At a press conference this morning, New York Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) and state Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) announced their intent to introduce legislation to legalize the possession, cultivation, and retail sale of cannabis.
Speaking at the press conference, the Assembly bill’s sponsor Rep. Gottfried said, “We really need to move beyond our totally broken prohibition model to a sensible tax and regulate model. I think it’s widely recognized that marijuana is at most nowhere near as potentially harmful as alcohol and our law is dishonest.”
Added Sen. Krueger, “I don’t believe a drug that is proven to be less dangerous, from a health perspective, than alcohol or tobacco should be under laws that actually criminalize and ruin lives when alcohol or tobacco are regulated and taxed.”
The proposed Assembly and Senate measures would allow adults over the age of 18 to possess up to 2 ounces of dried marijuana, 1/4 ounce of marijuana concentrates, and to cultivate up to 6 plants. The legislation would also establish regulations for state-licensed retail cannabis outlets throughout the state. Retail sales would be limited to adults over the age of 21.
New York City Comptroller John Liu estimates that taxing the commercial production and retail sale of cannabis to adults would yield an estimated $400 million annually, just in the city alone.
According to a 2013 ACLU report, no state arrests more of its citizens for marijuana possession than New York.
Hear! Hear!
The sooner the better. I would hope New York state won’t be outdone by New Jersey, but when it comes to cannabis that’s the way it’s looking right now.
Once New York finally has it’s Pauline Moment on cannabis and legalizes for medical, industrial and adult recreational use, then pussy Pennsylvania can follow. The state is hurting for money for its pension obligations, and has to come up with money basically to pay for corporate welfare (tax breaks and incentives) to attract businesses willing to make jobs.
Pennsylvania’s Governor Corbett and his Republican prohibitionists really suck greasy donkey dick, although they have done an excellent job of running the state financially into the ground, making it ripe for legalization. Someone such as John Hanger just has to make it into the Governor’s Mansion.
Wow – This is huge! Finally some sense of compassion and intelligence from some of our nations elected officials!
Note: They are Democrats. I fully expect the Repugnicans to fight this…
Meth kills, weed chills.
Wooooo this is a great chance, i’m confident that new york will succeed in this
Excellent! As a New Yorker I’ve been waiting for this opportunity! I’ll do everything to support throwing away these damaging prohibition policies. It’s time for this state to stop spending money and effort in ways that ultimately work against it’s goals and the well-being of it’s citizens.
Lets trade unregulated drug money for well spent state funds.
Lets trade opportunistic illicit dealers for ID checking businesses.
Lets trade 40,000 yearly pot arrests for focus on real crimes.
Lets trade contradictory laws for a restored trust/respect in gov’t.
It’s clear that the people demand freedom for this EXTREMELY beneficial substance and its about time lawmakers see the failure of the current drug war policies.
I don’t believe it is justified punish those who consume safer drug known as Marijuana where Alcohol, and tobacco on other hand is known to be very dangerous to one’s health.
Why are we paying with tax dollars fighting against Marijuana that have proven no positive result? Image, paying somebody sit in jail just because they were smoking a joint and didn’t harm anyone, and cause fights like drunken alcoholic does, what is the point of this?
We all know that often there would be fights in bars from drunk customers, ask yourself, how many times have you heard bunch of pothead started the fight? I personally haven’t heard of one.
Isn’t it time to regulate and tax Marijuana, and get rid of dangerous black market that sells most popular product known as… Marijuana?
Regards,
Bill ask for way too much to ever pass.
Wowowo catch me smoking on the block
Stop and frisk could be the reason for high arrest rate. Americans should not accept these “new normal” intrusions from authorities. I hope legalization is a reality soon. I think we need to have a list of marijuana friendly candidates. So voters will know who is dragging their feet while our people keep getting arrested for nothing. I attribute the high number of people serving long sentences for almost nothing to misguided politicians. When judges had the ability to apply judgment to a case and not be controlled by minimum sentencing laws and sentencing being more controlled by prosecutors. One of our political parties famous for play books came up with a real good play. When you see a verdict that gets a sentence that is unpopular involving an emotionally charged case you scream the judges are legislating from the bench and need to be reigned in. They could lobby for this and use the press to weaken the judiciary branch. Prosecutors can ask and receive more harsh sentences than a judge might decide on. This is great for prosecutors who have political aspirations and want to appear to be hard on crime. Great for the prosecutor bad for American freedom and fairness. These leaders of ours have taken too long to right this injustice. Praise these N.Y. law makers who are stepping up and support them with your vote!
Go get em NY. We are all rooting for you guys and gals.
The fat lady is starting to clear her throat….
end of prohibition will be soon at hand…
Weed The People
The Governor should be stricken with chronic pain or get a disease where marijuana eases they pain. It should NOT be his decision to legalize marijuana,his job is to sign the Bill. I hope others are gearing up to run a viable candidate to unseat the Governor who believes he was elected by adults to be the Father of NYS not the Governor.
