First for marijuana and same sex marriage

FA_Q2

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Dec 12, 2009
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57546156/marijuana-same-sex-marriage-initiatives-are-winners/


Well, with all the buzz over the presidential results something happened that has been overlooked: for the FIRST time, marijuana and same sex marriages have been voted as legal by the people. It is interesting that same sex marriages have finally become accepted enough to be voted on as legal after more than 30 failures across the nation in such liberal bastions as CA to boot. This is the wind of change.

As far as Marijuana, I am wondering what the feds response here is going to be. I would love nothing more than to see the federal government simply drop the entire drug war altogether but I don't think that Obama is willing to do so BUT I can see him not challenging the state laws. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.
 
Uhmmm california did both the feds overturned weed and the mormons gay marriage.

No, CA did not. CA passed a LAW (not a vote) for same sex marriage and then the VOTE overturned it. This is the first time that a majority of the voters have actually passed same sex marriage.

Again, CA has NEVER legalized marijuana. They did pass a medical marijuana law and, as far as I know, the feds HAVE NOT overturned it. It is still alive and kicking. Now, RECREATIONAL marijuana use is legal in 2 states. That is, marijuana is fully legal in those states. Still against federal law though and I did cover that in the OP.
 
Yep, gay marriage had a clean sweep yesterday.

Three states had the legalization of marriage on their ballots. Washington, Maryland, and Maine.

All three states approved.


What's more, Minnesota had a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on their ballot, and it failed.


Quite a victory for the gay community. Congratulations to all of you. And congratulations to those four states which finally did the right thing.

.
 
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Washington state had a measure to legalize the sale of marijuana. It was approved.

It is going to be very interesting to see how the federal government reacts to this.

.
 
I suspect that as it pertains to marijuana, those two states that legalized it completely aren't going to be alone for long.


As their public coffers fill up with marijuana taxes, other state governments are going to take notice and decide to hell with what the FEDs say on the subject.


I'd expect medical marijuana states to start lining up for reforendum votes on this issue soon, too.


Speaking from the perspective of Maine where medical marijuana is already legal, and where, as a result, the MAFIA's dirtweed marijuana trade has virtunally COLLAPSED in the last year, as more and more folks either become MM patients or buy their hemp from friends who can get the much superior grade of MM over the mafia's Mexican dirtweed...the complete legalization of marijuana state by state seems very probably in the decade or so.
 
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Washington state had a measure to legalize the sale of marijuana. It was approved.

It is going to be very interesting to see how the federal government reacts to this.

.

It is. I think that Obama is going to leave it alone though as long as they don't try sales. As far as I can tell, the law actually should allow the sale (not by the corner dealer but through state approved regulated business) and regulation BUT I don't think that is going to happen. Not, at least, if WA really does want this to happen.

Freedom gains a small victory this election cycle. Very small.

Edit: to editec
Let's hope so. The right always complains about the border problem but then fails to realize that the legalization of marijuana would virtually eliminate this issue. No money for illegal drug trade means that illegal drug trade ceases to exist and that is the worst of the problems at the border.
 
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Washington state had a measure to legalize the sale of marijuana. It was approved.

It is going to be very interesting to see how the federal government reacts to this.

.

It is. I think that Obama is going to leave it alone though as long as they don't try sales. As far as I can tell, the law actually should allow the sale (not by the corner dealer but through state approved regulated business) and regulation BUT I don't think that is going to happen. Not, at least, if WA really does want this to happen.

Freedom gains a small victory this election cycle. Very small.

Edit: to editec
Let's hope so. The right always complains about the border problem but then fails to realize that the legalization of marijuana would virtually eliminate this issue. No money for illegal drug trade means that illegal drug trade ceases to exist and that is the worst of the problems at the border.

Of course even this happy development has blowback.

The poor working stiff I used to buy my hemp from has gone out of business because MM is so superior to the shit he had to sell that the black market could provide.

