From www.theweeklyweek.com
Want To Know Why Pot Is Illegal? Ask Your Governor (Again)
I’d like to give you seven specific reasons why the use of cannabis by adults — including seriously ill patients — remains a crime in America. Ready? Here they are:
Governor Donald Carcieri (R-Rhode Island)
Governor James Douglas (R-Vermont)
Governor Linda Lingle (R-Hawaii)
Governor John Lynch (D-New Hampshire)
Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minnesota)
Governor Jodi Rell (R-Connecticut)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-California)
Each of these Governors have single-handedly opted to kill marijuana law reform legislation in their states — either by the stroke of a pen (Carcieri, Lingle, Rell, Schwarzenegger) or by applying enough legislative pressure to abruptly halt ‘pro-pot’ proposals from ever reaching their desk.
Showing posts with label marijuana truths. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marijuana truths. Show all posts
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Money: An illusion, a shadow of something else
The following is a(R)evolutionScape Bulletin. I love these guys.
Here is their site: http://www.RevolutionScape.com
Money: An illusion, a shadow of something else...
There is a science of getting rich, and it is an exact science, like algebra or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process of acquiring riches, and once these laws are learned and obeyed by anyone, that person will get rich with mathematical certainty. - Wallace D. Wattles.
The first step to having wealth is to know what it is. And few people know what it really is, in and of itself. What is wealth? What causes it? What causes the cause of it? Let us start with money, the world's symbol of wealth, and then move deeper.
Money is not real.
Money is merely legal tender, a form of exchange. We use it to exchange value. It represents value.
Money is the 'body' of value. It is the physical representation of value that rises and falls in ourselves, within us. Not within 'things' outside of us, but within us. For without us, what can the value of a thing, such as a car, be to us? Nothing, at least not to us. In other words, it is we, the observers, that place value in things, but this value is really value in us - we give value to the material things. The material things have no 'money' value in themselves - we give that to them. So, money is the external physical representation of a particular section of our internal value, within us, within you. That is why a house or a block of shares valued at $1 million today can fall to a valuation of half a million dollars tomorrow when fear is introduced into the hearts of those involved. The fear kills a portion of the internal values of the participants and that is reflected by the paper money, the 'body' of value.
Here is something else: physical paper money does not even represent money in full. It cannot reasonably do that. By some estimates (and this varies from nation to nation), only as little as 4% of the money in the banks exists as paper cash. Imagine how much cotton, linen, pulp, and metal the world would need so as to make all the money everyone has in his or her bank accounts. Imagine how much space it would take to store all this money in paper form. If you were to stack only one million US$1 bills, it would weight one ton and be 361 ft high. Neither does money exist as gold reserves any more. This is for exactly the same reason - we ran out of the reasonable ability to keep a gold standard in the 1970s.
So what does it exist as, the money that we are always talking about? Well, it is one massive illusion. It is all just numbers written on paper and computer storage devices, and assigned to people and entities such as companies and investments, or more accurately, further records! To put it in another way, for every $100 or its equivalent in any other currency, only about $4 exists as printed-paper notes or coins, while the remaining $96 exists as numbers written on papers and computers in banks and businesses and other entities. The only reason this system does not collapse is that we all believe in it. The last time people stopped believing in it in a large enough extent was just before the Great Depression when large numbers of people rushed to their banks to withdraw their money and found that they could not all get it. This is not what caused the Great Depression, but it in a large way accelerated it.
So, money is not real - something else is. Money is just the shadow of that other something. The first step to wealth is to know what money really is, or more accurately, what it represents. Learn not to look at the money most of the time. As you will soon see, it is very rare in a day that you should ever look at money as you know it today - the cash, the bank accounts, the costs, etc. This is merely the shadow and not the real thing. Looking at the shadow, the physical money, as you will soon see, is most of the time very unwise and unhealthy for you and your finances.
Look, instead, at the value within you and within people, and the flowing and exchanging of this value between people. Our internal value, is what creates money. Money is the shadow of our internal value. Develop this internal value in yourself and in others and your external money and wealth will correspondingly rise automatically, without fail.
Know this however: Money represents an aspect of a person's internal value, but that does not mean that it represents a person's entire internal value. That is very important. It is not about self-worth. Money only represents an aspect of that internal value that pertains to wealth. You cannot therefore say that a wealthy person has a higher self-worth and value than a poor person, but you can correctly say that in matters that relate and pertain to money, the wealthy person has a higher internal value in that aspect of value or that the person chooses to exercise a higher proportion of this internal value. This section of internal value that reflects on the outside as money, when exercised, is called Wealth Consciousness. It is available to all people equally and can be developed by and within all people equally. Like everything else that is important to our being alive, such as air, wealth consciousness is free to all. But you can choose to develop it or not develop it, or to exercise it or not. At any time, you can change your choice, and nothing outside of you can stop you.
You require nothing outside of yourself to increase your wealth consciousness, and therefore your money. All you need is within you right now. You may have forgotten it, but it is right there. You will now remember it. And the first step to that is to always remember that money is not real; it is the shadow of something else.
And here is another secret: Wealth consciousness is simply the expansion of your consciousness and awareness into the wealthy parts of your Self. That is why all that you need to increase your wealth consciousness is within you already. You are already wealthy, but you have been taught to choose to not experience your wealth. This insight changes everything. Like the wealthy people, you can now know how to and choose to start experiencing the wealthy you.
You have more wealth capability within you than you can possibly experience in a lifetime. You need not worry that you have reached your limit of becoming wealthy in any way or because of any condition. Neither do you need to know how to convert wealth consciousness into paper cash money - as you will see, it will happen automatically. All you need to do is expand your wealth consciousness and exercise it, act on it, be it, and the situations and opportunities for the equivalent conversion into cash money will present themselves automatically to you. None of the extremely wealthy people today could have, at the time when they were not wealthy, possibly predicted and planned the exact sequence of events that would lead to their immense wealth. They most probably had a set of goals and a plan, but any one of them will tell you that they met countless 'coincidences' and opportunities that 'joined the dots' for them in ways they could never have predicted. Their goals were their own doing, but the paths that led to them coming into being, and exceeding them, we amazingly intelligent yet unforeseen. You shall now see how to make them happen in your life - you may not be able to predict their sequence, but you can certainly make these 'fortunate coincidences' happen to you every day of your life.
