Do a lot of people in CO smoke pot? Should MJ be legal? (casinos, health care)

[Josseppie]

Chalk Pueblo up as another county that will not fight the new law. I had a feeling this would happen but its nice to see it official.

This is from the Pueblo Chieftain:

"Just as our office has abided by the medical marijuana provisions of our state constitution, we will abide by the provisions of this amendment to our state constitution once it is legally on the books," said Pueblo County District Attorney Bill Thiebaut.

The link: Thiebaut will comply with new pot law - Pueblo Chieftain: Local News

[CosmicWizard]

Sonic_Spork wrote: I think the new slogan has become "Rocky Mountain HIGH"


When I told my envious friend in California that the people of Colorado voted to legalize MJ, he wrote back that it gives Rocky Mountain High a whole new meaning.

[Mike from back east]

Here a notable article in the WaPo proposing to end the War on Drugs.

Excerpt: Since its launch in 1971, when President Nixon successfully branded drug addicts as criminals, the war on drugs has resulted in 45 million arrests and destroyed countless families. The result of this trillion dollar crusade? Americans aren’t drug free — we’re just the world’s most incarcerated population. We make China look like Woodstock. We’re also, according to the old definition, insane; despite overwhelming evidence of its failure, our elected officials steadfastly refuse to change course.

[Sonic_Spork]

Ya know, I sound like a total tinfoil-head here, all conspiracy theories and whanot, but I believe that Obama was permitted to say anything he wanted, but then when he was elected, those wielding the power, money, and influence made it very clear to him that ending MJ prohibition wasn't going to be allowed.

CosmicWizard knows this, and he's right. There are some very big and wealthy interests who have reason to want the war on drugs to continue.

- The timber and paper industry
- The plastics and chemical industry, and their suppliers
- Illegal black market interests, cartels and warlords
- Big Pharma
- For-profit prisons

^ These are the big players who want no part of legal MJ and/or industrial hemp. I doubt that Obama has what it takes to stand up to them.

Oh, and that's not even counting the foreign interests who may wish to see the US economy remain weak, such as perhaps China for instance. The last thing some of our global neighbors want is for us to suddenly have a great new resource that we can grow and manufacture stuff from, when they'd much rather we had to import it at great cost from them...

There is SO much more to this than considerations of the merit or harm of MJ the smokeable psychoactive substance.

[Mike from back east]

Shoot, you left out the booze industry, for sure the biggest loser of all.

[CosmicWizard]

United Nations threatens Colorado, Washington state over marijuana decriminalization laws

[allprolab]

As if they don't have MUCH bigger concerns to deal with.

[Sonic_Spork]

Originally Posted by allprolab

As if they don't have MUCH bigger concerns to deal with.

Actually it's high on their priority list for a number of reasons, listed in my prior posts and in the comments on this article. Big business, big government, big media, big UN. All appendages on the same big ugly beast. When the wealth and power and control is threatened, the dogs start barking.

The real question is, are the people and the local leaders going to bark back, or roll over?

[CosmicWizard]

Sonic_Spork wrote: Big business, big government, big media, big UN.

None of these entities are sustainable. They will all follow the dinosaurs into oblivion. It's already starting to unravel.

[Sonic_Spork]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

Sonic_Spork wrote: Big business, big government, big media, big UN.

None of these entities are sustainable. They will all follow the dinosaurs into oblivion. It's already starting to unravel.

Hope you're right brother.

I don't mind more globalization in some respects. I like how you can go to some of these microlending sites now, and loan a modest amount of American dollars to a would-be entrepreneur in a third world country and because of the absurdity of the exchange rate, they are able to totally get a start in life. (Kiva is the website I'm most familiar with.) The default rate on those loans is surprisingly low, although as an investment it's not a big return, the karma...wow. I like people being good to other people, on scales both local and global. I do not think we should isolate ourselves in a tight bubble and be blind to everyone outside our borders.

What I object to is the corruption at the highest levels, and the increases in opportunity for said corruption to flourish the more powerful those interests become.