General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMoney, Not Morals, Drives Marijuana Prohibition Movement
Whatever the health effects, the legalization of cannabis brings a formerly black market into the legal economy and gives rise to a new industry that spends money in Washington to further its interests.
Where is the Opposition?
As it turns out, there is big money in marijuana prohibition.
Alcohol and Beer Companies. For the alcoholic beverage industry, legalized marijuana would compete for money Americans devote to leisure pursuits. As a result, some alcohol industries are very slowly beginning to lobby against the legalization of bud. For example, back in 2010 one independent distributor of the California Beer and Beverage Distributors gave $10,000 to Public Safety First, a PAC working against Californias Prop 19 which, if passed, would have legalized various marijuana-related activities in the state. At the federal level, these companies assert their heft by pouring millions into lobbying and campaign donations. Since 2009 the Beer, Wine and Liquor industry has spent at least $19.5 million each year on lobbying efforts, most of which have been focused on alcohol taxes and regulations. And in the 2012 campaign cycle, the industry gave nearly $17.8 million to federal candidates, parties and committees.
Police Unions. Public Safety First itself, however, is largely funded by a different industry thats unhappy about the legalization of marijuana: law enforcement. The revenue from waging the war on drugs has become a significant source of financial support for local law enforcement. Federal and state funding of the drug war as well as the property police forces seize as a part of drug raids have become significant financial supplements to local forces budgets. While these unions exert more influence at the local level (what state or local candidate doesnt want the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police?), they have a presence in Washington as well. Every year since 2008 the National Fraternal Order of Police has spent at least $220,000 on lobbying efforts; the National Association of Police Organizations, $160,000; the International Union of Police Associations, $80,000; and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, $80,000.
Private Prison Corporations. Private prisons are in the business of filling their jails beds, and they make millions by incarcerating nonviolent drug users, such as those convicted for marijuana use and possession, along with violent felons and white-collar criminals. The private prison company GEO is particularly successful at this. In its 2012 annual report, GEO noted that it had filled 65,949 out of 73,000 beds in its 96 facilities; on average the company had a facility occupancy rate of 95.7% for 2012. One of the largest for-profit prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America, even stated in a regulatory filing that keeping the drug war alive is essential to its success as a business: [A]ny changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them. Since 2008, the Corrections Corporation of America has spent at least $970,000 a year on lobbying. GEO has been less consistent in its lobbying efforts and has spent anywhere between $240,000 to $660,000 a year on lobbying since 2008.
Prison Guard Unions. Similar to for-profit prison companies, prison guard unions also have a vested interest in keeping nonviolent drug offenders behind bars. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association for example gave $1 million to the successful 2008 campaign against Proposition 5, which would have reduce[d] the parole terms of nonviolent [drug] offenders while emphasizing drug treatment and rehabilitation programs. At the national level, many prison guards are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the most politically active labor unions. In the 2012 campaign cycle AFSCME gave more than $13 million to candidates, parties and committees at the federal level. In 2013, AFSCME spent almost $2.7 million on lobbying efforts.
Pharmaceutical Corporations. Retired police officer turned anti-drug war lobbyist Howard Wooldridge told the Republic Report in 2012 that one of his biggest opponents on Capitol Hill was the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), given that marijuana can tak[e] the place of everything from Advil to Vicodin and other expensive pills. PhRMA is certainly an organization to be reckoned with. In 2013 alone PhRMA spent nearly $18 million on lobbying, ranking it ninth in spending among all lobbying clients. Drug manufacturers gave big in the 2012 elections nearly $21.8 million to various federal candidates and committees as well as the parties.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/08/money-not-morals-drives-marijuana-prohibition-movement/
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)the organizations in the highly lucrative, subsidized-by-the government/insurance companies business of dealing with "addiction", a term that ha been stretched and Silly Puttied into complete meaninglessness.
A lot of states may just say fuck this, as Colorado and Washington have done. Then things will get intereting
billhicks76
(5,082 posts)Time to represent your continuance instead of your buddies pocketbooks.
djean111
(14,255 posts)I know that is not what you meant, but it looks to me that as soon as someone is elected, their main goal is getting reelected and helping other get reelected. Not much time spent on that boring old legislation and representing the folks (spell-check said fools, and I almost let that stand) what brought you to the dance.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)SomeGuyInEagan
(1,515 posts)Those whose prime/only goal is to make a buck will always find a way to frame the agenda to that end.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Especially in this Randian utopia in which the 99% try to survive.