By the way, it is not only paper money that is not real. A lot of the things around you that you hold so real are really not real at all either. You are about to embark on a beautiful, empowering and liberating journey that will show you exactly what your world is in a way that you have never looked at it before. It is a journey that will open your eyes and free your wings. You are about to look 'under the hood' of the Life, you are about to learn how to customize your world to your liking.
You are about to attain Wealth Consciousness. Once you do, avoiding success and wealth will become very difficult. Yes, you read that correctly. Once you have wealth consciousness, it will be very difficult for you to not have success and wealth. Success and wealth will follow you automatically wherever you go. You will not need to concern yourself with their quest, yet they will find you. You will be free to experience other aspects of life that you may not have even dreamt of before, dimensions of Self and Life that are truly amazing. The same goes with happiness, for you will see it here in this book as well.
Let us now get started on the real stuff, if you are still interested...
The Steps To Wealth and Happiness
You are now on a journey, at the end of which you shall know how to create all the wealth and happiness you ever wished for, Now, without any limits. You shall soon also know many timeless truths about who you really are, what you are doing here, and what this game of life is all about. Here are the steps of the journey you are now taking with this book:
1. You shall first take a simplified look at Quantum Physics, for knowing what you and the world are made of is the first key to knowing how to make it your way. After this, you will never look at the world in the same way again. You shall have an amazing sense of involvement and power in the universe...
2. Then the secrets of time shall be unveiled, beginning with the fact that time does not exist. You shall learn how to use this illusion instead of being used by it. There is only Now...
3. You now will learn how to create your universe out of the quantum field using images of your mind. This is the first part of the creation lessons.
4. You then learn how to create using your thoughts. You will learn the right way to think, and what the mind is really for, and when to shut it down for your own benefit...
5. You will then look at the power of true goal setting in the thousands, in a way you may never heard before, a most powerful way...
6. Next will come the most powerful creation tool of all, your state of Being...
7. The final creation tool, action, will then be uncovered in it's true position and purpose to you...
8. You shall then learn the magical and vital ingredient of certainty, and learn how to have it in plenty...
9. Now, it will be time to look at the prime Law of the Universe and how to use it to have happiness and wealth in abundance. The is the law of Cause and Effect...
10. While still in this law, we shall look at what conditions really are. This will shock you, make you laugh, empower you, and free you...
11. While still on conditions, you shall see how you are and shall realize ever-present success and never fail...
12. Then, you shall look at a prime killer of wealth and happiness and how to totally avoid it...
13. You will then move on to progressively larger things. You will start with your self-chosen Purpose here on earth. Why did you come here? You shall see...
14. Then the gift of giving and the gifts it brings in return will be fully given to you...
15. The power of gratitude Now shall be unveiled. This will prove to be extremely powerful for you...
16. Finally, it will be time to look at Consciousness, what makes you Here, Now, awake...
17. And then it shall get really interesting when you have a look at your Self, the First Cause of all that is in your world. Get familiar with your Self and your world will change dramatically...
18. After that, you shall see what is larger than the Self, that which you and all else are part of. It is the One. Knowing how you relate to All That Is, The Source, then experiencing this, will put you in a position of immense joy and abundance...
19. And on that note, you shall see how abundant you really are...
20. From there, you shall look at your real nature and how to reclaim it. It is the nature of pure joy...
21. Then, coming around full circle, you shall see how to best handle paper money, as you know it now, to increase wealth...
22. And to close this part of this journey, you will be guided into the next empowering steps you may wish to take after you first finish this book...
How to read and understand this book
The way to understand this book is to read it once in its entirety. As you read, you will have many questions, and some things may not make sense to you when you read them. Never mind; just keep going. Further chapters will make clear some things that you may have not understood or found true in earlier chapters. Language is a linear thing, yet wealth consciousness is wholeness, a non-linear whole, and one whereby step one may be connected to step seven and so on. And wealth consciousness is a state of being, while language is a symbol; states have to be experienced and symbols cannot represent experience accurately - they can only show the way, be a guide. So, as you read it you will find many amazing things that make sense right then, but it will only totally make sense when you finish this book and have the whole of it in you. That is when you will start to go ah-ha!
Once you read it fully, read it again slowly. In the second read you will be able to more fully understand things, since you now will have the whole in you. The material you will find in this book contains many layers of understanding. What you understand today will reveal an even deeper hidden truth, application and identification when you read it again tomorrow. Read a small part of this book every day, even after you finish it the first time, and your internalization of wealth and happiness and becoming of wealth and happiness will accelerate.
The other thing you should do is to not only read with your logical mind but to also feel the lessons in this book. Some of the things in this book are logical, but many pertain to a realm where logic cannot fully grasp, yet your Self knows it all and perfectly understands. As you read this book, keep yourself open, feel the essence of what you read. Many things will not make sense to your brain, for it is finite and four-dimensional. Some things are infinite and multidimensional and only your Self will know them because it is multidimensional and infinite in nature. Sometimes you will feel that you understand something at a deeper level, but your mind cannot picture it, yet you understand deeply somewhere. Honor the deeper level, for the mind may never fully grasp it any way. In any case, your mind is a tool, but all you know is in your Self. You are a Self with a mind as a powerful tool, as long as it does not take over you. However, most people have unfortunately identified with the mind and believe they are their mind - and that is where the trouble and limitations start. You shall now go higher than that.
Read this book and take it to heart, live by it. And wealth, affluence and abundance will automatically come to you in ways and amounts you never before imagined possible, by laws that never fail. Carry it around with you where possible. Leave it by your bedside and read it for a few minutes every morning when you get up and at night before you go to sleep. When you are done, start again, a few pages every day. Repetition causes internalization, making it your second nature.
You will understand this book to the extent that you are willing.
Ready? Still interested? Lets begin...
This text was extracted from the book A Happy Pocket Full of Money
Here is their site: http://www.RevolutionScape.com
Money: An illusion, a shadow of something else...
There is a science of getting rich, and it is an exact science, like algebra or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process of acquiring riches, and once these laws are learned and obeyed by anyone, that person will get rich with mathematical certainty. - Wallace D. Wattles.
