Thread: Here's what's driving lawmakers to legalize recreational pot in 17 more states

Here's what's driving lawmakers working to legalize recreational pot in 17 more states

Kurtis Lee
Februar 21, 2017

Since the mid 2000s, proponents of marijuana legalization have succeeded in advancing their cause almost twice as often with laws passed in state legislatures than with ballot initiatives approved by voters.

When Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November to legalize recreational marijuana, Josh Miller saw this as a sign that his time had finally arrived.

The Rhode Island state senator has a reputation among colleagues as a cannabis crusader — a battle that, so far, he’s lost. For the last three years, Miller introduced legislation to legalize recreational pot, and for the last three years, his efforts have died in committee hearing rooms.

But now, in a turnaround, some of Miller’s colleagues are signaling an interest in legalized weed — and raking in the tax dollars that come with it.

“We now have the wind at our backs,” said Miller, who introduced his latest pro-pot bill last week. “Seeing our next door neighbor legalize it should help us — a lot.”

In the fall, three other states joined Massachusetts in passing recreational pot ballot measures: California, Maine and Nevada. Four other states — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — have legalized marijuana through ballot initiatives as well.

But this year lawmakers in 17 states — Connecticut, Minnesota and Hawaii among them — have become emboldened enough to introduce more than two dozen measures to legalize recreational pot for adults and tax its sale. The experiences of Colorado and Washington state — the first two states to legalize the drug still considered illegal under federal law — drive the trend.

This month, Colorado officials released a report showing the state brought in $200 million in tax revenue last year. Washington raked in even more — about $256 million. Most of the money goes toward public school systems.

“Our focus is on revenue and bringing in cash to the state as legalization becomes more and more widespread,” said Mary Washington, a state delegate from Maryland who introduced a bill recently that would tax marijuana like alcohol. She estimates the state could net $165 million a year. (California estimates that legalized recreational marijuana will bring in about $1 billion a year in state tax revenue.)

Washington, whose district is in Baltimore, has not sponsored pot legislation in the past, but has been a supporter of legalization. She’s viewed the issue from a criminal justice perspective after witnessing young black men in her community continuously arrested for low-level possession.

Now, with individuals able to carry up to an ounce of marijuana legally in some states, along with the cash generated from sales, she felt that it’s time to join the broader legalization movement. The success of Maryland lawmakers in passing medicinal marijuana legislation in 2014 also makes her optimistic.

“These conversations need to be happening now, in state legislatures,” Washington said, adding that even with voter- approved ballot measures, lawmakers are often tasked with hashing out laws that regulate sales. “Why not get it done now? We’re elected to do a job. More and more states are moving in this direction.”

The legalization of medical marijuana took a similar path.

Six states passed ballot measures approving medicinal pot from the mid-1990s until 2000. It wasn’t until that year when Hawaii became the first to do so through the Legislature. Since 2004, nearly twice as many states have adopted medical laws through legislatures — 13 — compared to seven passed through ballot initiatives.

Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, a group dedicated to ending cannabis prohibition nationwide, said voters led the way on legalizing cannabis for medicinal use before lawmakers woke up.

“Voters saw through the government’s reefer madness and led the way on medical marijuana. Those laws inspired citizens in other states to demand action from their elected officials, who could now see that such laws were not just popular, but possible,” Tvert said. “The same thing is now happening with broader legalization.”

For wary lawmakers, polling is helpful as public approval of legal marijuana is increasing, similar to the country’s quick shift in favor of same-sex marriage over the years.

A Pew Research Center survey from October showed that 57% of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, compared to 37% who believe it should remain illegal. By contrast, a similar Pew poll in 2006 showed almost the opposite — 60% believed it should be illegal, compared with 32% who supported legalization.

And a poll released this month by Public Policy Polling showed that 59% of Rhode Islanders support legalization, compared to 35% in opposition. In Rhode Island, where a motorist can drive out of the state in 30 minutes or less, lawmakers fear losing millions of dollars to Massachusetts. So too do lawmakers in Connecticut and New York, where legalization measures are also being debated.

The polling of Rhode Islanders, mixed with the Massachusetts vote, became enough to change the opinion of Rhode Island state Sen. Ryan Pearson.

