cannabisnews.com: Most Would Still Vote for Marijuana Law



cannabisnews.com: Most Would Still Vote for Marijuana Law
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Most Would Still Vote for Marijuana Law
Posted by CN Staff on May 31, 2010 at 05:23:56 PT
Editorial
Source: Helena Independent Record
Helena -- Montanans passed the initiative establishing the state’s medical-marijuana law in 2004 with a healthy 62 percent of the vote.The law was largely uncontroversial until the federal government announced several months ago that it would defer to state medical-marijuana laws in determining the legal use of the drug. The medical-marijuana industry boomed in Montana, and some are now saying that the law is so vague it has allowed the sale of marijuana in circumstances that voters didn’t have in mind when they passed the initiative. 
Today’s Independent Record includes the second in a three-day series by Lee newspapers in Montana exploring the issues surrounding that controversy.We asked readers to weigh in with our Question of the Week: “If medical marijuana were put back to the public vote now, would you vote for it given the lack of regulatory framework?”Of the 247 responses we received to the unscientific survey, 138, or 56 percent, were “yes.” The other 44 percent of the responses, 109 of them, were “no.”Here are some of the comments we received:* I voted against the measure before, and there is no way I would vote for it now. Anyone with a half of ounce of common sense knew back when the law was passed that it was wide open to abuse, and experience has proven that true. Anyone who believes marijuana is harmless and can be used responsibly is only lying to themselves in the face of numerous valid and reliable studies to the contrary. The only thing amazing about the whole fiasco is that some are surprised by it. * The time and energy spent on this debate is beyond all comprehension and reason. Don’t we have enough to worry about — like the war, the economy and the oil spill, to name a few? Legalize marijuana and tax it and help solve our debt problem big time. Is it as bad as the damage done with legal substances such as alcohol and cigarettes?* Let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. Obviously, the state’s regulation of the growth, distribution and approval for use of medical marijuana has been inadequate, and the medical profession has not adequately monitored unethical MDs who have become a traveling, use-approval sideshow. The problems can, and should, be remedied without denying marijuana to legitimate medical users.* If medical marijuana provides relief for even one patient who is suffering the pain of cancer or the nausea associated with chemotherapy, then it is worth my vote. * Not only did I not vote for it, I was baffled that so many otherwise intelligent, well-meaning people could not foresee the havoc that would inevitably ensue.* Montana is leading the country in DUIs, alcohol addiction and drug-abuse problems per capita, and the state is nationally known for its serious mental-health issues. Marijuana adds fuel to the addiction fire, and, when mixed with alcohol and other prescription drugs, it is dangerous and is a proven gateway to increased hard-drug usage. The medical-marijuana outlets are out of control compared to the retail liquor stores in Montana, and if they are left unchecked and unregulated, the state will be overtaken by illegal marijuana usage that will end up creating another social crisis on top of what we already have to deal with.* I voted for medical marijuana and would again. It is the legislators who messed up. Marijuana should be legalized, put under ATF and then taxed.Source: Helena Independent Record (MT)Published: Monday, May 31, 2010Copyright: 2010 Helena Independent RecordWebsite: http://helenair.com/Contact: irstaff helenair.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/VVwsY5a9 CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on June 02, 2010 at 05:57:50 PT
GeoChemist
Is that link the answer to your question? About Blank?
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Comment #10 posted by runruff on June 02, 2010 at 05:35:16 PT
Geo
"Has anyone else noticed the collective IQ of the remaining prohibs has gone down the toilet?"[A most appropriate exit!]
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Comment #9 posted by GeoChemist on May 31, 2010 at 17:40:43 PT
Gateway? 
Use the following information as you see fit:Cigarette smoking as a Predictor of Alcohol and Other Drug Use by Children and Adolescents: Evidence of the Gateway Effect
The Journal of School Health; Sep 1993; 63, 7; Research Library
pg. 302“Marijuana is not a “gateway” drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of Pittsburgh study. Moreover, the study’s findings call into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades and caused many a parent to panic upon discovering a bag of pot in their child’s bedroom.” So how many cannabis consumers go on to use hard drugs? Has anyone else noticed the collective IQ of the remaining prohibs has gone down the toilet?
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/12/2134
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on May 31, 2010 at 17:24:38 PT
The people that love the black market...
That love prohibition... that love supporting the cartels and keeping the cartels well funded... that love the persecution, imprisonment, and fines, and chaos and mayhem of prohibition, they just apparently can't get a clue.
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on May 31, 2010 at 15:08:09 PT
people spoke
the question was quite obviously framed negatively, I'm sure the initiative would pass with the exact same result today.definitely a frightening element in Montana, with the cops fire-bombing places by night and relentless propaganda about kids and MJ dominating the media.if a voter-approved dispensary gets fire-bombed the state should post guards in front, not close it. They're cocky because they know it's not like Birmingham, the feds are not coming to protect the locals from LEO like they did in the South.
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Comment #6 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on May 31, 2010 at 13:41:35 PT
"tending Uncle Sam's hemp farm"
This is from a couple of weeks ago, sorry if it's already been posted -Hemp fans look toward Lyster Dewey's past, and the Pentagon, for higher groundhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/12/AR2010051204933.htmlFeatures a pic of Dewey with 13 foot tall hemp plants!"Dewey cultivated hemp on a plot called Arlington Farms, which today is the site of the Pentagon."
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Comment #5 posted by runruff on May 31, 2010 at 11:33:15 PT
Anyone can punch the keys on a keyboard...
...even a chimp!
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Comment #4 posted by augustwest on May 31, 2010 at 10:10:36 PT:
mixes
"when mixed with alcohol and other prescription drugs"I have found the best way to deal with a combative drunk is to puff em down. It usually chills em right out. It also helps nausea caused by prescription drugs. Along with the "proven gateway theory" this leads me to believe that commenter isn't drawing from real life experience. 
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Comment #3 posted by John Tyler on May 31, 2010 at 07:40:23 PT
not that complicated
The voters were not duped, nor are they stupid as this writer and other writers and commenters seen elsewhere seem to think. The public has become more and more knowledgeable about cannabis and think that it is time to end the senseless and expensive cannabis prohibition. The public votes for any measures that will bring about the end of this needless prohibition. It is the prohibitionists that find ending prohibition complicated. 
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Comment #2 posted by Vincent on May 31, 2010 at 07:07:15 PT:
Don't you just hate when they say thing like this?
 "Marijuana adds fuel to the addiction fire, and, when mixed with alcohol and other prescription drugs, it is dangerous and is a proven gateway to increased hard-drug usage"."Proven"? By whom? Where is this numbskull's statistics?
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 31, 2010 at 05:29:16 PT
Related Articles on Montana's MMJ Law
Medical Marijuana Business Has Far-Reaching Economic ImpactMay 31, 2010URL: http://drugsense.org/url/RyVTV89T***Entrepreneur in Pot Industry Using Best Business PracticesMay 31, 2010http://drugsense.org/url/MvcT3Lbv
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