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)sakabatou
(42,165 posts)christx30
(6,241 posts)"we don't want a bunch of stoned out people blah blah blah", not even considering that people that want to smoke are already doing it. And people that have no interest in it are not going to suddenly start just because it's legal.
Companies will still be able to drug test and fire people that use. But most won't. The CIA themselves have said that if they refused to hire everyone that smoked pot they wouldn't be able to run their business.
It should be no different from alcohol. There are just less deaths from pot.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)Most of the arguments are that they are OK with CBD oil for children, but not anything else for anyone else who may need different cannabanoids - because people might just want it to get high, and thats wrong. Just because its wrong.
They know this because Nixon told them.
stupidicus
(2,570 posts)and if the latter is to be prohibited on moral grounds, why was its mass production JC's first miracle?
tridim
(45,358 posts)People's lives are being destroyed every day because these idiots want more money.
samsingh
(17,599 posts)that is the real crime.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)the_sly_pig
(741 posts)For patrol officers marijuana is a nuisance. Alcohol provides much more opportunity for detention and arrest. It really is administrations that wish to keep pot illegal. Electing liberal chiefs/sheriff's will assist in getting the pot legalized.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)the_sly_pig
(741 posts)my point is that the individual marijuana user is not the violent/out of control type like the user of alcohol. I think rather than 'tuning up' an individual marijuana user, the person will more likely be given a ticket and the marijuana thrown to the wind.
Distributing marijuana is another animal all together. Most patrol officers would not find themselves in that situation. Just sayin...
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)They WANT there to be a fully funded "narcotics" division.
Even in a sleepy town containing fewer people than an apartment complex in Los Angeles.
the_sly_pig
(741 posts)A point here and there and I believe we both arrive at the same spot.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)the_sly_pig
(741 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)You don't know many cops, do ya.
tclambert
(11,087 posts)Mopar151
(9,991 posts)A really good baked potato, devil's food cake, Memphis style ribs, fresh picked corn on the cob, homemade ice cream (or homemade lemon sherbert!) - now we're talkin munchies!
blackspade
(10,056 posts)Mopar151
(9,991 posts)Now twist up a couple while I get the old hand crank freezer ready - hey, you there - slice up these lemons, the reamer's right there by the zester.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Mopar151
(9,991 posts)So Twinkies and Mountain Dew tale a lot of edge off the buzz, quick. Fresh veggies from the garden - yum!
raincity_calling
(154 posts)If anyone has ever read Mike Ruppert's book "Crossing the Rubicon", he has
a section devoted to black market drugs and Big Banks. The black market
deals in cash, and the Big Banks make huge sums of money helping to
launder that black market cash. According to Ruppert, this black market cash
has been instrumental in keeping the big banks afloat.
Garthem
(128 posts)And economics is the biggest determiner of human history.
rurallib
(62,432 posts)PeoViejo
(2,178 posts)All of those SWAT Team accoutrements, Guns, vehicles and every other kind of Macho Bling. How many Billions of that come from the DEA and Civil Forfeiture?
mopinko
(70,153 posts)they get to sit around the station while they "process" the offenders. somehow, in this day and age, they are able to pretend that takes hours. they just enjoy watching them sweat in the cell.
in chi, they are supposed to be writing tickets, but the commish has to crack on them to stop busting people anyway. the jail has no room. we changed the law for a REASON.
but no. cops. sheesh.
Warpy
(111,300 posts)After all, it's very unsatisfying to arrest somebody who looks at you and says, "under arrest? Wow, far out!" and gives you a shit eating grin.
Cops are increasingly on our side in trying to get this ordinary and useful weed legalized.
tblue37
(65,456 posts)Tsiyu
(18,186 posts)a person has no soul if they continue to pursue the War on a PLant.
People die from legal prescription pain killers and other meds all the time. Many of these chemical formulations have side effects that can be severely life threatening, yet we trust adults to choose whether or not they will take these substances and we allow the Pharmcos to make profane amounts of money off these products.
Then we have something as benign as cannabis oils which can't get anybody high, but have been shown repeatedly to improve the quality of life for babies with seizure disorders, and Beer cos, Pharmco and law enforcement will not allow these children to use these safe substances.