The first step to having wealth is to know what it is. And few people know what it really is, in and of itself. What is wealth? What causes it? What causes the cause of it? Let us start with money, the world's symbol of wealth, and then move deeper.
Money is not real.
Money is merely legal tender, a form of exchange. We use it to exchange value. It represents value.
Money is the 'body' of value. It is the physical representation of value that rises and falls in ourselves, within us. Not within 'things' outside of us, but within us. For without us, what can the value of a thing, such as a car, be to us? Nothing, at least not to us. In other words, it is we, the observers, that place value in things, but this value is really value in us - we give value to the material things. The material things have no 'money' value in themselves - we give that to them. So, money is the external physical representation of a particular section of our internal value, within us, within you. That is why a house or a block of shares valued at $1 million today can fall to a valuation of half a million dollars tomorrow when fear is introduced into the hearts of those involved. The fear kills a portion of the internal values of the participants and that is reflected by the paper money, the 'body' of value.
Here is something else: physical paper money does not even represent money in full. It cannot reasonably do that. By some estimates (and this varies from nation to nation), only as little as 4% of the money in the banks exists as paper cash. Imagine how much cotton, linen, pulp, and metal the world would need so as to make all the money everyone has in his or her bank accounts. Imagine how much space it would take to store all this money in paper form. If you were to stack only one million US$1 bills, it would weight one ton and be 361 ft high. Neither does money exist as gold reserves any more. This is for exactly the same reason - we ran out of the reasonable ability to keep a gold standard in the 1970s.
So what does it exist as, the money that we are always talking about? Well, it is one massive illusion. It is all just numbers written on paper and computer storage devices, and assigned to people and entities such as companies and investments, or more accurately, further records! To put it in another way, for every $100 or its equivalent in any other currency, only about $4 exists as printed-paper notes or coins, while the remaining $96 exists as numbers written on papers and computers in banks and businesses and other entities. The only reason this system does not collapse is that we all believe in it. The last time people stopped believing in it in a large enough extent was just before the Great Depression when large numbers of people rushed to their banks to withdraw their money and found that they could not all get it. This is not what caused the Great Depression, but it in a large way accelerated it.
So, money is not real - something else is. Money is just the shadow of that other something. The first step to wealth is to know what money really is, or more accurately, what it represents. Learn not to look at the money most of the time. As you will soon see, it is very rare in a day that you should ever look at money as you know it today - the cash, the bank accounts, the costs, etc. This is merely the shadow and not the real thing. Looking at the shadow, the physical money, as you will soon see, is most of the time very unwise and unhealthy for you and your finances.
Look, instead, at the value within you and within people, and the flowing and exchanging of this value between people. Our internal value, is what creates money. Money is the shadow of our internal value. Develop this internal value in yourself and in others and your external money and wealth will correspondingly rise automatically, without fail.
Know this however: Money represents an aspect of a person's internal value, but that does not mean that it represents a person's entire internal value. That is very important. It is not about self-worth. Money only represents an aspect of that internal value that pertains to wealth. You cannot therefore say that a wealthy person has a higher self-worth and value than a poor person, but you can correctly say that in matters that relate and pertain to money, the wealthy person has a higher internal value in that aspect of value or that the person chooses to exercise a higher proportion of this internal value. This section of internal value that reflects on the outside as money, when exercised, is called Wealth Consciousness. It is available to all people equally and can be developed by and within all people equally. Like everything else that is important to our being alive, such as air, wealth consciousness is free to all. But you can choose to develop it or not develop it, or to exercise it or not. At any time, you can change your choice, and nothing outside of you can stop you.
You require nothing outside of yourself to increase your wealth consciousness, and therefore your money. All you need is within you right now. You may have forgotten it, but it is right there. You will now remember it. And the first step to that is to always remember that money is not real; it is the shadow of something else.
And here is another secret: Wealth consciousness is simply the expansion of your consciousness and awareness into the wealthy parts of your Self. That is why all that you need to increase your wealth consciousness is within you already. You are already wealthy, but you have been taught to choose to not experience your wealth. This insight changes everything. Like the wealthy people, you can now know how to and choose to start experiencing the wealthy you.
You have more wealth capability within you than you can possibly experience in a lifetime. You need not worry that you have reached your limit of becoming wealthy in any way or because of any condition. Neither do you need to know how to convert wealth consciousness into paper cash money - as you will see, it will happen automatically. All you need to do is expand your wealth consciousness and exercise it, act on it, be it, and the situations and opportunities for the equivalent conversion into cash money will present themselves automatically to you. None of the extremely wealthy people today could have, at the time when they were not wealthy, possibly predicted and planned the exact sequence of events that would lead to their immense wealth. They most probably had a set of goals and a plan, but any one of them will tell you that they met countless 'coincidences' and opportunities that 'joined the dots' for them in ways they could never have predicted. Their goals were their own doing, but the paths that led to them coming into being, and exceeding them, we amazingly intelligent yet unforeseen. You shall now see how to make them happen in your life - you may not be able to predict their sequence, but you can certainly make these 'fortunate coincidences' happen to you every day of your life.
By the way, it is not only paper money that is not real. A lot of the things around you that you hold so real are really not real at all either. You are about to embark on a beautiful, empowering and liberating journey that will show you exactly what your world is in a way that you have never looked at it before. It is a journey that will open your eyes and free your wings. You are about to look 'under the hood' of the Life, you are about to learn how to customize your world to your liking.
You are about to attain Wealth Consciousness. Once you do, avoiding success and wealth will become very difficult. Yes, you read that correctly. Once you have wealth consciousness, it will be very difficult for you to not have success and wealth. Success and wealth will follow you automatically wherever you go. You will not need to concern yourself with their quest, yet they will find you. You will be free to experience other aspects of life that you may not have even dreamt of before, dimensions of Self and Life that are truly amazing. The same goes with happiness, for you will see it here in this book as well.
Let us now get started on the real stuff, if you are still interested...
