Marijuana legal? Not so fast says Sessions.

[Seattle Husker]

As anticipated, Sessions is changing the Federal policy that allowed marijuana legalization to prosper. I hope he gives his US attorney's more air cover than simply giving them discretion to attack the states. 6 states have legalized it now and Massachusetts and Maine will make it 8 later this year. The biggest challenge facing Sessions? The tax revenue this is bringing in is HUGE. Washington State expected to raise $350M per year, most of which is targeted towards education. State universities saw a tuition decrease and funding for secondary schools saw a large increase in this last cycle.

My vote on the legalization was against but I haven't seen much downside. It is a little weird walking down the street in Seattle and getting a huge smell of marijuana.

“It’s pretty clear that the federal policy is going to be that U.S. attorneys will have discretion and the industry can no longer hide behind the Cole memo and say that they’re protected,” said Kevin Sabet, who worked in Obama’s Office of National Drug Control Policy and now runs the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. “There is an unknown here because we don’t know how this is going to be implemented.”

 

[Facing Addiction]

As someone whose son started drug use with marijuana in high school which ultimately led to heroin addiction, I am all in favor of keeping it illegal. I've been through the medical lectures at rehab on parents weekend, and to say the marijuana isn't addictive and/or is not a gateway drug is a flat out lie.

I also frequent our second home in Colorado. A year after legalization I happened to play golf with the Chief of Police of one of the small tourist towns. I asked him how things had changed since legalization. He said there had been a lot more "hands on" incidences; i.e. people using a marijuana product and mixing it with alcohol which makes some people think they're invincible. He says they treat it like the drunk tank, throw them in jail over night and let them go the next morning.

Also in this small tourist town, it's getting harder to get good, consistent service people. You always had the ski bums that wouldn't show up on a fresh powder day. But now, people just aren't showing up to work, or are showing up stoned. They're having to hire x% more people just to cover. It's driving some of the restaurants out of business just because service costs are getting out of hand.

 

[ShAArk92]

sorry to hear about your son. I bid you the best in dealing with that ...

AFA the drunk tank ... yes, that's what I've heard from friends in Colderado, too. As a (self-perceived) avid elk hunter ... I've wondered how the MJ would affect the crowds of irritating anti-hunters up there. I missed last year but hoping to make a run up there in October.

We went for a visit at the end of school ... ATVing ... stayed in Silverton. The green red cross was a foreign object and it took a little while for me to understand what that indicated. Sigh. Bad enough to contend with drunks ... but now lets add bombed and drunk. not good.

I even saw a shop at the airport for crying out loud ... allegedly they only sell to those departing. Great ... something else for which me and my people must be alert.

Again, remembering you and your son! PRESS ON!

 

[Seattle Husker]

Thanks for sharing your story, Facing Addiction. My kids tend to run in the "nerdy gamer" crowd thus haven't faced the opportunity for interacting with Marijuana. My eldest did share a story about Washington State University where he's a Freshman. It's the 2nd largest state school sitting in the middle of rural America. He told me that pot was so prevalent in school that he could go smoke his way through school and never pay for MJ because it's offered by other students around every corner. Fortunately, he's not a drinker or smoker and has an independent streak that isn't easily consumed by peer pressure. I found it interesting that pot was so available on college campus and wondered if that was due to its legalization. My son confirmed that pot still has a black market as a kid he went to HS with dealt in HS and still does so at WSU. This school has a reputation as a party school so this behavior could have always existed. Alcohol is even more prevalent at the school. I found myself contrasting it with my time at U of Washington in the mid-90's in which openly smoking marijuana on premise would be enough to expel someone from our fraternity.

 

[ShAArk92]

Fortunately, he's not a drinker or smoker and has an independent streak that isn't easily consumed by peer pressure.

Hat tip to your son ... and to you and yours for y'all's role in molding this!

 

[UTChE96]

Interesting topic. Conservatives who are typically State rights advocates seem to conveniently become Federalists - vice-versa for Liberals. I am pretty Libertarian on this issue. I am no fan of drugs and have never ingested an illegal drug in my life, however as long as an individual doesn't infringe on the rights of someone else it should be their decision. I am more concerned about the unintended consequences of prohibition such as ridiculous amounts of cash flowing to criminal organizations and burglary by drug addicts who need cash to pay for their addiction. I would much prefer to decriminalize and educate children to the risks of drugs. Focus on therapy and recovery. History has shown over and over that prohibition does not work and has a lot of severe, unintended consequences. I am not sure why we keep thinking the failed drug war will ever be successful after several decades of utter failure.

 

[Seattle Husker]

Interesting topic. Conservatives who are typically State rights advocates seem to conveniently become Federalists - vice-versa for Liberals. I am pretty Libertarian on this issue. I am no fan of drugs and have never ingested an illegal drug in my life, however as long as an individual doesn't infringe on the rights of someone else it should be their decision. I am more concerned about the unintended consequences of prohibition such as ridiculous amounts of cash flowing to criminal organizations and burglary by drug addicts who need cash to pay for their addiction. I would much prefer to decriminalize and educate children to the risks of drugs. Focus on therapy and recovery. History has shown over and over that prohibition does not work and has a lot of severe, unintended consequences. I am not sure why we keep thinking the failed drug war will ever be successful after several decades of utter failure.