He staunchly opposed Miller’s past efforts, because he believed, among other things, that edible marijuana, such as cookies and candies, would be enticing to children.

“Then, I saw this shift around the country with other states. It’s crept into New England and we see it legal right next door,” he said. “Now it’s not a matter of if, but when, for legalization in this state. … We should take the initiative to get this done right.”

The issue of edibles is a widespread concern and Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado has warned lawmakers in other states, including California recently, to regulate them carefully.

Still, opposition to legalization can often be seen in the corridors of state capitols.

In Rhode Island, law enforcement agencies have expressed concerns about enforcing and prosecuting people driving under the influence. Moreover, Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Peter F. Kilmartin remains staunchly opposed, saying it’s “a complex policy decision that has long-lasting effects and unintended consequences, much of which are still unknown.”

“This is not a decision that should be made lightly,” he said in an email. “It must be made with a full understanding of the complications of regulating a new industry, its effect on our youths’ development, what impact it will have on our future workforce, the public health implications.”

For Miller, despite each of his past efforts faltering in committees, he’s seen momentum for his cause over the years.

“One member of legislative leadership would back it, then another. It was a slow trickle,” said Miller, who in recent years has met with representatives from Colorado to talk about the ups and downs of legalization.

Rhode Island state Rep. Scott Slater, Miller’s House sponsor for the legal pot measure, said pressure is on the state.

“We see legalization moving into the New England area and out here it’s a very regional economy,” he said. “Why give Massachusetts all the benefit?”

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...017-story.html

I hope all states do this and soon. The War on Drugs, in my opinion, has been a total and complete failure, making crimes out of long-standing human behavior, to no avail of course, because the human spirit is stronger than the ability of a nation's laws against its own citizens to prevent it. That doesn't mean the federal government can't regulate harmful drugs like coke, heroin and meth. But marijuana and hemp, the federal government has far more important matters in which to involve itself.

Marijuana is 70% of the illegal foreign controlled drug trade. When US States legalize their own, they shut these cartels down and put them out of business. Legal recreational pot in states willing to see this for what it is becomes the Number One War on Foreign-Drug Cartels and the horrible havoc they have caused to our country in a wide variety of ways including illegal immigration, human trafficking and criminal enterprises. If we can supply the marijuana market internally 100%, that shuts down 70% of the foreign drug cartel business.

If our Congress wasn't the Clueless in DC, it would have already done this, but they're still just all talk, no action.

So good luck STATES, help our country, help our citizens, end the War on Weed, and maybe, just maybe, that will wake up the Clueless in DC to do something reasonable like end the federal War on Drugs with a sensible legalization plan that includes regulation, taxation, education and rehabilitation for hard drugs like cocaine, meth and heroin. Make it owned and operated by licensed US citizens only, domestic trade only, no imports or exports, and we can shut these criminal foreign drug cartels down once and for all, 100%, and rid our country of all the problems they generate including illegal immigration.

Just some information:

DEA began with 1,470 Special Agents and a budget of around $75 million. In 1974, the DEA had 43 foreign offices in 31 countries. Today, the DEA has a total of 10,784 employees of which 5,233 are special agents and 5,551 are support staff. It has a budget of more than $2.3 billion. DEA has 227 domestic offices in 21 divisions throughout the U.S. and 87 foreign offices spread in 63 countries.

https://illegaldrugs.uslegal.com/dru...istration-dea/

Yet, the illegal foreign drug cartel business is as big as it ever was. It's not their fault, DEA has done it's best with the task it was assigned, but the facts and reality in my mind prove it's time to legalize and use some of the DEA resources to regulate the trade as a domestic only, US citizen-only owned and operated enterprise. Tax it under the FairTax and use a portion of the taxes only drug users pay to fund better education, regulation enforcement under a civil code, and rehab on demand without stigma for those who want or need it.

WHY OPPOSE LEGALIZATION

Marijuana, called weed, is a weed. The idea that a weed can be regulated, is speculative. Can we tax and regulate dandelions?

Poppot’s reasons to oppose marijuana legalization are:

1) Legalization is promoted as a new and fast way to make money. The National Cannabis Industry Association describes the marijuana business summit in Denver on June 24-25, 2014: “Where Commerce Meets Revolution.” The marijuana lobby has advanced its cause as a money-making activity during the Great Recession. As the mortgage industry sold itself with the goal of quick profits on the backs of others, the pot industry is pushing marijuana as the next great “get-rich” quick scheme for sales entrepreneurs.

2) Like the tobacco industry, the marijuana industry knows that in order to keep a a steady stream of buyers, young and under-aged users need to get “hooked” on their product.

3) Every time pro-pot propagandists put out their message, they send a message to the children that pot is harmless. The issue of pot legalization is not about adult users and their freedom, but the deceptive messages aimed at the young. This message can only get stronger after marijuana advertising becomes legal.

4) The talk of legalizing marijuana raises the risk that someone who cares for your child — a babysitter, a bus driver, day care worker or teacher — may be under the influence and endangering the child. A recent 20/20 segment showed the problem of lifeguards on pot.

Last summer a crane operator in Philadelphia killed 6 and injured 13 while demolishing a building. He tested positive for recent usage of marijuana. The pot lobby’s suggestion that marijuana comes without harm raises the risk that our children will be harmed by someone using marijuana, or will harm themselves with it.

5) Claims that legalizing marijuana would put criminals and cartels out of business are not based on fact. The Washington Postreported that Mexican cartels have switched to selling heroin in response to pot’s legalization in Colorado. We have heroin epidemics in many parts of the country. Most of the young people who have died from heroin began their drug use with marijuana. Isn’t legalization just making the downfall from drugs faster?

Tax and Regulate Won’t Work

6) Claims that legalization will bring in tax money don’t account for the cost of drug abuse, drug education and health care. Since mental health treatment is now mandated and the US has universal health care, the true cost of legalization could be 10 times greater than the tax income, which will require a bureaucracy to regulate and collect.

7) Claims that the justice system is unfair and that the War on Drugs hasn’t worked appeal to the strong anti-government, anti-regulatory sentiment. There are easier ways to keep unjust punishments from happening, like changing the sentencing guidelines. Smart Approaches to Marijuana proposes a different, health-based approach to justice. The percentage of people who go to jail for marijuana aloneis less than 1 % of those in state prisons. Most places do not incarcerate for marijuana possession unless other crimes are committed. The record has been intentionally exaggerated to sway public opinion.

Marijuana legalization has no precedent in the modern world. In the Netherlands, where marijuana has been tolerated in coffeehouse since the 1970s, recent restrictions were put in place. Uruguay, which has 3-1/2 million people, is the only country that has legalized marijuana, and only within the past year. The jury is still out on it. To compare to US to smaller, less powerful countries without diverse populations is faulty logic.

In Great Britain, more comparable the US, cannabis was transferred from a class B drug to class C in 2004, removing the threat of arrest for possession. In response to the problems seen and after noting a marked increase in mental health problems, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, it was reclassified back to Class B in 2009. Sweden and Denmark, for example, tightened their laws on marijuana and saw all forms of drug abuse go down.

9) Those who compare marijuana prohibition to alcohol prohibition don’t mention that AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) was founded in 1935, the year after the 13-year prohibition ended.
Marijuana lobbyists state that the 1937 Act which put nationwide marijuana prohibition in place, was a conspiracy. They don’t mention that California banned it in 1913, New York in 1914 and at least 30 states by 1930. Why ignore past experience?
Not Safer than Alcohol

10) Marijuana is not safer than alcohol. There are 450,000 hospital emergency room visits for marijuana in the US each year, higher than for alcohol, and this alone is a huge public health cost. While driving stoned is slightly less risky than driving drunk, stoned driving is not safe at all, and has been the cause of many deaths in Colorado since 2009, when medical marijuana became an industry.

11) Regulation is not working in Colorado and Washington and medical marijuana provides a cover for pot abuse in California and other states. Despite the popularity and high cost of marijuana in Colorado, the taxes have fallen short of expectation and don’t include the other societal costs, including children killed in fires and toddlers taken to hospital emergency room after ingesting marijuana edibles.