The Steps To Wealth and Happiness
You are now on a journey, at the end of which you shall know how to create all the wealth and happiness you ever wished for, Now, without any limits. You shall soon also know many timeless truths about who you really are, what you are doing here, and what this game of life is all about. Here are the steps of the journey you are now taking with this book:
1. You shall first take a simplified look at Quantum Physics, for knowing what you and the world are made of is the first key to knowing how to make it your way. After this, you will never look at the world in the same way again. You shall have an amazing sense of involvement and power in the universe...
2. Then the secrets of time shall be unveiled, beginning with the fact that time does not exist. You shall learn how to use this illusion instead of being used by it. There is only Now...
3. You now will learn how to create your universe out of the quantum field using images of your mind. This is the first part of the creation lessons.
4. You then learn how to create using your thoughts. You will learn the right way to think, and what the mind is really for, and when to shut it down for your own benefit...
5. You will then look at the power of true goal setting in the thousands, in a way you may never heard before, a most powerful way...
6. Next will come the most powerful creation tool of all, your state of Being...
7. The final creation tool, action, will then be uncovered in it's true position and purpose to you...
8. You shall then learn the magical and vital ingredient of certainty, and learn how to have it in plenty...
9. Now, it will be time to look at the prime Law of the Universe and how to use it to have happiness and wealth in abundance. The is the law of Cause and Effect...
10. While still in this law, we shall look at what conditions really are. This will shock you, make you laugh, empower you, and free you...
11. While still on conditions, you shall see how you are and shall realize ever-present success and never fail...
12. Then, you shall look at a prime killer of wealth and happiness and how to totally avoid it...
13. You will then move on to progressively larger things. You will start with your self-chosen Purpose here on earth. Why did you come here? You shall see...
14. Then the gift of giving and the gifts it brings in return will be fully given to you...
15. The power of gratitude Now shall be unveiled. This will prove to be extremely powerful for you...
16. Finally, it will be time to look at Consciousness, what makes you Here, Now, awake...
17. And then it shall get really interesting when you have a look at your Self, the First Cause of all that is in your world. Get familiar with your Self and your world will change dramatically...
18. After that, you shall see what is larger than the Self, that which you and all else are part of. It is the One. Knowing how you relate to All That Is, The Source, then experiencing this, will put you in a position of immense joy and abundance...
19. And on that note, you shall see how abundant you really are...
20. From there, you shall look at your real nature and how to reclaim it. It is the nature of pure joy...
21. Then, coming around full circle, you shall see how to best handle paper money, as you know it now, to increase wealth...
22. And to close this part of this journey, you will be guided into the next empowering steps you may wish to take after you first finish this book...
How to read and understand this book
The way to understand this book is to read it once in its entirety. As you read, you will have many questions, and some things may not make sense to you when you read them. Never mind; just keep going. Further chapters will make clear some things that you may have not understood or found true in earlier chapters. Language is a linear thing, yet wealth consciousness is wholeness, a non-linear whole, and one whereby step one may be connected to step seven and so on. And wealth consciousness is a state of being, while language is a symbol; states have to be experienced and symbols cannot represent experience accurately - they can only show the way, be a guide. So, as you read it you will find many amazing things that make sense right then, but it will only totally make sense when you finish this book and have the whole of it in you. That is when you will start to go ah-ha!
Once you read it fully, read it again slowly. In the second read you will be able to more fully understand things, since you now will have the whole in you. The material you will find in this book contains many layers of understanding. What you understand today will reveal an even deeper hidden truth, application and identification when you read it again tomorrow. Read a small part of this book every day, even after you finish it the first time, and your internalization of wealth and happiness and becoming of wealth and happiness will accelerate.
The other thing you should do is to not only read with your logical mind but to also feel the lessons in this book. Some of the things in this book are logical, but many pertain to a realm where logic cannot fully grasp, yet your Self knows it all and perfectly understands. As you read this book, keep yourself open, feel the essence of what you read. Many things will not make sense to your brain, for it is finite and four-dimensional. Some things are infinite and multidimensional and only your Self will know them because it is multidimensional and infinite in nature. Sometimes you will feel that you understand something at a deeper level, but your mind cannot picture it, yet you understand deeply somewhere. Honor the deeper level, for the mind may never fully grasp it any way. In any case, your mind is a tool, but all you know is in your Self. You are a Self with a mind as a powerful tool, as long as it does not take over you. However, most people have unfortunately identified with the mind and believe they are their mind - and that is where the trouble and limitations start. You shall now go higher than that.
Read this book and take it to heart, live by it. And wealth, affluence and abundance will automatically come to you in ways and amounts you never before imagined possible, by laws that never fail. Carry it around with you where possible. Leave it by your bedside and read it for a few minutes every morning when you get up and at night before you go to sleep. When you are done, start again, a few pages every day. Repetition causes internalization, making it your second nature.
You will understand this book to the extent that you are willing.
Ready? Still interested? Lets begin...
This text was extracted from the book A Happy Pocket Full of Money
Friday, May 8, 2009
CA Gov. "Its time to debate legalizing marijuana." & Mexican Congress Passes... read for more
We are witnessing a lot of change that many thought would be impossible to see in our life time- if they thought it could happen at all! Every week I hear more and more about this subject and the positive implications. Please read and share what you head lines interest you the most. This is a very exciting period in history.
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
________________________________________________
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
Sacramento, CA: Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced this week that he believes that California legislators ought to publicly debate the merits of taxing and regulating the production and sale of cannabis for adults.
"I think it's time for a debate (regarding taxing and regulating the sale of cannabis for adults)," Schwarzenegger said. (*Note: his comments come at the very end of the video.) "I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I'm always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did it have on those countries? ... It could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we could look at that."
The Governor's remarks came less than one week after a Field Research Corporation poll of 901 registered voters reported that 56 percent of Californians agree with the statement: "Legalize marijuana for recreational use and tax its proceeds."
A separate Zogby poll of approximately 4,000 voters released this week indicates that just over half of Americans nationally support legalizing marijuana.
Current estimates indicate that California's budget deficit will grow to $28 billion by the end of the 2009/2010 state budget year.
In February, California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced legislation — Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act — to tax the commercial production and retail sale of cannabis.
A fiscal analysis of this proposal by the State Board of Equalization estimates that AB 390 could raise more than $1.3 billion yearly in tax revenue for the state of California.