Campaign money speaks loud, and I’m sure its possibility of tax money speaking to our reps now.. Make pot legal and poison ivy illegal.
New York State needs to get moving on this…Maybe it will relieve some of the stupid taxes they have…
What do you think are the chances of this passing? NY is usually pretty conservative when it comes to these things.
I like the wording “Dishonest laws”
That snowball is really big and picking up speed.
Thank NORML
While much of the rest of the country is considering legalization and regulation of cannabis, the state of Virginia is celebrating record sales of booze while continuing to demonize citizens who would prefer to make a safe choice.
According to the site at this URL:
http://hamptonroads.com/node/699914
For the 15th consecutive year, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s stores have had record-setting sales, according to a news release.
Gross sales increased to $769 million, up $35 million from the previous fiscal year. Profits have risen to $134 million, which is an increase of $2 million over last year.
——-
So, does anyone out there besides myself think this has something to do with $$$ over health? The laws here, coupled with neverending traffic nightmares, are literally driving people to drink!
I have got to get out of this place!
This is wonderful news! I suspect our only resistance to this measure will come from the NYPD (who are basically paid to arrest mj possessors) and wayyy upstate where the people are very Red. I can see this actually happening. It will be a proud day to be a NYer (Finally!!)
Let’s not forget the legislative branch has previously written a bill about medical marijuana and the assembly voted on it which passed, when it was passed onto the senate, they stalled it and it eventually died. To get this passed, it’s imperative to contact your senator and spread your view on this issue.
I was abit aggravated, to say the least, In July when they were dragging their feet on the topic of Medicinal Cannabis, but now it’s all worth it if this was the reason! Lets make it happen Empire State
Getting ready to bother my elected officials with renewed vigor!
The biggest problem with the legalization of marijuana anywhere is the loss of revenue in prescription medication. I’m waiting for the state governments to come up with fake “proof” that marijuana causes cancer and all these ingenious research spoofs in order to get the public away from the support.
Finally!! Its pros out weigh the cons. NYS needs the money from the taxes. Its probably the smartest thing they can do. It will create jobs, to an extent. People won’t be getting in trouble for possesion, which is huge. They will however say “the number of DUI’s are up” News Flash: they were gonna be smoking it anyways, and driving. If it came from a store or a dealer, it doesn’t matter. That’s the truth of the matter.
Praise God. We have seen the light.
Let’s not forget those who have suffered to get us here.
We have a precious opportunity to do this right.
Call your Senator NOW! The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting today to vote on S.1410, or the Smarter Sentencing Act to reform mandatory minimum sentencing. There’s a link with a script at the Drug Policy Alliance.
Even though my Texas Senator Cornyn wrote me a letter saying he would not even support industrial hemp in Texas as he agrees “with the DEA that legalizing hemp would harm their efforts to eradicate marijuana,” I still called his office yesterday. A staff member, Kelly, answered the phone;
K: Hello, Senator Cornyn’s office, this is Kelly?
J: Hi, my name is Julian. I live in Blanco, TX, zipcode 78606. I’m calling to ask for Senator Cornyn’s vote on the Smarter Sentencing Act to reform mandatory minimum sentencing. It’s too expensive, it’s cruel, it’s ineffective at reducing violence, and worse, it’s punishing non-violent citizens with up to LIFE in prison for even minor posessions of a nonviolent drug. But my six year old daughter has a better, quicker way of putting it. Go ahead Addy…”
A: “…Good people shouldn’t go to jail.”
J: Good job, baby.
K: (choked up)…That was… perfect. Thank you. I’ll send this recording to Senator Cornyn right away.
J: Thank you, Kelly, have a good day.”
Through all this well deserved celebration and reform, we must not forget the political prisoners who are still not free. Through it all, in order to heal and grow as a free society we must let our people go!
During these holidays, while we’re celebrating this historic year of marijuana triumph, let’s take a moment to pray with our families and remember there will be those of us who will not be warm with their families simply for smoking weed. And on this day of the Virgin de Guadalupe, pray for the families waiting in an emergency room because their epileptic child has been denied by their state the life-saving CBD’s found in special varieties of weed.
Let’s not forget what we’re doing this for; and the sweeter will be the victory…
“Lord when did we see the sick or in prison and came unto thee? “And the King will answer and say unto them, “Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one or of the least of these my brethren, ye have done to me.” (Mathew 25:39-40)
As a sufferer of Ms and trigeminal neuralgia,drugs help, but side effects are really bad. With cannabis I am relieved of pain and feel relaxed. Please legalize and help more people become pain free.
I can’t wait for MArijuana to become legal. I consumed marijuana as a young teen and loved it. I am now a college graduate with two college degrees and about to enter law school. That whole gate way drug is BS marijuana is a healthy flower that has been used for centuries to help with many ills. The sooner we legalize it here in NY the better for America as a whole.
