Arnold Wants to Legalize MJ to get the Tax Money!

[Andy]

How long did it take you, to make-up THAT one, Skippy??

Is Annie "Bones" Coulter offering some kind o' correspondence-course in Makin' Up Sh*t????

​

Really... as if alcohol sales wouldn't go down with a falling economy? Don't be stupid.

In 1930, in the very middle of the great depression, the total national debt was $16.2 Billion dollars. By 1940, the total national debt was $43 Billion dollars. Alcohol was legalized in 1933. Oh yeah, I can see how much it helped. Not to mention the rise in divorce, auto accidents, and other social costs associated with alcohol.

 

[Bunz]

I doubt it. Legalizing alcohol after the end of prohibition sure didn't make a dent in our national debt.

I would argue that in some places it probably did. The simple fact that the government began taking in revenue from alcohol is a positive. Whereas before, similar to the situation with mj, there is basically no tax revenue from the contraband.
Meanwhile there is the costs associated with enforcement, prosecution and penal stages of dealing with a black market. Then there is the surrounding associated crime. While certainly the moronic and sometimes dangerous behavior of individuals probably wont be cured. There could be something said though about the problems with organized crime and career criminals probably making a major downturn as was experienced with alcohol prohibition.

Just my two thoughts. I will also mention that I am often surprised that more conservatives have a tough time with decriminalizing marijuana. The costs associated with it is a heavy burden, especially at the local and state levels, and it denies many otherwise potentially legit companies growth and earn a profit for another sector of the economy.

 

[PLC1]

Does anyone want to go back to hte days of speakeasies, and machine gun shootouts related to rumrunning?

The same thing is happening today as happened in the prohibition era, except that the drug that fuels gangs and violence, is no longer alcohol, but pot.

The lesson we should have learned in the '30s is that you don't put an end to drugs by making them illegal. All that does is to drive them underground.

 

[foggedinn]

As a former pothead, I find it hard to believe that pot will ever be legalized. I don't remember the last time locally anyone above a street level dealer was arrested.

I remember every time pot became hard to come by, there would be a big local pot bust. (usually a mexican on the interstate) Within days, pot would become so plentiful that prices would be half of what they were even just a few days before. I'm sure it was all just a big coincidence.

Within two days of the time I moved to the area, I found a supplier of pot. I bought a quarter ounce of pot a week off of him for ten years. He sold pounds of pot a week for years and was never busted. Boy was he ever lucky. Or something.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

The lesson we should have learned in the '30s is that you don't put an end to drugs by making them illegal. All that does is to drive them underground.

.....And, makes them profitable-as-Hell!!!!

What would hard-core Capitali$t$ expect???!!

​

 

[Hobo1]

Does anyone really think the law that makes marijuana illegal in California has EVER stopped a single person from trying and using pot if they want to?

I lived in California most of my life and if I wanted to, I could buy marijuana anywhere and any time. It's harder to buy a fresh Maine lobster than it is to buy pot in California.

I doubt taxing pot it will save California from its financial crisis. If anything, it would stop the cat and mouse game between police and dealers. Scaling back the narcotics police would probably save more money than a tax on marijuana.

 

[foggedinn]

I lived in California most of my life and if I wanted to, I could buy marijuana anywhere and any time. It's harder to buy a fresh Maine lobster than it is to buy pot in California.

It's harder to buy fresh Maine lobster in Maine than it is to buy pot in Maine. California is not unique in that respect.

Growing up in the 50's and 60's, neither I nor anyone I knew had any knowledge of drugs. Then we declared war on it. Within two years, drugs were omnipresent. WTF. I can't be the only one who has seen this.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Really... as if alcohol sales wouldn't go down with a falling economy? Don't be stupid.

In 1930, in the very middle of the great depression, the total national debt was $16.2 Billion dollars. By 1940, the total national debt was $43 Billion dollars.

Are these pre-inflation numbers, or post-inflation numbers????

You always manage to give limited/incomplete-info, when trying to make a point.

I'm sure it's (merely) an oversight, on your part.



​

 

[Hobo1]

Growing up in the 50's and 60's, neither I nor anyone I knew had any knowledge of drugs. Then we declared war on it. Within two years, drugs were omnipresent. WTF. I can't be the only one who has seen this.

