Hailey decriminalizes Pot (Stanley: layoffs, buyers, to live)

[wildflower82]

Originally Posted by geos

Rick Steves??? Wow, Mr. Plaid Shirt & button collar. Never would have guessed that one.

May I ask ,who this is? I tried looking it up got some guy in Europe and luggage.

[stacileigh]

Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds

May I ask ,who this is? I tried looking it up got some guy in Europe and luggage.

Rick Steves does a travel show on PBS... sounds like you found him LOL

[wildflower82]

Originally Posted by stacileigh

Rick Steves does a travel show on PBS... sounds like you found him LOL

Thanks........ I don't watch PBS and he was in a blue shirt. Hmmm, never would have guessed.

[stacileigh]

Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds

Thanks........ I don't watch PBS and he was in a blue shirt. Hmmm, never would have guessed.

No doubt... and he has the best job ever!

[Anak]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

Anak,

I would like to suggest that you're focusing on legality for the sake of social productivity

I am.

Those are my priorities.

You are entitled to yours.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by Anak

I am.

Those are my priorities.

You are entitled to yours.

Fair enough. But I think that's a Pandora's Box of social engineering that we must not pry open...

[January1]

I am new to this forum, but noticed this thread and read it w/interest. It's been several years now, and several years since marijuana has been legalized in some areas so thought I would revisit this.

I live in a suburb of Sacramento, CA. Since the legalization of marijuana, many things have changed. It is no longer a "social issue" and has become a law enforcement issue.

Crime is rising...not a week goes by without an armed robbery of someone's home where mariujuana is being grown, or of a marijuana store where it is sold. Now the murders are starting. A few murders at the stores, a few murders in homes. Legalizing it has NOT kept the crime down as some of these forum posts said would happen. Just the opposite. Sargeant L was telling the truth in his post re: what huge problems we would have, both in neighborhoods, at the local pot store, and for law enforcement.

In Sacramento, there are literally hundreds of pot stores...ANYONE can get a marijuana card. One does not need a legitimate medical reason. Street value of MJ has not gone down...and since the pot stores sell "the good stuff" it's in demand.

Free Market Slave said "I knew of no one that was killed over any of it." That may be true, but that was then, this is now, and the times...they HAVE changed.

The motor vehicle accidents that are involve a pot-smoking driver are increasing...so are bicycle accidents!

Society could not have known the repercussions of de-criminalizing marijuana until AFTER it was done...it has been an interesting social experiment. Also a foolish road to have gone down. I only hope that CA and all other states and cities that are thinking about doing this same thing will look at CA first before making that fool-hardy decision.

I would be interested to know what has happened in Hailey since they de-criminalized marijuana six years ago. Anyone?

Thanks...

[CMartel2]

Originally Posted by AlleyTD

dispite all the fighting here the fact remains that Pot can seriously help someone who has a terminal illness. It can ease their pain, make them feel comfortable hungry and sleepy. They can achieve this comfort without the intensity of morphine and other hard pharmacuticals. There is something wrong with punishing those who are sick, because you want to control a lowlife.

99% of those who use "medical marijuana" have no such terminal illness. It's a pathetic excuse to get high, and frankly, I'd like to rip the license of the physicians prescribing to them.

I say that as a physician who ends up admitting these potheads to the psych hospital when they get psychotic or start having marijuana-induced panic attacks (great cure for panic, that one).

The social cost of drug abuse is killing large segments of our society, and I see no benefit in legalizing this stuff. Making something as available as oxycodone and xanax already are is just not wise. What irritates me is that the above drugs are so inexpensive to those with prescriptions when live-saving and needed drugs are so costly. That's the pharmaceutical industry, though.

I can't say I'm a big fan of sin taxes, but I think it would be reasonable in controlling the above substances, which are completely out of control at the moment.

[banjomike]

Hi, SeageantL...

What you say about California is probably true, but Idaho has a culture that is very much different. I think Sage could give you a very good picture of the differences, if he cares to, but in my view, Idaho largely much more religious and conservative than Cali, and for sure is much more family-oriented. Most idahoans still come from long-established families who have lived here for decades to generations going back to statehood. While we are growing, we haven't gotten the tremendous influx of newcomers as Cali has, and we are still much less diverse, culturally and racially.

Another important difference between California and Idaho is the population. The entire population of Idaho is slightly less that 2 million people- a fraction of the population of any of the major Cali. cities. it is still quite easy here to be 20 miles away from any of our cities and see no one. Wilderness is just outside all our doors, figuratively.