As a nurse i have encouraged several of my terminal patients to use, illegally, marijuana. I have seen the benefits firsthand for many years. Legalizing marijuana makes a hell of a lot more sense than alcohol being legal.
Yes Julian! WE have to understand, a lot of what politicians say is just sound bytes. Tiny bits of data we don’t know the context thereof. Mostly, they feel it is their duty to explain things to the people, when really it is their job to represent US. They think that means get US money, when it is much more complicated than allocating revenue. You have to raise revenue fairly–something we have never got right in this country. We are always looking to raise someone else’s taxes while lowering our own. But our system doesn’t work this way, perhaps we need to stop pulling that “stupid lever” that sends all our good efforts to waste every couple of years? When millions of people keep saying the say good things about marijuana, you should listen to them, not selectively interpet it into something different which support broken ideas like, “marijuana is dangerous”, “marijuana is a gateway drug”, “marijuana isn’t safe and it cannot be used as medicine”. The folks saying these things tend not to be doctors nor scientists, but Lawyers! People that haven’t even been trained at uncovering the truth (scientists and doctors), but have been trained at obscuring it from juries. Oral misdirection skills unfairly used on the general public.
However, what really needs to be noted, most politicians are also narcissists. They need constent positive re-enforcement or they loose focus. This is why lobbyists are so good at derailing our system and getting it to work for the few. They position themselves between US and our reps, then fill their heads with garbage ideas.
The only way to counter this anti-democratic frenzy is to play idiological king of the hill with these assholes. Grab an arm or a leg and pull. Tear the broken ideas to shreds.
We need to climb to the top of the hill and shout out our concerns or they will never hear us. Even in the south, narcissists still crave attention and pretty much act the same. If a “leader” will not act like Richard Gottfried and Liz Krueger and actually lead, then we need to get loud and in their faces about it.
The amounts will more than likely be changed by the end of this……They are asking for more than any other state who has already legalized it in a state where we don’t even have medical. I see the amount changing for sure but i’m praying to god this gets passed
My younger brother developed a nicotine/alcohol cross addiction. He died a few weeks ago. Tobacco clogged the veins in his legs, necessitating major surgery to save them. It turns out, it had done the same to his intestines. The surgeons for his 2nd operation found them totally black. I like marijuana; I have a love/hate relationship with alcohol; but I despise nicotine.
http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/s6005-2013
In short, as i read and understand this bill in its current state:
Persons under the age of 21 cannot buy weed, but they can possess it. This means college kids wont loose their school aid if they get caught with lawful amounts of pot. Over 21 you can have up to 2 oz of weed, 1/4 oz of concentrate (hash) , 16 oz of any solid containing cannabis (brownies, butter etc) and 72 oz of a liquid containing cannabis (cannabis dry ginger ale?). Going over these limits will get you a second degree possession charge (class B misdemeanor) , go over 1/2 lb. weed 1 oz concentrate 64 oz solid or 2 gallons liquid and you get a class A misdemeanor. It seems to be written that you can have all of them at once just not over the amounts specified.
Personal growing up to 6 plants with no more than 3 being in the flowering stage is permitted by persons over the age of 18. This is a part of the amendment that needs clarification, as personal grows of 3 flowering plants will most always lead to having more than 2 oz on hand, there does not seem to be a provision for allowing that excess to be stored in the location it was grown, this area of the bill needs to be expanded on so ad to not include those produced amounts toward possession as it relates to the criminal code. Also, I find it ok to not be throwing college kids in jail for just having dope, but they shouldn’t be able to lawfully grow it, just as a person under 21 cannot lawfully brew beer.
If under 18 you will face a fine for your first and second offense then its off to drug education class.
Its taxed at 50 per oz weed and 50 per 1/4 oz. concentrate. Solid products and liquids will be taxed at that rate based on there cannabis content. i.e 1 lb. of brownies with 1 oz of cannabis in it would be a 50 excise tax.
As a non-toker I support this bill for the most part. I want to see the under 18 grow loop hole gone and see the tax rate become a percentage because when prices drop, then a greater portion of the cost is going to be taxes… Poof black market is back and we dont see the revenue benifits, and the concern over the growers possesion amonts needs to be addressed.
“DISHONEST LAWs” is a good talking point to use when describing marijuana prohibition. They have been and still are being cruel to citizens with harsh penalties for breaking laws that are built on non truths. Watch how many casualties of this corrupt legal system continue to grow to this day. While politicians drag their feet more people fall victim to these crazy laws. What is amazing is how our government conned all these other countries into these so called treaties regarding marijuana. The U.S. government in action working for you and me!