Yes, I have seen it as well... we must be the same age. It was the hippy era of the late 60's and early 70's that prompted many social changes. Some good, some not so good. Like, you, when I was young, I never heard of narcotics. But that all changed in college.. with Woodstock, hard rock, woman's liberation, sexual liberation, two income families, and a lot of other changes that were instigated by the baby boom.

Looking back I wish we could put a lot of those genies back in their bottles - but of course that is impossible. But this un-winnable, and very expensive "war on drugs" is a total waste of time.

I say this as a former alcoholic who spent a month in a detox treatment center with people who had a wide variety of addictions - from drugs to gambling to bulimia. Once you are an addict, you cannot stop without assistance. So people are going to get their drug of choice somehow, at any price. As the price goes up, so does the motivation for people to either produce it locally or import it into the country.

The only thing we, as a society, can do is to legalize drugs so we have some control over the quality, price, and distribution of narcotics. Plus we need more effective education and perhaps make addiction treatment more available. We can't stop the use of drugs until we start to stop addiction.

If anyone reading this has a young person in their house, there are two great ways to quickly educate them about drugs and alcoholic. First, take them to the local hospital emergency room on a Saturday night. Here they can see the battered wives and the people seriously injured from driving or simply trying to function while intoxicated and strung out. It is shocking. The second thing you can do is to take them to an AA or Narcotics Autonomous meeting and have them listen to the stories of how drugs and alcohol ruined their lives. This is a very effective way for young people to learn about the potentially disastrous effects that drugs can have on people's lives.

 

[dahermit]

Does anyone really think the law that makes marijuana illegal in California has EVER stopped a single person from trying and using pot if they want to?

I lived in California most of my life and if I wanted to, I could buy marijuana anywhere and any time. It's harder to buy a fresh Maine lobster than it is to buy pot in California.

I doubt taxing pot it will save California from its financial crisis. If anything, it would stop the cat and mouse game between police and dealers. Scaling back the narcotics police would probably save more money than a tax on marijuana.

There would be no big tax income if it were legalized and taxed. It is too easy to grow, so people would just raise their own.
The monetary advantage of legalization would be in the cessation of the costly attempts to eradicate its use. Millions are spent each year in this country for enforcement.

 

[Hobo1]

There would be no big tax income if it were legalized and taxed. It is too easy to grow, so people would just raise their own.
The monetary advantage of legalization would be in the cessation of the costly attempts to eradicate its use. Millions are spent each year in this country for enforcement.

You can grow your own tobacco in greenhouses, or buy it in bulk and roll your own cigarettes. How many people do that?

 

[Mr. Shaman]

The only thing we, as a society, can do is to legalize drugs so we have some control over the quality, price, and distribution of narcotics. Plus we need more effective education and perhaps make addiction treatment more available. We can't stop the use of drugs until we start to stop addiction.

.....And, we'll never stop Addiction...to anything....until we're ready to deal-with why (some) people get hung-up on one-thing-or-another.

I was 18, in the Summer of '68 (when I first started "experimenting"), and....damned-near everyone I knew, who eventually got hung-up (on most things they "took"), had personal-problems looooooooooooooooooong before the drugs (including alcohol) came-along! They were (typically) from abusive and/or alcoholic homes, and felt much more safe/secure with friends "on the street".

Drug-abuse is not THE "problem".

Abuse/addiction are merely symptoms (of older, more-ingrained issues).

As-far-as drug-use, in-general.....why should EVERYONE have to pay, for the mistakes/issues of the few.....much like anything else....including gun-ownwership.​

 

[Mr. Shaman]

There would be no big tax income if it were legalized and taxed. It is too easy to grow, so people would just raise their own.

....Especially when the drug-warriors are convinced (or, so they say) about organized-crime involvement being such a big-issue.

I agree.....apply the same options/standards (to Pot) that there is to wine & beer; "produce" your own - no sales!​

 

[Mr. Shaman]

You can grow your own tobacco in greenhouses, or buy it in bulk and roll your own cigarettes. How many people do that?

QUITE a few-more, recently!!!

Back, around '80/'81 (in the Denver-Metro/Boulder area), a lot of people started growing-their-own (indoors), when the metal-halide lamps started showing-up in High Times....before the DEA started tracking those (same) sales.

It was toooooooooooooooooooooooooo easy, to grow-your-own.

Granted, those folks who live in cities would probably prefer over-the-counter sales....as-opposed-to those in more rural/suburban-areas (who'd more-appreciate the ability to grow-their-own)....the way things should be!
​