19 Reasons Pot Should Be Legal

http://www.alternet.org/story/148595/19_reasons_pot_should_be_legal

Alternet | By Russ Belville
19 Reasons Pot Should Be Legal

Prop 19, the CA initiative legalizing marijuana, benefits not just those who enjoy the herb, but the entire state of California and ultimately, the nation and the world.

October 24, 2010 |

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2. To make pot more difficult for kids to sell in school. Regardless of what regulations we put on marijuana, like alcohol and tobacco, there will be some kids who manage to get a hold of it. But part of what makes marijuana so easy for teens to buy is that they can all find in their high school one of the one million teens nationally who are dealing it. Legal access to marijuana for adults removes the criminal risk markup that makes pot so profitable. After all, when was the last time you heard of a beer dealer in a high school hallway? Prop 19 eliminates the huge profit that entices youngsters to sell marijuana.

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6. To prioritize our law enforcement. It is estimated that including the arrest, jail, prison, court, and marijuana eradication costs, California spends $200 million per year on marijuana law enforcement. Then there is the time and space we can’t afford in our overworked court system and overcrowded prisons. Prop 19 alleviates much of those problems while maintaining the current laws against irresponsible use of marijuana, such as driving under the influence and giving marijuana to kids. Prop 19 focuses police priorities away from adults who enjoy marijuana responsibly and onto real crime.

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14. To end street-level dealing of marijuana. Marijuana’s profitability and scarcity create the open-air street-corner dealing that plagues many communities of color and utilizes juveniles to perform the transporting and selling of small amounts of pot. The profit enriches gangs and leads to violent confrontations over turf. Prop 19 will reduce the cost of marijuana and provide a regulated place to buy it that will undercut the street dealers.

15. To strike back at the murderous drug gangs in Mexico. Many Latino Californians worry for the safety of friends and family back in Mexico. Residents in northern border towns face violence and murder rates usually only found in war zones. Law abiding Mexicans don’t know if their law enforcement and government officials are corrupted by the wealthy gangs. Prop 19 is the first step in nationwide legalization that can be the only solution to Mexico’s drug war violence.

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"...2. To make pot more difficult for kids to sell in school."

How does prop 19 do that? If anything, it makes it more profitable for kids (supply/demand) because 19 specifically makes it illegal for anyone under 21 to possess it (under 215 its between the patient and the doctor). One of the many cases a new law is created under 19.

"...Legal access to marijuana for adults removes the criminal risk markup that makes pot so profitable."

19 makes private sales illegal. (another example of 19 creating a new law where there is none now) If legal access is controlled by license fee or if county/city local government decides cannabis is not allowed, the consumers "access to marijuana" is dependent on how far they have to go. And remember, if they get caught with 29 grams coming home from wherever they DID have to go, and they have no med card, BUSTED

"... Then there is the time and space we can’t afford in our overworked court system and overcrowded prisons..."

Prop 19 won't help with this because there is no one in jail now for under an ounce. Get caught in public post 19 with 29 grams and you've still got just as much legal trouble as you did before 19.

"...Prop 19 will reduce the cost of marijuana.."

Not so much, according to those that plan to benefit from a licensed monopoly:

"... One corporation that is poised to take the place of the mom-and-pop growers is AgraMed. While Oakland’s city council prepares to consider a proposal in July to license four commercial indoor marijuana farms in the city, AgraMed has plans to build a 100,000-sq.-ft. marijuana mega-farm near Oakland International Airport that, “according to projections, could generate 58 pounds of pot a day and $59 million a year in revenue.” The company’s president, Jeff Wilcox—a member of the steering committee of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Initiative—reportedly hopes to “bring a degree of corporate structure to the marijuana industry.”<24>

Indeed, by AgraMed’s own estimation, in order to make $59 million a year off 58 pounds per day, they would have to charge $175 per ounce wholesale (roughly $2,800 per pound)—and that’s if they produced 58 pounds 365 days a year. If they managed to produce that output only 5 days a week, that price would leap to $245 an ounce (about $3900 per pound). With shelf-prices at dispensaries often set at double the wholesale purchase price—not to mention the compulsory tax added onto every ounce (which Richard Lee stated in an interview was "recommended" to be $50)—the price of marijuana could potentially be higher than it is in our current market, in which the price of a pound has already fallen to $2,000, according to a recent National Public Radio report; a direct result of healthy competition, not its opposite.<29>

"...Prop 19 is the first step in nationwide legalization that can be the only solution to Mexico’s drug war violence..."

If you love Cannabis and freedom you had better farking hope this monstrosity that is prop 19 doesn't spread across this nation.

19 reasons to Vote Know
http://votetaxcannabis2010.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-pro-pot-activists-oppose-2010-tax.html


One of the most disturbing things with this 19 thing is the number of people that support it but have never read a single word of the proposition or any analysis. A pretty dumb strategy.

So if you think "legalization" means
1. under an ounce in public (every cop will now carry a scale)
2. A 5'x5' square plot of land to grow on *per residence* (every cop will now carry a tape measure)
3. Private sales made illegal while privately owned for profit factories are blessed with licenses and ordinances
4. the other things listed at the link

go ahead and vote 19. But do try to read it.
Preferably before you vote.

in a long time. First of all pot has been decriminalized in Denver. Under an ounce is a misdemeanor. I have yet to see a cop with a scale. So thats bullshit. Second if you think that banning private sales so you can go into a store and buy pot is a bad thing well you couldn't possibly be a stoner. Next up price. You think $200 an oz wholesale is bad? Again showing your amazing ignorance of the price of weed.

Look there is no point in my continuing, the level of ignorance displayed in your "link" shows a total lack of knowledge of the ins and outs of getting high. So stop pretending that you are trying to "help" "stoners" with your anti 19 crap.

You want to see big agra do to pot what they did to tobacco?

Like so many regulation regimes before it, this is a way for big producers to consolidate and lock out small competition.

I like reason 2 even thought i was one of the "one million teens nationally who are dealing it" I did my part back in the day, really weed tobacco and alcohol should be legal for people once they are 16 OR 18. 21 is a good start.....but that age should be the same age at which one can be drafted

The DEA has concluded that the average yield of cannabis bud per square foot is about one-half ounce – that’s over three quarters of a pound from a 5’x5’ garden.
then there is the 25 square foot bit, give me 5 plants guarenteed female in 5 seperate 2.5 by 2 plots and i can get about 3/4 of a pound off of each plant or just under 4 pounds a year. I could smoke half of that alone and that would have to be a good growing year with no pest/animal attacks

Easily forwardable (sic) and printable for distribution.

So we won't have to listen to late-night stoned rants about why pot should be legal and hemp will solve all the world's problems anymore.