Last week Oakland City Council members approved a 1.8 percent tax on medicinal marijuana sold by the city's four licensed dispensaries. Lawmakers believe that the tax could generate between $400,000 and $1 million annually for the city.
The citywide measure will be decided upon by voters on July 21, 2009.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Deputy Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=paul@norml.org. ________________________________________________________
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican lawmakers enacted legislation last week to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of controlled substances. The measure now goes to Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his approval.
As passed, the proposal would eliminate criminal penalties for the personal possession of up to five grams of marijuana, as well as minor quantities of other drugs.
The legislation also authorizes state and local police to enforce drug trafficking laws. Under current law, only federal police (about five percent of Mexico's law enforcement personnel) may arrest individuals suspected of selling drugs.
In 2006, Mexico's Congress passed a virtually identical measure, only to have it vetoed by former President Vincente Fox, who stated, "Congress ... [needs] ... to make it absolutely clear in our country [that] the possession of drugs and their consumption [is], and will continue to be, a criminal offense." Fox's veto came after political pressure from members of the US State Department who warned that enacting such a law could promote so-called "drug tourism."
Last month, Mexico's ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told CBS's Face the Nation that legalizing marijuana could potentially quell ongoing border violence. "This (legalization) is a debate that needs to be taken seriously – that we have to engage in on both sides of the border," he said.
However after meeting with Calderon days later, United States government officials said that the option of the US liberalizing its pot laws is "not on the table." The White House instead proposed increased efforts to curb domestic drug demand, and also called for expanding the use of 'drug courts' and coerced drug treatment.
According to the Associated Press, Mexican drug cartels now derive an estimated 60 percent of their income from illicit pot sales.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.
_________________________________________________________
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
Augusta, ME: Democrat Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation on Friday expanding the state's longstanding marijuana 'decriminalization' law.
Under current law, possession of up to 1.25 ounces of marijuana is treated as an infraction, punishable by a fine of no more than $600. Defendants who possess greater amounts are presumed to be engaging in the sale of cannabis and face criminal penalties and potential jail time.
The newly approved legislation (LD 250) states that the possession of over 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces of marijuana will also be defined as a civil offense, punishable by a fine of $700 to $1,000 dollars. (Civil fines for the possession of less than 1.25 ounces of marijuana will remain the same.) The new law also removes the inference that the possession of quantities of marijuana above 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces is presumed to be for sale.
"Maine's new law will save prosecutorial resources and it makes common sense," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. "It is expensive and illogical to presume that minor marijuana offenders are criminal traffickers. Kudos to the Maine legislature and to the Governor for supporting this effort to revise the state's longstanding cannabis decriminalization law."
The new law takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the state legislature.
To date, 13 states – including Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Ohio – have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization, replacing criminal penalties and jail time for the personal possession of cannabis with the imposition of nominal fines. Only one state, Ohio, treats the possession of more than 2.5 ounces of cannabis as a fine-only (no jail) offense.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at, (202) 483-5500.
__________________________________________________________
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
Bill Waschko reached to the shelf of vintage medicine bottles at his family’s century-old drug store in Hazleton and pulled down one labeled “Cannabis.”
The powdered extract of marijuana was bottled by Eli Lilly and Co., but although the bottle is empty and the label has no date, marijuana was a legal drug around the country until 1937.
A bill in the state House of Representatives would make marijuana legal again for medical uses, emulating action already taken in 13 states and also proposed in New York and New Jersey.
The Pennsylvania bill, sponsored by Reps. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, and Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, would set up compassion centers for growing and distributing marijuana to patients who had registered identification cards. Physicians would give written statements to patients whom they believe would benefit medically from using marijuana, but they would not write prescriptions, which could subject them to federal prosecution.
They would have a (marijuana) clinic like a methadone clinic,” suggested George Waschko, Bill’s brother and the pharmacist at Waschko’s Pharmacy.
George Waschko said the possible medical uses of marijuana include treating glaucoma and nausea caused by chemotherapy given to cancer patients.
The bill also lists marijuana as a treatment for wasting due to AIDS and for chronic pain, seizures and Crohn’s disease.
Tom Dougherty, a pharmacist at Valley Pharmacy in Sugarloaf, remembers marijuana was in the dispensary at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia while he was a student.
“It sat there. We had to count it every month. We never used it,” Dougherty said.
Dougherty wonders whether there is a great medical need for marijuana or whether it would be “an orphan drug where you have six patients who need it in Pennsylvania.”
The Medical Board of California, which in 1996 became the first state to re-legalize marijuana, issued a statement in 2004 calling medical marijuana an emerging treatment.
Ed Pane, director of Serento Gardens Alcoholism and Drug Services in Hazleton, supports the use of marijuana for medical purposes only and said numerous patients might benefit from it.
He said marijuana can reduce vomiting in chemotherapy patients, and treat migraines and the spasms of multiple sclerosis, “which can be extremely painful.”
Three hundred thousand Americans have multiple sclerosis, and 1.25 million people are diagnosed yearly with cancer, Pane wrote in a paper this fall for a class he is taking while earning a master’s degree.
Marijuana “helps individuals to put on weight and handle food and cuts down on the need for pain medication by enhancing what the person is taking. It doesn’t make the medication stronger to the point of overdose, but makes it more effective,” Pane said in an interview Friday.
While 32,000 people die yearly from prescription medicines, including overdoses and allergic reactions, no one ever has died from an overdose of marijuana, he said.
States can make money by taxing medical marijuana and save the expenses of prosecuting patients who use marijuana, but Pane still wants Pennsylvania to prohibit abuse of the drug.
“Street dealing under any guise needs to be illegal,” he said. “From my standpoint, it breaks my heart when I see kids using it. They’re not going to grow up emotionally. It becomes a means of handling problems. www.citizensvoice.com
___________________________________________________________________
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
CONCORD – House supporters of legalizing medical marijuana for chronic or terminally ill patients slowed their campaign Wednesday after fearing Gov. John Lynch would veto the bill (HB 648) as the state Senate had passed it.
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to create a team of legislative negotiators to try and work out differences between the two branches.
State Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, said there's broad agreement among House and Senate supporters.
The goal of the working group, she said, would be to try and address eight specific problems Lynch and his staff identified during private meetings with House supporters earlier this week.
