California CN Program Obsolete?

[DG]

This will be the end of CN Ops in CAWG.


California Votes to Legalize Marijuana

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When California voters head to the polls in November, they will decide whether the state will make history again — this time by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults.

The state was the first to legalize medicinal marijuana use, with voters passing it in 1996. Since then, 14 states have followed California's lead, even though marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

"This is a watershed moment in the decades-long struggle to end failed marijuana prohibition in this country," said Stephen Gutwillig, California director for the Drug Policy Alliance. "We really can't overstate the significance of Californians being the first to have the opportunity to end this public policy disaster."

The California secretary of state's office certified the initiative for the general election ballot Wednesday after it was determined that supporters had gathered enough valid signatures.

The initiative would allow those 21 years and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, enough to roll dozens of marijuana cigarettes. Residents also could grow their own crop of the plant in gardens measuring up to 25 square feet.

Proponents of the measure say legalizing marijuana could save the state $200 million a year by reducing public safety costs. At the same time, it could generate tax revenue for local governments.

A Field Poll taken in April found a slim majority of California voters supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help bridge the state budget deficit.

Those who grow and sell it illegally fear legalization would drive down the price and force them to compete against corporate marijuana cultivators.

[Rotorhead]

Not according to the DEA, which says states can't legalize pot.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Not according to the DEA, which says states can't legalize pot.

That's the whole constitutional argument that states Federal law > State law.

But honestly, I know plenty of folks who smoke weed, and it really is no worse for them than cigarettes.

[FW]

The smog in LA won't just be smog anymore....
The DEA won't go after individual users and (maybe) small legal plots. They already stopped prosecuting medicinal use and supply.   However, it will still be a crime to grow large fields.  I think there will still be a need for a CAWG CN program.  At, least until the growers in northern CA find their profits gone...

[Flying Pig]

But honestly, I know plenty of folks who smoke weed, and it really is no worse for them than cigarettes.

^Yeah...keep thinking that. The marijuana grown today has been cloned and engineered to very high contents of THC.  Marijuana is nothing like a cigarette. 
There will still be marijuana farms in the forests, and there will still be cartels growing it, trafficking weapons, and dealing in all of the other drugs as well.  Just because CA may legalize it, where the states that border CA do not, CA will quickly find itself being overwhelmed by pot farmers both legal and illegal.  There will still be a market for marijuana in 49 other states with CA being the supplier. 
I wonder if the other states have the ability to retaliate against CA for making their drug problem worse, and being able to trace it to CA?  Of course, I do have to wonder whats going on at the border since the Dept of Homeland Security Secretary has ordered the border fence construction halted.
As far as the end of CD?  It will have an impact thats for sure, but it will still be prosecuted federally if thats the case.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Pot compared to other "heavy" drugs is nothing. While I may not agree with how much some of the people I know use it, it certainly doesn't make them:

-Couch Potatos
-Lazy
-Boring

Calling it a gateway drug is also BS. There's a sign in my hometown area put up by the parents of a kid who OD'd on Heroin. Has a picture of a pot leaf, and then "Heroin addiction starts here" below it. I'm sure I can find HUNDREDS of cases where people smoke/smoked pot, but NEVER went to anything else. I'm sorry to the parents of the kid, but I knew him, and his problems were generally with his parents, and led to his drug problem, not stemmed from it. I'm also pretty sure that if he OD'd on heroin, then it wasn't the pot that got him.

How much money nationally do we spend on enforcing laws on pot? How about all other 'illegal substances'?

[blackrain]

But honestly, I know plenty of folks who smoke weed, and it really is no worse for them than cigarettes.

^Yeah...keep thinking that. The marijuana grown today has been cloned and engineered to very high contents of THC.  Marijuana is nothing like a cigarette. 
There will still be marijuana farms in the forests, and there will still be cartels growing it, trafficking weapons, and dealing in all of the other drugs as well.  Just because CA may legalize it, where the states that border CA do not, CA will quickly find itself being overwhelmed by pot farmers both legal and illegal.  There will still be a market for marijuana in 49 other states with CA being the supplier. 
I wonder if the other states have the ability to retaliate against CA for making their drug problem worse, and being able to trace it to CA?  Of course, I do have to wonder whats going on at the border since the Dept of Homeland Security Secretary has ordered the border fence construction halted.
As far as the end of CD?  It will have an impact thats for sure, but it will still be prosecuted federally if thats the case.