It's bizzarro world where cannabis is concerned because, as you said, GREED.
This is not the land of the free. This is the land of the Swallow all the dangerous pills and alcohol you want but don't use a safe plant or we will lock you away.
Everyone involved, from state legislators to Michele Lionheart to Obama to the lobbyists for the oligarchs should rot in hell as they have no shame and are only concerned with their bank accounts.
It's devastating to those who really need cannabis, and it's criminal.
But most in the US are too cowardly to stand up = even for little kids - for fear they will seem "soft on drugs."
AllyCat
(16,197 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)in some fashion.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)and the banks that launder their money.
valerief
(53,235 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,378 posts)that endeavor; has absolutely no redeeming quality, is a growing cancer against the American Peoples civil rights, and a major corrupting influence on all three branches of government.
Thanks for the thread, Garion.
Mopar151
(9,991 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,378 posts)between the lawmakers and a 21st century institution; version of legalized slavery.
merrily
(45,251 posts)torture, drone murders, etc. , and the next thread I come to is one about whether money or moral drives the War on Weed?
Given the behavior of the USG, I don't even get how anyone can ask that question with a straight face.
The Wizard
(12,545 posts)"Money doesn't talk it swears."
(Subterranean Homesick Blues)
Romulox
(25,960 posts)for-profit takeover of essential government services, etc.
And unwavering support for the Drug War is the Democratic Party's official stance. :fuck:
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)You always have to pick out the seeds first.
The Wizard
(12,545 posts)is a witch hunt. Laws rooted in superstition and myth are a detriment to a free society.
William Randolph Hearst led the efforts to criminalize hemp because he cornered the market on wood based newsprint. Hemp based newsprint was his biggest competitor. Hearst's greed and manipulation of the facts through his media empire is why we have the highest prison population on Earth.
The continued criminalization of marijuana is unsustainable and a drain on our resources.
Instead of law enforcement jailing marijuana offenders, their efforts would better serve the nation by prosecuting crooked bankers and war profiteers. Closing access to off shore tax havens and money laundries would also be a better use of law enforcement.
Whenever a crime is committed, follow the money.
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)I travel around the city and I see undercover jump-out cars east of the river, and I dont see them uptown or in Georgetown, said the Rev. Anthony J. Motley, a prominent Southeast pastor. We want the laws enforced, but make it equal.
Based on 10 years of census and FBI crime data, the study found that on average, an African American is nearly eight times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as a white person, even though blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-marijuana-study-blacks-far-more-likely-to-be-arrested-than-whites-aclu-says/2013/06/04/fa0d83d2-cd40-11e2-8f6b-67f40e176f03_story.html
America's Drug Companies Are Bankrolling The Crusade Against Legal Weed
http://www.businessinsider.com/police-unions-and-pharmaceutical-companies-fund-anti-marijuana-fight-2014-7#ixzz39i6hnnuD
Romulox
(25,960 posts)This is the coded language MANY, MANY use to defend the racist War on Drugs.
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Most white kids in suburbia that smoke pot in high school or w/e have zero problems with the law unless they are total idiots because the cops aren't there looking to bust them for it.
Guess where the police are at? Uh....yeah.
madokie
(51,076 posts)Much safer too
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)will spend millions and millions and millions of dollars to stop legal marijuana!
You my friend should be in the vanguard of people pushing for the legalization of pot!
Its a damn health issue not just gettin high!
Although just gettin high is legit too, as legit as just gettin drunk is anyway.
certainot
(9,090 posts)republican radio leads when it comes to prohibition propaganda (all drugs) and they can coordinate it locally to pollute the discourse when ballot initiatives come up for vote, and on elections of pro and anti legalization candidates.
con depends heavily on college sports for ad revenue and a lot of stations couldn't survive as a monopoly without it. more than 28% of limbaughs 600 radio stations rent college sports logos, maybe for peanuts compared to TV, to buy community cred and bring in ad dollars.
the guy below, along with 400 other con radio blowhards are also yelling weed is killing our children, etc.
https://sites.google.com/site/universitiesforrushlimbaugh/
<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt="universities for limbaugh 300kb photo limbaughpyramidhoax2-300kbcopy_zpsf7555ce7.png"/></a>