Full story and Bill No. HB 648 at a glance here:
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090507/NEWS02/305079899/-1/XML15
__________________________________________________________________
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
WASHINGTON D.C. - A new Zogby poll commissioned by the conservative-leaning O'Leary Report has found 52 percent voter support for treating marijuana as a legal, taxed, regulated substance. The survey, published as a full-page ad in today's issue of the political newspaper The Hill, polled a sample of 3,937 voters weighted to match the 2008 presidential outcome -- 54 percent Obama voters and 46 percent McCain supporters.
"This new survey continues the recent trend of strong and growing support for taxing and regulating marijuana and ending the disastrously failed policy of prohibition," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.
Voters were asked: "Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"
The results showed a decisive majority of 52 percent in favor with 37 percent opposed and 11 percent not sure -- slightly higher than the 46 percent support reported in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released at the end of April.
In California, the respected Field poll recently found 56 percent support for making marijuana a taxed, regulated product that is legal for adults.
"Voters are coming to realize that marijuana prohibition gives us the worst of all possible worlds -- a drug that's widely available but totally unregulated, whose producers and sellers pay no taxes but whose profits often support murderous drug cartels," Kampia said.
"The public is way ahead of the politicians on this."
With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers 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.
http://www.salem-news.com/
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
________________________________________________
1. California: Governor Says It's Time To Debate Legalizing Marijuana
Sacramento, CA: Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced this week that he believes that California legislators ought to publicly debate the merits of taxing and regulating the production and sale of cannabis for adults.
"I think it's time for a debate (regarding taxing and regulating the sale of cannabis for adults)," Schwarzenegger said. (*Note: his comments come at the very end of the video.) "I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I'm always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did it have on those countries? ... It could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we could look at that."
The Governor's remarks came less than one week after a Field Research Corporation poll of 901 registered voters reported that 56 percent of Californians agree with the statement: "Legalize marijuana for recreational use and tax its proceeds."
A separate Zogby poll of approximately 4,000 voters released this week indicates that just over half of Americans nationally support legalizing marijuana.
Current estimates indicate that California's budget deficit will grow to $28 billion by the end of the 2009/2010 state budget year.
In February, California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced legislation — Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act — to tax the commercial production and retail sale of cannabis.
A fiscal analysis of this proposal by the State Board of Equalization estimates that AB 390 could raise more than $1.3 billion yearly in tax revenue for the state of California.
Last week Oakland City Council members approved a 1.8 percent tax on medicinal marijuana sold by the city's four licensed dispensaries. Lawmakers believe that the tax could generate between $400,000 and $1 million annually for the city.
The citywide measure will be decided upon by voters on July 21, 2009.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Deputy Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: http://us.mc01g.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=paul@norml.org. ________________________________________________________
2. Mexican Congress Passes Drug Decriminalization Measure
Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican lawmakers enacted legislation last week to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of controlled substances. The measure now goes to Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his approval.
As passed, the proposal would eliminate criminal penalties for the personal possession of up to five grams of marijuana, as well as minor quantities of other drugs.
The legislation also authorizes state and local police to enforce drug trafficking laws. Under current law, only federal police (about five percent of Mexico's law enforcement personnel) may arrest individuals suspected of selling drugs.
In 2006, Mexico's Congress passed a virtually identical measure, only to have it vetoed by former President Vincente Fox, who stated, "Congress ... [needs] ... to make it absolutely clear in our country [that] the possession of drugs and their consumption [is], and will continue to be, a criminal offense." Fox's veto came after political pressure from members of the US State Department who warned that enacting such a law could promote so-called "drug tourism."
Last month, Mexico's ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told CBS's Face the Nation that legalizing marijuana could potentially quell ongoing border violence. "This (legalization) is a debate that needs to be taken seriously – that we have to engage in on both sides of the border," he said.
However after meeting with Calderon days later, United States government officials said that the option of the US liberalizing its pot laws is "not on the table." The White House instead proposed increased efforts to curb domestic drug demand, and also called for expanding the use of 'drug courts' and coerced drug treatment.
According to the Associated Press, Mexican drug cartels now derive an estimated 60 percent of their income from illicit pot sales.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.
_________________________________________________________
3. Maine: Lawmakers Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law
Augusta, ME: Democrat Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation on Friday expanding the state's longstanding marijuana 'decriminalization' law.
Under current law, possession of up to 1.25 ounces of marijuana is treated as an infraction, punishable by a fine of no more than $600. Defendants who possess greater amounts are presumed to be engaging in the sale of cannabis and face criminal penalties and potential jail time.
The newly approved legislation (LD 250) states that the possession of over 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces of marijuana will also be defined as a civil offense, punishable by a fine of $700 to $1,000 dollars. (Civil fines for the possession of less than 1.25 ounces of marijuana will remain the same.) The new law also removes the inference that the possession of quantities of marijuana above 1.25 ounces but less than 2.5 ounces is presumed to be for sale.
"Maine's new law will save prosecutorial resources and it makes common sense," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. "It is expensive and illogical to presume that minor marijuana offenders are criminal traffickers. Kudos to the Maine legislature and to the Governor for supporting this effort to revise the state's longstanding cannabis decriminalization law."
The new law takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the state legislature.
To date, 13 states – including Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Ohio – have enacted versions of marijuana decriminalization, replacing criminal penalties and jail time for the personal possession of cannabis with the imposition of nominal fines. Only one state, Ohio, treats the possession of more than 2.5 ounces of cannabis as a fine-only (no jail) offense.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at, (202) 483-5500.
__________________________________________________________
4. PA: Bill In State House Would Make Marijuana Legal For Medical Use
Bill Waschko reached to the shelf of vintage medicine bottles at his family’s century-old drug store in Hazleton and pulled down one labeled “Cannabis.”
The powdered extract of marijuana was bottled by Eli Lilly and Co., but although the bottle is empty and the label has no date, marijuana was a legal drug around the country until 1937.
A bill in the state House of Representatives would make marijuana legal again for medical uses, emulating action already taken in 13 states and also proposed in New York and New Jersey.
The Pennsylvania bill, sponsored by Reps. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, and Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, would set up compassion centers for growing and distributing marijuana to patients who had registered identification cards. Physicians would give written statements to patients whom they believe would benefit medically from using marijuana, but they would not write prescriptions, which could subject them to federal prosecution.