Aside from the outmoded thinking like Jeff Sessions that drug use is simply a law enforcement issue, I think the drug war persists because it creates a symbiotic relationship between the US and Latin American countries. We get leverage and influence in those countries and they have regimes that get $$ and military support from the US in kind.

 

[mb227]

I am mixed on the free-for-all that recreational pot legalization creates. However, there is no question that it provides revenue for the State, not unlike all of the other "sin taxes" that exist.

I do not agree that marijuana, by itself, is an addictive substance. There are undoubtedly people who have addictive personalities and who are going to abuse ANY item placed in front of them. However, having smoked marijuana at different times through the years, I can say that it never created urges to engage in any other substances. I was in my teens when I first was exposed to it, knew where to get it at the U of H at the age of 17 and know which attorneys to go to if I wanted to get it now in my early 50's. If I had an urge to do other things, I know where I could go, but I lack those urges. Yet the doomsayers would have people believe that I am on a path to shoving a needle in my arm because I grew and smoked a flower...

I can also say that marijuana has provided a far greater array of benefit for the pain I remain in more than a year after being hit by a fire truck from behind than I get from prescribed Percocet. In order to derive a true benefit from the Percocet, I would have to take an amount that left me unable to function in the workplace. Unfortunately, given that pot is not legal in Texas, I am left without the viable option of something that I know from personal experience would be healthier for me (no destruction of the liver) and does a better job of addressing the pain. Instead, I am left dealing with the more effective medication when I travel to Vegas or to Studio City.

Conversely, the nation does not function well when you have patchwork quilts of approval. That same small quantity that you purchase in one place all of a sudden creates the prospect of jail time when you cross an imaginary line with a few flowers from a plant or with edible products made with the assistance of those flowers.

 

[Seattle Husker]

That same small quantity that you purchase in one place all of a sudden creates the prospect of jail time when you cross an imaginary line with a few flowers from a plant or with edible products made with the assistance of those flowers.

Or if you have 60lbs of it purportedly for Christmas gifts which is what this 80yr old couple claimed.

 

[NJlonghorn]

Massachusetts and Maine will make it 8 later this year

Make it 9. Chris Christie vetoed a bill in NJ last year. The governor-elect (Phil Murphy) has said he’ll sign the same bill if the legislature passes it again. I’ve even heard that he wants it to be the first bill he signs.

 

[Mr. Deez]

Sessions' job is to enforce the federal laws, so I don't have a problem with him doing so. However, those laws need to go. This should not be a federal issue one way or the other.

 

[ProdigalHorn]

History has shown over and over that prohibition does not work and has a lot of severe, unintended consequences.

I remember one of the points my history prof at UT made, which was that despite the typical talking points, prohibition actually DID work in the sense that it curtailed drinking by the "commoners." The people who had the resources still got it, but it was the "grubby irishman in the street" that the law was intended to discourage.

Regardless, any time you get into questions of drugs, the idea that "they're going to get it anyway" doesn't wash with me, because common sense and history are pretty definitive that access and use will go up substantially once legalization sets in. So the question is, would you rather make it hard and put up some barriers that might actually keep people from partaking? Or just give in and send the message that it's really not that big a deal, but "ohh... prevention!! Don't do it!"

 

[UTChE96]

Regardless, any time you get into questions of drugs, the idea that "they're going to get it anyway" doesn't wash with me, because common sense and history are pretty definitive that access and use will go up substantially once legalization sets in.

Fair points. I am not arguing that there will not be an increase in marijuana usage. I am saying that legalization is best of all the bad options. The current system has resulted in cartels becoming more powerful and a lot of violent crime due to the high cost of drugs. Having to pick between powerful criminal organizations / higher likelihood of being robbed versus more individuals using pot and even cocaine, it's a pretty easy choice for me.

 

[Seattle Husker]

Regardless, any time you get into questions of drugs, the idea that "they're going to get it anyway" doesn't wash with me, because common sense and history are pretty definitive that access and use will go up substantially once legalization sets in.

You're using the wrong argument with the outcome. Legalization is used as an example to rectify the unarguable crime element that is a repercussion of the war on drugs. Yes, you may limit access to a small subset of would be users but is that justified by the enormous cost of fighting the criminal element?

 

[Mr. Deez]

FWIW, marijuana use is higher in the US (where it's illegal) than in the Netherlands (where it's not). Go figure. Link.

I'm no weed advocate. In fact, I've never smoked marijuana in my life and have no interest in doing so. However, the current approach isn't working.

 

[NJlonghorn]

I've never smoked marijuana

Notice that he didn’t deny eating pot brownies....

 

[ShAArk92]

Notice that he didn’t deny eating pot brownies....