Idaho is in the middle, between at least 2 states that have legalized pot- Oregon to the west and Montana to the north, and borders Washington, Wyoming, Utah, and British Columbia. Idaho has never had any problems with a pot shortage due to this, and I think state legalization would certainly be done differently than in California. Montana might be a better example of how legalizing pot would work here, and Montanans, so far, have kept tight civic reins on their pot palaces.

If pot was legalized here, I'm sure it would be taxed much more heavily and have more restrictions. It may be dispensed through State stores only, as liquor is here if it ever comes to pass. The booze prices are all fixed state-wide here, and I'm sure pot would be similar.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by jufrbo

So what happens now?
Does this start a ripple effect throughout the state, now it has been brought up in a city?
How long before the bigger cities (i.e. Boise, Nampa, CDA) follow suit?
Does this medical law in Hailey allow for cannabis clubs to open up like the ones in Ca and other states where medical bud is legal?
Currently you can't even buy glass pipes in the Boise area unless you drive to Ontario, Or. will you be able to pick up pieces in Hailey now, or could you always buy them there?

This is what i wonder, but I think that this opend up a door for discussion on the state level. I wouldn't be surprised if a ballot initiative showed up staew-wide with-in the next couple of years. I think it would pass in Idaho, might be tough to convince the people in Eastern Idaho.

I think that a city-by-city effort will probably be the way the issue finally goes to the State legislature.
But I doubt very seriously that a pot law here would be anything like the laws of Oregon or California. Idaho being what it is, I think it truly would be hard to convince a lot of the elected officials, not only those from E. Idaho, but from all parts of the state.

But it could happen. Idaho loves sin taxes, and the state could also charge taxes on importation from other states while limiting and licensing growers here. That could amount to a lot of easy revenues, and Idaho loves money even more than prohibition.

But here is a major consideration: Hemp. Hemp production is restricted in the US due to the marijuana laws, and legalizing pot would quickly allow hemp to be commercially grown here.

Hemp, which is purposely grown to have a very low cannabis content, (so low that a person couldn't get stoned smoking an entire 6 ft. plant).

Hemp is a perfect crop for growing on depleted spud ground, waste areas in fields, and for growing in bad soil and climates. Hemp is somewhat like alfalfa, in that it tends to improve the soil where it is grown. It needs no irrigation except in the most arid climates, and can be harvested with most of the same equipment that is already being used for spuds and grain. It needs none of the careful cultivation that pot requires, since it's cannabis content is not a consideration at all.

There are many, many commercial grades of hemp. Some varities are grown for fiber, while others are grown for use in making plastics, synthentic lubrication products, animal feeds, and a wide variety of other uses, all completely legitimate. Even it's waste products, all fibrous, are sold and used for animal bedding, soil cover, and other uses.

Idaho could easily become a major hemp producer, and it's a excellently profitable cash crop, much like tobacco is to the South or hops and malting barley are here, but better and much less fussy to grow than any of them.

40 acres of hemp could often make the difference of a profitable year for a farm than 40 acres of pototoes would, as the prices are much more fixed and the demand is world-wide. Hemp needs none of the careful handling that potatoes require, and could create a lot of new industries right here, from crop to completely finished goods. Hemp is also not degraded by moisture or suffers from early freezes. Hemp and its by-products are easily stored and transported in several different forms.

Idaho is also uniquely equipped and suitable for commercial production, as the various types of hemp lend themselves to the same kind of handling that we already have for our other crops. More importantly, there is no other state at present that has any more advantage than we do with this product.

We have the possibility of becoming a real world leader in the development of brand-new uses and applications for the by-products that come from hemp. Hemp is universally used world-wide for it's fiber, and the crop does not depend on any of the vagaries of most of the commodities market.

This means a LOT- very easily thousands- of potential industrial jobs, research jobs, and spanking new market development that could all be totally Idaho-based.

Sooner or later, pot will become nationally legal, I believe. but pot is limited in it's large commercial prospects for Idaho farmers, and has a lot of negatives built into it for our LDS and other farmers who might have objections to growing an intoxicant.

I think that hemp is the real money-maker for Idaho. Once the barriers come down nationally, there will certainly be a rush to get hemp production, and all its associated industries, started elsewhere.

We can get there first, and we can sure put a lot of folks to work in totally Idaho-based businesses, just as we have done with spuds. It is one of very few agricultural products that has negligible downsides and so much potential, through good or bad growing conditions. It is one of the 'greenest' crops of all, and one that has the potential of replacing a huge variety of stuff that is now petroleum-based. Billions of bucks are just waiting to be made from it.