But for most of us and for our state, the Medical Marijuana laws positive outcomes exceed its negatives ones.

Not only do most of us save money because we smoke less to get the same benefits, but we can smoke knowing that the profit is staying local and we are NOT supporting with our purchases the worst criminals in the Western hemishpere, too.

Now this is something that should have happened 30 years ago, but better late than never.
 
Fair enough. Differences noted. I was thinking same outcomes...people have access.

The outcomes might be simular on the surfaces but they are far different. The 2 situations differ slightly though.

As far as the marrage laws go, this is the very first time that the voting population has reflected such a concept as being accepted by the majority of people. This is going to spread and spread fast. Passing such laws by judicial fiat might be the right thing to do BUT it is not effective until the general populous manages to overcome the fear and accept gay marriages. That is beginning to happen and it bodes very well for the movement as a whole. Up until this point, the entire movement has been extremely slow and managed to gain very little. With the public behind these measures, things are going to go faster and rights are truly going to start to be extended.

For the marijuana, again public acceptance of legalization means a lot but this extends even further than this. Medical marijuana is not the same as recreational and people DID not have access. Further, by denying marijuana to those that want to use it you are fueling a black market and that is directly related to crime. This is another step further in the much needed direction of full commercializing drugs and destroying the black market crime syndicates. As I said earlier, want to solve most of the border problems we have, this is one of the most important things we can do. Most of the violence and death spilling over the border is directly related to drug trafficking. Remove the profit from trafficking the stuff and you have eliminated the reason the crime is there in the first place.

Hell, if anything, this is at least a victory in simple freedom. A concept that the American people seem to have utterly forgotten as of late.
 
Feds vs. states battle over pot lining up...
:eusa_eh:
Historic Marijuana Vote Pits States Against US Government
November 16, 2012 WASHINGTON — Federal officials have been mostly mute on ballot initiatives legalizing marijuana in the election on November 6. Laws passed in Colorado and Washington will take time to implement. State legislatures must determine the rules for sales, distribution and taxation. Former federal drug officials say the ballot initiatives, which contradict federal law, will be short lived.
A historic moment for supporters of marijuana legalization in the U.S. The states of Colorado and Washington have legalized the possession and sale of marijuana for adult recreational use. The laws put both states on a collision course with federal drug laws. “The citizens of Colorado and Washington have decided to take the matter into their own hands. And they have seen that prohibition does not work,” said Morgan Fox, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. Critics of current bans on marijuana argue the laws don’t stop anyone from using the drug, and come at great cost to communities through court expenses and incarceration. According to the FBI, 750,000 people are arrested for possession each year, at a cost of more than $40 billion.

Jasmine Tyler, director of national affairs with the Drug Policy Alliance, compares the marijuana ban to laws that prohibited alcohol use in the U.S. in the 1920s. “It is the same awe we saw with the toppling of alcohol prohibition, as well. The people knew that the prohibition itself caused more harm and was just ineffective,” said Tyler. The day after the election, the Justice Department said it was reviewing the ballot initiatives but did not comment on how it will respond. But the statement did say the enforcement of federal drug laws remains unchanged.

Experts say enforcing the federal laws could be politically awkward for the Obama administration. More Colorado citizens voted for the initiative than for the president. And national polls show a majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana. “I think polling numbers are as high as they have ever been. And they have risen steadily over the last 10 years. And when you think about the polling numbers for medical marijuana and marijuana, you can’t avoid them anymore,” said Tyler. Former drug control officials have commented that the victory will be short-lived. They predict the Obama administration will either stop the initiatives up front or challenge the laws in court.

Historic Marijuana Vote Pits States Against US Government
 
I'm very proud to be a Washingtonian. 502 (the marijuana bill) has been nothing but a good thing for this state and it's citizens so far. It was amazing to see the chief of police go the news the night after the election and tell citizens it was now safe to light up. And my county's prosecutors have dropped all pending possession charges, over 175+ cases.
 

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