we all need to move to denver - they legalized marijuana

[tupacboy]

Denver voters OK marijuana measure

DENVER (AP) -- Residents of the Mile High City have voted to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults. Authorities, though, said state possession laws will be applied instead.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, 54 percent, or 56,001 voters, cast ballots for the ordinance, while 46 percent, or 48,632 voters, voted against it.

Under the measure, residents over 21 years old could possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

"We educated voters about the facts that marijuana is less harmful to the user and society than alcohol," said Mason Tvert, campaign organizer for SAFER, or Safer Alternatives For Enjoyable Recreation. "To prohibit adults from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana is bad public policy."

Bruce Mirken of the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project said he hoped the approval will launch a national trend toward legalizing a drug whose enforcement he said causes more problems than it cures.

Seattle, Oakland, California, and a few college towns already have laws making possession the lowest law enforcement priority.

The Denver proposal seemed to draw at least as much attention for supporters' campaign tactics as it did for the question of legalizing the drug.

Tvert argued that legalizing marijuana would reduce consumption of alcohol, which he said leads to higher rates of car accidents, domestic and street violence and crime.

The group criticized Mayor John Hickenlooper for opposing the proposal, noting his ownership of a popular brewpub. It also said recent violent crimes -- including the shootings of four people last weekend -- as a reason to legalize marijuana to steer people away from alcohol use.

Those tactics angered local officials and some voters. Opponents also said it made no sense to prevent prosecution by Denver authorities while marijuana charges are most often filed under state and federal law.

The measure would not affect the medical marijuana law voters approved in 2000. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana laws in Colorado and nine other states would not protect licensed users from federal prosecution.

Also Tuesday, voters in the ski resort town of Telluride rejected a proposal to make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by people 18 or older the town's lowest law enforcement priority. The measure was rejected on a vote of 308-332.




http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/02/denvermarijuana.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest


we will all be "a mile high"...

[MikeD]

Yay! I've got cataract issues as well...:cool:

[tupacboy]

next ga meeting = denver... hahahaha

[jstreet]

next ga meeting = denver... hahahaha
:stupid:

[DarkFury]

Is it 4:20 yet? :heh:


But then I got high, then I got high.... cause I'm hiiiiiiiigggggghhhh.... :bandit:

[Grimm]

An excelent symbolic victory for the legalization crowd. Maybe it will open people's eyes. Canibis is only illegal because of a huge propaganda campaign from those that profited financialy from hemp and canibis becoming unavailable.

[thresher]

So you're saying the drug dealers started a propaganda campaign? Because the richest guys I knew in high school: drug dealers, college: drug dealers. Funny, they didn't mention any campaign meetings they had to attend. You couldn't get those guys to attend graduation!

"from those that profited financialy from hemp and canibis becoming unavailable"

[InfiniteNothing]

Not as rich as cotton or tobacco "dealers".

Everybody: please behave in denver
Also, does the law really dissuade you from smoking bud. Seems like either you'd do it anyways or that you wouldn't do it anyways.

[nickel]

:bandit: rocky mountian high..... colorado

[cheapchinese]

I'll be rolling in Denver this Spring Break :P

[MikeD]

I'll be rolling in Denver this Spring Break :P

In more ways than one! :hihi:

[Grimm]

So you're saying the drug dealers started a propaganda campaign? Because the richest guys I knew in high school: drug dealers, college: drug dealers. Funny, they didn't mention any campaign meetings they had to attend. You couldn't get those guys to attend graduation!

"from those that profited financialy from hemp and canibis becoming unavailable"
No, that is not want I am saying. Advocates started an educational campaign. Advocates can't deal, they would get caught. You know the feds have to be watching them like hawks.

