A Historic Hearing on Marijuana Legalization in Sacramento Today
Wednesday was a historic day at the California state capitol. For the first time since the state banned marijuana in 1913, marijuana legalization was the topic of a hearing in the state legislature. The hearing was organized by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), head of the Assembly's Public Safety Committee, to discuss his marijuana legalization bill, AB 390.
For three hours, proponents and opponents of reform clashed before an overflowing hearing room--the hearing was so popular capitol employees had to add a monitor in the hallway for those who couldn't get into the session. Both supporters and foes of legalization were well represented, and they mostly followed their predictable scripts. To this observer, law enforcement's dire warnings and objections sounded increasingly threadbare and shopworn and the arguments of legalizers especially compelling, but then, I agree with the legalizers.
I think what is important about Wednesday's hearing is not so much what was said--we've heard it all before, on both sides--as where it was said and in what context. Just a few days ago, they were talking legalization at the statehouse in Boston; now, they're doing it at the statehouse in Sacramento. Nobody expects the California bill to pass this year, but the fact that legalization is finally getting a serious hearing is a sign of progress.
I'll be reporting on the hearing and the preceding press conference in more detail later this week for the Drug War Chronicle. Check out the article on Friday.
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redditCompassion for The Crack Addict?
Comment posted by Mike Lewis on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 3:55pmI am suffering horribly, I cannot work, cannot eat...life is depressing..my doctors can't find a solution to my ills because quite frankly, I need some massive dopamine release. See. recent science suggests that persons who have been stricken with addiction tend to continue their addictions over long periods of time. This causes, in the case of dopamine release, lesions on the brain which are a sign of brain damage to the frontal lobe. While that damage doesn't affect my performance as an investment banker it does cause my dopamine levels to stay at a constant low- at least lower than normal. My depression hurts more than just me, think of my wife and five kids too. It is high time for cocaine legalization. Who knows I just might be the guy handling your retirement, want me depressed and making bad choices because I can't get good prices or quality from the crack dealers lately? No, you don't want ALL the extra heartache and crime associated with inability to find sources for dopamine pleasuring, sorry, refilling. I need my crack, i have a legitimate disorder caused by smoking it and now i must have it to save myself from illness. Thanks for caring.
Big mistake!
Comment posted by mlang52 on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 2:31amThose brain lesions are exactly why you should have never started smoking crack. It can kill you man, unlike cannabis. It you had heard the truth about it, maybe you could have avoided its lifelong effects. Educate your kids about it. Maybe they can avoid the mistake you made.
I guess if you did it out of ignorance you deserve a little compassion. But, most know that overuse of any drug, illegal, legal, otc or prescription, can result in bad side effects. Like too much Motrin can cause a fatal heart attack of fatal gastrointestinal bleeding. Drug abuse of the wrong drugs is just plain stupid. And most are not ignorant to that fact in today's society. That was not responsible drug use. It needs to be pointed out.
See a professional for your depression. It can likely be treated with some other (dangerous) drug. It could have all been avoided.
Why doubt its passage?
Comment posted by Cremater on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 12:43pmI have no idea at all if a legalization bill presented by one of our elected officials has a chance of passing or not this year or the next. Let's face it, most of the countries legislatures are fully mired in what is politically correct and safe for those individuals with regards to thier being able to retain thier office or not. Drug war idiocy is still rampant within all of our states legislatures.
On the other hand, the people of California have decided that they will merely circumvent the political gridlock with this particular legislstive body and place thier own initiatives on the California ballot next year circumventing the normal legisltive process.
With California's population having a majority that support the legalization of Marijuana it should not be too far of a stretch to think that next year when these initiatives come to a vote by the California people the chance for passage of any one of them is fairly good.
I agree, that if left up to our polititians exclusively there is little chance there will be anything that could be considered significant reform will be passed. The divisions along idiological lines run too deep within our leadership to expect that to happen. This year, or any year in the foreseable future for that matter. So you are correct when you say that it is doubtful that anything will be passed this year.
Next year however is a different story. It is at that time that the deision will be removed from the legislatures and political bickering realm of influence and turned over to the people of California. At that point it becomes an entirely new ball game. A ball game in which I believe that these measures, at least one of them, to legalize tax and regulate Marijuana stand a very good chance of passage. Especially since the population of California contnues to become more and more dissolusioned with the performance of thier government on almost a daily basis.
Maybe not this year, but I wouldn't take that bet on the outcome of the polls next year. I think that next year will be the defining moment for the marijuana legalization movement once the people of California have the opportunity to run thier own state in the way that they feel is correct since we all know that the California legislature no longer does.