12) Comparisons to individuals who used marijuana with no apparent harm to their mental capacity are deceptive. Steve Jobs may have used pot, but few people begin with an IQ comparable to his. Astronomer Carl Sagan sung the praises of marijuana, but never used it before age 27, after his brain stopped developing. Winston Churchill was a brilliant statesman and an alcoholic, but his example can’t prove that alcohol abuse comes without harm.

13) We don’t know which young people will use marijuana and be negatively affected, or go to increasingly dangerous drugs. There is not a typical profile for youth who are susceptible to drug abuse. However, the downward spiral of starting with marijuana, then advancing to opiate pain killers, and then onto to heroin (sometimes with cocaine and ecstasy in the mix) is typical.

Drug Prevention

We can’t claim that everyone who tries marijuana will be harmed by it, or that one person’s reaction will be the same in another person. When we take unnecessary risks, we don’t necessarily know which risks will have bad and possibly fatal consequences.

The threat of jail should NOT be the reason for kids to stay off marijuana, though the vast majority of pot users who don’t commit other crimes never go to jail. The current discussion of legalization centers on individual liberty, if government can make money by taxing it and the criminal justice system. It does not mention how children will be affected by it, the most important factor.

In short, we aim at prevention through education. This education includes learning and understanding the motivation of the marijuana industry. It’s faulty logic to think to marijuana legalization will keep it away from youngsters and prevent drug abuse. We hope that your children will not begin to use marijuana, at least not during adolescent or the teen years when the risks are strongest. We can’t recommend one approach to avoid the risk, other than being a good role model and being present in their lives. We also suggest that, if the signs of a problem occur, don’t be passive and rationalize that all kids use drugs. Don’t wait for your child to hit rock bottom.

Actor Carroll O’Connor, who lost his son Hugh to drugs in 1995, famously said, “Get between your kid and drugs, any way you can, if you want to save the kid’s life.”

http://www.poppot.org/marijuana-legalization-is-wrong/

Legalizing recreational marijuana is bad for public health
By KURT ISAACSON
NOVEMBER 2, 2016

Much like Big Tobacco, the billion-dollar commercial marijuana industry cares more about making a profit than protecting public health.

Cannabis promoters have been making use of their hefty advertising budgets to convince voters in five states — Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada — that legalizing recreational marijuana will not only be economically beneficial to the state but will also help save lives. The latter is a frightening and misleading claim. Here’s why.

Proponents argue that legalizing recreational marijuana reduces opioid abuse and overdose death. A recent article in STAT pointed to a 2015 white paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggesting that access to medical marijuana was associated with a 16 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths and a 28 percent reduction in opioid abuse treatment admissions.

What the findings of that study don’t showcase are the increases in traffic fatalities, hospitalizations, and marijuana-related poisonings following the legalization of recreational marijuana. In Washington state, for example, the number of traffic deaths due to marijuana-impaired drivers doubled in the year after recreational marijuana was legalized. In Colorado, the number of fatal accidents involving marijuana rose by 62 percent since its recreational use was legalized in 2012.

Law enforcement officers can rely on Breathalyzer tests to identify drunk drivers. But there’s no equivalent for drugged drivers, making it difficult to deter or punish them.

READ MORE

As record number of states vote on marijuana, public health questions remain

In Colorado, marijuana-related hospitalizations have increased an average of 30 percent a year since legalization. Marijuana-related poisonings also rose sharply in both Colorado and Washington.

Just as secondhand tobacco smoke can harm individuals who don’t smoke, marijuana can also harm nonusers. If the new laws pass, they would authorize the promotion and sale of highly potent marijuana edibles, including candy, cookies, and soda. These account for nearly half of all marijuana sold in Colorado. Edible forms of marijuana pose a particular risk for kids and pets.

Advertisements for Pot Tarts, Hashees cups, and cannabis gummy bears will become as common as the soft drink promotions targeted at the youth market. No limits have been placed on the potency of edible products in Colorado, nor will such limits be written into the proposed laws in most of the states looking to legalize marijuana. Edible products have been known to have levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, reaching as high as 95 percent, compared to 20 percent to 30 percent generally found in marijuana plants.