The people that profit from hemp not being available are:
Drug companies - many drugs would be unprofitable if they had to compete with natural hemp based products.
Lumber/Paper companies - Hemp can be used to manufacture many products much more cheaply and in an enviornmentaly friendly manner, Lumber/Paper companies have huge investments in large tracts of tree filled land that would sudenly become worthless if hemp was available again.
Chemical companies - It takes 5x as much chemicals to make paper out of hemp than it does wood. Many other products would also use less chemicals, greatly reducing the market.
Oil companies - Methanol is a good fuel, but it is relatively expensive to produce. Hemp makes that much less true. Hemp can produce 4x as much methanol per acre as corn and it can grow crops 2x a year.
Tobacco companies- Tobbaco can only be grown in certain climes and the land can only be used for tobacco after that as the plant poisons the ground. Normaly people can't grow it, it's too picky. Hemp on the otherhand grows anywhere and easily for anyone. This prevents cigarette manufacturers from gaining the oppertunity to control production and therefore profit.
Alcohol companies - Same as Tobacco. Why buy a $20 bottle of alcohol when you can just walk to the backyard and grab a bud?
Cotton industry - Right before the campaign to eliminate hemp started a device was invented called the "Hemp Gin". It was the equivilent of a cotton gin and opened up the posibility of hemp cloth that could be manufactured more cheaply than cotton, was stronger, softer and did not damage the land like cotton did. Needless to say the cotton industry was not pleased.

Simple fact is, the only reason anyone can make money selling canibis is because it is illegal. Dealers lose their source of income it it is legalized. If hemp became legal today, a lot of money would change hands. Some industries would be set back signifficantly. Others would make a lot of money. The ones making money would be mostly small businesses and the large ones that moved quickly to adapt to new market realities. The businesses listed above would be the biggest losers.

As for the "War on Drugs", it's BS. The gateway drugs are alcohol and tobacco, not canibis. Legalizing won't signifficantly increase use, the people who want to use it already are.

For the reccord, I have never tried it and even if it was legalized I probably never would. I have no intrest in it. I don't drink or smoke either. I just have no problem with other people trying it (or not trying it as the case may be). To each their own.

[tupacboy]

wow... lots of facts here...

[sizemic1]

I think the price of twinkies and ding dongs just tripled in Denver.

[BigJon]

Interesting facts Grimm. I'm in the same boat as you.

The only thing I worry about though is...once you legalize one thing...the dealers will find something else to sell. They won't simply go out of business...they wouldn't let that happen to themselves.

:shrug:

[cheapchinese]

whats next legalizing prostutution :P

[DarkFury]

whats next legalizing prostutution :P
Whoo hoo... a hooker in every pot... or is that a hooker smokin' pot? Who knows... :shrug:

[Grimm]

Interesting facts Grimm. I'm in the same boat as you.

The only thing I worry about though is...once you legalize one thing...the dealers will find something else to sell. They won't simply go out of business...they wouldn't let that happen to themselves.

:shrug:
Don't worry. They already are selling it. :(

Legalization allows a more significant line to be drawn between normal drugs and harmful ones.
Normal drugs are somewhat harmful, (for example: tobacco, alcohol, canibis, tylenol, motrin) when abused. But it takes quite a while for the damage to become apparent if it ever does. Not every smoker gets cancer and not every alcoholic dies an early horrible death.
Harmful drugs like crack cocaine and heroin are obviously harmful. But the message people get is currently diluted by the inclusion of non-harmful drugs. Kids see canibis being used and hear about it. They find out it's not any more signifficant than alcohol or tobacco, in fact it is less so. Then, when exposed to harmful drugs they assume that their dangers are exagerated.
When kids are exposed to drugs they see heroin, crack, X and canibis in the same light. They shouldn't. They should see canibis as the same as tobacco and alcohol. They should see crack and heroin as the same as gouging out their eyes with a rusty scrap of metal.


/edit speeling (thanks zen)

[Grimm]

whats next legalizing prostutution :P
Now how are pimps gonna make any money by enslaving women if prostitution is legal???

