30:31 PT:
Where the WoD goes to Die
Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in 1776. That's how we took our freedom: from common sense.And if he were alive today, I am certain that he would repeat the point. "Here's a pot cigarette". This little piece of plant flowers is enough to land you in jail for two years. I think some of our politicians got the point. If it's easy to get, it's easy to land in trouble. Can we say that we're the land of opportunity when 3 million Americans are in jail for this no-count infraction? The maturing of a great democracy means extending its promise to as many as possible. WoD contradicts that. We don't doubt that Calderon is wicked in Miami Vice, but her daughter still cries when Crockett kills him. That was in 1985--the height of the WoD.I think it took Barry some time to reassess what 'capital' meant for our young voting blocks. It seems as though 'soft power' could work in this country.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by Garry Minor on May 26, 2014 at 07:15:55 PT:
Where will it go to die?
"What episode will trigger that final skirmish that kicks over the hollowed-out edifice of marijuana prohibition like the Berlin Wall? What will be the final outrage against common sense and common decency that triggers an Arab Spring for weed in these U.S.?"What would happen if the churches learn of, accept and teach that in the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament God instructed Moses to use 250 shekels of Kaneh bosm, Cannabis in the Holy Oil, Chrism used to anoint His priests, later kings and prophets and finally with the new covenant, His Christians?What if these people learned that in Truth they are not really Christians, but, have been deceived just like the Book they read from says will happen ...... and is? That in fact many of them are the adversary?
Some will accept it but I'll bet others will weep and gnash their teeth, however, it won't change the Truth!Cyril of Jerusalem, on Chrism: 1John 2:18-29For as Christ after His Baptism, and the visitation of the Holy Ghost, went forth and vanquished the adversary, so likewise ye, after Holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the whole armour of the Holy Ghost, are to stand against the power of the adversary, and vanquish it, saying, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.5. Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, ye are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, ye had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians.6. Moreover, you should know that in the old Scripture there lies the symbol of this Chrism. For what time Moses imparted to his brother the command of God, and made him High-priest, after bathing in water, he anointed him; and Aaron was called Christ or Anointed, evidently from the typical Chrism. So also the High-priest, in advancing Solomon to the kingdom, anointed him after he had bathed in Gihon. To them however these things happened in a figure, but to you not in a figure, but in truth; because ye were truly anointed by the Holy Ghost. Christ is the beginning of your salvation; for He is truly the First-fruit, and ye the mass; but if the First-fruit be holy, it is manifest that Its holiness will pass to the mass also.7. Keep This unspotted: for it shall teach you all things, if it abide in you, as you have just heard declared by the blessed John, discoursing much concerning this Unction. For this holy thing is a spiritual safeguard of the body, and salvation of the soul. Of this the blessed Esaias prophesying of old time said, And on this mountain,—(now he calls the Church a mountain elsewhere also, as when he says, In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be manifest;)—on this mountain shall the Lord make unto all nations a feast; they shall drink wine, they shall drink gladness, they shall anoint themselves with ointment. And that he may make thee sure, hear what he says of this ointment as being mystical; Deliver all these things to the nations, for the counsel of the Lord is unto all nations. Having been anointed, therefore, with this holy ointment, keep it unspotted and unblemished in you, pressing forward by good works, and being made well-pleasing to the Captain of your salvation, Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.Gospel of Philip;The chrism is superior to baptism, for it is from the word "Chrism" that we have been called "Christians," certainly not because of the word "baptism". And it is because of the chrism that "the Christ" has his name. For the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. He who has been anointed possesses everything. He possesses the resurrection, the light, the cross, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave him this in the bridal chamber; he merely accepted (the gift). The Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father. This is the Kingdom of Heaven.Mark 6:12-13;So they went off and preached repentance. They drove out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.The leaves of the Tree are for the healing of nations.My Christ cures the cancers, the jesus of this world?http://web.acsalaska.net/~warmgun/sm410.html
[ Post Comment ]

 


Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 26, 2014 at 04:26:36 PT

AggieCajun
We watched CBS yesterday and it was great! I hope you and everyone are having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #10 posted by AggieCajun on May 25, 2014 at 16:36:58 PT

Colorado is doing just fine..
Great video from the Sunday CBS morning news. Hickenlooper seems to be a lot more relaxed than he did in January. Hope he's tried some of the legal stuff himself. It would be an eye-opener for many if they tried a good sativa.http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-colorado-has-gone-to-pot/Hope your all having a wonderful weekend.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #9 posted by FoM on May 24, 2014 at 19:52:27 PT

AggieCajun
Thank you! Good news! I have it posted now!
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #8 posted by AggieCajun on May 24, 2014 at 19:20:42 PT:

Kentucky got its hemp seeds back..
Mark one more victory in the books for cannabis. One small step for Kentucky, one small cut on the DEA and the War on Some Drugs...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/23/hemp-seeds-kentucky_n_5380089.htmlHope you all have a wonderful weekend. God bless the troops.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 24, 2014 at 17:45:25 PT

Hope
I looked at an article since I can't watch videos because of bandwidth. That is terrible.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #6 posted by Hope on May 24, 2014 at 12:45:13 PT

Teen faces life sentence over hash oil brownies
http://video.foxnews.com/v/3578101622001/teen-faces-life-sentence-over-hash-oil-brownies/?intcmp=obnetwork#sp=show-clips
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 24, 2014 at 06:28:40 PT

Happy Memorial Day Weekend
It's good to see everyone and I hope you all have a safe and relaxing holiday weekend.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on May 24, 2014 at 05:14:56 PT

puppets
afterburner, he does not work for us.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #3 posted by Canis420 on May 23, 2014 at 22:51:12 PT:

who will it be?
No one wants to be the last one charged with a cannabis offense. It will be one of us though cause prohibition is goin down. 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #2 posted by afterburner on May 23, 2014 at 22:06:20 PT

President Obama
Be true to your word and pardon Aaron Sandusky! The city of Upland lied to federal authorities, leading to a kangaroo court with the usual dodge that prevented him from using California's Compassionate Use Act as a defense in federal trial. This is yet another rogue action by those who oppose your agenda. Please pardon Aaron Sandusky. You do not have to defer to Congress on this travesty of justice.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #1 posted by The GCW on May 23, 2014 at 21:23:43 PT

POLL
Would you like to see Denver selected to host the Republican National Convention in 2016?YesNohttp://www.denverpost.com/
[ Post Comment ]





  Post Comment