Writing in JAMA Pediatrics, doctors at Children’s Hospital in Denver reported that after recreational marijuana was legalized, its emergency department began treating one to two kids a month for accidental marijuana ingestion, mostly from edibles. Before legalization, the hospital hadn’t treated any kids for this.

Proponents of legalizing recreational marijuana use argue that it will save lives by giving people an alternative to opioids for pain relief. What they don’t consider is the detrimental impact of recreational marijuana on youths. When Colorado legalized marijuana, it became the number one state in the country for teen marijuana use, with teen rates jumping over 12 percent. In both Washington state and Colorado, the illegal black market for drugs has exploded, with organized crime groups growing large amounts of marijuana illegally in Colorado homes and shipping it across the US, increasing youth access to the drug.

READ MORE

Does access to medical marijuana reduce opioid deaths?

While using marijuana by itself is unlikely to be life-threatening at any age, it can cause serious problems. Numerous studies have linked marijuana use to mental health problems including increased rates of anxiety, mood, and psychotic thought disorders. Marijuana use is also associated with relationship problems,poor academic performance, employment issues, and lower life satisfaction. With the increased potency of marijuana, these problems are even more significant for today’s users.

Marijuana use during adolescence is especially damaging in terms of impaired cognitive function, including memory issues, learning deficits, and lower IQs, all of which can persist into adulthood. Despite that, the majority of high school seniors don’t believe that regular marijuana smoking is harmful. In fact, only 36 percent believe regular use puts the user at great risk, compared to 52 percent five years ago. Nearly 1 in 15 high school seniors use marijuana on a daily basis, while 21 percent of all 12th-graders report using marijuana in the past month. Also, more young people seek treatment for marijuana abuse or dependence than for use of alcohol and all other drugs.

When states legalize recreational marijuana, fatalities increase and the lives of children and teenagers are put at stake.

Kurt Isaacson is president and CEO of Spectrum Health Systems, a private, not-for-profit substance abuse and mental health treatment provider.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/11/02/...public-health/

All of the above arguments against legalization are already applicable to criminalized marijuana use.

The legalization of the commercial use of marijuana is the death of marijuana as a popular recreational drug. Even with the fake, quack application of "medical" marijuana, a good part of marijuana use is socially driven by a rich subculture. Commercialization means the death of that subculture.

This and waging a war on marijuana along side with the war on tobacco will rapidly ruin the pot boutiques and all the associated foment. You can still find tobacco stores, but they are rare and only frequented by the occasional odd ball pipe user and cigar smokers, not exactly a threat to civilization.

"not exactly a threat to civilization" -- pkskyali

LOL!! Exactly.

The federal government has far bigger fish to fry and concern itself and our tax dollars with.

Originally Posted by pkskyali

All of the above arguments against legalization are already applicable to criminalized marijuana use.

The legalization of the commercial use of marijuana is the death of marijuana as a popular recreational drug. Even with the fake, quack application of "medical" marijuana, a good part of marijuana use is socially driven by a rich subculture. Commercialization means the death of that subculture.

This and waging a war on marijuana along side with the war on tobacco will rapidly ruin the pot boutiques and all the associated foment. You can still find tobacco stores, but they are rare and only frequented by the occasional odd ball pipe user and cigar smokers, not exactly a threat to civilization.

I disagree with several of your comments. I do not believe marijuana use is socially driven by a rich subculture. I may believe that about powder cocaine, but not marijuana. I also don't believe legalization will be the drugs death as a recreational drug. Actually, I believe legalization will expand its user base and make it more accessible to our youth. Oh, and Raleigh, N.C., has over 20 tobacco shops (I just did a online yellow page check). While it may be true in your area, there obviously is no shortage of such shops in my county of residence.

Marijuana grown, sold and used within a state should be under state laws.

The feds should only be involved if it crosses international borders or state lines.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Marijuana grown, sold and used within a state should be under state laws.

The feds should only be involved if it crosses international borders or state lines.

Not so. The DEA operates under the Department of Justice and can operate anywhere in the country. If AG Sessions directs them to bust every distribution center and grower in Colorado, so be it.