[zenbooty]

Not to be picky, Grimm, but you shoot heroin. You cheer for the hero and heroine.

[zenbooty]

Now how are pimps gonna make any money by enslaving women if prostitution is legal???:stupid: :stupid: :stupid:

Now that's the REAL crime going on. I have no problem with the police cracking on the heads of pimps. Unfortunately, the pimps are generally organized and cunning enough to pay the police in their districts off, leaving the poor women trapped with absolutely no recourse.

[Grimm]

Not to be picky, Grimm, but you shoot heroin. You cheer for the hero and heroine.
No, you cheer for the heroine... I cheer for the villain. ;)

It's fixed though.

[Burzhui]

Efin A! they should legalize it! Atomic weapons are legal and yet weed isn't!

Here is a quote by robin williams:

"Jamaica doesn't have the atomic bomb. They might have an atomic bong. But with the atomic bomb there's devastation and radiation, with the atomic bong there's celebraaaaaation!"

[nickel]

No, you cheer for the heroine... I cheer for the villain. ;)

i like that you can admit that Grimm :D

[bachviet]

Federal laws still trumpt state laws so pple could still get arrested by the DEA like those in CA.

[zenbooty]

Federal laws still trumpt state laws so pple could still get arrested by the DEA like those in CA.
Enough states put their weight behind this and the feds will eventually have to change their tune, though.

[A Day]

Keep in mind though, that buying it and selling it is still illegal, so is smoking it, from what I read it seems as if just having less than an ounce in your possesion is legal, which is still huge. Cause most people get caught like that, not while buying or smoking....And out of all the cities in the country...Denver?...you woulda thought some cali city would have done it first...like Berkeley or somewhere...

[Grimm]

Keep in mind though, that buying it and selling it is still illegal, so is smoking it, from what I read it seems as if just having less than an ounce in your possesion is legal, which is still huge. Cause most people get caught like that, not while buying or smoking....And out of all the cities in the country...Denver?...you woulda thought some cali city would have done it first...like Berkeley or somewhere...
Oh, it's still illegal. It's just that the city does not consider it illegal now. A city cop won't bust you unless you annoy him. He can still make the bust based on the federal law.

[cheapchinese]

just don't be an ass, and roll a joint up in front of him, then you'll be fine :P

[smeakim]

Why Denver? I ask why not Bolder? They have more people attend the yearly 420 rally than attend the CU Buffaloes spring football game. It really is fitting its Denver, but Berkley would be a close second. :laugh:

[A Day]

It would actually be a real positive move for cities with high crime rates like Los Angeles because the police could now actually fully focus on more important **** rather than wasting time looking to pin possession charges on stoners they suspect of holding, so I hope L.A. does that.

[thresher]

Grimm - interesting soliloquy. I don't buy most of it. BUT. I do buy the part about the alcohol and tobacco guys being keenly intrested in smoke not being available on a one-to-one basis. As for the cotton industry? They have every other country in the world where hemp isn't illegal to have worried. This is a global business. Has hemp toppled cotton in any other country where hemp is legal to grow and produce a viable fabric? nah. But I would buy the idea that the Marlboro man and the Booze Brothers are very keen on not losing their market shares.

[cheapie]

grimm....hemp is already legal isn't it? just not the type w/thc content. i could be wrong tho'.

and this sentence
Chemical companies - It takes 5x as much chemicals to make paper out of hemp than it does wood. Many other products would also use less chemicals, greatly reducing the market.


didn't make sense. did you have hemp and wood reversed?

[zippyjuan]

This is a symbolic statute with no real impact. It says that it is no longer a violation of city law to be in possession of less than one ounce. It is still a violation of state and federal law and if your ounce is on fire, that is still illegal too.

[tupacboy]

This is a symbolic statute with no real impact. It says that it is no longer a violation of city law to be in possession of less than one ounce. It is still a violation of state and federal law and if your ounce is on fire, that is still illegal too.


so special brownies = no problem?