Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: For Emily: A Question for a Washington State Resident
Exactly. We recently privatized liquor sales in WA and Costco paid millions of dollars for an ad campaign that turned out to be total BS. We've lost our range of what we can purchase, where we can purchase it, the prices went up, and long-term the State will lose a bunch of revenue. Costco will benefit. I'm all for regulating and taxing marijuana at this point. Might as well, until Costco makes a bid to take that business over as well. From: John To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2012 3:54 PM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: For Emily: A Question for a Washington State Resident --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn wrote: > > Throwing people in jail for such that you mention below *is* exactly the > issue for me. Â The amount of money it costs us taxpayers and the damage done > to the individual from being in jail far outweigh the "crime." Â Emily, Excellent point. The DA of Seattle made the same point. He also said that the drug dealers get away with the profits from MJ sales, while the costs of prisons are paid for by the taxpayers. > > Pot is far less dangerous than alcohol in terms of its potential to kill > oneself and others, and Ann, there are definite benefits for those that > suffer severe pain, nausea from chemotherapy for example, glaucoma (from what > I've heard), etc. Â Better than getting addicted to pain pills or alcohol. > Â One must think about the relative harm. Â I am a proponent of the research > on how to get the benefits from the plant without the high - most adults that > need it for pain have no interest in the negative side effects. Â > The conflict between federal law and voters/State's rights will be > interesting to see play out here in WA. Â It's a tough one and I don't think > anyone knows how to proceed. Â We tax cigarettes and alcohol and have > "normalized" them with education in the schools, we have sex education, why > not add marijuana to the list? Â Making it a taboo and a crime and a moral > issue by default just destroys lives. Â Teens experiment - look at all the > deaths from car wrecks due to alcohol. Â Marijuana isn't going away and > responsible education on its effects and regulation would be a far better > solution than filling our jails. > > ________ > From: Bhairitu > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2012 9:28 AM > Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: For Emily: A Question for a Washington > State Resident > > > Â > On 12/08/2012 06:37 AM, awoelflebater wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "John" wrote: > >> Emily, > >> > >> Thanks for the info. It sounds like the procedures are still being > >> drafted and implemented later. Once all the rules are set, it might give > >> me an incentive to visit Seattle again. > >> > >> JR > > Pot is highly overrated. I figure anyone still smoking dope after the age > > of 16 needs to find a better hobby or a more demanding job or get a pet or > > something. (OK, I'm ready for the piling on.) > > > > I think the issue is that throwing people in jail or prison for > possessing or using a rather innocuous herb is a bit insane. We know > from history it was made illegal because as something they could arrest > people who might disagree with their politics and keep them out of the > way. If coffee were discovered today it would be made a controlled > substance. Same with sugar. Our drug laws don't address the problem. > In 1971 I played a concert for inmates at the Washington State > Penitentiary. I talked with guys around my age who were inmates there > because they got caught with joint or a bag of pot. They were bright > individuals living a terrified life at that institution because so > wackjob politician though it a good idea to make marijuana illegal. > > I would further say there is evidence that the reason marijuana > legalization hasn't happened earlier is our corrupt political system > where drug dealers pay off politicians to keep their source of revenue > viable. Because once legalized the drug dealer's game goes away. >
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: For Emily: A Question for a Washington State Resident
Throwing people in jail for such that you mention below *is* exactly the issue for me. The amount of money it costs us taxpayers and the damage done to the individual from being in jail far outweigh the "crime." Pot is far less dangerous than alcohol in terms of its potential to kill oneself and others, and Ann, there are definite benefits for those that suffer severe pain, nausea from chemotherapy for example, glaucoma (from what I've heard), etc. Better than getting addicted to pain pills or alcohol. One must think about the relative harm. I am a proponent of the research on how to get the benefits from the plant without the high - most adults that need it for pain have no interest in the negative side effects. The conflict between federal law and voters/State's rights will be interesting to see play out here in WA. It's a tough one and I don't think anyone knows how to proceed. We tax cigarettes and alcohol and have "normalized" them with education in the schools, we have sex education, why not add marijuana to the list? Making it a taboo and a crime and a moral issue by default just destroys lives. Teens experiment - look at all the deaths from car wrecks due to alcohol. Marijuana isn't going away and responsible education on its effects and regulation would be a far better solution than filling our jails. From: Bhairitu To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2012 9:28 AM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: For Emily: A Question for a Washington State Resident On 12/08/2012 06:37 AM, awoelflebater wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "John" wrote: >> Emily, >> >> Thanks for the info. It sounds like the procedures are still being drafted >> and implemented later. Once all the rules are set, it might give me an >> incentive to visit Seattle again. >> >> JR > Pot is highly overrated. I figure anyone still smoking dope after the age of > 16 needs to find a better hobby or a more demanding job or get a pet or > something. (OK, I'm ready for the piling on.) > I think the issue is that throwing people in jail or prison for possessing or using a rather innocuous herb is a bit insane. We know from history it was made illegal because as something they could arrest people who might disagree with their politics and keep them out of the way. If coffee were discovered today it would be made a controlled substance. Same with sugar. Our drug laws don't address the problem. In 1971 I played a concert for inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary. I talked with guys around my age who were inmates there because they got caught with joint or a bag of pot. They were bright individuals living a terrified life at that institution because so wackjob politician though it a good idea to make marijuana illegal. I would further say there is evidence that the reason marijuana legalization hasn't happened earlier is our corrupt political system where drug dealers pay off politicians to keep their source of revenue viable. Because once legalized the drug dealer's game goes away.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: For Emily: A Question for a Washington State Resident
On 12/08/2012 06:37 AM, awoelflebater wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "John" wrote: >> Emily, >> >> Thanks for the info. It sounds like the procedures are still being drafted >> and implemented later. Once all the rules are set, it might give me an >> incentive to visit Seattle again. >> >> JR > Pot is highly overrated. I figure anyone still smoking dope after the age of > 16 needs to find a better hobby or a more demanding job or get a pet or > something. (OK, I'm ready for the piling on.) > I think the issue is that throwing people in jail or prison for possessing or using a rather innocuous herb is a bit insane. We know from history it was made illegal because as something they could arrest people who might disagree with their politics and keep them out of the way. If coffee were discovered today it would be made a controlled substance. Same with sugar. Our drug laws don't address the problem. In 1971 I played a concert for inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary. I talked with guys around my age who were inmates there because they got caught with joint or a bag of pot. They were bright individuals living a terrified life at that institution because so wackjob politician though it a good idea to make marijuana illegal. I would further say there is evidence that the reason marijuana legalization hasn't happened earlier is our corrupt political system where drug dealers pay off politicians to keep their source of revenue viable. Because once legalized the drug dealer's game goes away.
