cannabisnews.com: Think Outside The Box, Decriminalize Marijuana Think Outside The Box, Decriminalize Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on December 31, 2006 at 21:53:35 PT Editorial Source: Juneau Empire Alaska -- A government report suggests that the market value of marijuana grown in the United States now tops $35 billion, making it this nation's largest cash crop, even more valuable than staples such as corn or soybeans.It would seem to us that after years of trying to eradicate, interdict and stomp out marijuana - and spending lives and countless billions of dollars in the process - that it may be time to consider another approach. After all, the marijuana market is demand-driven and demand does not appear to be fading. Besides, $35 billion in product is a lot of value to leave unregulated and untaxed. Activists are pushing for marijuana to be scratched from the list of serious Schedule 1 drugs, such as heroin, and be legalized, policed and taxed like tobacco and alcohol, the Los Angeles Times reports.It is difficult to side with those who want to legalize marijuana. Goodness knows, we already have enough mind-altering garbage for sale legally in the United States, but the reality is that Prohibition did not work and the effort to stamp out marijuana is not working either. Despite all the government's efforts, it is available to just about anyone, in any part of the nation.We can continue to prosecute the War on Drugs, continue the business-as-usual, futile cat-and-mouse game despite its obvious failings, or we can search for a new way that could lead to destruction of the marijuana cartels and the crime they breed. At the same time we could be fattening the treasury and ensuring the safety of users.It is well beyond time to think outside the box. This editorial appeared in The Voice of the Times.Source: Juneau Empire (AK)Published: January 1, 2007 Copyright: 2007 Southeastern Newspaper CorpWebsite: http://www.juneauempire.com/Contact: letterstotheeditor juneauempire.comCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #23 posted by afterburner on January 04, 2007 at 23:12:53 PT kaptinemo #16, museman, hope Your words refreshed me like drinking water from a clear mountain stream. Our fight is not really or just about cannabis: it's about freedom. Now that the Christmas business season is winding down, I am starting to experience the peace of mind that the season is supposed to represent. Remember the 12 days of Christmas, ending on January 6, Epiphany. The 12 days of Hanukkah parallel. Small gifts, small feasts, family and faith. The Season of Epiphany [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by FoM on January 02, 2007 at 16:26:24 PT Max Flowers Thank you for the information on Trans Fats. I wish the government would spend money really checking out the food we eat. I was an adult before fast food was available. We ate at home and that was about it except for very special times and then it was at a nice restaurant. I feel sorry for people that have grown up on the food that is available now in fast food chains. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by Max Flowers on January 02, 2007 at 11:17:16 PT #12 Trans fats are something that SHOULD be banned, everywhere in the country. The reason is, that they're poison to the human body. You may not mind that people feed you toxic stuff that clogs your arteries and most of the time you won't even know when you're getting it and when you're not, but I mind and most people who (once educated about it) care about their life and health mind too. If you don't mind trans fats it's only because you don't know enough about the dangers of them yet. Basically, they're closer in molecular structure to a plastic than a fat, and your body has no defense to it and it accumulates just like a plastic in your arteries. I only hope that I caught on to it in time, but I doubt it because it has been in the food chain for so many decades and the bastards who manufacture and sell it have been (and still are) too hooked on the money to stop out of conscience (more like they have no conscience). [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by FoM on January 02, 2007 at 09:13:31 PT Potpal I know what you mean about the weather. Today it is chilly but it has been like Spring in Ohio. The grass is still green and we haven't had a freeze yet either. The seasons they are a changin. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by potpal on January 02, 2007 at 08:54:53 PT fomummers Yeah, it was cancelled but set for this coming Saturday. I wasn't staying anywhere and had no reservations, so we just didn't go, we will on Saturday! (if it don't rain again) Just in from some errands and I noticed the pansies are as fresh looking as they did in September! Ski industry must be suffering in PA, this rain, in times gone by, would have been 6 inches of snow, easy. Apparently, we are winning the war on the environment.A wise little bald man once said... Be the change you want to see in the world.Peace. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by FoM on January 02, 2007 at 06:43:52 PT potpal Happy New Year! I read that the parade was postponed because of rain. I thought of you and hope you had a really good time. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by potpal on January 02, 2007 at 06:27:44 PT Happy New Year Good article, great replies, funny joke...good start for me.Alternativie headline, Think beyond the cell...Cannabis prohibition is the crime. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by kaptinemo on January 02, 2007 at 05:32:34 PT: Hope, about the prohibs I have to agree that some of them, at their core, at a level that is greater or lesser depending on the individual, possess some very blackened, shrivelled souls that would make the pre-enlightened Grinch even more billious green with envy.It's said that children of abusive parents often become abusive themselves. But some others take an even stranger turn; they try to become society's guardians, fervently intent on preventing what happened to them from happening to others. To do that, they try to elevate the law beyond mere basic societal regulation and make it into a graven image that they pray to. They hate intensely anything that challenges what they believe to be the only thing keeping society from im- or exploding, and that is (said in hushed tones) the law. Any behavior that challenges that basic belief that the laws must not be challenged (I've seen former cops at work who had bumper stickers stuck on their wallboards that said "Never challenge authority"; the fascist mindset runs deep) must be viciously suppressed, lest the heavens fall. In their eyes, cannabis use is indicative of such behavior.I'm presently debating such a person at Political Crossfire, who tried not very hard to mask her true colors; she finally displayed them at this point of the thread: http://tinyurl.com/ylnwfo Like most prohibs, she was easily maneuvered into a corner, all the while loudly proclaiming that she had not been, and that all of our factual sources were suspect thanks to their being links to 'druggie' sites. (She continually, conveniently forgets the studies which we link to on those sites were not made by the owners of those sites, but by government entities; the sites only compiled the studies, not conducted them.) But something must have gotten to her, for her to make the outbursts that she did. There are some mean, vicious and cruel people amongst the opposition, whose behavior resembles little more than that of rabid attack dogs. Hundreds of years ago they were always in the vanguard of the mob fixin' to burn witches; now they're the sort fixin' to burn us. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Hope on January 01, 2007 at 22:47:19 PT Engineered cows.... Probably about as good an idea as feeding cows the remains of other cows.Why are they still getting it if they've stopped turning cows into cannibals? Because they haven't stopped feeding them flesh of their own kind, I would imagine.Engineered beef that doesn't get mad cow doesn't say to me that they might not carry it to people...and perhaps something even worse with the "engineering".Why don't they just do the right thing in the first place. Put the waste products of butchery into dog, cat, lion, and tiger food and into fertilizer and NOT feed it back to cattle. But it will keep industry happy and that's what's really important...apparently.It was a sick industrial money making idea that caused the problem in the first place. Now they want to take a swipe at the problem (and the fact that their idea has killed people and horribly) with another sick industrial money making idea.I knew they weren't serious about protecting people like they should have when all they did was post on the feed sacks, in not the largest letters on the sacks...Do not feed to ruminants.Nobody I've asked about whether they were careful about that or not in buying feed had a clue what a ruminant even was. Of course some farmers do...but not all...and worse...there are probably dishonest ones who "mixed in" just a bit of the cheaper feed to help the bottom line.Ground up dead cow waste is cheaper than grain...so who cares? Right?It's horrifying.What a convoluted world. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on January 01, 2007 at 20:45:01 PT Hope This gets to me. They will convince people it's all ok this way.Cows Bio-Engineered To Lack Mad Cow Diseasehttp://cbs11tv.com/health/health_story_001221810.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on January 01, 2007 at 20:29:59 PT MikeEEEEE I was really surprised about the alcohol ban last night. Hope posted about the trans fats being banned. Doesn't the slow suffocation of liberties worry New Yorkers or are they more accepting because of what happened on 9/11? Are most NewYorkers over the fear that 9/11 caused in your city? [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Hope on January 01, 2007 at 20:22:10 PT What else will they stop in NYC? Trans fats. http://www.lewrockwell.com/reisman/reisman29.htmlThe Fat Police? Yup. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by MikeEEEEE on January 01, 2007 at 19:55:30 PT FoM In NYC they're allowed to check your bag or backpack before getting onto the subway. Another freedom gone in the name of fighting a face-less enemy. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on January 01, 2007 at 12:25:57 PT An Observation I didn't know that the New Years Celebration in New York City was alcohol free. They don't allow smoking there either. I don't understand how people just accept everything changing without much of a reaction. What will they stop next in NYC? [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Hope on January 01, 2007 at 12:09:00 PT Prohibs I've noticed something lately about some of them. Some local ones to.There's another reason some of them love prohibition. The prohibition and all it entails, gives some prohibs a real superiority complex that they love. They won't want to give that up. They love it. It's not the drugs or the addiction or anything. It allows them to look down on other people. Horribly so. It's a cold, nasty thing to see and I've seen it. Those prohibitionists really are the real low-lifes. But oh how they like to think they are pristine wonderful and anybody who has touched a doob is just so low in their eyes...and they actually love it and they love attacking and judging the people they judge so harshly. They relish having someone they can look down on and put down. It's creepy. But I've seen it. We all have.Happy New Year, Kaptinemo! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 01, 2007 at 11:21:22 PT kaptinemo If we looked close enough we might already have a law against happiness. Just kidding. Seriously if we weren't so afraid of the government we might be able to have a really good country. I wish that Insurance Companies told us what coverage we really need and when it's time to put in a claim it will be paid without trouble. I wish that people weren't made guilty of something before they even do something wrong. Prevent, prevent, prevent is really control, control and more control. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on January 01, 2007 at 11:06:58 PT: But, but, but...FoM, we can't have happy people! That would be un-'Murikan! Jeez, if people were happy instead of constantly afraid that their next illness might bankrupt them, or their job disappear thanks to it being off-shored, or some artificial and wholly uncessary calamity caused by gub'mint interfered with their lives, then, they might begin to become real activists! They'd demand more control over their lives! They might even decide to go after the people who've made their lives miserable courtesy of the system those people set up at the expense of everybody else! My God, we can't have people happy in this country! They might take over!I am reminded of a popular joke in Russia during the Brezhnev Era: Communist Party leader Premier Brezhnev is taking his mother in his private limousibe on a tour of his fancy dacha on the Black Sea, his apartments in Red Square, the acces to special stores that the average Soviet citizen couldn't get into, etc. His mother is very impressed, but then asks him "Leonid, what if the Communists come back?"I ask, "But what if the patriots come back?" The DrugWar would be among the first casualties, for you are either sovereign over your own body, or The State owns your $$. Just as there's no such thing as being a 'little bit pregnant', there's no such thing as being a 'little bit' free, either... [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 01, 2007 at 10:32:46 PT Just a Thought Maybe if they legalized Cannabis we would see a winning float in the Rose Bowl Parade in the future. I do love to dream. Pretty flowers everywhere. I can imagine the aroma it would produce. When the Parade is over all the flowers could be used by people and that would make many people smile. Now that would be efficient! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on January 01, 2007 at 10:21:17 PT: Click-click-click fall the dominoes It was pointed out here years ago that when the media would begin making the (screamingly, painfully, in-your-face obvious!) parallel between alcohol Prohibition and cannabis prohibition, the game would be up. In the past two years we have begun to see that connection begin to manifest, albeit in a talk-around sort of way. Now that connection is being made, and boldly so. This article is a good example. This places prohibs in a double bind, from which they can only look ever more foolish with their protestations. If they say, as some of them have tried, that we must maintain cannabis prohibition at all costs, then the obvious parallel between alcohol Prohibition is made. If some of the prohibs (with incredible degree of self-delusion matched only by true psychotics!) try to say that alcohol Prohibition would have succeeded had it been prolonged- as the DrugWar has been - they'll be laughed off the street. Some prohibs, having seen this coming, try to re-style themselves as 'preventionists', but their lack of ability to prohibit illicit drugs is matched by an equally proven inability to 'prevent' any illicit drug use. Checkmate.But of course, just like the diehard temperence movement members before them who still (yes, unbelieveably, there are still a few around, but they're a dying breed) refuse to accept that since their premise was wrong, all their efforts were doomed to failure, today's DrugWarriors will insist to their dying day that if more effort, more time and more money (and more of our civil rights were sacrificed on the altar of their false god) we could have had their idea of utopia. Some folks will never learn... [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Hope on January 01, 2007 at 09:24:55 PT More people seeing the light of the truth in the matter. It's hideous that this war keeps going. We don't need anymore Drug War Victims...or Collateral Damage...as they like to call it.If we don't see a serious law change this year...we will certainly be seeing more widespread discussion and perhaps more people waking up to the truth. That's a great good and improvement on the way things have been. Voices "crying in the wilderness" about this thing are increasing.I'm very thankful and very glad. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 01, 2007 at 08:14:21 PT John Tyler You're right. That's a good thing. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on January 01, 2007 at 07:52:49 PT article This newspaper article (along with other we have seen recently) recognizes the fact that Prohibition has failed badly and that the only way to remove the criminal element, etc., etc. is to legalize the cannabis industry so that is can be controlled, and taxed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 01, 2007 at 06:53:07 PT About This Article It isn't a great article because it isn't a pro marijuana article but one based on money but it's a good beginning. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment