Buddy, I'm a major supporter of States Rights. But I think any issue requires dialogue from both the Feds and the States. This is clearly an issue with our outdated, over-funded and frankly zealous War on Drugs. In this day and age, 2012, there is no reason pot should not be treated the exact same as booze or tobacco.
Well said. You're getting there. Good to see you supporting States-Rights. I have to admit, i'm pretty surprised. Kudos.
Ha. There are plenty of Libs like me who believe in States Rights. The only time I really want the Feds over-stepping into the States' territory is on civil rights issues, and where states are clearly breaking the U.S. Constitution in their regulations. So for me, same-sex marriage and abortion laws that restrict women's access to safe abortions are Federal issues because they deal with discrimination. To me, it IS discrimination to tell a man he can do whatever he wants with his dick but women have to have a special code of laws for their vaginae.
But the case of drugs is one that any thinking person could see the war on them as being as wasteful as the "war on terror." Too many fucking "wars" and not enough resolution and compromise. That cannibal in Florida? There is no fucking chance in Hell the marijuana in his system is what caused him to snap. More news will come out of his mental stability issues, I'm sure of it.
Pot is pot. It's less harmful for your body than either of the legal vices in this country. It's not physically addicted, and science is showing it doesn't kill brain cells. I'm a REGULAR pot smoker and my mental faculties aren't deteriorating. In fact, I know a shit-ton of engineers who smoke pot too. It's just a mind-altering substance, like booze, but without all that wife-beating and DUI shit.
Oh, and to pretend that we don't have a LEGAL drug problem in this country is also hypocritical of us. We're pumping our kids full of speed and old people are taking pills that give them four hour boners...but yeah, pot is EVIL!!!!!
The Feds didn't overstep on state's rights. When marijuana was legalized 18 years ago, the state left a loophole. A city, any city, reserved the right to decide not to give a business license to a pot dispensary, or to withdraw a business license within that city, if it was later determined that that particular city suffered ill effects from the existence of a dispensary.
Last year an investigation determined that some of the dispensaries were actually owned and operated by the cartels or at least organized crime syndicates. They were dispensing not only pot, but other drugs and weapons. Last year, the city of Los Angeles closed over 400 dispensaries. Now the people of Los Angeles have had enough and demanded that the business licenses be withdrawn. That's what happened. No federal action. Not even state action.