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Everyone Loves to Read About Marijuana Legalization
Popular political blogger/statistician Nate Silver says that this post about marijuana legalization was his second most-read piece ever. He became famous for his presidential election polling, but the success of that one marijuana post just shows the intense public interest in reform, especially on the web.
Everywhere you look, even the mainstream press is picking up on the fact that people want to talk about this. Just look at NPR's The New Marijuana series, which has churned out more marijuana stories this week than I have time to read. CBS has been doing the same thing with Marijuana Nation, CNBC had a big hit with Marijuana Inc., and even Fox News has recruited John Stossel and Judge Napolitano to trash the drug war on Rupert Murdoch's dime.
If you think I'm exaggerating what's going on here, just look at the Google Trends results for the search term "marijuana legalization":
It's incredible to see our progress displayed so vividly, and anyone who doesn’t want legal marijuana in America should think twice about wasting their time trying to stop it. More people are scanning the web for news about marijuana legalization than ever before, and the media is working hard to give them exactly what they want, which results in yet more people reading and searching for news about marijuana legalization.
The whole process cascades and feeds on itself, spontaneously turning longtime observers into voices for reform, and literally creating more news by emboldening activists to launch new campaigns. It's awesome, and it absolutely won't stop until our marijuana laws are fixed forever.
Drugged Driving: Michigan Supreme Overturns ItselfâDriving With Pot Metabolites Not a Crime
Marc Emery Calls Out Selfish Marijuana Growers for Opposing Legalization
Marc breaks opposition to the initiative into 3 categories:
1. Police and prison industry profiteers who don't want to lose their jobs.
2. Successful marijuana growers and entrepreneurs who don't want new competition.
3. Old-school activists who feel alienated by the modern reform movement and can't see the forest for the trees.
Now, I'm not sure I agree with everything Marc says here, but the piece on the whole is very interesting. As for the 3rd group, I just don't know what to say, but the first two are basically opposite sides of the same coin. Both groups benefit from marijuana prohibition and fear the impact of its elimination on their livelihood. Both groups prefer to think of their opposition to the initiative as being driven by principle, rather than self-interest. And ultimately, both groups will have to be overcome in order for marijuana prohibition to end.
I don't think anyone really disputes the fact that the Tax and Regulate 2010 Initiative isn't perfect. It apparently increases penalties for distribution to people under 21, and it doesn't create the kind of freedom of cultivation and distribution that many would prefer. But what it will do is completely slaughter the war on marijuana as we know it, and not just in California. If this initiative passes, it will protect multitudes of peaceful cannabis consumers from arrest in California, while sending a message to the nation that further marijuana reform is popular and inevitable.
I promise you, we will not destroy the drug war with one sudden fatal blow. It took more than a decade of legal medical marijuana to set a positive example, disprove negative stereotypes and propaganda, and ultimately help win popular support for further reform. We're headed in the right direction, and if this effort succeeds, we'll be a whole hell of a lot closer than we are today. That's true even if the new law creates some inconveniences that its authors felt were necessary in order to help get it passed.
The bottom line is that if this initiative wins, or merely comes close to winning, it will galvanize our movement behind a victory that's surely just over the horizon. It will show politicians and the press that the recently surging marijuana legalization debate is more than just a fad and that our support base penetrates deeply into mainstream society.
On the other hand, a decisive loss will send a message that the apparent march towards legalization in recent years was little more than a vocal minority exploiting the internet to create a false perception of political momentum. Can you even imagine how eager our opponents are to start saying things like that? Our losses are inevitably exaggerated and twisted by our opponents in a desperate defense of the status quo, and in that respect, the political impact of our victories must be considered in addition to the substance of the reforms themselves.
To put it much more simply, let me just suggest that anyone in California who'd like to end marijuana prohibition would probably want to vote differently than the cops who get paid to pull up plants in the woods.
POLICE CHIEF RECEIVES LIFE IN PRISON FOR 38 YEAR OLD COLD CASE
Press Release -- Philadelphia: New Marijuana Procedure in Place on June 8th
Drug Truth 06/07/10
Press Release: Colorado Gives Marijuana Dispensaries Legal Status
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
JUNE 7, 2010
Colorado Gives Marijuana Dispensaries Legal Status
Governor Signs Regulations for Stateâs Medical Marijuana Industry
CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 202-905-2030 or [email protected]
DENVER, COLORADO âToday, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (D) signed legislation that will regulate the stateâs medical marijuana dispensaries through a system of local and state licenses, but still allow individual localities to ban dispensaries. Currently there are an estimated 1,100 medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Colorado â the most in any state other than California, which does not have statewide dispensary regulations. Colorado officials estimate that about half of current dispensaries will be able to comply with new regulations.
        âBy approving a statewide system of dispensaries through which patients can safely acquire marijuana, Colorado is taking a significant amount of revenue away from the dangerous, illicit, and unsanctioned market created by prohibition,â said Karen OâKeefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. âInstead, patients will now be able to obtain marijuana from a sensible and orderly system of law-abiding and regulated providers. The scope of this newly regulated industry makes it the largest ever in the United States.â
        Under the regulations, dispensary owners will be subject to licensing fees and criminal background checks. Dispensaries will be required to grow 70 percent of the marijuana they sell and, like liquor stores, could not operate within 1,000 feet of a school.
        A state-regulated medical marijuana program is up and running in New Mexico and similar programs will soon be operational in Rhode Island, Maine, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. â but the number of sanctioned dispensaries to be allowed in each of those states is fewer than 10. Coloradoâs law will authorize hundreds, and potentially more if future demand increases.
        A Rasmussen telephone poll released May 15 showed that there is also plurality support among Colorado voters for further expanding the stateâs marijuana laws. Forty-nine percent of likely voters said they support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, with an additional 13 percent still undecided.Â
        With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
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