A bill that would have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana has died in the House. Legislators earlier killed a marijuana legalization bill.
Rep. Karl Rhoads (D-District 29), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee told the Associated Press Wednesday that there weren't enough votes to push the bill through. And although the state's two-year legislative session would allow the bill to be taken up again next year without having to pass the Senate again, Rhoads said he doubted that would happen.
"It was a moderate measure," Rhoads told the AP. "If this couldn't pass, I think it's very unlikely that anything is going to pass next year."
Marijuana reform supporters, including the ACLU of Hawaii and two new coalitions aimed at changing the state's marijuana laws, Fresh Approach Hawaii and the Medical Cannabis Coalition of Hawaii, had been optimistic about the bill's prospects after it passed the Senate, but it ran into stiff opposition from law enforcement and community groups. Police testified that reforming the marijuana laws would make their job more difficult and increase crime.
Cops and Crime
How does legal Cannabis increase crime ? Illegal Cannabis actually increases crime . A Cannabis arrest equals a crime . The fewer the Cannabis arrest`s , the fewer the crimes . A city that makes 10,000 marijuana possession arrests a year , could lower their crime rate by 10,000 a year by not arresting that many Cannabis users on possession charges . This is Basic Math 101 . The Cops just want that $$$ .
Stop this dangerous madness!
Prohibition is an absolute wrong; those who support it are absolute wrongdoers—vicious parasites who pray on their own family, friends and neighbors, delivering us all up to be devoured by the most corrupt and venal elements in society. They are waging a predatory war on all we hold dear, bringing corruption and degeneration to our most cherished social structures and institutions.
During alcohol prohibition (1919-1933) all profits went to enrich thugs and corrupt politicians. Young men, while battling over turf, died every day on inner-city streets. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have been far more wisely spent. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally, (in 1929) the economy collapsed! Sound familiar?
Are we (again) going to stand by and allow our wealth, safety and freedom to be sacrificed on the blood-stained 'alter of prohibition' by traitorous demagogues who cannot control their own vile and sadistic urges?
An ever growing majority of us no longer think we should!
I don't ever want to visit Hawaii now.
I don't ever want to visit Hawaii now.
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