Should Arizona legalize marijuana in 2016? (felons, high school, cost)

[GeneR]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

It mentions Federal and State prison. How many in Tent City and all of the jails? Still way too many.

See how myths persist! Journalists call this "don't let the facts stand in the way of a good story".

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by GeneR

Journalists call this "don't let the facts stand in the way of a good story".

True! Today's journalists do this early and often.

[RichCapeCod]

Originally Posted by Burning Madolf

Good stuff Rich. What about the whole Schedule 1 narc stuff? Things like tobacco and alcohol being given exemptions while weed is a sched 1 but its synthetic version Marinol is Shedule 3.

As I mention in my book, the first logical thing to do would be to objectively evaluate the consequences of taking those various drugs have on the human body and promulgate rational laws accordingly.

Rich

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by GeneR

See how myths persist! Journalists call this "don't let the facts stand in the way of a good story".

No one is talking about the myths. If 1 person serves time for pot it is too many. If one person goes to court for pot it costs money. If 1 cop has to arrest a person for pot it takes time away from catching real criminals. How much time and money wasted by the border patrol? How many people are scarred for life because of a conviction? Pot laws cost tax payers millions a year. The things the cops get from the feds for pot are things they wouldn't get if they had to pay for them.

We get it. You're against it. You also don't live here yet.

[gbpakrfan]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

If one person goes to court for pot it costs money. If 1 cop has to arrest a person for pot it takes time away from catching real criminals.

If one person goes to court for speeding, it costs money. A person who possesses pot (at least under current laws) is a criminal. What's your point?

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

No one is talking about the myths. If 1 person serves time for pot it is too many. If one person goes to court for pot it costs money. If 1 cop has to arrest a person for pot it takes time away from catching real criminals. How much time and money wasted by the border patrol? How many people are scarred for life because of a conviction? Pot laws cost tax payers millions a year. The things the cops get from the feds for pot are things they wouldn't get if they had to pay for them.

We get it. You're against it. You also don't live here yet.

You're right. It's not so much about jail time (about 1% of prison population).

It's about the huge waste (of time, money, etc) arresting 5,6,700k people a year for possession.

[GeneR]

Originally Posted by seasick

US Dept of Transportation studies/National Highway Safety Administration's own research indicates "small or no" impairment.

Uh, not really. Here's the forward to the study:

"... is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis* tration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Department of Transportation or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."

There is research showing quite the opposite:

"Accident-involved drivers with THC in their blood, particularly higher levels, are three to seven times more likely to be responsible for the accident than drivers who had not used drugs or alcohol. The risk associated with marijuana in combination with alcohol appears to be greater than that for either drug by itself."~~Hartman RL, Huestis MA. Cannabis effects on driving skills. Clin Chem. 2013;59:478-492.



I do agree with seasick's final point: no one should drive with any impairment. Amen!

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by GeneR

It is a commonly used myth that jails are filled with people busted for possession of pot. Even the bible of sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, Rolling Stone Magazine, points this out.

Myth: Prisons are full of people in for marijuana possession - Top 10 Marijuana Myths and Facts | Rolling Stone

Possession of any amount of Marijuana is a felony in Arizona, and those convicted of that (or any other felony) lose the right to vote, own a gun, or hold a professional license. That's kind of a big deal, and it's *also* the reason those Border Patrol "freedom checkpoints" are on the Arizona side of the Az/Ca border. The border patrol was pissed that the California Highway Patrol wouldn't even pick up those people caught with pot, while Yuma has made quite a business of McPot busts.

Without the legitimacy-crutch of pot-busts, the border patrol's unconstitutional checkpoints are a step closer to going away, and anyone who respects the intent of our constitution should be rooting for that.

[coolbeans2000]

Originally Posted by GeneR

It is a commonly used myth that jails are filled with people busted for possession of pot. Even the bible of sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, Rolling Stone Magazine, points this out.

Myth: Prisons are full of people in for marijuana possession - Top 10 Marijuana Myths and Facts | Rolling Stone

Although it would be a obvious step in the right direction, it's not logical to legalize mere possession and keep distribution illegal. Can you think of a another product that should be legal to own but simultaneously be illegal to sell?

And what is the so called myth you speak of?

Are you saying our prisons aren't over crowded with people for drug related charges? Over 50 percent of inmates are incarcerated for drug related charges (the majority being for marijuana). The main reason we have the largest prison population in the world is largely due to our drug laws.

Yes, less than 1% of prison inmates are in jail for simple possession. But city and county jails have plenty of them. Almost 26% of the population.

Remember 88% of drug arrests are for possession alone. That wastes an enormous amount of time and resources to process those people through the courts system. There is also the likely loss of a productive member of society if the person loses their job due to the arrest (70% of illicit drug users are employed and 80% are not addicts). Then there is the police officer who we are paying to patrol the streets and keep us safe but is now needlessly tied up spending hours doing paperwork and processing a person for smoking or selling pot.

Finally there is the big question: Did putting that person in jail for whatever time frame (or even just arresting them) stop that person from using drugs again? Usually never, so what did it accomplish except squander our tax dollars?


Just How Much The War On Drugs Impacts Our Overcrowded Prisons, In One Chart

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/sdatji02.pdf

http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/...ugTx_AC-PS.pdf

https://ncadd.org/learn-about-drugs/workplace

[swbrotha100]

I think it should pass in Arizona. I was shocked when medical marijuana passed a few years ago. Besides Arizona, I believe California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri and Nevada will have a chance to vote on it in 2016. I think if it passes in California, it will only be a matter of time before the rest of the country starts trending that way.