I've actually heard some of the highest THC content was found in pot grown in hot houses NORTH  of the border and in Alaska

Maybe this is California's attempted solution to it's budget crisis...........

Oregon,Nevada and Arizona L.E. can make a fortune in seizures on ingress and egress routes out of California. Maybe I can fly for AZ L.E.

[Strick]

Pot compared to other "heavy" drugs is nothing. While I may not agree with how much some of the people I know use it, it certainly doesn't make them:

-Couch Potatos
-Lazy
-Boring

Calling it a gateway drug is also BS. There's a sign in my hometown area put up by the parents of a kid who OD'd on Heroin. Has a picture of a pot leaf, and then "Heroin addiction starts here" below it. I'm sure I can find HUNDREDS of cases where people smoke/smoked pot, but NEVER went to anything else. I'm sorry to the parents of the kid, but I knew him, and his problems were generally with his parents, and led to his drug problem, not stemmed from it. I'm also pretty sure that if he OD'd on heroin, then it wasn't the pot that got him.

How much money nationally do we spend on enforcing laws on pot? How about all other 'illegal substances'?







Go work a street beat in a high crime area................Dont drink the liberal cool aiid!!!!!!!!

[lordmonar]

I know where flying pig is coming from as he is a police officer and of course sees the dirty end of this stick everyday.

However....I got to throw the BS flag on this one.

Legalsing marijuana allows the government to control it better.  The illegal cartels will go away because users will be able to get their supply from a legal grower who will be able to sell it cheaper with better quality control.

Sure there will be "illegal" pot farmers (those who grow more then 25 square feet) and try to sell their surplus outside the state, but that is a whole lot easier to control then what we have now.

Also look at all the side crime associated with illegal drugs.

We have junkies holding 7-11s to get the $50 they need to buy their drugs.  Legal drug will be much cheaper reducing the need for junkies to result to this level of crime.  Same story for prostitution.

Then there is the dealer on dealer crime.  No more turf wars over who owns a particular street corner, no more junkies shooting dealers for their stash or their cash.

Now expand out the the international drug trade.

If Americans can grow and sell their own pot domestically.....no more demand for imported pot.  That means less demand.  Less corruption in countries that are our suppliers, less violence against those trying to stop it, less violence between the cartels.

The way to fight the war on drugs is to make it unprofitable to the drug cartels.  We spend billions on the war on drugs and hardly put a dent in the traffic.

But if we legalise it.....then we pull the rug from under their feet and they will have to scramble to find a new vice to supply.

Look at prohibition in the '20-'30.  Before prohibition the mafia were 2 bit players in their local communities....running gambling, prostitution, theft rings, insurance rackets and loan sharking.

Once prohibition kicked it...they had a market for alcohol and made millions!  Once prohibition went away they moved into the drug market.

Take away the profitability of the drug market by simply underselling them and they will go away by themselves and look for other ways to make money.

We can take the billions we spend on attacking the supply side of the drug problem and use a fraction of that on helping those who really have a "drug problem" and reducing out deficit.

[Major Lord]

I certainly agree that letting California go into competition with the Mexican Drug Cartels will result in more revenue for the State of California. Given our nearly Chicago level of political corruption, I am sure that the people administering the program will be multi-billionaires in no time......

California has gone down this route with illegal gambling, and went into the lottery business. Our policy and numbers rackets still thrive, and the poorest, and stupidest of Californians ( who in truth tend to be the same people) are victims of both Vice peddlers. The revenues expected have never been what was promised, and what little money that has come from this practice has for the most part been absorbed by the administration of the program.