They would have a (marijuana) clinic like a methadone clinic,” suggested George Waschko, Bill’s brother and the pharmacist at Waschko’s Pharmacy.
George Waschko said the possible medical uses of marijuana include treating glaucoma and nausea caused by chemotherapy given to cancer patients.
The bill also lists marijuana as a treatment for wasting due to AIDS and for chronic pain, seizures and Crohn’s disease.
Tom Dougherty, a pharmacist at Valley Pharmacy in Sugarloaf, remembers marijuana was in the dispensary at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia while he was a student.
“It sat there. We had to count it every month. We never used it,” Dougherty said.
Dougherty wonders whether there is a great medical need for marijuana or whether it would be “an orphan drug where you have six patients who need it in Pennsylvania.”
The Medical Board of California, which in 1996 became the first state to re-legalize marijuana, issued a statement in 2004 calling medical marijuana an emerging treatment.
Ed Pane, director of Serento Gardens Alcoholism and Drug Services in Hazleton, supports the use of marijuana for medical purposes only and said numerous patients might benefit from it.
He said marijuana can reduce vomiting in chemotherapy patients, and treat migraines and the spasms of multiple sclerosis, “which can be extremely painful.”
Three hundred thousand Americans have multiple sclerosis, and 1.25 million people are diagnosed yearly with cancer, Pane wrote in a paper this fall for a class he is taking while earning a master’s degree.
Marijuana “helps individuals to put on weight and handle food and cuts down on the need for pain medication by enhancing what the person is taking. It doesn’t make the medication stronger to the point of overdose, but makes it more effective,” Pane said in an interview Friday.
While 32,000 people die yearly from prescription medicines, including overdoses and allergic reactions, no one ever has died from an overdose of marijuana, he said.
States can make money by taxing medical marijuana and save the expenses of prosecuting patients who use marijuana, but Pane still wants Pennsylvania to prohibit abuse of the drug.
“Street dealing under any guise needs to be illegal,” he said. “From my standpoint, it breaks my heart when I see kids using it. They’re not going to grow up emotionally. It becomes a means of handling problems. www.citizensvoice.com
___________________________________________________________________
5. NH House creates team to work out pot bill
CONCORD – House supporters of legalizing medical marijuana for chronic or terminally ill patients slowed their campaign Wednesday after fearing Gov. John Lynch would veto the bill (HB 648) as the state Senate had passed it.
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to create a team of legislative negotiators to try and work out differences between the two branches.
State Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, said there's broad agreement among House and Senate supporters.
The goal of the working group, she said, would be to try and address eight specific problems Lynch and his staff identified during private meetings with House supporters earlier this week.
Full story and Bill No. HB 648 at a glance here:
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090507/NEWS02/305079899/-1/XML15
__________________________________________________________________
6. Conservative Poll Shows 52% of Americans Say Legalize Marijuana
WASHINGTON D.C. - A new Zogby poll commissioned by the conservative-leaning O'Leary Report has found 52 percent voter support for treating marijuana as a legal, taxed, regulated substance. The survey, published as a full-page ad in today's issue of the political newspaper The Hill, polled a sample of 3,937 voters weighted to match the 2008 presidential outcome -- 54 percent Obama voters and 46 percent McCain supporters.
"This new survey continues the recent trend of strong and growing support for taxing and regulating marijuana and ending the disastrously failed policy of prohibition," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.
Voters were asked: "Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"
The results showed a decisive majority of 52 percent in favor with 37 percent opposed and 11 percent not sure -- slightly higher than the 46 percent support reported in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released at the end of April.
In California, the respected Field poll recently found 56 percent support for making marijuana a taxed, regulated product that is legal for adults.
"Voters are coming to realize that marijuana prohibition gives us the worst of all possible worlds -- a drug that's widely available but totally unregulated, whose producers and sellers pay no taxes but whose profits often support murderous drug cartels," Kampia said.
"The public is way ahead of the politicians on this."
With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers 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.
http://www.salem-news.com/
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Marijuana: The Simple, Logical Benefits of Legalization
Kudos to Jason Mraz for posting a blog with the link for this article!Marijuana:
The Simple, Logical Benefits of LegalizationThe fact that Marijuana is still illegal in the United States is a farse! And there are more then enough good reasons to legalize Cannabis that dont take a rocket scientist to figure out. This article will highlight this reasons:
August 16, 2006 by Richard Sepulveda
Marijuana is the most recreationally used illegal drug in the United States. It has been estimated that literally millions of otherwise law abiding Americans use the drug to get "high". Still there are millions of others that use the drug to ease their suffering from ailments like:
Insomnia, Cancer, Aids, or chronic aches and pains. While it is true some states have legalized Marijuana for medicinal purposes on the federal level Marijuana remains illegal to: possess, cultivate, import, sell or consume.
Thus doctors that could prescribe it to their patients as a treatment are fearful to do so even though they reside in a state that has medicinally legalized. It is truely ridiculas that Marijuana should be illegal in a nation where Tabbacco kills thousands of people each year from lung cancer and Alcohol causes a majority of fatal car accidents and petty desputes. Especially considering that Marijuana is not as nearly harmful to the body as the negative advertising around it (payed for by alcohol and ciggarette companies by large) would lead someone to believe. In fact In a study deliberately covered up by the U.S. gov't until recently, The National Toxicology Program found no evidence that Marijuana causes cancer. In fact the study proved the exact opposite.
Animals that were exposed to THC (the ancronym that stands for the active chemical in Marijuana also known as Tetrahydrocannabinol) showed less of a risk of getting cancer then those that weren't. Study after study has shown that Marijuana actually decreases a persons risk of getting cancer and that smoking Marijuana does not increase a persons risk of getting any of the cancers associated with smoking. So besides the fact that the drug may actually fight cancer why else should we legalize marijuana? Now I will give you some common sense reasons for legalization:
ECONOMIC REASONS:
Legalizing Marijuana would create a new multi-billion dollar industry in the United States with a substance that can be taxed by the gov't thereby generating more money to fund gov't programs and create more gov't jobs.The currently labor suffering midwest would be saved by Marijuana processing factories requiring large amount of labor creating thousands of new jobs for middle america.