There has been tons of weed in the Governor’s Mansion on Eagle Street already
Please, PLEASE get attention on this! Every other time a bill has been proposed it gets to the senate but then gets extended out over time and fades out. We need to put the pressure on and keep it up!
This may well be THE SINGLE LARGEST DOMINO.
I’m so sick and tired of people bashing Republicans on this issue (@Miles). Whenever the democrats have had majority control of our government they haven’t done shit for our cause in any meaningful way. More marijuana arrests under Obama than Bush; so what the fuck!? Oh yeah, and the Governor of NY, Cuomo, has said he will Veto the bill if passed! HE’S A DEMOCRAT!!! Republicans or Democrats – they’re all whores to the highest bidder. Why doesn’t Obama order cannabis to be re-classified as scheduled II or lower? I mean, he’s a Democrat, right? Ugh, buy a fucking clue already.
I have been smoking since I was 17 and I’m 57 and I had three great careers and been marraige for 27 years and have a wonderful kid.Their are responsible people using it carefully for generations already.It’s about time we can be legal,but it won’t change the brainwash generations of haters.
THANK YOU!!!!
Fight for our rights legalize it
Ironic, possession is legal at 18, but can’t purchase until 21. That sounds to me like the fudged up prison system lobbying for more tenants.
So far, solid. I’d like to see 21 possession and 21 purchase for the sake of less prosecutor loopholes, but just my opinion.
legalize pot now, put real criminals away!
We in Connecticut are working on medical grow operations and working under a weak decriminalization bill.Go for it New York !The Nutmeg State will have to follow suit.
new york is huge on drug testing. why would anybody care if its legal if you cant use it anyway?
How long did this take to actually take place in Colorado and Washington?
A step forward, but I don’t see this passing in the Republican controlled Senate. When Cuomo’s spokesman called the bill a non starter he was probably referencing Cuomo’s effort to decriminalize last year, A legislature that wouldn’t decriminalize last year is not likely to fully legalize this year. Still it’s another step forward.
Any chance we can get Senator Ken LaValle onboard with voting for it? My Senator always takes a position against MJ (even medical). He needs to be voted out, but he’s been in my district for 35 years!!
@ Chris, one of the main reason many democrats still support prohibition is because they are “compromising” with their opposition (I.e. The republicans). Or they have a direct conflict of interests, like making money for themselves or cohorts. What is Como’s conflict??? However the party with the most conflicts is the republicans. The party is pulling itself apart.
Thanks Chairman Gottfried, and Senator Krueger, for real leadership that goes beyond being stuffed shirts singing the party line.
I condemn the cowardice of New York Republicans who are offering up weak resistance, saying things like they oppose legalization because there is not 100% unanimity to legalize, and saying things like this is supposedly a non-starter but they will keep an open mind. You cowards. I remember when you whining loser DEA guys who lost whole continents to Al Capone completely, permanently, and even lost most of your own officials to the gangs, you losers, you whiners, you used to at least come out in the open and announce you had a position one way or the other. It’s time for Democrats to take this victory from you loser Republicans, so that you can whine how unfair it is that you lost fair and square to a bunch of supposedly stoned hippies.
The DEA, reactionary cranks, those with a money incentive to force Americans to live with injustice, are losing this, they stood by and did nothing offering no resistance when Washington and Colorado defeated their stupidity. Now they are going to lose the rest of the ballgame, ending 80 years of control freak demented whining idiocy against economic progress.
That revenue belongs in the hands of New York State, not with Al Capone, we are going to have a gold rush, this is going to help us with some economic recovery on the horizon, this avenue for Americans to get SOME economic positivity at a time like this will not be closed off by you coward prohibitionists.
Americans are tired of prohibitionists holding us back, not letting us have sensible policies so that people instead of Al Capone can finally make some money doing legal regulated business.
I condemn all ultra-superior square reactionaries for being defeated fair and square by long haired supposedly disorganized hippes!
As much as I hope…its a dead issue. The senate has a republican majority and the governors also said a while ago he would veto anything.
@Galileo, I’m very sorry to hear about your younger brother. Big Tobacco has been at the root of American corporate oppression since the Virginia Company first settled in Jamestown. I did some research on Big Tobacco and couldn’t believe how evil they really were. They supply addictive products that are killing us all (they even own starbucks– caffeine kills 10,000 Americans per year and capri-sun– get’m hooked and diabetic while their young). Meanwhile marijuana remains illegal. (Check out my boycott list below).
What’s worse, Phillip Morris went along with Koch Industries to fund the government shutdown. All the big evil game players behind the shutdown are the structural corporate components that create the wall we know as prohibition. And all the money, the 2014 elections debate and the smoke and mirrors surrounding healthcare is spinning around the languishing Farm Bill.
The big pending federal cannabis legislation is still being fought in the Farm Bill, hidden in the hemp research amendment. Boehner past a budget to distance himself from a hemoraging Tea Party. Thanks to voting pressure and groups like NORML, the curtain has lifted from the evil corporations funding prohibition.
Thanks to good reporting at the NYTimes, The Texas Obsever, The Portland Press Herald and the Guardian the cat is out of the bag that Koch industries along with ALEC and the above mentioned Americans for Prosperity were behind the shutdown, which occured the same day the old Farm Bill expired. Voting Americans are learning that much, but when you read the evil list of players, we quickly see the major donors behind prohibition.
Check this link out:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/05/state-conservative-groups-assault-education-health-tax?
Hidden behind “think tanks,” The Searle Trust and the State Policy Network, the following corporations have launched a full out attack on the public sector. Aside from prohibition, that includes attacks on public health, education and their remaining share of income tax; They want us dumb, unhealthy and too poor to fight back:
“The State Policy Network (SPN) has members in each of the 50 states and an annual warchest of $83m drawn from major corporate donors that include the energy tycoons the KOCH BROTHERS, the tobacco company PHILIP MORRIS, food giant KRAFT and the multinational drugs company GLAXOSMITHKLINE.”
These are the corporations behind the shutdown.
Here are links to boycott their products:
http://www.buycott.com/campaign/…/boycott-kraft-foods-..
http://www.Kochwatch.org
http://www.actupny.org/actions/glaxo-Boycott.html?
http://medicolegal.tripod.com/boycott.htm (Wow, starbucks and capri-sun owned by tobacco?! Well, those capri-suns ARE children’s crack.)
On another note, Mitch McConnel is voting against any Farm Bill that doesn’t include the Hemp Research Amendment. So @Chris, while we can find enemies bisect on all sides, we can also find allies. The Senate minority leader from Kentucky needs to get reelected in a state where voters are poised to push federal hemp legislation through so they can compete in an industrial hemp market. Hemp grows very well in the state of Kentucky, so the state Agricultural Commissioner and Senator Rand Paul are pushing the hemp research amendment heavily through the Farm Bill. I know, I know, “but these are members of the Tea Party”; the same Tea Party funded by the Searle Trust and the State Policy Network– basically the evil list of corporations mentioned above– who are completely AGAINST marijuana legalization. As a result of our Kentucky Senator’s alignment, the Tea Party has been hemoraging. Now that were finally approaching the 2014 Congressional election year, Republican candidates are quickly revealing their true colors over the Farm Bill. It would appear the constapated “elephant in the room” took a huge laxative, and it’s every Congressman for themselves.(I’m quite sure a toke of weed could help with that).
While delaying the Farm Bill has been the evil strategy of the State Policy Network so Koch Industries can manipulate ethanol subsidies before hemp is legalized, the delays may have hurt these prohibitionists more than helped. Just look at all the pro-cannabis legislation that has passed since new Farm Bill legislation was first kicked down the road! Legislation like this in New York and the rapidly changing pro-marijuana demographics have created opportunity for the hemp research amendment in the midst of the greedy, delayed battle over Farm subsidies. Think about it; if these greedy Koch bastards would have agreed on a Farm Bill 2 years ago when they had the chance, American voters were still on the fence about cannabis issues. Look how far we’ve made it in two years!
It’s a classic American Cannabis tragedy, and thanks to their own greed and hubris, the Titans of Prohibition (including the DEA) have been revealed, rounded up and cast with disinfecting light from the heavens. Even the Obama administration with all its broken promises has reversed policy on mandatory minimum sentencing.
In more detail, here are more prohibitionist products to boycott with more links and names:
Koch Industries (crude oil, plastics, timber: The average supermarket shopper had no idea that buying Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper or Dixie cups means contributing cash to Koch Industries through its subsidiary Georgia-Pacific. Similarly, purchasing a pair of yoga pants containing Lycra or a Stainmaster carpet means indirectly handing the Kochs your money (Koch Industries bought Invista, one of the world’s largest fiber and textiles companies, in 2004 from DuPont– Remember Dupont from our cannabis prohibition history? They helped create the still active Marijuana Stamp Act 75 years ago to defend their patent on nylon from hemp fiber competition).
Philip Morris: see Altria. (Tobacco, starbucks, Capri Sun, Kraft and Nabisco)
Altria Group, Inc. is the parent company of Kraft Foods, Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. Altria Group owns 100% of the outstanding stock of Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International and Philip Morris Capital Corporation, and approximately 88.1% of the stock of KRAFT Foods. Philip Morris USA is the largest tobacco company in the United States, with approximately half of the U.S. cigarette market.
Kraft includes Post cereals, Digornio Pizza (frozen pizzas are full of aluminum), Maxwell House, Cool Whip, Jell-o, Kool-Aid, Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Kraft Mac n Cheese and Velveeta to name a few.
GlaxoSmith Kline: (bayer, Avandia; link to Avandia shows a 3 billion dollar settlement for causing heart attacks with “medicine” for diabetes: http://www.anh-europe.org/news/gsk-have-admitted-they-are-guilty-of-fraud-let%E2%80%99s-boycott-their-products)
For the record, marijuana is medicine for diabetes. Balance your diet, watch your blood sugar and forget the pills.
It will take every American to stand up to this tyranny. Never underestimate American consumer power. After all, if we are what we eat, than we are what we inhale as well. (whew… exhale…)
The biggest lie for money has been going on for years in the United States the FDA knows cannibas cures many diseases but drug companies cant patent a natural plant…Go to Run From The Cure and look at what our leaders are keeping from the people! It is a crime if you see the true life movie Dallas Buyers Club the FDA is now doing the same thing to cannabis especially the oil that cures cancer and many other ailments…do your homework and research you will be very mad!
this doesnt make sense you can possess marijuana if youre 18 but cant buy from retail stores unless youre 21? hello stupids if they already possess it they wont have to worry about buying it! if this gets passed then we better see them doing something about this damn smoking in public cause if marijuana can be legalized then smoking in public places can and should be banned.
I bought a shirt that says “God mad grass man made alcohol who do you trust.Im not at all religious but the logic still stands. Im a huge advocate in marijuana for many reasons. Its not half as bad as alcohol.
it got dismissed
Should be more plants. and its not just a drug this helps in many different ways!
Yes Yes Yes. This needs to pass.
@Chris: The reason Republicans get the worst of this is because they fight it a lot more. Yes, the Dems aren’t doing enough, but if you look you’ll see the vast majority of bills are being proposed by Democrats, and when a politician comes out as being in favor of legalization you can assume that politician is a Democrat and be right probably 90% of the time. If Romney had won in 2012, the laws in CO and WA would not be respected, and there wouldn’t even be the tepid little “well, okay, we’ll leave you alone and see how it goes” from the fed–they’d have just marched their way right into those states with their jackbooted DEA thugs and closed them down on the spot, and released a proclamation declaring all state initiatives to legalize to be illegal from then on.
This is possibly because the Democrats are not liberal or progressive but are washed-out versions of Republicans (Republican lite, if you will), while the Republicans are the full-on authoritarian party that has fallen far deeper into Drug War profiteering industry pockets than have the Democrats. As such, the Dems can still be prevailed upon to do the right thing, but the Republican politicians only see the payouts being thrown at them by special interests in the private prison and drug testing industries, to name only two.
So while I agree that the Dems aren’t doing as much as they should or as much as I would like, they are doing infinitely more to help legalization and, failing that, doing infinitely less to torpedo it. And as they begin to realize that supporting legalization is 1) NOT political suicide and 2) can actually help them win votes, I think we will see better things happen. And as the little they are helping with (bringing in the legislation to legalize) begins to show its success in places like CO and WA, even the Repubs will have to start paying attention. Especially since the only two groups that oppose legalization in numbers over 50% are the Republicans and people over 65, and there is definitely a big overlap there, and as their brainwashed prohibitionist voters die off those numbers are also going to change in ways the Republicans simply won’t be able to ignore.
Which is another thing to consider: the Democrats have more of a path to supporting legalization, because their demographics tend towards the young and the liberal and the progressive and the anti-authoritarian–all tending to favoring legalization and all the opposite with the Repubs major demographics. The people who tend to vote Dem also tend to be targeted unfairly by the failed War on Drugs, while the people who tend to vote Repub tend to not be so much on the receiving end of Drug War injustice and often can’t see the problem with prohibition. Marijuana is the drug choice of poor people and is the primary target of the Drug War, and is used as a method to ensure people born poor stay poor–and the Republican party is, I’m sorry to say, the party of rich white people who have an interest in promoting that oppression. So the Dems are in more of a position to support legalization without alienating nearly 50% of their voting demographics or destroying their chances of even winning the nominations in the first place.
@Chris: BTW, Bush was a bit too busy with his two BS wars and his precedent-setting* dismantling of the Constitution to bother with marijuana, which didn’t have the numbers behind it or the momentum it has now.
And you are aware of things like Blue Dog Democrats or Third Way Democrats or whatever other BS obfuscation they are using now. There are unfortunately conservatives in the Democratic party posing as liberals and deliberately voting along Republican lines. These people are not Democrats, as far as I’m concerned, they are agent provocateurs, infiltrators. Imagine if the Repubs had an entire wing that claimed to be Republican while voting almost entirely with the Democrats on every issue. It’s kind of like that. It’s dishonest, and I consider them worse than Republicans who, for all their faults, are at least not pretending to be progressives.
*Yes, I’m aware Obama’s record on this sucks as well, but it began with Bush, hence the adjective “precedent-setting”. Obama is just continuing what Bush started there, and not nearly as quickly as the Republicans would have if they had won (or managed to steal) the election.
