Posts in "Legalize Marijuana"

Matt Ciepielowski's picture
By Matt Ciepielowski at 7:37PM
Wes Messamore's picture
By Wesley Messamore at 3:41PM

Legalizing Marijuana More Popular Than Obama, Health Reform, and the War on Terror

From the California Independent Voter Network:

You read that right. Legalizing marijuana for recreational use by adults has more widespread support than President Obama's administration. Pot legalization is also more popular than the recent health care bill that passed in Congress and has higher approval ratings than our handling of the Global War on Terror...

On page four of AP/CNBC's poll report, respondents were asked if they thought the U.S. should treat marijuana and alcohol similarly. 44% thought that marijuana shouldn't be treated any differently than alcohol, while another 12%  even wanted less strict rules for marijuana than for alcohol- making a whopping 56% in favor of pot legalization.

Read how marijuana legalization ranks against Obama's approval ratings, our handling of the War on Terror, and the number of Americans who support the new health care law here.

Matt Cockerill's picture
By Matt Cockerill at 11:01PM

State Marijuana Laws Moving Towards Legalization

From USA Today:

Attorney General Eric Holder last fall announced that raiding medical marijuana facilities would be the lowest priority for U.S. law enforcement agents — a major shift that is spurring many states to re-examine their policies. The American Medical Association recommended in November that Congress reclassify marijuana as a drug with possible medicinal benefit.

At least 14 states this year — some deeply conservative and Republican-leaning, such as Kansas — will consider legalizing pot for medical purposes or lessening the penalties for possessing small amounts for personal use. Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia already have liberalized their marijuana laws.

This is all to the good, of course. But it still bothers me that reasons like "pot is no worse than alcohol" are usually the only  justifications offered for  legalization. Why not argue that a government-issued uniform, shiny badge,  and nightstick don't absolve cops from the moral law the  rest of humanity is bound to? "Legalization" of victimless crimes is more properly understood as forbidding our "protectors" from  grabbing, shackling, and kidnapping  innocent people whose habits politicians disapprove of.

Peter Tariche's picture
By Peter Anthony Tariche at 7:46AM

Will California be the First State to Legalize Marijuana ?

From the Los Angeles Times:

Proponents of an initiative to make California the first state to legalize marijuana have collected about 693,800 signatures, virtually guaranteeing that the measure will appear on a crowded November ballot.

The initiative to legalize marijuana if passed would allow the regulation and taxation of marijuana by local cities and counties. According to the Timesa field poll from April of 2009 concluded that 56% of California voters want to legalize and tax marijuana. 

Matt Cockerill's picture
By Matt Cockerill at 9:55AM

With their emphasize on the inalienability of the "sanctity of innocent life" and "individual rights," conservatives have the right premises, but......

The problem is that they only logically apply these premises when it will lead to political conclusions they agree with. E.G.:

 pot

(Thanks to the "mystery YAL cartoonist," for sending me the drawing.)