Shipping commerce from middle America to the big cities and their ports for exporting and importing marijuana would increase dramatically.
The increased trade with marijuana producing nations would help to stabalize their struggeling third world economies. This would also help to curve illegal immagration to the states from major marijuana producing nations like Mexico by creating a new mexican industry fresh with new jobs. Lowing incentive for illegal immagrants to cross the border in search of work.
Small businesses that sell marijuana would see increased profits which they have been needing since many former ciggarette smokers are now quitting.
Alcohol and Tabbacco companies would be forced to push their products harder thereby dumping millions of dollars more into advertising.
Televised anti-marijuana ads would be a thing of the past making room for other commercials to advertise their products.
Marijuana can grow almost anywhere thus there is little danger of a weak crop and falling profitsNot to mention that Economists at large have thrown their favor behind legalization.
LEGAL REASONS:
With marijuana users no longer being jailed for possession lots of room would be opened up in our already overcrowded prison system for more hardened offenders such as: murderers, rapists, child molesters and other violent criminals.The Judicial system would no longer be burdened by having to trial cases involving marijuana.The police will be able to allocate more resources to solving more violent crimes.
Since marijuana could be purchased at any drug store after being legalized, violent crimes such as: robbery, drug warfare, contamination of drugs by other substances such as: LSD, PCP and Cocaine could quickly become a thing of the past.
MEDICAL REASONS:Marijuana has been proven on more then one occasion to not cause cancer unlike its legal counterparts tobbacco and alcohol.
Patients suffering from a host of disorders and diseases such as: Cancer, Aids, Chronic pain and insomnia would have easy access to a pain reliever.
The relaxing effects of marijuana use could prevent tension and stress that cause sore muscles and or aggitation and high blood pressure
We can plainly see that marijuana legalizations benefits are boundless I could go one listing for days but until Americans wake up and realize that the true crime surrounding marijuana is the cornering of the market by campaign contributions from Alcohol and Tabbacco companies thereby denying the rest of us the: Jobs, Money, Health and pleasure from legalizing marijuana.
The Simple, Logical Benefits of LegalizationThe fact that Marijuana is still illegal in the United States is a farse! And there are more then enough good reasons to legalize Cannabis that dont take a rocket scientist to figure out. This article will highlight this reasons:
August 16, 2006 by Richard Sepulveda
Marijuana is the most recreationally used illegal drug in the United States. It has been estimated that literally millions of otherwise law abiding Americans use the drug to get "high". Still there are millions of others that use the drug to ease their suffering from ailments like:
Insomnia, Cancer, Aids, or chronic aches and pains. While it is true some states have legalized Marijuana for medicinal purposes on the federal level Marijuana remains illegal to: possess, cultivate, import, sell or consume.
Thus doctors that could prescribe it to their patients as a treatment are fearful to do so even though they reside in a state that has medicinally legalized. It is truely ridiculas that Marijuana should be illegal in a nation where Tabbacco kills thousands of people each year from lung cancer and Alcohol causes a majority of fatal car accidents and petty desputes. Especially considering that Marijuana is not as nearly harmful to the body as the negative advertising around it (payed for by alcohol and ciggarette companies by large) would lead someone to believe. In fact In a study deliberately covered up by the U.S. gov't until recently, The National Toxicology Program found no evidence that Marijuana causes cancer. In fact the study proved the exact opposite.
Animals that were exposed to THC (the ancronym that stands for the active chemical in Marijuana also known as Tetrahydrocannabinol) showed less of a risk of getting cancer then those that weren't. Study after study has shown that Marijuana actually decreases a persons risk of getting cancer and that smoking Marijuana does not increase a persons risk of getting any of the cancers associated with smoking. So besides the fact that the drug may actually fight cancer why else should we legalize marijuana? Now I will give you some common sense reasons for legalization:
ECONOMIC REASONS:
Legalizing Marijuana would create a new multi-billion dollar industry in the United States with a substance that can be taxed by the gov't thereby generating more money to fund gov't programs and create more gov't jobs.The currently labor suffering midwest would be saved by Marijuana processing factories requiring large amount of labor creating thousands of new jobs for middle america.
Shipping commerce from middle America to the big cities and their ports for exporting and importing marijuana would increase dramatically.
The increased trade with marijuana producing nations would help to stabalize their struggeling third world economies. This would also help to curve illegal immagration to the states from major marijuana producing nations like Mexico by creating a new mexican industry fresh with new jobs. Lowing incentive for illegal immagrants to cross the border in search of work.
Small businesses that sell marijuana would see increased profits which they have been needing since many former ciggarette smokers are now quitting.
Alcohol and Tabbacco companies would be forced to push their products harder thereby dumping millions of dollars more into advertising.
Televised anti-marijuana ads would be a thing of the past making room for other commercials to advertise their products.
Marijuana can grow almost anywhere thus there is little danger of a weak crop and falling profitsNot to mention that Economists at large have thrown their favor behind legalization.
LEGAL REASONS:
With marijuana users no longer being jailed for possession lots of room would be opened up in our already overcrowded prison system for more hardened offenders such as: murderers, rapists, child molesters and other violent criminals.The Judicial system would no longer be burdened by having to trial cases involving marijuana.The police will be able to allocate more resources to solving more violent crimes.
Since marijuana could be purchased at any drug store after being legalized, violent crimes such as: robbery, drug warfare, contamination of drugs by other substances such as: LSD, PCP and Cocaine could quickly become a thing of the past.
MEDICAL REASONS:Marijuana has been proven on more then one occasion to not cause cancer unlike its legal counterparts tobbacco and alcohol.
Patients suffering from a host of disorders and diseases such as: Cancer, Aids, Chronic pain and insomnia would have easy access to a pain reliever.
The relaxing effects of marijuana use could prevent tension and stress that cause sore muscles and or aggitation and high blood pressure
We can plainly see that marijuana legalizations benefits are boundless I could go one listing for days but until Americans wake up and realize that the true crime surrounding marijuana is the cornering of the market by campaign contributions from Alcohol and Tabbacco companies thereby denying the rest of us the: Jobs, Money, Health and pleasure from legalizing marijuana.
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