Twisted fundie logic: Legalization of "silent killer" marijuana in CA will increase border violence

[marmar]

:wtf:



from the American Family Association, whose members could use a couple of fat ones. :smoke:


Legalization of pot makes the ballot
Becky Yeh - OneNewsNow - 4/3/2010 4:30:00 AM


Don't worry about the police...kick back, relax, and enjoy your marijuana -- that's the message that proponents of the California measure to legalize the drug are trying to say. Other messages? Soften drug laws, make it legal, don't be so uptight about it, it's just a fix.

The initiative to legalize marijuana will make the ballot in the November California election, officials stated last week. The measure, known as the "Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010," will allow individuals 21 years and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and to grow up to 25 square feet of the drug per residence.

The bill will also give cities or counties in California the authority to institute laws that will allow the sale, distribution, and cultivation of marijuana in order to increase revenues -- a key that proponents are saying will boost the economy.

Opponents of the initiative are concerned that legalizing marijuana will increase addiction to the drug and also cause additional violence along the Mexican border. Like alcohol, which was once banned in the United States and then legalized, they argue that marijuana usage will be widespread, increasing criminal activity and creating social problems in the long run. ........(more)

The complete piece (of scheiße) is at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=957462

[tridim]

1. Non-toxic substances are not killers, silent or not.

Durrr... :freak:

[thecrow]

2. Addiction ?

What addiction?
Marijuana is not addictive.

[Dreamer Tatum]

3. The addiction part is bullshit but legalization will do nothing to stop violence

In fact, I think legalization would increase violence as the cartels compete for monopoly status.

If CA legalizes, they slap a tax on it. The market price, whatever it is, could likely be undercut by the same enterprises competing to sell it now. Since most people who want to smoke it now are already doing so, there is no real incentive for the infrastructure to change, other than to eliminate competition to drive costs lower.

My neighbor already said as much: "If they legalize it, I'm not going to stop buying it the way I get it now, because it'll probably be cheaper than legal weed, and it might even be better."

[Birthmark]

4. Look at it from the other way 'round.

You're a marijuana grower. You have two options. One: Grow it legally in complete legal safety; or Two: Grow it illegally and take your chances with cops. Sane people will choose option One.

Sure, they'll still be some illegal growers, just like there's moonshiners to this day. But the overwhelming number of people will opt to grow it and buy it legally just for the safety, even if it's more expensive.

[Dreamer Tatum]

7. What about the growers (smugglers) in Mexico? Their incentives are greater, not smaller

I think the violence is here to stay, until there is no demand. So it's here forever.

[Birthmark]

10. Again,

A seller can either obtain his wares legally or illegally. Legally obtaining marijuana will be infinitely safer than dealing with gangs. Most sellers being sane, they are going to opt for the legal route in droves. As long as enough is produced legally, that is.

And that's the other way to combat the drug gangs on marijuana at least: Put no limit on how much can be grown. Drive down the price.

[Dreamer Tatum]

11. Millions of people get weed as it is. If the legal price is greater than the govt price, then

...there is no incentive whatsoever for the current infrastructure to change.

That means the govt would have to make weed better and MUCH cheaper to render the cartels powerless.

[instantkarma]

5. When is their logic not twisted?

It's all they know how to do. And to continually feign surprise at this is very boring. Accept that they're idiots and liars and move on.

[robdogbucky]

6. Very similar to Alcohol Prohibition Repeal

The wine industry in Cal is about $52Billion annually.

The estimate for what the cannabis market in Cal would be when decriminalized is $12-18Billion annually.

It is already the largest single cash crop in the state and has been for a couple of decades.

What happened when prohibition was repealed? Did Al Capone's folks suddenly up the violence ante and threaten everyone that was now able to walk down to the corner and buy their favorite beverage? Did they force people to buy their hooch? No. They simply turned to the next available black market, narcotics.

With that outlet suddenly cut off vis-a-vis cannabis as contraband, they (whatever people perceive about the "cartels," I doubt their main revenue is from cannabis) will be forced to concentrate on the coke, heroin, guns, etc., that would be still illegal. I mean as if they already haven't done that. That is a red herring and I don't believe that cannabis is the lynchpin for those groups at the present time. I trust everyone is aware that almost every industrial product has a parallel black market associated with it. Cement, steel, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, even oil. This is not new.

The liberation of pot from being lumped in with actual addictive, harmful substances, to wit, the other Schedule 1 narcotics, will only help society and the economy, not harm them. It will not cause a sudden increase in violence of any kind. On the contrary, there will be such an awakening, such a coming out of the cannabis closet for millions, that this one simple act of honoesty and recognition of the truth of things will go a long way in restoring whatever vestige one harbors for government credibility. Hopefully then some honest, reliable research and testing can take place to reveal all the positive possibilities this ancient plant holds for mankind. That has never been allowed to happen.

There is currently a glut of inventory of cannabis and prices paid by dispensaries are dropping throughout California.

The projection is that Cal could bloom this into a thriving tourism industry based on cannabis availability. The tax revenues alone could revive many an ailing California program, like basic education, where thousands of competent teachers have been laid off due to lack of funds.

The biggest obstacles are apparently psychological. Think of all the low information folks that are conditioned to the government lies that have governed the hyprocritical cannabis policies for the last almost 100 years in the USA. That will be the shock, when B&B owners suddenly have to play host to folks that want to bike, hike, fish, sightsee and eat, with a vaporizer as part of their room baggage. Think of a lifelong migraine sufferer going to their doctor and asking, can cannabis help my headaches and them being told, "Yes, it has been shown the pot can alleviate the suffering of migraines in many patients." Think of it. Just that one thing alone could make the difference between a life of hell and one without such pain for some people.

Don't buy into the propaganda Kool-Aid that is now just starting to roll out in response to the 3, count 'em, 3 current initiatives in California to change the legal status of cannabis. The Tax and Regulate Act of 2010 is the most comprehensive one, and I predict it will succeed.


Just my dos centavos,

robdogbucky

[Spirochete]

8. Since when

do these people consider border violence a bad thing in the first place?

[Initech]

9. These people need to smoke some joints.

[Canuckistanian]

12. How will legalization increase border violence?

If it's legal to grow your own, you're not going to buy the Mexican pot. Thus, a lot less of a profit for drug runners.

If anything, it'll reduce the border violence, just like crime rates decreased after the repeal of Prohibition.