LOL. I wouldn’t presume to speak for the ubiquitous Deez ... but I had never heard of this “baked in” MJ until I watched that HBO show “Weed”

In fact I learned a lot from that show! LOL

 

[Seattle Husker]

LOL. I wouldn’t presume to speak for the ubiquitous Deez ... but I had never heard of this “baked in” MJ until I watched that HBO show “Weed”

In fact I learned a lot from that show! LOL

Pot edibles may be a bigger market than the smoked variety, or so I'm told. I'll admit to visiting a pot store here and buying a single cigarette, actually 1 split in 2. It made me ill to the point that the 2nd mini-joint has been sitting in a drawer for 1 year. Now the brownies...never again. Saw Parliament w/George Clinton in concert one night. BIL handed me 1 and I finished a second. I never made it past Bootsy Collins walking out on stage wearing a diaper and my night was effectively over.

 

[NJlonghorn]

Pot edibles may be a bigger market than the smoked variety, or so I'm told. I'll admit to visiting a pot store here and buying a single cigarette, actually 1 split in 2. It made me ill to the point that the 2nd mini-joint has been sitting in a drawer for 1 year. Now the brownies...never again. Saw Parliament w/George Clinton in concert one night. BIL handed me 1 and I finished a second. I never made it past Bootsy Collins walking out on stage wearing a diaper and my night was effectively over.

I’m not going to say whether I’ve had pot brownies. But I will say that, IF I did, my experience wasn’t nearly so negative. Or should I say, wouldnt have been.

 

[ShAArk92]

lol.

Well y’all are completely talking different language than that with which I’m familiar. But it’s a hoot nevertheless.

 

[Mr. Deez]

I’m not going to say whether I’ve had pot brownies. But I will say that, IF I did, my experience wasn’t nearly so negative. Or should I say, wouldnt have been.

Why does this post make me think of this?

 

[Mr. Deez]

And I'll clear it up since it has been called into question. I've never smoked a marijuana cigarette, eaten a pot brownie, or inhaled it from a bong or hookah - not even in Amsterdam. (I have to mention that because I have a friend who never smokes weed, but he visits Amsterdam every ten years and smokes it there - and then calls me on the phone, of course.) I've also never snorted anything, and nothing has ever been injected into me except by a licensed medical professional acting in the course of a physician-patient relationship. Did I leave anything out? Lol.

 

[Phil Elliott]

I can also say that marijuana has provided a far greater array of benefit for the pain I remain in more than a year after being hit by a fire truck from behind than I get from prescribed Percocet.

Interesting experience - I have a friend that I have known for 40 years who sustained a head injury a few years ago in a construction accident and he says MJ is the only thing that gives him pain relief and allows him to work. I kind of dismissed it b/c he was a pot-smoker back in the day, so I figured he was biased, but your experience buttresses his argument.

 

[ShAArk92]

but your experience buttresses his argument.

Heh heh heh ... he said buttresses to a woman. Heh heh heh.

 

[mb227]

Interesting experience - I have a friend that I have known for 40 years who sustained a head injury a few years ago in a construction accident and he says MJ is the only thing that gives him pain relief and allows him to work. I kind of dismissed it b/c he was a pot-smoker back in the day, so I figured he was biased, but your experience buttresses his argument.

I'm certainly not going to rule out that some get a medical card just so they can smoke pot and I won't discount the reality that it doesn't work for everyone that has a legitimate issue. However, I know that some strains work for me (and others don't).

Unfortunately, it is something that I don't get to have a lot of hands-on experience with since I do actually pay attention to the risks that would be associated with acquiring it in Texas. Fortunately, I do have a friend in California that has a medical card, so that afforded several opportunities to see what did or did not work. My trip to Vegas next month will be the first one since they went legal with recreational sales, which would mean I just need to have ID to make a purchase of edibles in that State.

 

[UTChE96]

except by a licensed medical professional acting in the course of a physician-patient relationship.

For glaucoma or nausea?

 

[bystander]

Sessions' job is to enforce the federal laws, so I don't have a problem with him doing so. However, those laws need to go. This should not be a federal issue one way or the other.

Because you can't find the words in the Constitution?

By the way, I enjoyed our Constitutional discussion and didn't mean to abandon it. I was hooked in on other things but it was a very good mental exercise.

 

[Mr. Deez]

For glaucoma or nausea?

Neither. Measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, etc.

 

[Mr. Deez]

Because you can't find the words in the Constitution?

No, because the Attorney General's job is to enforce the laws of the United States. Whether or not that law is unconstitutional is a matter for the judiciary to decide.

 

[horninchicago]

And I'll clear it up since it has been called into question. I've never smoked a marijuana cigarette, eaten a pot brownie, or inhaled it from a bong or hookah - not even in Amsterdam. (I have to mention that because I have a friend who never smokes weed, but he visits Amsterdam every ten years and smokes it there - and then calls me on the phone, of course.) I've also never snorted anything, and nothing has ever been injected into me except by a licensed medical professional acting in the course of a physician-patient relationship. Did I leave anything out? Lol.

Me neither. I'd be in real trouble if I had to be a junkie as I really am affected by the vasovagal syncope. Man, I hate needles!