Thank god ny. I LOVE NY
In the UK, if cannabis is a class B drug, and it is an established fact that nearly everyone in the country knows that cannabis is less dangerous than legal alcohol and tobacco, then doesn’t this send the message that all drugs in class B and C are less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco, infact it may even cause people to have a softer perception on class A drugs.
While you folks are working so hard for this issue, consider taking a moment for a little fun with STEEL WOOL’s version of the Twelve Days of Yuletide. YOu will especially like #5…
The majority of states which pioneered medical and/or legal marijuana, utilized a referendum and/or initiative process. This allowed residents to propose and/or directly vote on their marijuana laws. NYS lacks any initiative or referendum process. Watching marijuana bills repeatedly not be voted on in the Senate reveals a blatant inefficiency. Polls showed that prior to the 2013 Senate voting period, 82% of NYS residents supported medical marijuana. For the Senate to not even vote on the medical marijuana bill was a failure to represent. Residents will not be represented until power is returned to them through an initiative and referendum processes.
Let’s not forget NYS Assemblyman Steve Katz who is against it for both medical or legalization but that did stop him from using cannabis for himself.
It’s the old do as I say and not as I do. When will these creeps & bums get tossed out of office.
We need to support pot legalization, we need it not only in NY but in NJ as well. Lets be positive! It already happen in 2 of our states 🙂
Weed, it is the *histrionic* that say, “do as we say, not as we do.” It is the same mentality as an old fashioned witch doctor. They don’t really know why what they do sometimes works and other times doesn’t, they think the spells (the bullshit pouring from their mouths) are an intergral part of the process; when really they just cannot see straight.
“This allowed residents to propose and/or directly vote on their marijuana laws. NYS lacks any initiative or referendum process. Watching marijuana bills repeatedly not be voted on in the Senate reveals a blatant inefficiency. Polls showed that prior to the 2013 Senate voting period, 82% of NYS residents supported medical marijuana. For the Senate to not even vote on the medical marijuana bill was a failure to represent.”
Yeah, all levels of government are non-representive on the issue of marijuana. Even where legal, there continue to be non-sense issues being constructed and placed in the way. Corruption is an official pastime now.
They say completely retarded things like, “Well I cannot support a law the says marijuana is for 21 and over because I’m worried about the message it sends children.” The only “message” it sends is marijuana is for 21 and older. Fucking retarded excuses for leadship.
Is pot legal yet or not
This marijuana movie project looks pretty sweet:
http://www.filmbreak.com/projects/departed-harvest
I bet the hero grower could use a few tips!
@Rob t: This has always been a problem. My mom knew that there were people who took harder drugs entirely because they tried marijuana, discovered that pretty much everything they’d ever been told about it is a lie, and thought “well, if they were so full of it over marijuana, maybe cocaine or heroine or whatever is also pretty safe and okay to take”.
And, of course, thanks to Dr. Hart, we do know that some of the harder drugs, while not good and certainly not quite as safe as marijuana, are not quite as terribly addictive as they’ve previously been thought. So they’d probably be partially right.
in a few years most of thease old scumbags willdie off hopefully and quit screwing us poor folk before we have to showw them whare the bear shits
they say under 2 grams will only be legal and they want to sell a gram at 50 bucks. heres a link to an audio recording that I found …..http://voiceofrussia.com/us/2013_12_12/Bill-proposed-to-legalize-and-tax-marijuana-in-NY-5843/
@Julian
Thanks. I had dropped out back in the counterculture days and didn’t watch television for 5-6 years. My brother had watched TV’s show ‘Dragnet’ during that time and bought its anti-marijuana propaganda. I can’t help but wish Jack Webb had trained his sights on the tobacco industry instead. He would have done the country a tremendous service.
I don’t understand the purpose of 18 to possess/use but 21 to purchase?
John, dude! You don’t understand the purpose of barring police from arresting people that aren’t committing a crime? What doesn’t make sense about it? They can’t buy it, but the police cannot use their possesion as a excuse to attack them for a non-crime.
Of course, the police still can find out who is selling illegal buds, and arrest them as they should be able to.
Weed should be leagel
@ Demonhype,
Again, very well said, regarding Dems vs Repubs on the MJ issue. You took many of the words right out of my mouth.
@ Chris, to reiterate what Demonhype said, while it’s true you can always point out a Dem here and there who is against our cause, you are virtually certain to find a majority of Republicans who are against it.
It’s no coincidence that the two states that legalized, CO and WA, are blue states. And it’s almost a guarantee that the last states to legalize will be deep red states. You have to know this Chris; it’s pretty obvious.
As Demonhype said, we are not giving the Dems a free pass on this issue, and we both obviously condemn those Dems who vote like conservatives on this issue. But the Dems are the far more progressive party on this issue, whether you want to admit it or not.