So what next? Legalized prostitution? Animal fights? Bum Fights? How about setting up California as the number one destination for assisted suicide? We could make boatloads of money! How about legalizing retroactive abortion? California could make zillions charging a tax on putting down those unwanted 100th trimester kiddies.

Yes, legalizing alcohol helped eliminate the crime problem, but the gang wars of the thirties are small potatoes compared to the number of people killed every day by the irresponsible use of alcohol. Add marijuana to our current mix of heavy machinery and a fast paced life style, and the death toll will increase dramatically.

I propose a compromise. Be a drug user, agree to forfeit all public assistance and surrender your drivers license and it will all be fine. We could even set up happy camps for people who just want to do dope until they die from Pepsi and Doritos overdoses.

Major Lord

[Майор Хаткевич]

Again, what is this crazy "Reefer Madness" view of pot?

You can't TELL who is a pot smoker around here unless you smell it/see it/know of it.

Wasn't there a story recently about some chemical that is street legal, but basically does what pot does. Guess what, they are selling it for the same prices as weed. So, a chemical developed in a lab is legal, but a natural plant (granted it's considered illegal due to a chemical within) is not?

I don't have hard numbers, but I would assume a large number of those in our prison systems who landed there on drug charges, landed there on marijuana related charges. How many people wouldn't go to jail? How many people wouldn't need to support shady characters to feed their wants? Make it legal with licensing to sell, set a ceiling price, and enjoy the show.

[raivo]

We have junkies holding 7-11s to get the $50 they need to buy their drugs.  Legal drug will be much cheaper reducing the need for junkies to result to this level of crime.

I agree with just about everything but this. Generally people who are that desperate are hooked on something like meth or crack.

[Major Lord]

We can usually tell the Pot Smoker, because he is the one standing around laughing while looking at the car full of people he just killed. I do like the idea of California defying the overreaching of the Federal Government, but your view of prisons filled with harmless marijuana smokers is just.......inaccurate. Prisons for the most part are filled with two major groups of people: The stupid and the evil, with a heavy intersection fitting both categories. I know the image of the psychotic characters in "Reefer Madness" and "Cocaine Fiends" does not show typical dope smoker behavior, but denying that Marijuana is a gateway drug is just ridiculous. Although most people who smoked Dope did not become Heroin addicts, I have never met a heroin addict who did not make his transition to illegal drugs through the gateway of Marijuana. As far as the health aspects go, smoking anything is terrible for your pulmonary system, and marijuana specifically causes chromosome damage and wreaks havoc with hormone levels. (Note: we can also tell you dope smoker guys because lots of you wear bras...) Psychological effects in teenagers include permanent impulse control problems caused by arrested emotional development. Harmless? Not. This is America, so if people want to fry their brain with anything they want, go to it. Just don't ask me to pay for it, or ask to drive a car with an altered brain.

Major Lord

[RiverAux]

Obviously the title of this thread is entirely misleading, which isn't too surprising.

[AirAux]

Gentlemen, and I use that term lightly considering some of the above posts,  This board is open to the public and our cadets.  In the name of publicized DDR program and our stand on this issue, I would really appreciate it if you would stop promoting and encouraging and justifying the use of illegal drugs..  If I have to, I will call our National Commander and get you all in trouble.. Seriously, let's not have this on this board, no matter what your personal feelings are..Thank you..

[Fuzzy]

Do you have her number?   

[Short Field]

We can usually tell the Pot Smoker, because he is the one standing around laughing while looking at the car full of people he just killed.

TV news coverage of accidents around here tend to show a lot more drunk drivers and drivers under the influence of prescription drugs as the cause of the crash than suspected pot smokers.  I have never seen a news photo of a laughing pot smoker at a crash site.

Pot is a gateway drug because you buy it from the same people who are pushing the hard drugs. 

[Jerry Jacobs]

Do you have her number?   

Not to hard to get

[raivo]

Semantical question:

Isn't this unrelated to CN, since marijuana isn't a narcotic?

[Short Field]

If I have to, I will call our National Commander and get you all in trouble..

Wow, we had all better shape up!!!