PS–Nancy Pelosi, a couple of months ago, stated that she supported CO’s and WA’s decision to legalize MJ; would Boehner have done the same?
I still recall all the sarcasm directed at her on these boards after her statement, too; I’m positive those same critics would have lauded Boehner to no end had he made a similar statement.
NY Sen. Greg Ball said no way to me in his response to my letter. “It’s a gateway drug”, he says.
Sen. Ball is a retard. Wish these idiots would read the facts and research going on about this beneficial plant.
@ Ray, he is right. Marijuana currently is a gateway drug. This is because of prohibition. It isn’t a brain chemistry thing, it is a social thing. Marijuana should not be grow and sold by criminal organizations with no interest in public safety!
Explain it to Senator Greg Ball, that it doesn’t have to be a gateway drug anymore. He can fix the system. We have have clean marijuana sold by professionals far away from any dangerous and illegal drugs so the “gateway” disappears.
@Ray
NY Senator Greg Ball should know that becoming a POLITICAN can be the gateway to showing no compassion to human life. Screw you senator. !
If the republicans are unable to accept medical cannabis, then they will once again hand the congress over to their opponents because of an ignorance akin to illiteracy.
I think marihuana should be legal mainly because, I like to smoke it! What’s wrong with that?
If you don’t like to smoke then don’t. That’s your choice.
They need to legalize weed. The only thing i’m a danger to when im high is a bag of chips.
cannabis literally is a plant produced by our earth and the government needs to stop preventing real people from getting the real treatment they need for their cancers/seizures/mental disorders/pain/ect..
“we the people”
The results of the study show that marijuana is not a likely cause of schizophrenia it has marijuana dispensaries for use of the medical purpose.
I have tremors and pot is one of the few drugs that actually stop them. Sure there are pills that I can take, but pot doesn’t have the side effects that the pills have and I am in far less pain.
12/27/13 The news is all a buzz about Colorado and Washington in 2014. They say that legalization will have very little effect on the people of the state’s other than increased revenue from taxes and a shortage of legal weed. My theory is that people who use MJ will just be more open about it, like drinking a beer. Once states see a reduction in crime, increased tax revenue, happy voters, and a a line of hungry patrons at the local 7-11, the reality of marijuana prohibition will be seen as a huge waste of money and time.
[ I am Republican ] I support ending prohibition. But I allso support Gun rights. Dems wont budge on this issue. [So what ] Pot should be legal for every one. Why do we have to point fingers at politicle affiliations,? Prohibition needs all AMERICANS togeather to end this nightmer. If we the people, start acting like congres, then we can all forget about ending prohibition. Focus, We need both parties on the right side of this issue.
I hate prohibition of marijuana and I support gun rights. The Republicans aren’t protecting gun rights, they are protecting criminals from becoming barred from owning guns. The Republicans are the ones making guns more dangerous by barring Federal Officers from tracking illegal gun sales.
Why the fuck would tracking illegal gun sales be illegal unless you want to see children murdered by street thugs shooting at each other through crowds of people???
I used to be republican, but they just suck now-a-days.
Weed use to be legal but when they made drinking againts thelaw they put weed in there to. So when drinking became legal again weed shouldve been removed from the law just like drinking was
I strongly support the legalization it would cut down crime. And it’s ridiculous to bash it so much. They are harder on people the smoke weed in ny than crack that is messed up I say let’s do this
If 18 year olds are able to posses but cannot buy, the 21is just going to sell it to them for increased prices like they’ve always done inthe past. Sort of motivating 21 year old idiots to deal pot. my 2cents. LEGALIZE IT
This will be amazing if they legalize marijiuana just for the simple fact is that it’s much safer than any other drug known to mankind. Me personally have never seen any reports or death caused buy marijiuana but yet they still won’t legalize it and they should because it’s harmless and it also helped a lot of people.!!
New York Gov. Cuomo is supposed to open up about medical MJ and his effort to allow it under certain controls. It’s a start, but NY also has a legalization bill coming up and an anti stop and frisk mayor now. What should we expect and accept from them?
Can we really trust a natural herb that is grown by the government? will they be growing it themselves or is the the stash they get from “drug cartels”?
I have a bipolar disorder and joint pains smoking help me a lot.
tighten up gun laws and give em marijuana
by the morons
for the morons
yo go ny
Well, there is always alternative…. there are people who build their own cards with HEMP material. Some of you will not believe any of this, but it is quite true. That is why many multinational corporations have interest to put ban on any marijuana indoor growing because the information is not under their control and now everyone with just a bit of will can do his own stuff almost from nothing.
i have seen alot of studies where the oils of the hemp can cure some types of cancer and other mental illness so i belive it should be legalized and ive seen other studies where it helped make jobs and helped some places get out of debt and thats all based on facts so if we all went by just the facts and legalized it and keep a eye on it i think we all can find commen ground